It's hard not to constantly have your characters' hearts pounding, their breath catching.Even in middle-grade fiction.
But since sitting in on Becca Puglisi's workshop at our Florida SCBWI Miami conference in January, I've tried harder. I have her Crutch Words right over my computer. Those overused words we should try to replace.
A few of mine?
Breathe.
Smile.
Step.
Gaze.
Oh, and the was +ing verb thing-
(Sorry, Becca. That's the way Southerners talk! I tried to rid myself of a few "I was eating" and "He was hoping" beats. Not easy.)
Check out Becca's most helpful BLOG, HERE.
And this link to her book: EMOTION THESAURUS
One thing I loved most about this year's Miami Conference? Seeing friends I made last year and meeting writers for the first time, like Becca Puglisi and Donna Gephart.
(One of my favorite middle-grade novels, with the absolute most kid-appeal, is Donna's
OLIVIA BEAN TRIVIA QUEEN. )
Florida's a hotbed of kids' writers.
Maybe it's because of Joyce Sweeney, Mentor Extraordinaire?
(PS She's now teaching online workshops. Check them out HERE.)
Hi, Augusta! Thanks so much for the kind words. I'm always relieved to hear that a presentation went well. In my head it's always...you know. Brilliant, lol. I really appreciate the shout out. And Donna's awesome, isn't she?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words about Olivia Bean, Trivia Queen, Augusta.
ReplyDeleteOne of the highlights of the conference for me was meeting YOU!
I will check out her blog- thanks for the link. My crutch word is "look". My characters are always doing that TOO muCH!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, congrats again on the Crystal Kite Award. Did you know you were the talk of the SCBWI-Carolinas listserve last week? Everyone was commenting on your award!!
Thanks for the comments, all. And I think I deleted the link to the book so will add that back in!
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for the kind words, re: Crystal Kite. I'm still floating. And no I didn't know what you folks in the Carolinas were talking about but I appreciate it, Carol. That is, if you were saying nice things like your mamas taught you to do!
;)