Hello all, I'm so glad to have found this forum. I hit a crossroads in my life and really started looking at my career, interests and all those things that I told myself I would do "someday." I decided this year to start working on my "someday" list which included an idea for a children's chapter book that I have been sittng on for years. So.... I just started writing! I've been reading posts this past week, and I already feel a bit better about some of the challenges that I've encountered. I've also just discovered the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, but I haven't joined yet. (I'm sure everyone here is very familiar with SCBWI, but I'm just learning ) The local chapter is having an event in October which sounds interesting AND bonus... it's being hosted at the Eric Carle Museum, and he's a fav of my daughters . ~ I did have a question~ Is there a section on how people start their books (this will be a chapter book-maybe 100 pages? not sure yet)? I've read some articles that say just write, write, write and then go back and edit. I've also seen some articles and info about creating an outline first, a storyboard etc. I don't have the details, exact plot etc. for my story but I guess a pretty good outline in my head. Thanks for having me!
Welcome to Writing Forums, MonicaK! I hope you find what you're looking for here, whatever your interests in writing. This forum aims to provide the best workshopping resources on the internet, and to that end we have a few rules which you should familiarise yourself with before you get stuck in. The main section of the site is the Writing Workshop, where members can post their writing in order to receive critique of their work. However, before we allow members to post their work, they must have met some basic requirments. Firstly, you must have been a member for fourteen days, and have made twenty posts on the forum overall (please note, posts in Word Games do not count towards this). This is so that members, when they post their work, have familiarised themselves with the forums and contributed to them (as well as hopefully learned something for themselves). Secondly, members must provide two constructive reviews of other people's work for each piece of their own that they wish to post. This is because we believe that the focus of workshopping should be equally upon giving reviews as receiving them, as they allow a writer to practice and improve their editing skills, which they can then apply to their own writing. Beyond the Writing Workshop, you will find that we have extensive forums for discussion of aspects of writing, as well as a community area for general discussion. We also run periodic short story and poetry contests, which are good for challenging yourself and expanding your skills. If you have any questions or problems, then the moderators (myself, Cogito, Lemex and Dante Dases) should be your first port of call. Any technical problems with the site itself should be directed to Daniel, the site administrator and owner. I would recommend you have a look over the rules so that you know what to expect, and what is expected. But aside from that, I hope you enjoy your time here. Banzai
Hi Monica - welcome to the group! You could post a how do you start your novel question in General Writing and get some feedback or check out Cogito's profile, he might have an ariticle about it on his blog. He's got great writing do's and don'ts.
Welcome, Monica! There are a whole bunch of posts on how people write -- and as you've discovered, the processes run the gamut from detailed outlining before writing a single word to no outline ever, but just sitting at the computer and writing what comes to mind. There's no one correct way -- only a best way for you. I've never written, nor do I plan to write a children's book, so I'm not familiar with the society you mentioned. But that is wonderful that you found a group focused on what you want to write and that they are having an event you can attend. That's one of my favorite things -- finding and connecting with other writers, since none of my friends are writers.
Hello Monica I would do a outline/ storyboard myself. its so much easier planning out your character interactions and chapters and what not. Hope it works out well for you!
