If you’re looking for a fun idea to get your child writing, try making a Zig Zag Book. It’s a great way to encourage beginners to have a go at writing. The format of the book is fun and quirky and let’s them do lots of drawings, adding in a little writing too.   . . . → Read More: Ideas for children’s writing The post Ideas for children’s ...

I hear it often, and you do too. Winter Break (Christmas Break) approaches, and community members begin to envy the two weeks away from school that teachers have and the comments begin. “It must be nice to have two weeks off.” “What will you do with all of your free time?” “Must be nice to get paid and not have to work.” These comments ...

‘No! Don’t talk to me Mummy. Send me a letter!’ Our house has been transformed this week with the creation of a pretend play post office. Children who used to run off into the garden at the sight of a pencil and piece of paper are getting up early to check their mail and write replies. Everyone . . . → Read More: Pretend play post office

http://www222.pair.com/sjohn/blueroom/plots.htm A GREAT site with lists of plot ideas. http://svenjaliv.blogspot.com/2011/10/word-count-trackers-for-nanowrimo-2011.html Awesome word count trackers. These are great not just for nano, but for writing in general if you want to make something out of it. An EXCELLENT way to make yourself be ...

Trying to find time to write can sometimes be tricky. There’s always something I could be doing, or often I feel like I should be doing. But worse than that is the distractions when I sit down to write something. I end up wanting to check my facebook for the umpteenth time, refresh my blog reader, or surf on pinterest. I’m hanging out on ...

I, along with a plethora of others, am subjecting myself to the punishment, I mean loveliness, that is NANOWRIMO! Spit out a 50,000 word novel in a month? NO PROBLEM! But this isn’t so much about nano as it is about writing in general. Never have I had so many people to talk with about writing, to encourage, to whine. I love it! I love the ...

A great site explaining some of the more outrageous differences between Switzerland and the States: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~terry/english/surprising.switzerland.html My favorite part is the rules about naming your kid. Although there isn’t a list of names, per se, you cannot name your kid anything that would be offensive, not actually a name, ...

I’ve been reading a lot about staying motivated to keep writing. Some people suggest the every day method. Some people suggest the when you’re inspired, or not necessarily inspired, but giving yourself time to relax. Not forcing it. For me, writing is about time management. It’s hard to find time to write when you’re working or have other ...

I was attempting to post a comment to a blog about teen sexuality in Young Adult novels, but the comment wouldn’t post. So I’m putting it here instead. The original post can be found here: http://misssnarksfirstvictim.blogspot.com/2011/08/on-ya-and-teen-sexuality.html This is the third post I have seen in a week about Teen sexuality in YA so I ...

I’ve been looking at e-publishers. Romance has always been a passion of mine, and I know there are lots of romance e-publishers and the market has been exploding online, specifically for Romance novels. I was thinking that I should just put away the YA and start on a romance novel. Then I was looking at online publishers who needed ...