Author Archives

Cathy C. Hallhttps://cathychall.wordpress.com/I write, write, write. Then I rewrite, rewrite, rewrite. THEN I submit all those polished-up words out into the world and sell 'em. It's a plan that's worked pretty well.

Friday’s Fun Find: Opening Lines

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“Where’s Papa going with that ax?”

I thought, what with NaNo going on, you might need a little help with the opening line of your novel.

I don’t know about you, but the opening line is almost always the hardest line for me to write. I don’t care if it’s an essay, or a short story, or a novel. I know what I want to say. I just have the dickens of a time getting started. I mean, I sit there thinking that I could write a ton of words–if only I could get the perfect first line onto the paper.

So if you want inspiration, why not check out these well-known children’s books and how the authors began. Or take a peek at these adult novels and their auspicious beginnings.

(Pssst. One of my favorite novels begins:

“The year that Buttercup was born, the most beautiful woman in the world was a French scullery maid named Annette.”
Can you guess the author/book?
Oh,  dear. Now can you guess what I’ll be doing instead of writing???)

November Bonanza: PiBoIdMo, NaNoWriMo, Picture Book Month and Kidlit Cares (Whew!)

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There was a time when November 1st was a relatively simple day. Dispose of the pumpkin before the ants overran my porch, pick through any good Halloween candy left, and get myself to church for All Saints Day. I still do all that (okay, I don’t always get to that pumpkin promptly. The ants are my new best friends) but now that I’m a (mostly serious) writer, November 1st is far from simple.

There’s Picture Book Idea Month starting up over at Tara Lazar’s wonderful blog. I love PiBoIdMo because I just have to come up with an idea. An idea. That’s like, what? A sentence? A sentence fragment, even. I am all over that writing challenge.

And it ties in nicely with Picture Book Month. Technically, I don’t have to write anything for this wonderful literacy initiative that promotes picture books. I just like to slap the badge on my blog and celebrate.  And ask others to join me in the celebration. Picture books opened the door to a world of reading for me and for all the Junior Halls, and I want every kid to have the opportunity to discover that same world when they discover a favorite picture book. Oh! I know! I can celebrate by sharing a post or two on favorite picture books from our shelves. So there will be Picture Book Month writing, after all.

Of course, many of you know about National Novel Writing Month, where 50,000 words in a month gets you a novel and makes you a winner in this writing challenge. NaNo has been a great tool for me, whether I finish the 50,000 words or not…but that’s a post for another day. For now, I’m using NaNo to finish the last edits on one of my already-finished novels. So definitely a chunk of writing there.

Oh! And this year, because of the devastating destruction left behind by Sandy, kidlit authors, agents, editors and illustrators have come together in Kidlit Cares: Superstorm Sandy Relief Effort over at Kate Messner’s website. You can bid on their services (like a critique) and maybe get some feedback on one of your November writing projects–and help the efforts of the Red Cross while you’re at it.

And now, I should check on the time for that All Saint’s Mass, and the status of the leftover Halloween candy.  Although with the Beneficent Mr. Hall in the house, “leftover candy” is an oxymoron.