by Tracy | Jun 6, 2017 | For Writers & Illustrators, More Personally
When I wrote Chicken Wants a Nap, I was exhausted myself. I was going to grad school full time and working part-time, and the thing I wanted to do most was sleep! So for that day’s assignment, I wrote the story of a chicken who desperately wanted a nap, but was...
by Tracy | Apr 10, 2017 | For Writers & Illustrators
Over at the First Five Frenzy post from last month, I talked about how to help a reader connect to your manuscript in the first five pages. I thought I’d quickly break down some of the previous advice that pertains to character, and then share a few more tips!...
by Tracy | Apr 30, 2014 | For Writers & Illustrators
Agents and editors want characters that jump off the page… but what if your character prefers to stay home with a book? Juliet, the protagonist of my middle grade mystery Hot Ticket, is clearly an extrovert. She can’t stand that there is a mysterious ticket dispenser...
by Tracy | Jul 15, 2013 | For Writers & Illustrators
Between Wendy Davis’s filibuster, the severing of Tor’s relationship with James Frenkel and the general sociopolitical climate, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about gender. But first, a quick note on the difference between sex and gender. You are...
by Tracy | Jul 2, 2013 | For Writers & Illustrators
Sometimes in a manuscript, I’ll notice that perhaps the protagonist is always fumbling with her hair. Or maybe I’ll see “He smiled” so often I begin to wonder if his face is just permanently frozen. (Or if I’ve watched anything scary that...
