Non fiction writing

I am writing a non fiction book for 10 to 12 year olds. This is the first time I've undertaken such a project. Mostly I write cute short stories for 10 to 14 year olds. To my surprise, this non fiction project has given me much more material than what I realized. I am forced to take this project into a different direction. I will combine all of the information I've collected into several nice books, instead of trying to jam it all in one big book. From the one topic I am writing about, I have at least five different related subjects to explore. Hence, five new book posibilities which I will be following up on.

I happen to love the creative/fictional writing I do for my niche group but I feel just as good about the non fiction writing. The non fictional writing will make my work more diverse of course, and will give it a broader subject selection. I know I've blogged about non fiction writing in the past, as it was always an interest to me. But now I am finally officially doing the work needed to add a non fiction book to offer my niche group.

National Poetry Month

I am amazed at all of the different types of days, weeks, and months our government acknowledges every year. Last week, March 6-12th was read an e-book week, and National Read Day was on March 2nd. This month (has nothing to do with reading or writing) is National woman's month. All of us women should congratulate ourselves for the progress we've made in our society over the years, especially since we won the right to vote.

Now putting all of that aside, I want to talk a little about National Poetry Month, which is next month. I plan to give several readings from my new bookMotiovational Poems for Weight Loss, Spiritual Growth and Everyday Use. I have three readings scheduled so far...two at different libraries, and one at a college campous in my area. Since I live a large metropolitan area, there are several towns with libraries and colleges where I hope to be able to do poetry readings. Hopefully this will be another great opportunity for people to get to know me, in addition for me to get to sell a few more books.

Hope all of you poetry lovers out there also have plans to read your poetry to appreciative audiances. What better time to do this than National Poetry Month?

Help Stay on Task With A Writing challenge

So today is March 4th...almost a week is gone into this month already. Where does the time go? Since it goes by much faster than what we realize sometimes, I help myself to stay on track with my writing projects by using the old and faithful tool... goal setting.

To help me to keep my eyes on the prize and make even more progress with my projects, I am now giving myself writing challenges. Let's say my goal may be to complete a writing project this month. But the challenge itself is to commit to working on my writing project every day for a certain length of time. This will prevent me from getting side tracked, delaying my work, and falling behind.

Why don't you join me in my writing challenge? Simply commit to working on your writing project for a certain amount of time per day (In my case, it is for at least 3 hours) but blogging, time spent on face book, twitter, and etc obviously will not count.

I believe this challenge will truly help you to move further along with your writing aspirations and will help to keep you on top of your game plan.

Join me?

How You Can Use National Read Day to Get More Publicity

Since yesterday was national read day, I spent a couple of hours at my local library reading to a small group of children that frequent the library after school. I admit it; I had a lot of fun doing so. The interaction I had with them after each reading was especially enjoyable. As I looked into the faces of the young children during the reading and the discussion afterwards, I could not have been happier. They were engaged in the stories I read them and responded appropriately.

I wish I could say that I've done this sort of thing many times in the past, but unfortunately no, I can't. However, I'm not going to cry over spilled milk. I've made a decision to visit the libraty at least once a month or so, and not wait until national read day before I take a young group of children under my wing (as long as I am given permission to do so of course) Doing this, I will be giving a service to my neighbood and will get better known in my community. Hopefully they (both children and pareents) will look forward to my new books when published.

In case some of you did not know it, March 2nd is National Read Day. It is a time to spotlite the impotance of reading to children all across the USA. March 2nd was chosen because it is the birthday of Dr. Suess, who is the author of such popular books as The Cat in the Hat, and Green Eggs and Ham.

This is also a time you can introduce yourself to your community as well. Go to your library and get permission to read to a group of children (I'm asuming that you are writing for children) I found it to be fun and rewarding. And for your information, the month of April, is National Poetry Month. I already have poetry readings scheduled at four different libraries in near by communities. Perhaps you can make time to read some poetry during National Poetry Month also.

If you are interested, you can visit my website at, www.motivationalpoetry.webs.com and read excerpts from my new book Motivational Poetry Just copy and past the web address in your browser. Also you can read my short story of Cindy the Story Teller on my page at the author's den at; www.authorsden.com/carolynsands

How Do You FindYour Muse?

Are you pasionate about your writing career and the work you are doing? Having passion when developing your work means the difference in putting out mediorce work and excellent work. So obviously we will all work in matters that we care deeply about right? Or will we?

Al Yankovic. 'Weird Al' as he is fondly called, (I think because he is a master of parity) is most famous for doing a parity of Michael Jackson's Beat It along with other songs, tv shows, and movies. I heard his interview this past week end. Yankovic is very funny and is well respected in his field, and won serval Grammies for his work. However, he did a U turn in establishing his career.

While in college 'Weitd Al' started working on the college radio station and discoved he loved working for the radio station far better than his actual major. So he followed his passion and swiched his career. He said he took the advice of his father who who told him "The only true signs of success is being able to make a living at doing the things that make you truly happy" Hence, he followed his passion, AND is making a nice living for himself.

I loved hearing him talk about his new children's book called,When I Grow Up He wrote it in funny rhymes which worked out very well. The lesson he left me with, is one I want to convey to you. How do you find your muse? To do this, first we need to know what our passion is, and simply (or not) follow our passion. I believe if your passion is writing (which I strongly suspect it is) you will be very successful because your passion will lead you to learn and then act on the things necessary in order for you to make a living from it. As 'Weird Al' Yanckovic put it,"Follow your muse".

Please feel free to visit my website so you can read excepts from my new book Motivational Poems at www.motivationalpoetry.webs.com Also you may read my short story Cindy the Story Teller on my page at the author's den at www.authorsden.com/carolynsands

Four Tips For Writing Children's Educational Stories

I am writing a book about a character I previously introduced in another of my short stories, Cindy the Story Teller I suppose I enjoyed the character so much I decided to use her again in another short story. It also helped that I received a lot of positive fed back about the character of Cindy. Hopefully if this works out, I will continue to use her character in a series of short stories. Instead of telling fairy tails however, this time I am giving her stories of educational value. Hopefully younger children will learn something from Cindy's stories.

Since today is Saturday, I did a lot of my research. I have this routine I do on the week ends and research is one of them. This is not the first day I've done research for this project, but today I spent a lot of time on it. I dare not get anything wrong in writing this story. I'm pretty sure I now have enough research completed on my topic to be well on my way.

Helpful tips for writing an educational story for children.
1) Know your niche. Make sure the story is approprote for the age group you plan to write for. The niche I write for are children between the ages of 10 to 14. Therefore I am constantly looking at subjects that are of interest to them. I am also a poet and I use the same principle when I am writing poetry.
2) KISS..... Keep the facts straight and simple. Don't give too much information about the subject because you wouldn't want to lose your audience. Just make sure to write about all the important things concerning it in a simple lighthearted, yet factual way.
3) Research, research, and research some more....that goes with keeping your facts simple and straight. Good research helps you to keep your credibility and respect as an author.
4) Use illustrations as necessary. When writing an educational story for children, the illustrations are what helps to tell the story (as in other types of stories as well) They are colorful and draws more attention to the subject. So it is important to have good illustrations to go along with your important book.

Those are the important tips for writing an educational story for children. I hope I've been of some assistance to you.

If anyone is interested in reading Cindy the Story Teller, please visit my page on the author's den at: www.authorsden.com/carolynsands Also if you like poetry, go take a look at some of my work at: www.motivationalpoetry.webs.com

Thanks for your interest.

Allison Pearson's NPR Interview

I happened to have been listening to Fresh Air, on the national public radio station this afternoon when I was pleasantly surprised to hear Allison Person being interviewed. Just in case some of you don't know who Allison Pearson is, allow me the opportunity to introduce her to you. Allison Pearson is a British journalist who has received multiple awards in her field. She is also noted for her best selling book, I Don't Know How She Does it. The book was written in 2002, became a best seller, and was later made into a movie staring Sarah Jessica Parker. The story is about the everyday concerns of a working mother who is doing a balancing act between her work and her home life with her family.

She has a second book, I think I love you, which was written in 2010 and has gotten rave reviews. It tells a heart warming story of a teenage girl who is in love with David Cassity in the 1970s. Twenty years later she meets the man who was responsible for answering the letters for David Cassity.

I am impressed with Allison Pearson's creativity and writing skills. She is funny and believable. I am especially impressed after learning in the interview that she herself is a mother of two and wrote a lot of her material at 4 am while her children were safely sleeping in their beds. That takes sheer determination and dedication.

I don't believe you can have that kind of dedication without passion. In this case Passion is the difference between putting out great work, and just doing ok work. The lesson here is to stay passionate about your work. Take the extra steps to do what's required to put out that next great book.