It’s time for PETITE REVIMO! So that means that it’s time to break out those manuscript drafts that you’ve written and look for that diamond in the rough! We all know that revising can be a daunting task, but if you revise using the proper tools, it can be less so.

The team at KidLit411 has some tools to make your revision task a little easier.

First, check out our page on Revisions, which gives great links to self-editing and revision articles and checklists.

Do you have a manuscript that needs non fiction research? KidLit411 has a section that has everything that you may need regarding your nonfiction revisions, with one simple click. Try here.

Are you revising a picture book manuscript? We’re sure you have plenty of ideas from Tara Lazar’s PiBoIdMo! Any resource you may need from picture book word count to help with formatting your manuscript before submission can be found here.

But what if you’re revising that novel you started during NanoWriMo? We’ve got lots of resources that you can use for your Middle Grade novel right here. (Don’t forget to check out our YA and NA pages, too!)

Make sure you find critique partners to look over your work and give additional revision notes. We have a page on Critique Groups and a Facebook page where you can connect with other writers looking to swap manuscripts, our Kidlit 411 Manuscript Swap.

The bottom line is- don’t revise alone! Let’s gather in the ReviMo Facebook group for revision support and guidance and also head on over to KidLit411 for resource help!

Happy Revising!

The KidLit411 Team

Thank you so much Elaine! 

More about the Kidlit411 Team: 

KIDLIT411 founder, ELAINE KIELY KEARNS is currently chasing the dream as a published author. Armed with a master's degree in Education and working from her home office, she spends her time perusing the internet for golden nuggets of information about children's writing and creating her own picture book and middle grade stories.

SYLVIA LIU is the other half of KIDLIT411, keeping the site running, adding links, and overseeing the illustrations and ILLUSTRATOR SPOTLIGHT. She is a writer and illustrator. She is the winner of the 2013 LEE AND LOW NEW VOICES AWARD and her winning manuscript, A MORNING WITH GONG GONG, will be published as a picture book. 

Petite ReviMo October - Revising through Research

by Carrie Charley Brown

Revision. When it boils down to it, we all have slightly different approaches to revising our crappy drafts. Sure, there are common threads…all the components that go into good writing. There are tons of awesome checklists and resources for revision that certainly make our task a bit easier. (Here’s a new favorite of mine developed by Elizabeth and Gregory Cowan.) But, none of that matters if we don’t have a stand-out concept with emotional resonance. I’m sure you’re wondering: How can I revise that?

LET RESEARCH LEAD YOU

Your research can lead you down many different avenues. I’d like to cover three of them today.

Picture Books with Similar Concepts or Themes

Identify what is at the heart of your book, and look for similar themes and concepts at the library. What are you writing about? Perhaps your story has the theme of overcoming fears. What kind are they? Are they specific to starting school, meeting new people, or interacting with dogs? While looking up subject titles on Goodreads and Amazon is a great start, you will want to delve into them more. Bring them home and get to know them. Analyze plot, concept, theme, structure, character, and voice. What works for these books? What doesn’t? How is your manuscript different? What makes the books stand out? How can you make yours differ even more? How can you mix it all up and create something that has not been done yet?

Picture Books with 5 Star Concepts

These are books that may not have the same theme as your manuscript. They are simply books that you immediately think: “This idea is so unique!” or “There is nothing else like this out there!”

Analyze the concept in depth:
What about it do kids relate to? What makes it different than anything else out there? Does it remind you of another story? If so, how did the author create something unique? How does the author use voice to enhance the concept? Does the main character drive this story in a unique way? How did you personally relate to this main character? Apply what you learn to your own manuscript.

Picture Books that Speak from the Same Point of View (POV)

When analyzing this category, it is important that you first know the point of view basics. Ann Whitford Paul covers this well in, WRITING PICTURE BOOKS: A HANDS ON GUIDE FROM STORY CREATION TO PUBLICATION. If you have not read this book yet, it is a must. Even if you have, Chapters 3-5 would be an important revisit during your revision experiments.

From which POV did you write your story? Third Person Narrative Voice, First Person, Second Person? Furthermore, which voice and tense did you use?

Now look at some of your favorite picture books. Even better, look at your current favorites. What works in today’s market is very different than what worked 10 years ago (and in many cases, even 3 years ago.) Which POV, voice, and tense do your favorites use? How can you use the “mentor text”, as Marcie Flinchum Atkins calls it, to help you with your current work in progress?

After analyzing your point of view, you may discover that you need to try writing it from a new POV. Don’t let that drag you down! Revision is the ONLY thing that will lead you to your final draft. Happy revising!

Thank you so much Carrie! Love your take on this. :)

 

Carrie Charley Brown juggles ideas every day as a children’s writer, teacher, blogger, and mom. She believes success is possible with the next best idea. She is constantly researching by reading TONS of picture books, and currently serves as a CYBILS Fiction Picture Book Panelist. You can learn more about Carrie, and many other amazing authors, on her website: Carrie On…Together!, or follow her on Twitter and You Tube.

Petite ReviMo September!

Thank you for joining us for Petite ReviMo September! We are going with an oldie, but goodie, the Choose Your Own Revision Adventure from our ReviMo Classroom Style 2014.

These are the wonderful tips all our ReviMo Classroom Style guests gave us! Some of you joined us for ReviMo Classroom, but some of you haven't seen this yet, either way, I hope these tips light a revision fire for you!

 

Also, I'm curious, do you find yourself pantstering or plotting these days? I used to be more  of a pantster, but have become more of a plotter.... Verrrry curious. Let me hear it! And thanks for joining us revising!

ReviMo 2015!!!!

First off, I'm pleased to announce the ReviMo 2015 - Revise More Picture Books Week will be January 11th-17th! Guest bloggers, prizes and more details to be announced later!

ReviMo History: Summer 2013, I had a rough draft file FULL of (poopy) stories. I was writing (poopy) drafts and revising each month with Julie Hedlund's 12x12 Picture Book Challenge. I'd written 7 (poopy, noticing a trend here? :D ) drafts in 7 days with Paula Yoo's NaPiBoWriWee  I was gearing up for Tara Lazar's PiBoIdMo, when I had a thought; someone needs to do a revision challenge. My next thought was, why not me? And so ReviMo was born...

This year I'm hoping that ReviMo will be just as inspiring and exciting, but I'm going to work smarter not harder as I seem to have less time, all the time. I think we all know how THAT goes!

I've been so blessed in my writing journey. I've met a lot of supportive, kind and generous souls along the way. Thanks kid lit peeps!

Good stuff coming up:
Tara Lazar's PiBoIdMo, Picture Book Idea Month (coming up in November!)
AND ChaBooCha Lite, Chapter Book Challenge starting TODAY! Best of luck ChaBoCha'ers!

Hope you'll join us for ReviMo!

Writing Process Blog Tour

Two weeks ago (sorry I'm so pokey, Penny!) I was tagged by Penny Parker Klostermann for the Writing Process Blog Tour. Penny writes picture books and poetry for children. She was named runner-up for the Barbara Karlin Grant in 2012 with my story, MARS NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS. My debut book, THERE WAS AN OLD DRAGON, is coming from Random House Children’s Fall 2015. THERE WAS AN OLD DRAGON is the tale of a ravenous dragon who swallows more than his belly can hold. Penny is a very sweet lady who hugs her favorite picture books.

Participating in the Writing Process Blog Tour means answering four questions and then tagging fellow writers who will join the tour. Here are the four questions and my answers.

1. What am I working on? I have several manuscripts in the works, but my favorite is a fairy tale that critique mates and a professional editor have said is lyrical, lovely and that it stuck with them after they read it. Pretty big kudos in my opinion! I'm excited to polish it and research where to submit it!

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre? Hmm, that's a tough question! As a writer trying to get published it is key to write something fresh and new. This is something I strive to do. How do I do it? I listen to the funny things my kids say, I watch the world around me for fresh and funny things and I let my imagination run amok. Hopefully this will make my stories stand out from the crowd

3. Why do I write what I do? In elementary school art class we wrote a fable, drew the illustrations and made it into a book. Mine was about how the dog got his tail. I LOVED it! And proceeded to write a series of tiny books about mice families. Ever since I have loved writing and drawing and have dreamed of being an author. Right now I'm focused on writing picture books, but I have some middle grade and young adult novel ideas swimming around in my head (and written in various notebooks!).

4. How does your writing process work? I am not always in the mood to write, but if I am, I'll mull over a story until something clicks and then I either write out a draft on paper or type it up on the computer. Or if I have a story I love that isn't working I mull that over until I find a fix. If my creative juices aren't flowing, I can sometimes jump start them. Typically typing up the text of a favorite picture book is a surefire way to get my brain going and then I'm off. Sometimes typing up a favorite picture book inspires revisions on a story, sometimes it gives me a whole new idea. My kids (Speed, 2 years old and Peep, 4 years old) say a lot of funny and interesting things that sometimes turn into a picture book. 

To jumpstart revisions I ask questions that come from Ann Whitford Paul's book
Writing Picture Books: A Hands-On Guide from Story Creation to Publication. Right now I'm studying Linda Ashman's book, The Nuts and Bolts Guide to Writing Picture Books
and that fuels my revisions too! 

There are also two sites that I use for critiques for others and also for my own stories: 
Picture Book Critique Questions from Writing on the Sidewalk and
 How to Critique a Picture book from ebooks4writers

I won't be tagging anyone, so I'll list some more helpful kidlit links. Here you go!

Great picture book writing class, Susanna Leonard Hill's Making Picture Book Magic

Julie Hedlund's 12x12, awesome picture book writing community

Highlights Foundation Workshops and Retreats - The most amazing writing workshop experience!

Fun writing challenges:

My very own ReviMo - Revise More Picture Books, revise crappy drafts every day for one week.

PiBoIdMo - Picture Book Idea Month, write down 30 picture book ideas in 30 days.

NaPiBoWriWee - National Picture Book Writing Week, write 7 drafts in 7 days.

RhyPiBoMo - Rhyming Picture Book Month.