• Poetry Friday July 15, 2022: Organizing Poems in Scrivener

    Elisabeth at Unexpected Intersections is hosting this week’s Poetry Friday. Hop on over there to see the roundup.      Organizing Poems in Scrivener Last week, I mentioned that I used Scrivener to type up my poems and tag them. I think you could do the same thing in…

  • Research Tip: Using Google Alerts for Preliminary Research

    I love to write nonfiction. The research process excites me. It always feels like a time of intense discovery–like trying to figure out how the puzzle pieces fit together.  I’m trying to be better organized with my research. I also love to muse over multiple topics at a time.…

  • Organize Your Writing Space

    After a very long hiatus, I am back to blogging. I blog occasionally with a group of writers called the GROG. When Sherri Jones Rivers, a fellow grogger, asked me to give her some ideas for organizing her writing space, I gave her a tour of my space. Click…

  • June Monthly Focus Reminder and New Planning Template

    Where did May go? I looked up behind my computer where I hang my monthly focus paper, and it still says April. Oops. It’s not that I haven’t been working in May. I’ve actually had one of the busiest writing months ever, but it was so busy, I never…

  • Making Time to Write: A Writing Marathon

    Over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to be posting on Writing Wednesdays about setting up a Writing Marathon for students. During the month of February, I did this at my school with fourth and fifth graders. The goal was to write for 30 minutes a day for…

  • Writing Wednesday: Using HERE COME THE HUMPBACKS as a Writing Mentor Text

    HERE COME THE HUMPBACKS By April Pulley Sayre Illustrated by Jamie Hogan Charlesbridge, 2013   This nonfiction book about humpback whales combines lyrical first lines on each page, with narrative facts and separate factoids on each page. Beautifully written and chock-full of information that will delight animal lovers, it…

  • Submissions, Submissions, Submissions

    Are you ready to submit? Not sure how to keep track of everything? Not sure if your work is ready to submit? I’ve been guest posting at Alayne Kay Christian’s blog. I hope these articles will be useful, if you are submitting your work. Organization Tools and Tips for…

  • Nonfiction Picture Books about Virginia History as Writing Mentor Texts

    We all know that students need to become more comfortable reading and writing non-fiction. Last fall, I did a post on 10 of my favorite fiction picture book writing mentor texts. For this post, I’m focusing on some non-fiction mentor texts–with a bent toward history, specifically American history, as…

  • Writing Wednesday: Using THE TREE LADY as a Writing Mentor Text

      The Tree Lady: The True Story of How One Tree-Loving Woman Changed a City Forever By H. Joseph Hopkins Illustrated by Jill McElmurry Beach Lane Books, 2013   This picture book biography about Katherine Olivia Sessions highlights the difference one person can make. Kate lived at a time…

  • Completed Projects Template

    Since I’ve been doing a lot of submitting, and I now have a number of manuscripts I’m revising, or working on, I needed to wrap my head around what I had, and put it all in ONE place. I do have this organization system, where I can visually see…