Grover "Near and Far"

Here's a great example of character. This guy will do anything to reach his goal... to the brink of collapse!

SOS ~ kg

Writing a Children's Picture Book

As I’m working on my first children’s picture book, I checked out my all-time childhood favorite from the local Santa Monica Public Library:

“Corduroy” by Don Freeman.

It turns out the 40th Anniversary edition includes correspondence between Freeman and his editor Annis Duff - in addition to a copy of his original manuscript with the editor’s penciled notes in the margins. Amazing insight to the story-editing process!

For anyone interested in writing for children’s literature (from picture books to YA-Young Adult novels), I highly recommend joining the online Yahoo Group for children's writers and Illustrators.

This wonderfully supportive virtual community is a rich resource for information. The 2600+ members will answer most any question you have, no matter where you are in the creative process. Many are published veterans.

May I one day join their lot!

SOS ~ kg

Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing

Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules of Writing:

   1.  Never open a book with weather.

   2.  Avoid prologues.

   3.  Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue.

   4.  Never use an adverb to modify the verb "said”…he admonished gravely.

   5.  Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.

   6.  Never use the words "suddenly" or "all hell broke loose."

   7.  Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.

   8.  Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.

   9.  Don't go into great detail describing places and things.

  10.  Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.

 My most important rule is one that sums up the 10.

 If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.