By Christine Kohler
NANONANOBOOBOO is what I jokingly call NANOWRIMO. And if you don’t make your word count, NANONANOBOOHOO.
If you don’t know that NANOWRIMO stands for National Novel Writing Month then you’ve probably never taken this challenge to write a novel of 50,000 words in one month. (I had to Google Read More
READ LIKE A WRITER, teaching blog
NO NANOWRIMO? NO GUILT!
December 1, 2015
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EMOTIONS JOURNAL
October 29, 2015
by Christine Kohler
When I switched from writing non-fiction to novels, I hit a snag when trying to create emotions for my characters. I realized that I had walled up many of my own emotions in order to be able to deal with difficult people and situations on an intellectual level instead. So, eight Read More
WRITING AUTHENTIC ANIMALS IN FICTION
October 1, 2015
Author Christine Kohler with her shelter dog, mixed schnauzer Abby.
By Christine Kohler
In playwriting class my professor advised to never put animals or children in your plays because they are unpredictable. However, in middle grade and young adult novels, animals not only often star in the stories, but may even increase sales. One of my favorites in realistic fiction is MG novel BECAUSE Read More
OBJECTIVE CORRELATIVE: EVOKE EMOTIONS WITH OBJECTS
September 1, 2015
The baseball in NO SURRENDER SOLDIER is an objective correlative.
By Christine Kohler
When NO SURRENDER SOLDIER (Merit Press, 2014) released, a newspaper reporter called for an interview. She had read my historical YA novel, and remarked, “I was so worried about the baseball! I wondered whether Kiko would get his brother’s baseball back.” The reporter Read More
ENDING WELL
August 1, 2015
By Christine Kohler
They lived happily ever after. *shaking head; strike that*
(Second try) The moral of the story is… *ack! Delete*
(Fourth try) So she grew up to be a doctor and her parents were very proud of her. *rolling eyes; Cut!*
(Sixth try) She smiled. Grandpa laughed. *grumble, grumble; Wad up paper, Read More
Reviewers, Readers Select NO SURRENDER for Diversity Lists
July 26, 2015
On my June 26, 2015, blog post I wrote about writing diverse literature. NO SURRENDER SOLDIER is repeatedly selected by reviewers and readers for categories reflecting diverse characters and cultures.
Top Ten Books that Celebrate Diversity at Alex Baugh's The Read More
Writing Diverse Characters Different from those Inherent to the Author
June 26, 2015
By Christine Kohler
In 1985, my first four fiction children’s books were published by Concordia Publishing House in a series called Growing up Christian. Those contemporary stories for ages 5-9 tackled social problems, such as attitudes toward disabled people and illness. My main character in two stories is Jennifer, who is white, and her Read More
MAGICAL WRITING: LEARNING IN LEAPS
June 16, 2015
by Janni Lee Simner
How do we learn as writers? How do we take our work to the next level?
We all know the places we can go to learn. Formal conferences and workshops. Less formal critique groups and beta readers. Reading books about writing, and reading other books—so many other books—by Read More
THOUGHTS ON INTERNAL MONOLOGUE
May 31, 2015
by Christine Kohler
In the quest for writing character-driven stories, it is easy to fall into the trap of having a character musing to oneself too much. By musing, I'm talking about thoughts, also called internal monologue, or interior monologue.
Often writers write the first draft in too much internal monologue to get the Read More
STATIONS OF THE CROSS, an Out-take Chapter from NO SURRENDER SOLDIER
April 2, 2015
By Christine Kohler
I do not recommend reading this chapter if you have not read my historical novel NO SURRENDER SOLDIER, set on Guam. But if you have read the coming-of-age story and are curious about the editorial process, you might find this fascinating. In the original version, I wrote this “Stations of the Read More