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Poetry Friday: More Adventures in Libraries (and Parks)
Margaret at Reflections on the Teche is hosting Poetry Friday this week. Where I Get My Energy Pennies (Hint: Libraries and Parks) Becca Syme talks a lot about energy pennies–what really fills you up. For each person it might look different. For your various strengths,…
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Portals into Your Subject: Using Photographs as Research Tools
Have you ever come across a really interesting photo and thought: I wonder what the story is behind that photo? Or maybe you’ve had a topic in mind and as you research you find lots of interesting historic photos. This post isn’t going to be about how to find…
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Research Tip: Using Google Alerts for Preliminary Research
I love to write nonfiction. The research process excites me. It always feels like a time of intense discovery–like trying to figure out how the puzzle pieces fit together. I’m trying to be better organized with my research. I also love to muse over multiple topics at a time.…
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Research Site and Instagram
Research Site I have a number of nonfiction writing projects going on right now. I found myself trying to organize the sites I go to often in the research process. For most projects, I often start with Google and Amazon to find out what books are already out there,…
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Writing Hacker Tip #2: Double Duty Reading
I love doing things efficiently, and I’m always looking for new ways to do more work in less time or at least do double duty with one task. I’m sharing some of my crazy writing hacker tips, and I hope you will share some with me too. Double Duty…
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Writing Hacker Tip #1: Researching the Market
I’m a big fan of learning tips for making jobs easier. I like reading through cool tips on LifeHacker or this packing post by Michael Hyatt. I’m a “behind the scenes” junkie. I want to know what works for people and why. While I may not do things exactly…
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Artist’s Date: Research Trip
I went on a hunt for a tree. With my kids. My daughter brought a sketchbook and a field guide to trees. My son brought four plastic screwdrivers. My WIP has a Hawthorn tree that’s important in the story, and a friend brought me a Hawthorn branch last…
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Mentor Text Lesson: NOAH WEBSTER & HIS WORDS by Jeri Chase Ferris, illustrated by Vincent X. Kirsch
Jeri Chase Ferris recently won the 2013 SCBWI Golden Kite Award for non-fiction for her picture book biography, NOAH WEBSTER & HIS WORDS. This book is illustrated by Vincent X. Kirsch. This mentor text lesson plan for writing will assist teachers with teaching the following writing skills: Specific…
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Making Time to Write Monday: A Virtual Research Trip
Last week I shared a few pictures from my research trip to Emerald Isle, NC. I spent several days there gathering a few details for my young adult novel. At the exact same time, my parents were visiting Bangkok, Thailand. They live in Thailand, but were visiting Bangkok for…
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Making Time to Write Monday: Research Trip
The protagonist in my young adult novel is from Emerald Isle, North Carolina though very little of the book actually takes place there. I’ve been working on this book for awhile (gulp, years). I’ve tried on a few occasions to make a research trip to Emerald Isle. I did a…