I recently read a post about writing for children. It focused on the story’s characters. Basically, the post advised to create and know your characters inside and out before beginning the story. In fact, it suggested that the author build the story around the characters once they were fully developed. While this is good advice,…
Author: Karen Cioffi
Karen Cioffi is an award-winning author and children's ghostwriter. She loves to help those who want to be the author of a children's book fulfill their dream. Contact Karen today to get your story started!
Plot and Your Story – Four Formats
Plot. As writers we’ve all heard of this literary term. But, what does it mean? Well, plot is what gives the story a reason to be. It’s the ‘why’ as to the reason the story exists. Plot is what the story is about. And, if the plot is good, it will entertain and engage the…
Make Your Children’s Writing Website Focused – 3 Must-Haves, 6 Tips
Is your site on the mark? As we get caught up in our writing careers sometimes it’s easy to forget to remain focused. That’s a no-no! It’s important to present a focused brand and site. Okay, so what are three website must-haves and six tips? The Must-Haves 1. Create a website using your own name….
Days End Lullaby Video Book Review
Thanks to Amy Robbins-Wilson, creator of Lullaby Link, Day’s End Lullaby is in a video. Amy did a Google search for “lullaby” and came upon my book. She contacted me and offered to include my book as a review video on her site. But, she didn’t stop there, she offered to create a video of…
What Makes a Good Fiction Story? Plot Driven vs. Character Driven
Stories can be plot-driven or character-driven, so which is the best formula to use when writing a story? Knowing a little about both methods should help in making a decision. Plot Driven Story A story’s plot moves the story forward from point A to point B. It doesn’t necessarily have to be in a straight…
Editing a Children’s Book – 10 Tips Checklist for Authors
You’ve been working on your story for a while now and you think it’s just about done. It’s been critiqued numerous times and you revised it numerous times. Now, it’s time for editing. This entails proofreading and self-editing. You don’t want to short-change yourself on the last stretch, so get ready to put the final…
Submitting Your Manuscript – 8 Tips
Writing is a personal experience. Each writer faces his or her own obstacles and processes. However, one common aspect of writing is it always starts with an idea. You may take that idea and turn it into an outline. Then sprinkle it with letters and words and watch it grow. Words turn into sentences, sentences…
Words and Children’s Writing Pitfalls to Look Out For
I wrote a fantasy story geared initially toward the middle grade. Realizing the word count wasn’t enough for a middle-grade story, I changed it to a chapter book. Good idea. Right? Yes it was, but if you do something like this, you need to remember to check the age appropriateness of the words you originally…
Become an Author – 5 Basic Rules
It may seem like becoming an author today is a simple decision. You just write something, get it up on Kindle, and you’re an author. Well, that’s true, but that doesn’t make you an author. Experienced authors wouldn’t consider you an author. And, chances are, if you get any readers, they wouldn’t call you an…
Being a Writer – Learn the Craft of Writing
In the June 2010 issue of The Writer, author Jane Yolen discussed the need to learn the craft of writing in an article titled, “Dedicate Yourself to a Writing Apprenticeship.” She explained that the process is slow and long, but is necessary to being a writer, to learn the craft of writing. If you’re wondering…