Ending the Story

What should be one of the most important parts of a story or book you're working on? The ending. Many times, we can overlook the ending or not give it as much thought as the the plotting, editing or revising. But a good, solid ending may make or break your sale. You want that editor who is considering your manuscript to practically hear the "good ending" music playing in her head. It should be the big "pop" of your work.

Your ending shouldn't just be a "happy ending" but it should be a satisfying ending. We bring our characters through a long, life changing journey in which they should have learned something. We should have a strong sense of what they learned and why. Why was that lesson important? Does it make them a better person? Friend? Does it teach us something about ourselves or others? Can the readers relate to the story  and connect to it?

In addittion, all or most loose ends should be tied up. We should be able to say, "That's why this happened in the beginning of the story." We should see everything in the story come together full circle.

This seems like a tall order, but if we're careful and plan our story out well, the ending will highlight the story. Like the rest of the manuscript, it takes time, determination and hard work. Then maybe the story will have that "pop" that an editor is looking for. It could just get you that acceptance.

D is for Dos and Don'ts of Dialogue

Dialogue is an important part of any story or book. It moves the story along, gives pertinent information and makes the characters more interesting. But is there a time when dialogue is bad?

 

Yes! Dialogue can either make or break your manuscript - especially to a busy editor reviewing your work for publication. So how can you avoid the pitfalls of dialogue?

 

DON'T

• Use dialogue as an uneventful exchange of words. For example:

Tom: Hi

Mary: Hi

Tom: What's new?

Mary: Nothing

Tom: Oh. OK

Mary: Why?

Tom: No reason.

 

• Use too many fancy tags. "he said" and "she said" are almost invisible. If you add too many fancy tags at the end of dialogue, it can get distracting. For Example:

"I won the race," Jack exclaimed.

"How," Mike questioned, "Tim was way ahead of you."

"I had a burst of energy and passed him," Jake squealed.

 

• Use tags that you can't speak. For example:

"I'm tired," sighed Amy.

"Me too," breathed Sarah.

 

 

DO

• Use dialogue in a smart way. Use it to move the story forward.
• Use "invisible" tags such as "he said" and "she said"
• Make hellos, goodbyes and conversation starters short. If you spend too long on them, the story will drag on.
• And most of all - DO have FUN with it!

C is for Chapter Books

Once our children learn how to read and have mastered picture books, they soon move on to chapter books. When we as authors write chapter books, we need to keep in mind the readers' interests, age levels, and reading ability to ensure their enjoyment of our adventure. Here is where we need more descriptive, colorful language so that our reader can "see" the characters and see the story play out in front of them.

The reader needs to be there right along with the main characters. Can they smell the salty sea air? Can they hear the buzz of the airplane over head? Can they feel the hot, grainy sand under their toes? Can they taste the chocolaty, sweet fudge pop from the Ice Cream Truck? Can they see the bright, blue, cloudless sky decorated with a flying seagull overhead?

We need to  pay attention to the storyline and the direction the plot is taking. Is this a quiet, uneventful day at the beach with nothing much to move the story along? Or does some unidentified object wash ashore raising questions in the reader. Questions like: what is that object, Is this the beginning of a mystery, Is this a clue,
why does this show up now?

These are all things to think about as we venture into creating a satisfying chapter book. Good luck and I'll see you on the book shelf.

B is for Be There Bedtime Stories

What's your favorite bedtime story?  For many kids, hearing a bedtime story is a perfect end to the bedtime routine. It's also a great way to introduce your child to reading and books. The best thing about bedtime stories is the quality time you and your child, grand child or other family memeber spend together.

Sometimes, we can't always be there in person, however. Maybe you live across the country from your grandchildren. Maybe you're serving our country overseas. Whatever the obstacle might be, a company titled Be There Bedtime Stories has found a way for you to be there. They teamed up with Guardian Angel Publishing to help you read a bedtime story for your family member.  You just purchase the e-book of your choice in their e-store, tape yourself reading the story to your children through your webcam (most laptops now have a built in webcam) and send it off in an e-mail to that special someone. And if you're in a generous mood, they have a program called ‘Be There Bright Stars Network’ in which you can donate a story to military families or children's hospitals for parents in need.  What a wonderful program all around.

A is for A to Z Blogging Challenge

I joined, albeit - a few days late- the April A to Z Blogging Challenge. I just learned about it and think this is a great way to blog more often than when the inspiration hits. The goal of the challenge is to post something every day on your blog except Sundays so that there will be 26 April posts - one for each letter of the Alphabet. To read more about the challenge click on the side banner or visit the A to Z blog. I will be doing this on two of my blogs: Random Thoughts About God and my Author blog.


The Random Thoughts blog will be themed. of course, on God and the Church. What a great mid-Lenten challenge!

My author blog will be themed on writing, writing for children, my books, book reviews, My Light Magazine and other similar topics.

Be sure to follow along and join in the fun! Don't worry if you're a day or two late - do what I did and roll up those sleeves and jump on in!

The April 2011 VBT Writers on the Move Tour

Writers on the Move’s April 2011 Tour Schedule



It's that time already. Another month flew by. We are now preparing for the April 2011 tour.  Please stop by and visit all the authors to see what they have to say. In following the tour I've learned about fascinating books, health tips, book activites, writing and promoting tips and so much more. So dive on in April first and see what everyone has to say.

                                               APRIL 2011

 1st Karen Cioffi is featuring Elysabeth Eldering


2nd Kathy Stemke is featuring Robert Medak


3rd Stephen Tremp is featuring Karen Cioffi 4th Margaret Fieland is featuring Jennifer Turner


5th Carolyn Howard-Johnson is featuring Martha Swirzinski


6th Nancy Famolari is featuring Jennifer Gladen


7th Debra Eckerling is featuring Virginia Grenier 8th Martha Swirzinski is featuring Mari Taylor


9th Heidi Thomas is featuring Kevin McNamee 10th Dallas Woodburn is featuring Carolyn Howard-Johnson


11th Maggie Ball is featuring Kathy Stemke 12th Virginia Grenier is featuring Stephen Tremp


13th Kevin McNamee is featuring Nancy Famolari


14th Elysabeth Eldering is featuring Donna McDine


15th Marietta Taylor is featuring Shelby Patrick


16th Robert Medak is featuring Margaret Fieland


17th Donna McDine is featuring Heidi Thomas


18th Shelby Patrick is featuring Dallas Woodburn


19th Jennifer Gladen is featuring Jennifer Wylie


20th Jenny Turner is featuring Maggie Ball


21st Jennifer Wylie is featuring Deb Eckerling

Meet Martha Swirzinski

Building Better Bodies and Brains with Martha Swirzinski, M.A

 

What is the one thing you can do for yourself and your child that will have the biggest impact on your body and brain? If you said exercise, you were right. We all know that getting your body moving is great for your health but did you know it is just as important for good brain health. That’s right, when you and your child get up and moving it actually helps increase learning.

Advances in brain research show that most of the brain is activated during physical activity. Eric Jensen, author of Brain Based Learning and Teaching, tells us that after 10 minutes of sitting our brain starts to shut down. The learner gets sleepy and learning declines. So what is one to do? Yep, that’s right get your body moving. Moving “increases blood vessels that allow for the delivery of oxygen, water, and glucose (“brain food”) to the brain” (Pica, Rae)

A few facts to ponder:

• “Aerobic exercise just twice a week halves your risk of general dementia. It cuts your risk of Alzheimer’s by 60 percent.” (Medina John)'

• “Being active grows new brain cells.

• Balance improves reading capacity.

• Movement can help reinforce academic skills for all students.

• Play can increase attention.” (Blaydes, Jean)



So, bottom line, make sure you and your children are active every day. It doesn’t have to be torture, make it fun. For a list of fun ways to incorporate movement into your everyday life with your children go to www.wholechildpublishing.com

An interview with Martha Swirzinski, M.A.

You’ve written a series of books tell me about the title of the series and what that means to readers?

The title Movement and More suggests that within the pages of the books we offer not just fantastic rhymes and great pictures but moving, interacting, thinking and socializing. Our books engage the whole child, all of the domains of child development.

You mention “our” books. Who is the other author?

I co-wrote these with Dr. Anita Tieman, a psychologist, who has spent many years working with children. She brings her expertise into the social and emotional aspect of these books.

You have three books. Leap…Laugh…Plop, Guess…Giggle…Wiggle and Kick… Catch…Buzzz. Can you tell me a bit about them?

These three books offer the ultimate mind/body connection. When children move both their bodies and minds are strengthened. Using entertaining rhymes and charming pictures, these fun and creative books offer multiple ways for your child to move. They also provide mind stimulating activities on each page. Each book brings the joy of movement together with the joy of reading. The pages of these books are filled with laughter, learning, movement and more.

 

More specifically: Leap…Laugh…Plop works on all of the locomotor skills

Guess…Giggle…Wiggle… has the children doing creative movement

Kick…Catch…Buzzzz.. addresses the manipulative skills

Will there be any more in the series?

Yes, as a matter of fact we are working on the fourth now, which will be specifically on the non locomotor skills.

How did you come up with this idea for a series of books?

I teach in a preschool

and have my Master’s degree in Kinesiology, so I’ve been involved with children and movement for over 15 years now. I wanted to come up with a way that parents, and teachers could incorporate the specific movement skills necessary for motor and brain development in an easy and fun way. Doing an activity isn’t always easy. Sometimes space, equipment or time may not be available. However, reading a book is fun, easy and doesn’t require much planning.

Where can readers find your books?

 

Our website is http://www.wholechildpublishing.com/

Thanks for visiting Martha! These books sound like a great way to teach kids to move!  Please visit the next stops on the Virtual Book Tour:

March 23rd Jenny Turner is featuring Elysabeth Eldering

March 24th Jennifer Wylie is featuring Maggie Ball