Have you visited the For Parents Page lately? Me neither!

That is I hadn’t… not until I was put in charge of updating it’s content. And so with looming deadlines (and a couple cranky kids) I stole five minutes from my day, brewed a cup of tea and sat down for a visit.

I found lots to love on the For Parents Page.  And not much to add.  Here are a few of the highlights;

Turning kids into bookworms provides a list of seven great resource books to kickstart your child’s love of reading. I’m looking forward to checking out these titles and finding new resources to add to the list. Let us know if you have any good suggestions!

Start Reading, Keep Reading provides great tips for keeping bookworms hooked on books.  Also Creating a home library, encouraging your child’s school to host Reading and Arts Festivals, and Get ‘Plugged In’ as a Family… lots of  good ideas to keep reading fun! We’ll be looking to add more information on apps to ‘getting plugged in’ so again if you have any suggestions please feel free to comment.

With no time to spare, I browsed through the “quick links for parents” which was of course, not quick at all.  With so many great booklists and reading suggestions, I decided to pull them together into a page on Finding the Right Book.

Until now, my approach to finding the right book for my two ferocious readers has involved huge stacks of books and multiple visits to the library. But now that they are moving into middle grade books and  hoarding them in their room, this is not so practical. Hopefully, there is some information here that  will save us all some time (and library fines!)

So, take five minutes (or more) and your beverage of choice and head on over to the  For Parents Page.  I’m sure you’ll find something that makes you go hmmmm….. or Eureka!  And if you think of a topic you’d like added – please let us know!

Yolanda Ridge is the mother of twin boys who are both ferocious readers with radically different book preferences.  She is also the author of Trouble in the Trees (Orca Book Publishers, 2011) and Road Block (Orca Book Publishers, 2012).

Dorine White graduated from Brigham Young University with a BA in Humanities. She is a member of the SCBWI and the PNWA. She writes middle grade and YA fantasy and lives in the beautiful, but rainy Northwest with her husband and six children. You can find Dorine at her
Website- http://www.dorinewhite.com/ at her blog- The Write Path- http://www.dorinewhite.blogspot.com/ on Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/dorinewhite and on
Pinterest- http://pinterest.com/dorinewhite/boards/

Twelve year old Sara Guadalupe Bogus spends the last few days of summer anticipating middle school and helping her Grandma Dora around the house. Her ordinary life turns upside down when she discovers an emerald ring once belonging to Cleopatra. Touching the ring sends a lightening like zap through her system, while putting the ring upon her finger causes it to stick like glue.
Now strange things are happening to Sara. She has troubling visions, can understand animals and learns to transform herself into an Egyptain cat. However, the worst thing is the strange man that shows up in town. He is hunting for the emerald ring, and will not stop until he acquires it. With the ring stuck on her finger, Sara has no choice. She can be hunted, or become the hunter.

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I’ve loved writing ever since I can remember—I wrote poems and stories at home, and it was my favorite part of school (and not just because I usually received A+ on my writing assignments). When I started writing middle grade novels, I was surprised that my talents weren’t enough. I think I do a great job of coming up with ideas, and creating fun, vivid characters, but I didn’t realize that most writers have at least one area they have to work on way harder than the rest. For me, that was plot. I kind of masked my problem, because I was able to add tension to my manuscripts by always considering the worst thing that could happen to my characters…but that wasn’t enough to create a full, exciting arc that could propel readers through an entire novel. I’m always working on finding ways to improve my writing, and am thrilled to see how much stronger my plotting is now.

I’ve never been a fan of outlines, but I realized that just knowing the beginning, ending and some possibilities for the middle, plus character sketches, wasn’t enough. After studying plotting, I found a method that works great for me. It’s a Plot Clock, created by writing coach and mentor, Joyce Sweeney, and breaks the novel up into four acts, starting in the normal world, which prevents me from jumping into the middle of a situation before readers care about my characters.

When I first started writing children’s books, I had no idea how deeply I’d have to dive into revisions. I love seeing characters come alive and watching all the wonderful layers evolve through revision after revision. I don’t remember having to revise my stories when I was in school. We’d get an assignment, hand it in, get a grade…end of story. I’ve really been impressed with the way I see writing taught now—with children as young as elementary school receiving feedback and being asked to revise their writing. I can’t even imagine writing children’s books without receiving critiques—feedback from peers and professionals really can help your writing grow!

Here are some things I’ve learned that I hope will help you, too:

• Take a good look at your strengths and weaknesses. It’s important to know what they are, so you can really focus on them! If you’ve had writing critiqued, what types of comments are there? I used to hear that some of my earlier manuscripts seemed episodic…it took me a while to realize it was because my plotting wasn’t strong enough to propel readers through the entire story.
• Try to swap critiques with people whose strengths are your weaknesses.
• Critique often—it helps the person who wrote the manuscript or story, but it also helps you a lot, too. It’s easier to spot areas that can be strengthened when you critique the work of others…and in time, you become better at finding those areas in your own manuscripts.
• Read as many books as you can, and stretch past your favorite genre to explore other types of books, too. Once you know your weaknesses, you can search for books that master those aspects.
• Read your story out loud. It’s easier to find places that need streamlining, dialogue that doesn’t feel natural, and where you can improve the pacing. Reading out loud often feels different with an audience, so even if you’re alone, you can record yourself, or read to your pets.

Teachers and parents—I’d love to know what you’ve noticed about the strengths and weaknesses of your students or children, and what you do to help them become stronger writers. And to all the writers out there—what are your strengths and weaknesses, and how have you overcome your weaknesses?

Mindy Alyse Weiss writes humorous middle-grade novels and quirky picture books. She’s constantly inspired by her twelve and fifteen year-old daughters, an adventurous Bullmasador adopted from The Humane Society, and an adorable Beagle/Pointer pup who was rescued from the Everglades. Visit Mindy’s blog or Twitter to read more about her writing life, conference experiences, and writing tips.