Before writing about what you love, it helps to identify your ten greatest passions first. Think of this as creating your personal inspirational guide. You’re welcome to peruse my list before or after you write yours.
Author: Laura Fineberg Cooper
Reading, writing, and teaching fill me with joy! Along with being a regular blogger and editor of Writers' Rumpus, I'm also a CYBIL's judge, a Copy Editor for writers and businesses, an English Teacher/Tutor for students grades 5-12, and a College and Grad School Essay Coach. For more about my offerings, you're welcome to check out my website, www.laurafcooper.com.
Before We Turn the Page: The 2022 Writers’ Rumpus Year in Review
2022 brought a marvelous array of posts to inspire, inform, teach, and delight Writers’ Rumpus readers, but don’t fret if you missed one here or there. Each December, it’s my honor to highlight one post from each of our talented contributors with an image, a link, and a brief summary. So kick back with your favorite beverage and cuddly blanket while you peruse the 2022 Writers’ Rumpus Review.
The Differences Between PLOT and THEME … and How They Intertwine
I’m certain that most book writers are intimately familiar with how difficult it can be to write a PLOT that engages readers from the first sentence to the last. But determining, developing, and maintaining the THEME (singular or plural) of your book demands a considerable amount of effort, too.
INSTANT KARMA by Marissa Meyer: Is it love, hate, or … fate?
Perfectionist and overachiever Prudence Daniels casts judgment on those around her and finds most people seriously lacking. High on her list of disappointments is her lab partner Quint Erickson, who waltzes in late for their end-of-year presentation.
How NOT to become a published author
There are many useful books and posts to help you get your completed manuscript published, but if you’re bound and determined NOT to become a published author, avoid them like the plague. Instead, here are 10 quick and easy tips to help you remain safely unpublished.
Laura Hatosy Talks about Self-Publishing DRAWN FROM MEMORY, her Debut YA Novel
Not only is Laura an immensely talented YA author, she’s also a mother, avid reader, member of SCBWI critique groups, and social justice activist. She
Something Spooky Comes Our Way: Nancy Tandon Talks About Her New MG Novel, THE GHOST OF SPRUCE POINT
It’s my pleasure to welcome author Nancy Tandon back to Writers’ Rumpus to discuss her second middle grade novel, GHOST OF SPRUCE POINT. If you missed our interview on Nancy’s poignant debut novel, THE WAY I SAY IT, click here. By the title alone, we can tell something spooky comes our way in Nancy’s newest book, published by Aladdin and available on 8/2/22.
THE ASSIGNMENT by Liza Wiemer: Would YOU speak up for what is right?
Imagine this scenario: Your favorite high school History teacher passes out an assignment requiring you and your fellow classmates to debate the Final Solution as members of Hitler’s Nazi Elite. You must provide five well-researched points to defend a PRO or CON position on how best to destroy all Jews. The PRO position is extermination and the CON position is sterilization, ghettos, and work camps.
SETTING: Books That Hit the Sweet Spot
What is setting in literature? In the simplest of terms, it’s where and when the action of a story takes place. Whether set in a real location or a world drawn from your fertile imagination, in the past, present, or future, setting forms the foundation of every story.
An Uplifting Trio of New Picture Books by Hope Lim, Mindy Yuksel, & NoNieqa Ramos
Hope, Mindy, and Nonieqa are all members of the Soaring ’20’s group of talented and prolific authors, and each one continues to bring us picture (and other) books full of heart.
Atinuke’s Wondrous Africa, Amazing Africa Country by Country
At nearly 10 inches by 12 inches, Africa, Amazing Africa Country by Country, written by Atinuke and beautifully illustrated by Mouni Feddag, is the perfect coffee table book. But this book is so much more than a visual treat: it’s a lyrical and engaging nonfiction homage to Africa’s diversity of people, traditions, animals, and landscapes that is sure to delight children and adults alike.
Past or Present? Learn Which Tense is Best for Your Narration
If you google VERB TENSE, you’ll find lists ranging from 12 to 16 confusing forms. Fortunately, writers of middle grade and young adult literature only
Imaginary, by Lee Bacon
IMAGINARY, written by Lee Bacon and illustrated by Katy Wu, is poignant, humorous, and sheer delight from start to finish. Released in October 2021, this early middle grade novel is centered around eleven-year-old Zack, who still hasn’t recovered from his father’s death five years earlier. Zack’s only solace is to retreat into his imagination with his imaginary best friend Shovel. If you think the narrator is Zach, guess again.
Interview with Nancy Tandon, debut author of THE WAY I SAY IT
“I can’t say my name. Not because it’s a secret or anything. Honestly I’d shout it into a microphone right now if I could. I’d give up anything to be able to do that. Even my guitar-playing fingertip calluses, which took like a million hours to get. The first half-million hours hurt. A lot.”
WRITERS' RUMPUS 