"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them."
~ Mark Twain

My apologies. I've been travelling a bit this summer and I've not gotten any newsletters out. Sorry. Here's what's been going on at Writing for Children at BellaOnline.com.

Tense Issues
Basics stuff. Examples of different tenses.

Plot ~ Conflict
We need to have some quiet times between the car chases. Some times of normalcy. Otherwise the car chases feel normal and nothing feels exciting.

Plot ~ Internal Conflict
By the time the teen shows up to school with his machine gun, the tension in his mind has already played out. He's already talked down the angel on his right shoulder and thrown in his lot with the devil on his left.

Passive Voice Defined
There are editors who will skim the first few pages of a manuscript and throw it aside if they see the passive voice because they believe the writer who uses the passive voice must be a novice. So it's important to learn what the passive voice is and how to avoid it.

When to Use Passive Voice in Fiction
Is it ever right to use the passive voice? Yes. There are several times when the use of passive voice actually speeds up the narrative.

SCBWI LA Notes ~ Arthur Levine
Picture books aren't dead. Arthur Levine dispels the myth.

SCBWI LA ~ Who's Acquiring?
It's risky for a publisher to pick up a new author. So what's a new author to do? One thing we can do is look for the editor or agent who is just starting out.

Please visit Writing for Children for more tips, articles, links, and discussion on how to write and publish for children.

Don’t forget—if you have questions or comments you are welcome at the community forum or, if you'd rather, you may always reply to this newsletter.

Feel free to pass this along to family and friends who are also interested in writing for children.

Thanks so much!

Sally Apokedak,
Writing for Children Editor

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