Writing Process

LitPick Interview

Posted by Sarah L. Thomson on Feb 24, 2016 in Children's Literature, Press, Writing Process | 0 comments

“Where do you get your ideas?” “Who’s your favorite character?” “What advice would you give aspiring writers?” LitPick has an interview with me up on their webpage today!

Writing Tips

Posted by Sarah L. Thomson on Sep 18, 2015 in Author Visits, Educators & Librarians, School Visits, Writing Process | 0 comments

I am putting together a list of writing tips to use with schools when I do author visits. Perhaps you’d like to hear them?

Sarah L. Thomson’s Eight Best Tips for Becoming a Better Writer

First drafts MUST be MESSY.

Leave space in a first draft (skip lines) so there is room to revise.

For a second draft—don’t try to write it better. Write it different.

Stuck for something to write about? Take a story or an idea everybody knows (Cinderella and her stepsisters? Witches on broomsticks?) and CHANGE it.

Want to be a writer? Do these two things. Read A LOT. And try to finish whatever you write. Getting to the end gets easier with practice.

Alliteration (using words with the same letter sounds) is fun.

Plot outlines can solve the dreaded “I’m stuck in the middle of the story and I can’t finish it” problem.

I’ve done twenty drafts of some books. Two or three should be no problem.

The Best Moment

Posted by Sarah L. Thomson on Feb 6, 2015 in Ancient Animals, Book: Inside of a Dog, Early Reader, Nonfiction, Writing Process | 0 comments

This week I sent a first draft of an adaptation(Inside of a Dog, about the science of animal behavior) off to one editor and a first draft of an early reader (Ancient Animals: Plesiosaurs) off to a second.

There are many good moments in the life of a writer. Getting the first bound book in the mail. Reading a good review. Connecting with a reader and seeing that your book really mattered to her. But I tell you, the finest, finest moment of all is when a draft that you’ve been working on for months is suddenly, with the tap of the SEND key, SOMEBODY ELSE’S PROBLEM for a while.

Aaaaaaaah.