Resources
I’ve created a variety of resources to help you expand your writing craft and overcome writing blocks. Feel free to download and share (with credit) anything you find useful. Please reach out if you have any questions.
Please be patient as I restructure and update my resources page. If there’s something you would like to see here, please reach out.
Picture Book Resources
Character Backstory
Backstory is everything that has happened in a character’s life. It doesn’t necessarily appear on the page, but their backstory influences how they act and react.
Whey you write with the backstory in mind, your characters will feel alive and approachable, and your reader will be more invested in the story (which is why they keep reading your work. #Goals!).
If you’d like to learn more about character development, please reach out.
Picture Book Plot Development
To tell the best version of your story, you need to spend time individually with the beginning, middle, and end.
This activity is designed to help you craft an interesting plot and a tasty story. It is designed specifically for Picture Books. However, if you expanded on the middle bits, you could make it work for an older audience.
If you’d like to learn more about plot development, please reach out.
Deconstructing Picture Books
When you study a picture book, you begin to understand the various layers that make it successful (or not!). Once you understand how common patterns work, you can apply them to your own writing.
This exercise uses published picture books to help you identify story structure.
If you’d like to learn more about plot development, please reach out.
The Book Dummy
A Book Dummy is a mock-up of your book. It is excellent for kinesthetic learners, but it is also an essential tool for understanding the pacing, rhythm, and flow of your story.
If you’d like to learn how to use a Book Dummy, please reach out.
Chapter Book Resources
Character Backstory
Backstory is everything that has happened in a character’s life. It doesn’t necessarily appear on the page, but their backstory influences how they act and react.
Whey you write with the backstory in mind, your characters will feel alive and approachable, and your reader will be more invested in the story (which is why they keep reading your work. #Goals!).
If you’d like to learn more about character development, please reach out.
Middle Grade Book Resources
Character Backstory
Backstory is everything that has happened in a character’s life. It doesn’t necessarily appear on the page, but their backstory influences how they act and react.
Whey you write with the backstory in mind, your characters will feel alive and approachable, and your reader will be more invested in the story (which is why they keep reading your work. #Goals!).
If you’d like to learn more about character development, please reach out.
Young Adult Book Resources
Character Backstory
Backstory is everything that has happened in a character’s life. It doesn’t necessarily appear on the page, but their backstory influences how they act and react.
Whey you write with the backstory in mind, your characters will feel alive and approachable, and your reader will be more invested in the story (which is why they keep reading your work. #Goals!).
If you’d like to learn more about character development, please reach out.
Educational Resources
Critical Thinking Handout
Developing critical thinking skills takes active practice. But we need these skills to identify (and push back against) propaganda, to avoid being fooled or taken advantage of, and to make our world the best it can be.
Critical thinking starts with 6 extended questions:
Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?
If you’d like to learn more about how to implement critical thinking, please reach out.