Coquette Maman

Blog Tour: Brave the Page - 5 Tips for Writing #NanNoWriMo

Remember my Brave the Page Blog Tour post from August where I shared my Musical Playlist for Writing?

We are now deep into NaNoWriMo so I hope that many of you have tried to follow along with the writing community and are working on your novels or short stories. If you missed it, Brave the Page by Rebecca Stern and Grant Faulkner is a new book that will help jump start you into NaNoWriMo and help you with your writing. This book will help movitate and inspire young writers while also helping them with story, plot, characters and more.

 

Brave the Page

By Rebecca Stern and Grant Faulkner

Ages: 10-17 years old

Genre: Middle Grade, Non-Fiction

Published by: Viking Children's Books

Hardcover, 304 pages

ISBN-10: 0451480295

Order at Penguin Random House

Order on Amazon for $10.29

 

 

 

 

Writing Tips

 

1. Pick a consistent time of day to write

I have been an author and a writer for over 20 years now and have worked on so many books in the web design, design and tech space since 1996. From co-authoring to contributing essays for books as well as freelance article writing, it can sometimes can be hard to get motivated to write. My best advice to you is to find the time of day that works for you and stick to it. Writing everyday brings consistency and helps you form a habit. I did this while writing my books. I would wake up at 5am before working a full time job so that I could be fresh and clear in the morning. I would write about 1 or 2 hours depending on how good I felt. If you only have 20 or 30 minutes to write, that's ok. Do what works for you to get words on the page.

2. Planning/Outline

I know some writers don't like to do this but I always even for small articles, plan out what I am going to write. An outline is a great place to start when you are working on a novel, short story or even an article. It doesn't have to be detailed but something enough to give you a skeleton structure so that you remember all the important elements that need to go into your novel. Once you have that set, I find that I usually plan out the next ideas in writing the story the day before I write so that I have some notes and bullet points to make writing flow easier the next day.

3. The Brain Dump / Write Now, Edit Later

It's important in the novel writing process, you get the all the words on the page and get as many pages done as you can. Get your ideas down and you can worry about the flow or add embellishments to your story later through the editing process. 

4. Edit, Edit, Edit, Copy Edit

The reality is the editing process is probably the most painful because it can actually be a longer process to endure than the actual writing process. Make sure you read through the whole novel and make sure the flow is good. Go back and edit, move things around and don't be afraid to take things out or rewrite sections. Sometimes it's hard to stop editing because a novel can be such a personal experience, one where you are connected to your characters. It's hard to know when to stop. Have a good friend read it over and see if it makes sense to them or if they have questions on any characters. Then go back and fix whatever you need to do for your novel. Once you are done with the editing process, go back and copy edit the grammar and fact check things that need fact checking.

5. Reward Yourself

Mark important milestones in your outline and then reward yourself once you complete them. They can be anything from treating yourself to some fro yo or taking a break with your favorite sit com. A novel writing process is long so it's important to celebrate little accomplishments. You could even set up a sort of habit tracker where you check off each day you write and when you have written for X number of days, you get to treat yo 'self!

 

Pick up Brave the Page by Rebecca Stern and Grant Faulkner on Amazon.com.

 

Here are the other blogs featured on the Brave the Page Blog Tour for this week:

November 25

Lost in Storyland – How to start prepping for next year’s Nanowrimo

Thoughts from a Highly Caffeinated Mind –Checklist: What to do after you’ve written your first draft

 

November 26

Picture Books to YA – Creative Writing Tips

Mindful journaling – Inspired by the Book: Bujo Content

 

November 27

Alohamora: Open a Book – 5 Steps to get you in the mood to write

wildeyesbujo – Completed Nanowrimo Bujo Tracker

 

November 28 

Some the wiser – Middle Grade Writing Group Reflection

A Peace of Mind – Tips and Inspiration from one kid to others

 

November 29

Sgraveswrites – Completed Nanowrimo Tracker

 

 

Review book provided by Penguin Random House

Blog Tour: The Gift Inside the Box + 5 Fun Cardboard Box Craft Projects Roundup

The Gift Inside the Box

by Adam Grant and Allison Sweet Grant, illustrated by Diana Schoenbrun

Age Range: 5-8 years old

Hardcover, 40 pages

$11.69 on Amazon

Today I'm the blog tour stop for the new book, The Gift Inside the Box by Adam Grant and Allison Sweet Grant. It's a cool-looking book that looks like a box. In fact, you open it with the velcro flap on the box, giving kids a fun peek at the book inside. I love the sweet story of a cardboard box looking for it's deserving, rightful owner.

Let's be real here. How many times have your kids loved playing with the boxes? I remember my daughter would sit and create her own little world inside a big box when she was 3 and it occupied her for most of the day. So there are times it's not about what's inside, it's all about the box!!

Here's a roundup of some really fun cardboard box craft projects that you create along with your kids:

 

Acorn Pies shows you how to build a cardboard castle.

 

Your kids will have fun making all the sea animals and decorating their DIY Cardboard Aquarium by mollymoo.

 

What kid doesn't like to play store? Make this DIY Cardboard Cash Register by Handmade Charlotte.

 

When you have a really big box, Handmade Charlotte shows you how to make your own Collapsible Cardboard Tent. I love the colorful designs on there. Your kids can have a lot of fun decorating this.

 

Even a small box like a shoe box can be something fun. I love how Craftulate turns a shoe box and toilet paper rolls into a Shoe Box School Box. 

 

 

 

Review book provided by Penguin Books

Kids Crafts: DIY Marble Paper Tutorial

A few weeks ago, with a Columbus Day holiday off school, Chloe and I decided to finally take some time to craft together. Her best friend, one of our neighbors was coming over and she loved to craft too. I didn't realize how addictive this project was going to be, not just for the girls but for ME! This is a perfect kids craft to do with kids of all ages, but I especially recommend it for tween girls. It was fast and highly satisfying! We did the project outside on our patio for easy clean up and the girls did a great job of keeping things neat.

 

DIY Paper Marbling Tutorial

Supplies:

2-3 Cans of Shaving Cream (Target brand is really cheap!)

Liquid Watercolor (or Food Coloring)

White Cardstock Paper (can get different sizes)

Disposable Pans or baking pans with rims

Skewer Sticks  (Must have pointy ends to mix shaving cream and paint for patterns)

Wooden Mixing Spoon

Ruler

Something to cover your table and/or floors (if necessary)

Paper Towels for clean up

Trash bag nearby

Note: I bought this liquid watercolors pictured above at Michael's because we were short on time. You can order these really affordable liquid watercolors on Amazon. I do recommend to use liquid watercolors over food coloring because I have found that watercolors are so much easier to wash off your hands and won't stain clothing or furniture as food coloring does.

Step 1: Take the can of shaving cream and shake it. Fill your pan or baking sheet with the shaving cream and mix it up.

Step 2: Now add drops of the liquid water color to form the base color of your paper. 

Step 3: Mix it up with a mixing spoon.

Step 4: Add in drops of liquid water color randomly all over the shaving cream base. Add in multiple colors and don't be afraid to do more random drops of water colors all over the cream. Then use a stick with a pointy end and start to lightly mix up the colors (shown left) on the surface of the shaving cream. This will help create the pattern to you final product.

Step 5: Place a piece of cardstock paper in the shaving cream and press lightly all around.

Step 6: Peel off the paper from the shaving cream.

 

Step 7: Place your paper in an empty pan or baking sheet and use a ruler to scrape off the shaving cream in one directional swipe (from bottom up or top down). Keep doing this until there is no more shaving cream on your paper. Discard the used shaving cream from the ruler or pan in the trash so you have a fresh "pan" for the next paper.

The girls found it so fun they actually started doing new versions of their colors by dumping out their original shaving cream so having at least 2 bottles on hand really helps as kids love to try new things and they love variety. We spent a good two hours working on these and had so much fun!



Here's one that I did and I really mixed up the colors well by using the pointy end of the sticks. The final result is on the right. I love the colorful swirls!

You can see all the pretty colors up close here. Set the finish cards on top of paper towels to dry. It really doesn't take long. The finished cards can be laminated to make notebook covers or pretty stationery or even framed for art in a room! The possibilities are endless.

I have some video of the process in my DIY Marbling Highlight in my Instagram Stories.