Growing as a Writer - by Susan Barclay

I've been writing in some form or other ever since I was old enough to hold a pencil. So hopefully I've grown quite a bit as a writer over the years. Many things have helped - teachers, books, conferences, courses, other writers...

While I've had a lot of positive feedback on my writing, to grow I've had to gain, and apply, knowledge. To this end, I've taken classes at the community college level; completed The Institute of Children's Literature's "Special Publishing" course; attended conferences like Write! Canada, Packaging Your Imagination, etc.; and participated in one-off workshops like Donald Maass' The Fire in Fiction.  I've done a lot of reading - the 'for pleasure' (and learning by osmosis) kind, and books that are on writing.  The writers in my collective are a huge help as well, providing honest critique.

The key, though, I believe, is practice, practice, practice. If a tree falls in the forest, does it still make a sound? If a writer doesn't write, is s/he still a writer? And so I strive to make writing a habit.  I blog; I prepare for writers' group meetings; I work on children's picture books, short stories for adults, and on my adult novel. Sometimes I even write poetry. I'll be the first to admit that if you graphed my attempts at disciplined writing, they'd resemble stock performances since 1934. But still I strive, and the overall movement is upward. The overall trend is growth and improvement.

I'll take it. How about you?

Please visit my website at www.susan-barclay.ca

Great Resources for Writing – Ramona Heikel

I am astounded by the amount of helpful information that generous writers are giving away free, and I’d like to pass along some of my favorite resources to you.

With the publishing industry seeming like a moving target, I trust the information on the internet to be the most current, and most of my resources are there. And since I am usually writing for children, much of what I list relates to that area. I hope you find something useful…

• Here’s a great book that I just finished reading, the ebook Time Management for Creative People by Mark McGuinness, free at http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/2007/12/03/time-management-for-creative-people-free-e-book/

• Writer’s Digest’s Robert Lee Brewer writes a blog that covers just about everything on writing. Here’s an awesome post: http://robertleebrewer.blogspot.ca/2012/02/best-blogs-for-writers-to-read-in-2012.html?et_mid=538100&rid=189868766
   
• I go to ”Verla Kay’s Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Chat Board” to post questions and find answers about anything related to children’s writing. http://www.verlakay.com/boards/index.php
   
• Even before I took the Institute for Children’s Literature course (which I highly recommend), I learned a lot from their helpful articles. Here is an example, an article entitled “Turning Ideas Into Stories” with Susan Uhlig http://www.institutechildrenslit.com/rx/tr01/susanuhlig2010.shtml
   
• I also subscribe to two newsletters, one print http://www.childrenswriter.com/ , and one online (free) http://www.institutechildrenslit.com/rx/ws01/webnews.shtml . These alert me to market news and highlights of a fantastic blog, Writer’s First Aid, written by a children’s writer but relevant to all writers. http://institutechildrenslit.net/Writers-First-Aid-blog/
   
• Evelyn Christenson provides an ezine of up-to-date markets for children’s magazines, especially educational material. http://evelynchristensen.com/mags.html
   
• Freebie articles at the online library of Cricket Magazine help me to see samples of excellent fiction and non-fiction from all their magazines. Here’s an example: http://www.cricketmag.com/ProductImages/articles/make-it-snow.pdf
   
• The Ebsco Masterfile Premier search at Calgary Public Library’s elibrary shows me what has recently been published at the major magazines such as Highlights for Children, and shows stories and articles from every year since 1993. http://www.calgarypubliclibrary.com/books-more/e-library
   
• When I want to find children’s books of a certain grade level or from a certain publisher, I go to Renaissance Learning’s Quiz Store www.renlearn.com and use the advanced search.

Now I must confess to a quirk that I have. I love how-to-write books written especially for children. Their fun, goofy, imaginative ideas for stories inspire me. For these writing prompts, I usually have to write down the whole story in one sitting, which forces me to plan the conflict and endings, which I have always found challenging. Here are a few of the ones I’ve collected:
      

I hope that as time goes on and I learn more, I will be the one that offers tons of helpful information for free!


Posted by Ramona
www.happilywriting.com