Last Day of ChaBooCha Lite! #ChaBooChaLite #ChaBooCha

Today is the last day of the ChaBooCha Lite challenge. How have you done? Have you reached your target? If your first draft complete? Let me know in the comments below.

And now, let's get to the prize winners:

  Winner of a copy of "Shakespeare: A book of Quotations" is Anita Banks.

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 Winner of a  "working" book cover, created by me, is saputnam.

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Winner of  a copy of "Write To Be Heard - Write Like You Talk: Help With Voice, Character, Dialogue... and more" by Aaron D. Gansky is Anita Banks.

Winner of Melissa Stoller's debut chapter book, "The Enchanted Snow Globe Collection: Return to Coney Island" is Melissa Gijsbers.

Congratulations to all the prize winners! E-mail me your mailing address and I will, eventually, get your prize sent out to you.

Get rid of your self-doubt and finish your book #ChaBooChaLite #ChaBooCha

One thing that every writer has in common is that we all go through periods of self-doubt. We wonder if we are good enough, if our stories are good enough, and often times we decide that we aren't and that they aren't. This defeatist attitude can keep many of us from ever finishing our stories. Some of us will finish our first drafts and then decide that our writing just isn't good enough and stop there.

But every writer, even many famous ones, is plagued by doubts. It's not just the obscure, never-read authors who doubt their abilities.

"It took me fifteen years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn’t give it up because by that time I was too famous." ~Robert Benchley 

"I have been successful probably because I have always realized that I knew nothing about writing and have merely tried to tell an interesting story entertainingly." ~Edgar Rice Burroughs 

“Is the time coming when I can endure to read my own writing in print without blushing—shivering and wishing to take cover?” ~Virginia Woolf 

"You have to resign yourself to the fact that you waste a lot of trees before you write anything you really like, and that's just the way it is." ~JK Rowling 

"Sometimes you have to go on when you don't feel like it, and sometimes you're doing good work when it feels like all you're managing is to shovel sh*t from a sitting position." ~Stephen King

And no book is ready to go out into the world by the first draft. It's what we do after that counts. We have to edit our books, sometimes revise large portions of them, and then get someone else, preferably a professional, to edit them some more. There is a massive amount of work that goes into a book after the first draft is written before it reaches publication.

So don't despair if you are doubting yourself and your ability to write. It really is all in your head.

Happy writing!

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Giveaway

Melissa Stoller has generously offered her debut chapter book, THE ENCHANTED SNOW GLOBE COLLECTION: RETURN TO CONEY ISLAND as a prize for one lucky person. If you are signed up for ChaBooChaLite and you comment on this post, you will be entered into the drawing for the prize. The winner will be chosen by a random number generator on September 30th.

Dialogue in Chapter Books by Melissa Stoller #ChaBooChaLite #ChaBooCha

DIALOGUE IN CHAPTER BOOKS

In chapter books, authors use a combination of dialogue and description to hook the reader and move the story forward. When writing dialogue in chapter books, several factors must be taken into consideration, including the style of language used, the goal of the writer to show action, humor and heart, and the objective of portraying readable dialogue.

When crafting dialogue in chapter books, the age of the reader, usually between four to nine, is important. The language should be easily understood although there can be challenging words as well. And the sentence structure should be relatively uncomplicated for this age group. The speech patterns of the characters should give the reader a clue about the characters’ personalities and goals. And the dialogue can show action in the story through the indication of body language and movement. Also, humor and heart can shine through solid dialogue, especially when the writer includes specific and interesting details.

To draft dialogue accurately, try some of the following tips. Place yourself in situations where you can observe children. Listen to your own children or grandchildren, or the kids of friends. Volunteer at a local school, library, or bookstore. Observe children on the playground or in restaurants. Notice what they are saying to each other and to those around them and take notes. Those snippets of conversations could fit right in to your next chapter book manuscript. Also, read current chapter books and consider how authors write the dialogue in their books. You can read the dialogue aloud to hear how it sounds and what the words convey. Finally, think like a child. Write the dialogue as a child would speak, not how an adult would converse. Keep the dialogue authentic, interesting, and easy to understand.

Here are three examples of snappy dialogue in recent chapter books:

Maddy McGuire, CEO: Pet Camp, By Emma Bland Smith, Illustrated by Lissie Marlin (ABDO Publishing, 2018)(this dialogue sets up the pet camp plot. Vivid details and movement help draw the reader in and make the idea believable).  

            “We can run a summer camp!”

            “You can’t run a camp. You’re not a grown-up.”

            “I could do it! Mom would help me.”

At least Maddy hoped she would.

            “Actually, that’s a pretty good idea,” said Drew. “School is almost over, so the timing is right. It could have a theme. Like coding!” Drew had been to a coding camp last summer.

            Maddy jumped up. “No, not coding. It has to be something I’m really into.”

            “Okay, then what?” asked Drew.

            She looked at her red horse notebook. She jingled the animal charms on her bracelet. She glanced at the stuffie basket. It overflowed with kittens, puppies, and rabbits.

            “Pet camp!” she shouted.

Warren & Dragon: 100 Friends, by Ariel Bernstein, Illustrated by Mike Malbrough (Puffin Books, 2018)(the personality of Dragon already shines, as he eats his marshmallow and huffs and puffs. Also, the heart of the story about friendship and the sibling relationship is evident even in this brief dialogue).

            “I don’t mind moving,” I say. And it’s true. I won’t have to listen to our neighbor Ms. Reilly call me “Warri-Boo” anymore.

            “That’s because you don’t have any friends.” Ellie says.

            “That’s not true!” I do not say it might be true. “Dragon is my friend.”

            “Dragon isn’t real.”

            “I am so offended,” Dragon says in between bites of marshmallow.

            Ellie shakes her head. She looks a lot like Mom when she does that.

            “You shouldn’t offend Dragon. He gets scary when he’s offended.”

            Dragon huffs and puffs as best he can.

Jasmine Toguchi: Mochi Queen, by Debbi Michiko Florence, pictures by Elizabet Vukovic (Farrar Straus Giroux Book for Young Readers, 2017) (this dialogue is written using age-appropriate language and vivid details, and the emotion of the younger sister will resonate with the reader).

            “I’m going to help make mochi,” I said to Sophie.

            She kept picking at her orange nails. “You’re too little. You’ll only get in the way.”

            “I’m big enough.” Yesterday I noticed I came up to Sophie’s chin. During the summer I came up to her shoulder. I was growing!

            “Just wait your turn,” she said.

            This year, Sophie would sit at the table in the backyard with Mom and all the other women. She would probably get to sit right next to Obaachan, our grandma who came from Japan every year for the holidays.

            “Stop pouting and finish cleaning,” Sophie said. “You’ll get your turn at mochi-tsuki when you’re ten.”

            I wished there was something I could do before her. Something she could never do.

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Enjoy writing dialogue during ChaBooChaLite 2018! Happy creating, and I look forward to reading the dialogue in your future chapter books!

  

Melissa Stoller is the author of the chapter book series The Enchanted Snow Globe Collection - Book One: Return to Coney Island and Book Two: The Liberty Bell Train Ride (Clear Fork Publishing, 2017 and 2019); and the picture books Scarlet’s Magic Paintbrush and Ready, Set, GOrilla! (Clear Fork, Fall 2018). She is also the co-author of The Parent-Child Book Club: Connecting With Your Kids Through Reading (HorizonLine Publishing, 2009). Melissa is a Regional Ambassador for The Chapter Book Challenge, an Assistant for the Children’s Book Academy, an Admin for The Debut Picture Book Study Group, and a volunteer with the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators/MetroNY. Melissa has worked as a lawyer, legal writing instructor, freelance writer and editor, and early childhood educator. She lives in New York City with her husband, three daughters, and one puppy. When not writing or reading, Melissa can be found exploring NYC with family and friends, traveling, and adding treasures to her collections.

CONNECT: 

www.MelissaStoller.com

http://www.facebook.com/MelissaStoller

http://www.twitter.com/melissastoller

http://www.instagram.com/Melissa_Stoller

http://www.pinterest.com/melissastoller                                            

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Give-away

Today's prize is a copy of Write To Be Heard - Write Like You Talk: Help With Voice, Character, Dialogue... and more by Aaron D. Gansky. If you are a signed up member of ChaBooCha Lite, the only thing you need to do to be entered to win this prize is comment on this blog post. Winner will be chosen by a random number generator on September 30th, 2018.

Half-way there! #ChabooCha #ChaBooChaLite

We are already halfway through the challenge. How is everyone doing? (Let me know in the comments, please.)

I know that many of you have struggled. There have been all sorts of weather events going on around the world, and if you happen to be near any of them, I'm sure it has made this challenge even more difficult as you focus has had to be elsewhere. Likewise, I know some of you have struggled with health issues, with family issues, with financial issues and with other distractions. I get it. Writing can be HARD.

So if you have stuck with us this far, I am truly impressed. It isn't easy for any of us, but getting those words down and our story written is worth it. I promise you, it will be worthwhile.

Just keep writing. Make a habit out of it.

image found on Pinterest here

Welcome to ChaBooCha Lite 2018! #ChaBooCha #ChaBooChaLite

Today is the first day of ChaBooCha Lite 2018!

ChaBooCha Lite is another chance to write an early reader, chapter book, middle grade book or YA novel within a month. The premise is the same as the premise of March's Chapter Book Challenge. (The Lite challenge will have less prizes and less guest blog posts.) You will still be trying to write your book during the 30 days of the month, but instead of running in March, ChaBooCha Lite runs in September.

It's also completely acceptable for you to finish a book previously begun or to edit one you have already written, as long as you complete the work in September.

It's another chance to challenge yourself, and to give yourself a deadline for writing your book. Want to join us? Sign up here.

If you'd like to add this year's ChaBooCha Lite badge to your website or blog, right-click the size of badge you'd like below and save it to your computer to add at your convenience.

Interview with author Neil Griffiths #ChaBooCha #ChaBooChaLite

Last March, I got in touch with Neil Griffiths, an author of multiple children's books who was doing school presentations in my area. He agreed to answer any questions members of ChaBooCha had for him, but we didn't complete the Q&A in time for the March challenge, so I decided, as the information was still useful, to post everything here during ChaBooCha Lite. 

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- How do you get into schools? What do you present, especially to different age groups & group sizes? 

I have spent the last 21 years working with schools, universities, colleges, libraries and family groups. At the very beginning I realised that to get well known you need to be prepared to travel and do long hours. So I covered all the UK to begin with and then began to travel worldwide.

I also made the decision in the early days to be me! By that I mean that I wanted to be as natural in my presentations as I could and base much of what I said on real experiences in my personal life and professional one too.

I also knew that I had to offer a unique experience during my sessions that no-one else offered.
So through long hours ( I am usually on the road by 4am!!) I gradually built up a reputation. I created a website but most of my bookings come from recommendations.

It has really helped that I was a headteacher (editor note: for those in the US, a headteacher is the equivalent of a school principal), giving me credibility with schools etc.

I have also been very flexible and versatile, being prepared to work with adults, children, teachers, parents, prisoners, in fact with any group who love children and want them to have a good start in life.

- Once you get your foot in the door, what do you send to the school in advance of the visit, so the children are prepared and excited about you coming?

Once I have been booked, I get a confirmation email and then send them one which outlines my visit and requirements. These are simple and easy to organise. I invoice after the visit.

- Freebies and activity sheets? How do you get students involved in the presentation? How do you keep students engaged? How is presenting a chapter book different from picture books? Do you read a chapter? And then do an activity? 

When in settings, I do interactive storytelling with ages 3 to 11 and offer training for parents on developing a love of reading and to professionals on how to support reading for life. The skill is to be able to quickly adapt a story for all ages and my techniques as a trained teacher of 40 years makes this much easier.

When working with children, I rarely read word for word from the book. I perform them and use puppets and props and get the children to play some of the characters for me. Then I have whole school activities as part of the role-play.

When presenting my chapter books I take part of the story and role-play that. The art of getting children interested is in the skill of the presenter. You must know how children tick, understand their humour and get down to their level. It is all about dramatic presentation that allows you to create wild moments and then quiet calm moments and that takes years to get right. I do not give out handouts or freebies.

- Tips on getting book sales? What are your best marketing strategies?

Marketing books is notoriously difficult. My advantage is that almost every day I am in a setting or at a conference so I have a captive audience.

I never pay for advertising as it is rarely effective and very expensive. I have a great website and really present my books well on the road  with an attractive stand that has front covers of all the books.

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Neil Griffiths was a Primary School headteacher for 13 years before taking on the role of director of a National Literacy Project for the Basic Skills Agency. This agency believed in Neil’s highly original Storysack idea and allowed him to promote it to schools and communities throughout the UK. After six years, Neil began to devote all of his energies to the project and set up what is now the worldwide, highly acclaimed, and award-winning Storysack® phenomenon.

Many publishers and institutions have asked Neil to contribute his wealth of experience to their projects over the years – his knowledge of learning, his gift of story, his passion for teaching, and his love of children – helping them to produce prized resources and to achieve success in the highly competitive educational market. He has created award-winning play resources, written a nursery curriculum, a best-selling resource book on creative play for Nelson Thornes Publishers, and imaginative material for the Early Learning Centre. He has developed a scheme for supporting English as an additional language for Harcourt Publishing and has consulted for a highly successful toy manufacturer.

Neil also finds time to write his own children’s picture books, published exclusively by Red Robin Books. They feature strong storylines, memorable characters, enchanting language, and arresting illustrations. They charm children and have sold in the thousands. Neil loves to tell a story and a story time with him is a rare and highly entertaining event as he magically draws his audience into his storyworlds.

Neil is also available for inspirational training worldwide. He is known internationally for his unique delivery, exceptional energy, and his rare storytelling gift.

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Give-away

On September 30th, one person's name will be drawn to win this Novel Under Construction writing journal. All you need to do is comment on this blog post by September 29th. You have to be signed up for ChaBooCha Lite in order to be eligible for this prize.

  

ChaBooCha Lite 2017 #ChaBooCha #ChaBooChaLite

Today is the first day of ChaBooCha Lite 2017!

ChaBooCha Lite is another chance to write an early reader, chapter book, middle grade book or YA novel within a month. The premise is the same as the premise of March's Chapter Book Challenge. (The Lite challenge will have less prizes and less guest blog posts.) You will still be trying to write your book during the 30 days of the month, but instead of running in March, ChaBooCha Lite runs in September.

It's also completely acceptable for you to finish a book previously begun or to edit one you have already written, as long as you complete the work in September.

It's another chance to challenge yourself, and to give yourself a deadline for writing your book. Want to join us? Sign up here.

If you'd like to add this year's ChaBooCha Lite badge to your website or blog, right-click the shape of badge you'd like below and save it to your computer to add at your convenience.

Final Day of ChaBooCha Lite 2016! #ChaBooChaLite

Today is the final day of the ChaBoocha Lite challenge. And this means I now get to announce the winners of all of the prizes from the challenge! Yay!

So read below to see if you won one of the prizes:

Prizes:

• The winner of the homemade charm bookmark is:  Cecilia Clark
• The winner of the custom designed book cover is:  saputnam 
• The winner of the $5 (USD) Amazon gift certificate is:  Ashley Willoughby
• The winner of the interior formatting for paperback books and Kindle books on Amazon and Createspace is:  Melissa Stoller

Contact me either through Facebook or through my e-mail within two weeks in order to claim your prize.

Week Four! Final days of #ChaBooChaLite

Today, we've hit the four week mark in our writing during ChaBooCha Lite. Are you almost finished writing the first draft of your story?

If you are almost done, yay! Great going! Keep it up!

If you feel like you are not anywhere close to where you need to be right now, keep at it! You will never know how far you can get unless you keep trying!

Besides, completing the challenge is only one measure of success. If you've been able to fully flesh-out your plot, your characters, or your background for the story, those are all different measures of success and more than you might have had when you began the challenge. If you managed to write a chapter or two, or even just a few paragraphs, if it's more than you had when you began, I'd call it a success!

Give-away

Today's prize is another one I can make. I do interior formatting for paperback books and Kindle books on Amazon and Createspace. I'm offering one person a prize of interior formatting for their story. (If the story is not your complete novel but rather just a short story that you want to put up on Amazon to give people a taste of your writing, then I will include a cover image for your story as well.)

Today is too close to the final day of the challenge to require anyone to comment in order to be entered to win a prize, so what I've decided is that everyone who is signed up for ChaBooCha Lite will be entered into the drawing for today's prize.

Week Three! Almost there! #ChaBooChaLite #ChaBooCha

We have now entered the third week of the challenge. There are only nine days left to go! I hope everyone is busy writing!

If you're struggling with your story right now, there are some ways to help reignite your muse. Maybe taking a look back at our previous post "Getting through the middle of your story" will help.

What kind of story are you writing? I'm always curious about what genre each of us chooses for our individual stories. My chapter book and middle grade stories tend to fall in the paranormal and fantasy genres, with my YA skewing, more specifically, towards urban fantasy most often. But I know we have a wide variety of authors in this challenge (with almost 400 members at the moment), and this means there will be a wide variety of story genres represented within our challenge.

That's just one of the questions an agent will want to know, if you are going to send your book out into the world in the hopes that someone in the publishing industry will fall in love with it. Some other questions will be: What age are you aiming at for your story? Is it a chapter book, a middle grade book or a YA novel? What about comparable books; is there a book out there that you would be willing to say your book can compare with? (The question about a comparable book is my least favourite question to try and answer, because, of course, all of our stories are unique. Right? And yet, still, a publisher will want to know the answer to this question.)

You are getting close to the completion of your book. These, and other questions will be things to start thinking about when you are done.

Comment below to be entered into a drawing for a $5 (USD) Amazon gift certificate. (Signed-up members only.) The drawing will be done on the last day of the challenge (September 30th, 2016).

The Second Week #ChaBooChaLite #ChaBooCha

We've already reached the second week of the Lite challenge. How are you all doing with your stories?

The second week can often be difficult, because the first rush of the idea and your opening scene are done now and you have to start getting from one point in your story to the next. If you've outlined your story ahead of time, you might find this stage easier, but for those of you who, like me, create the story as you write it, you might find the writing comes to you a little bit more slowly now. You'll have to think about the story and where it is going before you write these next scenes.

Feel free to browse through previous posts here in the blog if you need some help or inspiration. ChaBooCha guest authors have covered a lot of topics during past challenges.

Give-away

And now for this week's prize:

Some of you might know that I, occasionally, create book covers: some for books I publish and some for clients. Here, you can see some examples of the covers I have created in the past. I am, by no means, the best at cover creation, but my covers do appeal to readers.

I'm offering, for this week's prize, to create a *book cover for one winner. You need to comment on this post to enter. The winner will be drawn by a random number generator drawn from signed-up members who comment below. The winner will be announced on September 30th.

*I work with photo-manipulation. My style might not be right for the book you are creating, but you are under no obligation, if you are the winner, to use the cover I create. I will do my best to come up with something that reflects the title and theme of your book. 

The First Week #ChaBooChaLite

The first week of writing for ChaBooCha Lite has passed. How is everyone doing?

There are a lot of places on-line to use if you would like to keep a ticker showing your progress as you write your story for the challenge.

Here's a link to one that you might find useful (as well as an example of how it will look):

Critique Circle meter builder





Let me know in the comments how you are doing and you will be entered into a drawing to be done at the end of the challenge for one of my homemade charm bookmarks. (An example of one of my homemade bookmarks is pictured below. The actual one made and sent out may use different charms.)

Welcome to ChaBooCha Lite 2016 #ChaBooChaLite

ChaBooCha Lite is another chance to write an early reader, chapter book, middle grade book or YA novel within a month. The premise is the same as the premise of March's Chapter Book Challenge. (The Lite challenge will have less prizes and less guest blog posts.) You will still be trying to write your book during the 30 days of the month, but instead of running in March, ChaBooCha Lite runs in September.

It's also completely acceptable for you to finish a book previously begun or to edit one you have already written, as long as you complete the work in September.

It's another chance to challenge yourself, and to give yourself a deadline for writing your book. Want to join us? Sign up here.

There will be some prizes during the challenge, mostly hand-made ones.

Grab a badge form below and feel free to share it on your blog or website! (Different sizes provided.)

ChaBooCha Lite Prizes!

With everything I've been working on, I seem to have forgotten to post the winners for the prizes during ChaBooCha Lite 2015!

I'm really sorry to be announcing these late, but here is the list of winners:

$5 Amazon US gift certificate:
Ashley
Kelly Vavala
Julia Stilchen

cat charm bookmark:
saputnam

ebook cover created by me  (using photo-manipulation). You can use it either for your ChaBooCha novel or for a short story or just for inspiration:
Beverley Baird
Ashley

Please contact me within the next two weeks to claim your prizes.

Last Day for ChaBooCha Lite Writing #ChaBooChaLite

Today is the last day for the challenge. How has everyone done?

For those of you who succeeded in writing their stories, well done! It's a wonderful accomplishment! Now you need to get down to the oh-so-important editing and revising part of creating your book.

For those of you who used this Lite challenge to edit or finish your previous book, again, well done! I hope to see your book on Amazon or in book stores someday soon!

For those of you who didn't complete your book, I'm still going to tell you, "Well done." You planned your book, and/or wrote some of it, That's more than you had before the month started, right?

The thing about these challenges, and the main purpose of them, is to get you to sit down and spend time on your story. It's important that you get your story out into the world, because someone somewhere is going to love it.

I hope you enjoyed this "light" version of the challenge and managed to spend some time on your book this month.

So, tell me in the comments how you did this month.

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Everyone signed up for this challenge will be entered into a drawing for a $5 (USD) Amazon gift card. All the drawings will be done tomorrow, so check back late tomorrow and see if you won anything this month.

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Also Friday, we will be posting the possible covers to choose from for Teapot Tales: Volume 3, so please come back and vote on your favourite. If you would like to submit a cover for the anthology, please send it by 9:00am tomorrow morning (GMT).

We are still accepting story submissions and art submissions for the anthology through this weekend.

Perfection Isn't Necessary: Why Your Story Needs to Be Published #ChaBooChaLite

My daughter's book: Dark Unicorn

I have a confession to make. I have written over six full length novels, but only the first drafts. I have written over 36 picture books, completing the revisions and editing on six of them already, but have never sent any of them out to publishers. I have written three full first drafts of chapter books, but not completed the editing on them (and I'm writing another one now).

Why am I continuing to write without continuing to edit and revise? Why am I not sending out anything to publishers or self-publishing my novels? What is holding me back?

Perfection is what holds me back, or, more accurately, the desire to attain perfection. I am so worried about my stories not being good enough that I play it safe. If I never put my stories out there, no one can ever tell me how badly written they think they are, right? It's a fear that keeps me from finishing them; it keeps me from ever putting my work out there for the world to read and judge.

I admit that I do have short stories out in several anthologies, some published by my own indie publishing company and some by others. But I think what makes it easier is that I know that whether or not someone likes a story is, in part, subjective. And in an anthology, there are a lot of stories written not just by me but by others as well. A reader will like some stories more than others and that's okay. That's normal. So I feel like I'm achieving something with my writing without having to fully put myself out there.

Why am I confessing this now? Because I think, if some of you are finding yourselves doing the same thing, then maybe finding out you are not the only ones might help. Also, I've recently given myself a kick up the pants to FINISH my editing and revising and to get some of my work published - on its own.

The kick up the pants that I needed has to do with the book I published for my nine year old daughter (she's ten now). It's called "Dark Unicorn," and, although it is a sweet story, for those of us who are used to looking at books critically, it is easy to tell that the story was written by a child. But the story is written for children, not for editors or parents or even other writers. And I published her book for her because I wanted her to have confidence in her writing, and I knew it was written well enough, with enough of a story, that children would enjoy it.

And you know what? They do.

Here's a recent post I made to my Facebook profile:

"There's a sweet little girl at Cameron's school who always wants to hold my hand when we're walking to the other children's school. Her grandma picks her up from school.
A couple of days ago, I gave her a copy of Isabella's book "Dark Unicorn." Her first words when she saw it were, "I LOVE unicorns!" 

Today, I ran into her and her grandma again. She immediately said, "I don't know where my book is!" Her grandma said, "Yes, you do. It's at home on the couch." 

Then her grandma told me how much she loves the book. It's become her favourite book and she's read it dozens of times already, carrying it around with her everywhere in the house. 

So this very sweet little girl then said, "It's TEN WHOLE CHAPTERS! And I read it all by myself!" 

I can't wait to tell Isabella. She will be so pleased to hear how much this little six year old loves her book."

My nine year old daughter's book is another child's FAVOURITE book! Even if that is the only child who finds this book the best story ever, that's enough. That's why we write.

Your story doesn't have to be perfect. It just has to touch someone's emotions or even just give them some momentary pleasure while they read it. In all honesty, you can write the world's best book, and it still won't be perfect. Perfection is an illusion. And, as long as you write the best book you are capable of writing, whether or not someone else will love your book is completely subjective; everyone's tastes differ.

But if you never get your story out there, if you keep it hidden in a drawer, unfinished, you will never reach anyone with your story. Somewhere there is one child, a little girl or a little boy, who is waiting for your book, who will love your book and carry it around with them and read it over and over just for the pleasure of it.

So don't just write your book - finish it!

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My other daughter's book, "Grabbed by the Shadows"

Today's prize is in keeping with today's topic. Comment on this post and your name will be put into a drawing. If you win, I will create an e-book cover for you. but there's a catch - it has to be an e-book cover for a short story you've written, something over 2,000 words. It doesn't have to be for children; it can be a short story for adults. And you have to be willing to publish your short story to Kindle through KDP. You can use the cover for your story. (If you don't know how to publish through KDP, we can chat and I'll show you how.)

Getting through the middle of your story #ChaBooChaLite

By now, you might be reaching the middle of your book. This is where, if you let it, your story might begin to sag. But there are ways to avoid writing a saggy middle to your story.

1. Use your outline. Not knowing how to get from the beginning of your story to the end can cause many authors to flounder in the middle, but that is why you are supposed to have written an outline, with a synopsis for each chapter. The outline should tell you what you need to achieve in these middle chapters and give you direction.

2. View each chapter as a scene. If this scene were a short story, how would it begin and how would it end? What can you do to keep your readers interest all the way through? Giving your story the same focus on each chapter as you would for a new scene or a short story will help you keep it interesting for your readers.

3. Increase the stakes. If the stakes go up in the middle of the story, your readers interest will remain hooked. Maybe your protagonist now has even more to lose if she doesn't overcome her problem, or something happens to make overcoming the problem less likely.

4. Introduce a new character. This won't work for every storyline, but if the character can fit in within the context of the plot, sometimes this can cause renewed interest by readers, especially if this new person is a mystery, causes a new conflict, increases the conflict in some way or provides some much needed advice for the protagonist. Don't just throw any new character into the story. He has to be integral to the plot and cause a change in some way.

5. Work on your subplot and use it to increase the tension in the main plot. Tie the subplot into the main plot. Spend some time developing it, while subtly increasing the tension of the main plot.

6. Create a setback. Maybe your character has almost overcome the obstacles by now, but you are only half-way through the book. You will need a setback to keep form ending your story early and so that the story can start moving forward again.

7. Use your characters' interactions with each other to move the story forward.Dialogue between characters, even the unspoken body language between them, can create tension and pull the reader in closer.

8. Ask a question. If your story gets to the middle and, instead of answers, your protagonist now has even more questions, readers will continue to read because they want to find out what the answers to those questions are. This also increases the tension in the story.

9. Reveal a secret. Is there something about your protagonist or antagonist that your readers don't know yet? Use the middle of the story to reveal it.

10. Create a twist. Has your story been leading your readers to a false conclusion? Perhaps the middle of the story is a good time to reveal that. As long as it isn't giving away the end of your story, creating a twist can be a good way to keep your story's middle strong.

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Every signed-up member who comments on this post will be entered into a prize drawing for a $5 USD gift certificate from Amazon.com. The drawing will be done at the end of this month. Winners of all prizes will be announced in a blog post and will have two weeks from the announcement to claim their prizes.

Writer's Block or Procrastination? by Jarm Del Boccio #ChaBooChaLite

I've been struggling these past few months. Struggling to put words on paper. Is that you, too?

Funny thing is, I have no problems with posts on Facebook. They flow like water. So, what's the deal?

What I thought was writer's block is probably better named as procrastination. I know I need to write, but what do I do instead?

- The laundry (I have nothing to wear. . .)
- Dishes (really?)
- Bake (it's an escape)
- Mend clothes (I hate looking at the growing pile)
- Purchase mentor texts on Amazon
- Continue one of my writer's courses
- Submit a manuscript.

I tell myself that these things really do need to get done. And, c'mon, the last three apply to writing. Am I not correct?

Correct, but Wrong. Huh?

The point is, I'm NOT WRITING.

So, I figure I need some motivation. Right now, being part of ChaBooCha is the BEST thing to get me going. Challenges ALWAYS get me going. I wouldn't have much written if I didn't accept the challenges:

PiBoIdMo
12x12 
Wow: NonFicPic/Week of Writing

And the list could go on. Some months, I go from one challenge to another. My manuscripts are nothing to write home about, but hey, I have something on paper to edit when the time comes.

But, as I push ahead, I have found a few other resources to entice and inspire me. Even when I am not writing. Even when it's true writer's block, and not procrastination. Maybe these will help you, too:

A Writer's Guide to Persistence by Jordan Rosenfeld (good help with focus for the writing life)

Second Sight: An Editor's Talks on Writing, Revising & Publishing Books for Children and Young Adults by Cheryl B. Klein (she's given me super editing and revising hints when I’m stuck with character and plot)

Children's Book-A-Day Almanac by Anita Silvey (helpful for story ideas)

The Sound of Paper by Julia Cameron (great for motivation)

Award-winning author Candace Fleming  (I consider her a friend) has advice for getting 'unstuck':

- Write one to three pages of anything on your mind. It could be thoughts on your manuscript, or just fleshing out the events of the day. Julia Cameron calls them "morning pages" because they are written first thing in the morning to get you writing.

- Any time you get stuck as you are writing a story, whether it's with a name, location, descriptive word, etc, just fill the space with a "—", and decide what to use later. Then your writing will not come to a halt, as it has for me many times!

Here’s help from Writer’s Digest: A 12 Day Plan of Simple Writing Exercises

The Character Traits Thesaurus is a helpful tool when you are stuck with ideas. Check it out HERE.

Don’t know how to begin a story? This blogpost gives you some ideas.

Ever thought of writing a Fractured Fairytale? Tara Lazar shows you how. Her how-to video is a riot!

Now that I'm an empty nester, I find I have more time to write, but less self-control. As I've mentioned above, I find tons of things to do instead of writing. So, I schedule myself. I carve out a piece of the day that is totally free, and I concentrate on writing or revising. I also take time to read books on writing, look for agents or publishers to submit to, or take a class online. At one point, I thought of choosing one writing 'task' each day. For instance, Monday would be my submission day, Tuesday, revision day, Wednesday . . .well, you get my meaning. But so far, that hasn't worked.

A good app that reminds me of my tasks for the day/week/month is Any.do. They have updated it, and I highly recommend it for reminding yourself of the contest or pitchfest you are going to take part in, or any other writerly tasks you need to accomplish. Make sure you include the name and location of the event as well, so you can find the details when you need them. The app is available for laptops, iPhones and iPads.

Julie Cameron also suggested 'Walks' and 'Artist's Dates' with yourself. Go for a walk in the neighborhood. Or choose a safe forest preserve or park on your way to the shopping mall. And take yourself out on a date to a museum, unexplored neighborhood, or bookshop that is new to you. You'd be amazed at how refreshed and more creative you feel!

If all of the above fails, just sit yourself down in a quiet, distraction free place, open your notebook  or computer program/app of your choice and WRITE!

About:

-  Your favorite childhood experience
- Your worst childhood experience
- A day in the life of your dog/cat or other pet
- Your life on a deserted island: what would you take?
- If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be, and why?
- If you could make up any world, what would it be like?
- Pick a color and write about what it means to you. What word pictures does it bring to mind?
- If you have a list of titles/ideas for a picture/chapter book, pick one and just start writing.
- Get your thinking cap on and write a pitch or jacket flap text for a WIP. It's amazing how that assignment will clarify the plot and characters of your story.

Well, I hope I have given you some ideas to jump start your writing and get the creative juices flowing. So. . .WRITE ON!!

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Jarm (‘J’ pronounced as a 'Y') Del Boccio has come to the writing world later in life. After home educating her two teens, and now living in an (almost) empty nest, she is ready to get down to business in earnest. Jarm has written over 30 PBs, two chapter books, (with an MG novel in progress) but only a half-dozen or so are polished and ready to submit. As she focuses on Biblical fiction and real life stories, Jarm's passion is to make Scripture and history come alive for her readers. Although she is not represented at this time, she trusts it will become a reality soon, along with her first book contract! Each year she moves closer to her goal. In the meantime, Jarm has published articles in "Thriving Family", "The Old Schoolhouse" and online in "A Mother's Heart" magazine.

Jarm finds her inspiration in everyday life, but in particular, when she travels the globe, observing the quirky things that happen along the way. You can learn about those experiences in her blog, Making the Write Connections, or connect with her on Twitter, Goodreads or Pinterest. Jarm is content with the journey God has placed her on, and lives with her husband and son and daughter (when they are not at college), and two Ragdoll cats in a tree-lined suburb of Chicago.

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If you are a signed-up member of this challenge, comment on this post and at the end of the month, you will be entered into a drawing. The winner will get a ebook cover created by Rebecca Fyfe  (using photo-manipulation). You can use it either for your ChaBooCha novel or for a short story.