Writing is hard. When I seriously started writing children's books I had no idea how far out of my comfort zone I'd be required reach. I'm still not where I want to be. I don't think I ever will be. I will play a level of Candy Crush over and over again until I get three stars. Of course I only play Candy Crush when I'm all done with everything on my to-do list.
Jon Bard, from Children's Book Insider, talks about using non-fiction writing to break into the publishing scene. It's a short video and worth watching.
Tara Lazaar, at Writing for Kids (While Raising Them), has a list of over 500 things kids like. It's a fantastic way (Thanks, Darshana for tuning me into it) to get your creative minds going:
And just for fun, here's a version of The Very Hungry Caterpillar performed by the kids (and grownups) at Kay International Preschool in Bonn, Germany.
Don't worry, it's in English and it's so stinking cute! I wish I could speak German just so I could say, "Die Kleine Raupe Nimmersatt." It just sounds cool.
Just a few links here. As mentioned in my previous post, I'm taking an online picture book writing class from Joyce Sweeney. She offers other online classes as well. You can check her information out at http://www.sweeneywritingcoach.com/. Katherine shared a link with me earlier for an online 2-hour course by Ann Cannon sponsored through Folio Academy. The course is $30 and covers dos and don'ts for writing picture books. You can see a trailer for the course at http://folioacademy.com/samplebc.html. And finally, for you illustrators out there, Will Terry has a YouTube channel with illustration tips and tricks. Find his channel here: http://www.youtube.com/user/willterryart
