Author: Michelle Medlock Adams

Categories
Kids Lit

Know Your Audience

Kids Lit

“Many books for children feature children. Your writing will be more natural if you are aware of the rhythms and patterns that youngsters adopt when they interact with each other. Children often say the first things that come to mind. They repeat phrases – and rework their sentences as they speak. Try writing short, staccato sentences or long rambling ones just to get a feel for pacing. Reflecting on your childhood memories can also help draw out an authentic voice.”

Author Alan Dapré A former TV scriptwriter who now spends his time writing zany story books, usually about a Tartan Cat.

When I came across Dapré’s quote while doing some research on the Internet one afternoon, I loved it! I actually said out loud, “Yes!” You see, to write for children, we need to be where they are and listen to how they talk. We need to watch how they move and interact with the world around them.

get to know your audience by observing them and spending time with them

This was much easier to do when my daughters were at home because we were “that house”—the house where all of the neighborhood kiddos gathered. I never had to work at being around children. Today, as an empty nester, I find myself having to work a little harder when I want to interact with my readers.

If you find yourself in that same situation, or if you write for the picture book market and you only have teens in your house, you’ll also have to get a little more creative to observe and interact with your readers. So, here are four tips to help you in that quest.

  1. Volunteer: Offer to babysit for your friend’s children or take your turn in the nursery at church. Work with Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, or other children’s groups. Be a coach. (I was a cheerleading coach for a stint, and out of that experience, I was inspired to write my YA devotional, “Get Your Spirit On! Devotions for Cheerleaders” (SonRise Devotions, 2018). You could also volunteer to read to children in your public library. Those are all win/win scenarios. You get to feel good about volunteering, and you will get quality time with your readership.
  2. Strategically Observe: You will want to observe children at play. Watch how they interact. Listen to how they talk—their pacing, their word choice, their voice inflection. Observe how they move and engage with one another. Good places to do this? Go to the park. (Walk your dog there so you don’t look like a creeper—ha!) Hang out in the toy section at Wal-Mart. Go to the zoo and do double duty. You can observe kids and animals and take notes for future books.
  3. Research: fill in the gaps with online research. When you can’t be with kiddos in real time, watch YouTube videos of kids just being kids. And while you’re at it, find out what kids are reading, watching, and listening to, and then do the same! Get in their world so that you’ll understand it and them better.
  4. Remember: think back to when you were a kid. When you just can’t find a way to be around little ones, you can still make this work. All you have to do is…remember. Slang words and clothing fads may come and go, but the raw emotion of a story never goes out of style. Use your own childhood experiences or those of your children and draw from them. Tap into memories of your proudest, saddest, most embarrassing, or disappointing moments. Feelings are universal and timeless. Childhood memories may be the story buds for numerous future articles and books. The key is to remember with all of your senses—what you saw, how it felt, how it smelled, etc. Become that child again!
Get to know your audience by volunteering to read to children

Yes, this will take some time, but it’ll be time well-spent. Get to know your audience and watch your writing become more raw, more real, and more relevant.

Michelle Medlock Adams is a best-selling author and an award-winning journalist, earning top honors from the Associated Press, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the Hoosier State Press Association. Author of over 100 books with more than 4 million books sold, Michelle is also a New York Times Bestselling ghostwriter and has won more than 70 industry awards for her own journalistic endeavors, including the prestigious Golden Scroll for Best Children’s Book in 2020, 2019 and 2018 for “How Much Does God Love You?” “Dinosaur Devotions” and “My First Day of School”. And, over the past three years, she has added several first-place honors from the Christian Market Book Awards, the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards, and the Illumination Awards in multiple categories.

Since graduating with a journalism degree from Indiana University, Michelle has written more than 1,500 articles for newspapers, magazines, and websites; and served as an adjunct professor at Taylor University. Today, she is President of Platinum Literary Services, Chairman of the Board of Advisors for Serious Writer, Inc.; and a much sought-after speaker at writers conferences and women’s retreats all over the United States. When not working on her own assignments, Michelle ghostwrites articles, blog posts, and books for celebrities, politicians, and some of today’s most effective and popular ministers.

Michelle is celebrating the recent release of her books, Cuddle-up Prayers;  I Love You Bigger Than the Sky and Writing & Selling Children’s Books in the Christian Market: From Board Books to YA coauthored with her agent Cyle Young.

Michelle is married to her high school sweetheart, Jeff, and they have two daughters, Abby and Allyson, two sons-in-law, two granddaughters and two grandsons. She and Jeff share their home in Southern Indiana with a miniature dachshund, a rescue Greyhound/Lab mix, and two cats. When not writing or teaching writing, Michelle enjoys bass fishing, cheering on Indiana University sports teams and the Chicago Cubbies, and all things leopard print.

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Website: michellemedlockadams.com

Categories
Kids Lit

Don’t Commit a Rhyme Crime

Kids Lit

You might have heard that “Rhyme is a crime,” and that editors don’t like rhyming board books and picture books. That’s not exactly true. Editors just don’t like BAD rhyme. They like rhyming board books and picture books that are written well. It’s just that they have seen so much bad rhyme over the years, their hearts might be a bit hardened toward rhyme.

But if you can write good rhyme—then go for it! Most of my children’s books are written in rhyme, and I continue to sell rhyming manuscripts. But, let’s write good rhyme! Don’t be a rhyme criminal!

Let’s take a look at the top rhyme felonies I see when judging contest manuscripts.

 Felony #1: Letting rhyme dictate the story.

If your story has been kidnapped all to make a rhyme work, then you’re a rhyme criminal. In other words, if your story is about a lizard who becomes a wizard simply because the rhyme worked, then it’s probably not a very strong story and if you wrote the same storyline out in narrative, you’d soon realize that the rhyme is really the only thread holding it together, and that’s not enough.

Clever rhymes are fun to read once or twice but if the storyline is weak and the characters aren’t very strong, your story won’t be able to keep the attention of children through endless readings. It won’t have that re-readability factor that’s so needed in picture books.

Felony #2: Using odd sentence structures to make a rhyme work. #justsayno

For example, in the song you might’ve sung in Vacation Bible School, “Zacchaeus Was a Wee Little Man” (Remember that one?), the lyrics go:

Zacchaeus was a wee little man

A wee little man was he. (Why would we ever restate that he was a wee little man, and why would we say it in this odd sentence structure? Because we need it to rhyme with “see”.)

He climbed up in a sycamore tree

For the Lord he wanted to see. (Again, we would normally write, He wanted to see the Lord. But we changed the sentence structure so we could make an easier rhyme…)

If you find yourself changing around parts of speech for the sake of rhyme, your name might as well be “Felony Melanie” because you’ve committed a rhyme crime. Just say no to doing that—promise?!

Felony #3: Being a lazy rhymer and settling for near rhymes.

For example, nursery rhymes and song lyrics get away with this lazy rhyme crime a lot, but it’s not going fly with most of today’s picture book editors.

Baa, baa, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir,
Three bags full.
One for the master,
One for the dame,
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane

Though “dame” and “lane” have the same long vowel sound, they aren’t perfect rhymes. They are near rhymes. A perfect rhyme would have been to rhyme “lane” with “Jane”—see how that works?

Don’t ever settle for the easiest rhyme. Don’t name a character “Forange” simply to rhyme it with the color Orange.

Felony #4: Writing a poem and calling it a picture book.

Just because it is a nice rhyming or rhythmic poem doesn’t mean it’s a picture book. It might just be a nice poem for you to sell to a poetry anthology for children or possibly a poem you can sell to a children’s magazine that features poetry.

For example, I wrote a poetry book for kids called, “My Funny Valentine” for Ideals Children’s Books, and it has over 30 rhymes in it, but they are simply fun poems—not stand-alone picture books.

“Secret Admirer”
I see her every single day.
I think she is the bomb.
I’m making her a valentine.
But please, don’t tell my mom.
I think I’ll write: “You really rock!
You’re very, very cool.”
But if I say that mushy stuff.
She might think I’m a fool.
So I won’t sign my name to it.
She’ll never know it’s me!
I’ll tell her that she rocks my world,
And makes my heart run free.
I’ll sign it, “From your biggest fan.”
I slide it in her locker.
But if she finds out it’s from me.
I’m gonna have to sock her.

A picture book will have re-readability; it will have a need for at least 12 scenes of artwork; it will have page-turning breaks; it will have a story arc; etc. Just because it rhymes, doesn’t make it a picture book.

Also, just a series of events or a rundown of a day, no matter how well they are written in rhyme, is also not a picture book. There’s no story arc there.

Felony #5: Writing in rhyme and being the only one who can make it rhyme.

This is maybe the worst felony of all. If you can only make your story rhyme while standing on one leg and holding your head just right, it’s probably not written in good rhyme and meter.

Always read your manuscripts out loud to see where you get tripped up, but most importantly, have others read your manuscript out loud and see if they have trouble with any part.

Study other rhyming books that are published and use them as mentor texts.

Take Crystal Bowman’s class on rhythm and rhyme through the Serious Writer Academy to learn more about the various kinds of rhyme.

Love this book, “R is for Rhyme: A Poetry Alphabet” by Judy Young (Illustrated by Victor Juhasz).

Felony #6: Writing in rhyme just for the sake of it.

Sometimes stories can be told WAY better via prose, not rhyme. You’re robbing yourself if you don’t try writing your story both ways. You might be surprised which version is stronger.

 Now that you know, go forth and write crime-free!

If you want to learn more about creating GOOD rhyme, check out Michelle’s rhyming class at Serious Writer Academy.

Michelle Medlock Adams is an award-winning journalist and best-selling author of over 90 books with close to 4 million sold. Her many journalism and book awards include top honors from the Associated Press, AWSA’s Golden Scroll for Best Children’s Book, and the Selah Award for Best Children’s Book. Michelle currently serves as President of Platinum Literary Services, a premier full-service literary firm; Chairman of the Board of Advisors for Serious Writer, Inc.; and a much sought-after speaker at writers conferences and women’s retreats all over the United States.  

When not writing or teaching writing, Michelle enjoys bass fishing and cheering on the Indiana University Basketball team, the Chicago Cubbies, and the LA Kings.

Michelle is celebrating the recent release of her books, Cuddle-up Prayers; The Perfect Persimmon; I Love You Bigger Than the Sky and is anticipating the upcoming release of her book Writing & Selling Children’s Books in the Christian Market: From Board Books to YA (Iron Stream Media) with her coauthor and literary agent Cyle Young.

Categories
Kids Lit

Writing Books that Matter

Kids Lit

I was in the window seat, thumbing through my recent issue of “Writer’s Digest,” just waiting for the plane to take off when a mother and her young daughter sat down next to me.

“Don’t worry, babe,” the mom comforted. “You’re going to be all right. We both will.”

But the little girl didn’t seem so sure. She fidgeted, hid her face in her stuffed unicorn, and eventually, her tears flowed.

She was afraid. Very afraid.

The mom in me wanted to help. I was so thankful I had listened to that still small Voice when I packed my briefcase that morning.

“Is this your first flight?” I asked the little girl.

Without looking at me, she nodded.

“It’s a first flight for both of us,” her mom quickly added. “And, we’re both a little scared.”

I locked eyes with the mama and asked, “I’m a children’s author. Would it be Ok if I shared a book with your daughter? I think it might be helpful.”

“Of course,” she answered.

I reached down and pulled out my book, “I Will Not Be Afraid” (Concordia Publishing House) and handed it to the little girl.

“I wrote this book for my little girls when they were afraid,” I told her. “I want you to have it.”

She looked up at me with her big brown teary eyes and gave me just a hint of a smile. She and her mama read every page and every accompanying bible verse about fear, and by the time the plane took off, a calmness had blanketed our row.

That, my friends, is why we do what we do.

Our words, whether written in rhyme or narrative, hold great power. They can encourage, empower, educate, and comfort our readers. They can bring much-needed laughter, and they can provide a temporary escape into a world of story.

As Christian writers for children, we can make a difference, and just knowing that fact makes all the difference. Knowing you’re not just throwing together a manuscript for the sake of another sale, but rather you’re crafting a story that might encourage a child who never receives any support at home, or that you’re writing a book that could bring comfort to a scared little girl, that’s what keeps us writing.

That should be what drives us when we’re putting in the hours—studying the craft, learning the market, revising and rewriting, praying over every word, and promoting so our books can go everyplace they were intended to go and do the work they were destined to do.

Felt needs

Many publishers call these kinds of books “felt need” books, which basically means these children’s books fill a void. They address a need or they deal with a difficult situation in a very kid-friendly way. I love writing these kinds of books because it feels like ministry. You know why it feels that way? Because it is!

Some common felt-need topics include being afraid, being sad, feeling overwhelmed, feeling angry, and not feeling good enough. These types of needs can be narrowed down through story to address a very specific aspect of the felt need. For example, it’s not just that the child is afraid. The child in your story might be afraid of the dark. That’s a very common childhood fear. My daughter Abby was very afraid of the dark, which is why I wrote “Operation Moonbeam” (Little Lamb Books) which debuts in 2021. Or, it’s not just that your main character feels sad, it’s that she feels sad about her best friend moving away. Now, you’ve got the seeds of a story.

              Felt need books are also referred to as issue oriented books. For example, there have been several books released in recent years about a grandparent’s battle with dementia. It’s very sad when Grandpa no longer remembers his grandson’s name. Helping a child understand the disease a little more and assuring the child that Grandpa’s lack of memory certainly doesn’t mean his love for the child is diminished, provides education and comfort to that reader. This can be handled through fiction or nonfiction, or you can combine the two by addressing the situation through story as well as providing nonfiction backmatter about the disease and resources to learn more.

              As I walked through Book Expo in New York City last year, I couldn’t believe how many more companies had begun felt need/issue oriented lines. Just as I walked into the main room at Book Expo, I saw a whole wall of board books that all began the same way, “When I feel…”

Do you know why these kinds of books are becoming more and more popular? I believe it’s because they are becoming more and more needed. Kids today are facing adult situations, and as these little kids battle big problems, they often suffer anxiety, fear, anger, and hopelessness.

I’m not saying that as Christian children’s writers we are expected to have all the answers, but I am saying this—we know the One who does! He can help us help them! And, it’s our privilege to hold the little hands of our readers and walk them through these difficult seasons.

In order to do this with skill, however, we need to study others who have done it well. Here are just a couple of suggestions to get you started. Read “The Rough Patch” by Brian Lies to see a masterfully written children’s book about dealing with grief. Read Crystal Bowman’s book, “I Love You to the Stars: When Grandma Forgets, Love Remembers “ that tackles the topic of dementia head on. And, of course, you can check out “I Will Not Be Afraid” to see how I handled many of the most common childhood fears in one book.

Let me also challenge you to make a list of the things that most bothered you as a child or a teen. Was it anxiety over being bullied? Was it feeling embarrassed over not being good enough? Be specific when you make your list, attaching emotions to events or situations. Next, look at your list and ask, “Do children today face these same types of situations? Is there room on the shelf for another book addressing this topic or emotion? And, am I the one to write it?”

Once you’ve answered those questions, pray and ask God the best way to share your story so the pain you experienced as a child (or the pain your own children have gone through) has purpose. Let it motivate you to write a life-changing book for children, or maybe just a comforting book for a little girl sitting next to you on your next flight. Be excited that God has chosen you for such a time as this…your healing words are needed now more than ever.

So write.

(This post is an excerpt from Michelle’s upcoming book with Cyle Young: Writing & Selling Children’s Books in the Christian Market: From Board Books to YA being published by Iron Stream Media.)

Michelle Medlock Adams is an award-winning journalist and best-selling author of over 90 books with close to 4 million sold. Her many journalism and book awards include top honors from the Associated Press, AWSA’s Golden Scroll for Best Children’s Book, and the Selah Award for Best Children’s Book. Michelle currently serves as President of Platinum Literary Services, a premier full-service literary firm; Chairman of the Board of Advisors for Serious Writer, Inc.; and a much sought-after speaker at writers conferences and women’s retreats all over the United States.  

When not writing or teaching writing, Michelle enjoys bass fishing and cheering on the Indiana University Basketball team, the Chicago Cubbies, and the LA Kings.

Michelle is celebrating the recent release of her books, Cuddle-up Prayers; The Perfect Persimmon; I Love You Bigger Than the Sky and is anticipating the upcoming release of her book Writing & Selling Children’s Books in the Christian Market: From Board Books to YA (Iron Stream Media) with her coauthor and literary agent Cyle Young.

Categories
Kids Lit

Which Hat Shall I Wear Today?

Kids Lit

  In January, I had the privilege of speaking about being a writer at a large private school near Chicago. But before my talk, as an added bonus, I had lunch with a group of award-winning student authors ranging in age from 5 to 13. (These students had been chosen to represent their individual classroom as “the best of the best” and read their work in front of the entire school.) So, while I chatted with these gifted wordsmiths in between bites of cheese pizza, I asked them: “Which was harder for you—writing or editing your story?” As I expected, all but one said the editing process had been way harder. Then, the one who didn’t jump on the editing bandwagon said something I’ll never forget.

 She very honestly admitted, “I had trouble with the writing process because I kept editing myself…”

That comment sparked a very interesting conversation about hats and one of my favorite books about writing, Dancing on the Head of a Pen: The Practice of a Writing Life by Robert Benson. In case you haven’t read it, Benson shares about the different hats he wears when crafting his amazing books. He sports a stylish beret when creating story. As he writes his “sloppy copy,” beret man is the guy in the chair. But once this first draft is safely recorded, he switches to his well-loved Yankees cap which he has lovingly named “Gamer”. He wears “Gamer” when editing. But Benson explains that bringing out “Gamer” too soon in the process can totally halt the creativity of “Beret man”—the artist.

 That’s what had happened to the student who confessed she’d really struggled with the writing process.

 “You switched hats too soon,” I told her, explaining Benson’s theory.

 What about you? Are you self-editing (and sometimes self-loathing) as you write and create children’s stories? Are you constantly fixing grammar and spelling or rewriting sentences three and four times before continuing on? If so, I feel your pain. I occasionally stifle my own creativity because I can’t get my baseball “Gamer” cap off my head. It just won’t budge! And, no matter how hard I try, I can’t create with “Gamer” calling the shots!

If you struggle with this premature switching of hats, here are three strategies you can implement to keep your beret safely in place as you create.

  • Write fast, really fast. Don’t give yourself the chance to edit. Just get that story down on paper or in that computer, whatever your process.
  •  Switch gears, not hats. The moment you feel yourself slipping into the editing mode, switch gears completely. For example, if you’re writing a picture book in narrative and you start to slip into editor mode, stop writing narrative and try writing your picture book in rhyme. That will get your creative juices flowing again and put your editor’s cap back on the hat rack.
  • Set the Mood with Music. This works well for me. If I’m creating, I have on “mood music” that awakens the creative part of me. So, when I was writing my book, “Get Your Spirit On! Devotions for Cheerleaders” I listened to all of the cheer music compilations that my daughters competed to when they cheered. That music was motivating and put me in the right mindset to write about “all things cheerleading.” But, when I am editing, I almost always listen to instrumental music. When the instrumental melodies fill my writing room, it instantly becomes my editing room. Maybe this tactic will work for you, too!

If you’re like the little girl who struggled with knowing which hat to wear—the beret or the Gamer—I hope you’ll try these three strategies. And, I recommend you purchase your own copy of Dancing on the Head of a Pen and glean from Benson’s genius. 

Michelle Medlock Adams is an award-winning journalist and best-selling author of over 90 books with close to 4 million sold. Her many journalism and book awards include top honors from the Associated Press, AWSA’s Golden Scroll for Best Children’s Book, and the Selah Award for Best Children’s Book. Michelle currently serves as President of Platinum Literary Services, a premier full-service literary firm; Chairman of the Board of Advisors for Serious Writer, Inc.; and a much sought-after speaker at writers conferences and women’s retreats all over the United States.  

When not writing or teaching writing, Michelle enjoys bass fishing and cheering on the Indiana University Basketball team, the Chicago Cubbies, and the LA Kings.

 Michelle is celebrating the recent release of her books, Get Your Spirit On!, Fabulous & Focused, Dinosaur Devotions, and C Is for Christmas, and she’s anticipating the upcoming release of What Is America? (Worthy Kids) and They Call Me Mom (Kregel), a devotional book she co-authored with Bethany Jett.

Categories
Kids Lit

Get a New Perspective! Find a New Twist!

Kids Lit

Once in a while, I come across a book so unique and wonderful that I think, “Wow, I sure wish I’d written that book.” (I bet you do the same.) For example, when I first read Adam Rex’s “School’s First Day of School” (Roaring Brook Press), I actually said out loud in the bookstore, “Now, why didn’t I think of that?” In this charming story, Rex puts a new twist on an old concept—children being afraid of the first day of school. Hundreds of books have been written on that topic. In fact, I wrote one called, “My First Day of School” (WorthyKids) in 2017, and though I like how it turned out, it’s certainly not as clever as “School’s First Day of School” which is told from the school building’s perspective.

In Rex’s book, the school expresses all of the same emotions many children experience on that first day of school—excitement, jitters, anticipation, embarrassment and more.

That’s a perfect example of taking a tired topic and breathing new life into it. Publisher’s Weekly thought so, too, stating the following in its review: “Every so often, a book comes along with a premise so perfect, it’s  hard to believe it hasn’t been done before; this is one of those books.”

Let me give you another example of how a gifted author took what could have been a straightforward, boring biography about two well-known historical figures but instead crafted copy that’s touching hearts around the world. It’s a book called, “Martin & Anne” by my friend and fellow Nonfiction Ninja Nancy Churnin.

In “Martin & Anne” (Creston Books), readers are taken on a journey that explores the lives of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Anne Frank—two history makers born the same year on different continents. Churnin details how both faced discrimination from the time they were very young. Martin Luther King, Jr. faced “Whites only” signs while Anne Frank grew up facing “No Jews allowed” policies. They were kindred spirits who suffered untimely deaths yet impacted the world while they were here.

Do you see what Churnin did so brilliantly here? Can you identify the twist? Instead of writing the typical biography, Churnin created a type of comparison/contrast book, paralleling the lives of these two extraordinary people—Martin & Anne. She didn’t write a chronological retelling of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life, nor did she write just another ordinary biography about Anne Frank. She found a new way to share important details about these two historical figures’ lives. This book is more than clever; it’s inspired.

So, how can you get a new perspective on an old topic or put a new twist on a tired tale? Force yourself to think outside the box and never accept your first thoughts about how to tell the story. Explore several options, sharing the story from various points of view, and see which version is stronger. Also, look for the little-known details about common stories and see if you can build on those facts to create a unique book that will wow the editors of Publisher’s Weekly, and more importantly, inspire a new generation of readers.

Michelle Medlock Adams is an award-winning journalist and best-selling author of over 90 books with close to 4 million sold. Her many journalism and book awards include top honors from the Associated Press, AWSA’s Golden Scroll for Best Children’s Book, and the Selah Award for Best Children’s Book. Michelle currently serves as President of Platinum Literary Services, a premier full-service literary firm; Chairman of the Board of Advisors for Serious Writer, Inc.; and a much sought-after speaker at writers conferences and women’s retreats all over the United States.  

When not writing or teaching writing, Michelle enjoys bass fishing and cheering on the Indiana University Basketball team, the Chicago Cubbies, and the LA Kings.

 Michelle is celebrating the recent release of her books, Get Your Spirit On!, Fabulous & Focused, Dinosaur Devotions, and C Is for Christmas, and she’s anticipating the upcoming release of What Is America? (Worthy Kids) and They Call Me Mom (Kregel), a devotional book she co-authored with Bethany Jett.