Craft Articles
Join us in exploring others’ craft and building our own.
Here you will find explorations of mentor texts – articles that dive into specific craft elements in published books, interviews with authors, and tips on growing and improving as a writer.
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Erica George: It’s a Journey
Social media is really all smoke and mirrors, and every writer’s journey is going to look remarkably different. It can be debilitating for a newbie author to see what seem like huge deals or other authors being favored by their publishing houses. The goal, no matter what, is writing the best book you possibly can in order to connect with your readers. That’s what really matters.
Rebecca Weber: Writing Conflict, Chapter by Chapter
“I pay a lot of attention to conflict or stakes for driving the plot. Obviously, every book has an overarching conflict, but each chapter should have its own smaller conflict, too. Creating tinier tense moments throughout the book keeps the reader turning the pages.”
Deborah Underwood: Writing Dynamic Dialogue
“You can communicate so much using dialogue alone. Try telling your story in dialogue only and seeing what happens. Even if that doesn’t work for the final version, it might help you to find a character’s voice or learn something new about them.”
Sam Subity: Keep Writing!
“The inspiration for Valor Wings came from my daughter's nightstand. One day the two books on top were Anne of Green Gables and Wings of Fire. Just for fun, I started concocting some scenes that merged the two into a story about a great granddaughter of the famous Anne who led a squadron of dragon riders in World War 2. So my working title for Valor Wings for a long time was ‘Anne of Green Dragons.’”
Erin Becker: Go For It!
“I want to write books that make people feel good. I wrote Crushing It during the pandemic, during a difficult time in my life. Writing this story was like a warm hug and a reminder that sometimes, things do turn out okay.”
Learning from 2022 Picture Books That Soar High with Craft
Diverse group of authors highlight craft elements in their latest books that you can integrate into your own writing or illustrating.
Back Matter? I have to write Back Matter? Using Mentor Texts for Non-Fiction Picture Books
Non-fiction picture books vary so much, instead of just giving you an exhaustive list of possibilities, I’m going to give you something much better: the tools for YOU to figure out what you need. (And I’ll share what I’ve learned along the way.)
