Don’t forget to keep an eye out for Pemberthy and let me know where you see him.
A while back I posted a link to what I described as the best article about writing in rhyme I’d come across. It’s an article by Dori Cahonas, a US-based author of picture books, and (to save you digging for my original post), you’ll find it here.
Anyway, I still think it’s the best I’ve come across, but today I came across another useful article – well, actually a series of three articles – which are also really good. K. Pluta is another US Based author, and she tries to demystify the writing of rhyme by using lay-man’s language. If you try to write in rhyme, you should check out her articles here.
Writing in rhyme is hard work, but it’s lots of fun and can be rewarding. Some stories demand to be written in rhyme – others demand NOT to. But, if you do want to write for children, don’t make the mistake of thinking you have to write in rhyme. Rhyme is hard to write and harder still to get published. If you’re going to do it, you need to take the time to learn about rhythm and meter.
I write in rhyme and I write in prose. Good luck with whichever you decide to do.
No sightings of Pemberthy today. If you’ve seen Pemberthy Bear be sure to drop me a line and I’ll add your spot to the map.
Have a lovely weekend.
Earlier this week I wrote here about the mistake of posting a blog entry without proofreading, and I discussed how important proofreading was in all communications. So, imagine my dismay when I just sent an email meant for one member of an elist to the whole group. Fortunately there was nothing in my email that I wouldn’t have said to anyone in the group, but my mistake was just embarrassing, having just said ON list that I would email the person OFFlist about something she’d asked.
Which brings up an important point, related to the topic of proofreading. Anything you say in an email is, in a way, just like anything you say in a blog – potentially very very public. Even an email to just one other person can be forwarded – usually with no malice or ill-intent. Just as we forward jokes and fun stuff, we also sometimes forward things which might be of interest professionally.
Anyway, I digress. If you have anything to say which you don’t want other people to read, don’t say it in an email (or, for that matter, on your blog). Be careful what you say, and how, because it can be misread – by the person you’re emailing and by other people too. If it really is private or personal, use another form of communication.
I don’t think my misdirected email offended anyone, but I still wish I’d changed the recipient field before I hit send, because now I feel a little silly. Silly Sally, that’s me.
Oh, before I go – another sighting of Pemberthy has been reported. Robyn from Adelaide emailed to say she has a copy. Thanks, Robyn – this is the first report from South Australia, so I’m happy. The new dot is the nice purple one on the South Coast.
Hello There
You have found the brand new blog of Sally Murphy – that’s me – children’s author, reviewer, speaker, mother, wife and so on. I used to have a news page on my website, but found I didn’t update it very often (okay, so I updated it ONCE) because I kept waiting for something really big to happen. I’d get to the end of another month and think ‘hmm – nothing major to report’ or, if something did happen, I’d think ‘hmmm – is that really NEWS?’
Anyway, I’ve recently discovered the wonders of blogging, through the skills of my friend Pemberthy Bear, who isn’t just the star of one of my picture books, but is now a blogging bear. And I thought, heck if Pemberthy can blog, then so can I. And it doesn’t just have to be news. It could also be my views on the world, the highs and lows of my writing career, writing advice – anything really. Because that’s the beauty of this blogging phenomenon – anything goes.
So, now I’ve got a blog and time will tell if I’m better at keeping it up that I was with my news page. but I’ve just equalled the number of posts I made there, so perhaps there’s hope.
Check back and see how I go 🙂