New Literary Vocabulary Words

In the past few months I have had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of a number of great writers, found excellent websites full of writing resources, and been exposed to a whole new language in terms of literary lingo. I was already familiar with words and terms like fiction, nonfiction, literary agents, manuscripts, submission guidelines, synopsis and query letters. But now I have acquired a new vocabulary of terms I had never heard of before. Here they are:


New Words/Terms

Blog Hop - I don't know who came up with this term but it's a good one. The idea is to get new people to
visit your blog. It works like this: One person puts an article on their blog answering questions about themselves. The questions might be: Who is your favorite author? What do you write, fiction or nonfiction? Have you even been published? At the end of their blog, they will have a list of three names with links to those blogs. After you've read the host's blog, you "hop" over to the first name on the list and read their blog, then you "hop" on to the next name on the list, and again onto the third one. Each one in turn will have three names at the end of their blogs. Then, you can "hop" to those blogs, as well, as keep on going as long as you like. It's a great way to learn about other people with the same interests (in this case, I'm referring to writers sharing their blogs) as well as a great way to get other people to visit your blog. I've participated in two different types of blog hops (one of which was called a follow fest, but it's the same type of thing, and both were fun. Here are the links to my blogs: Blog Hop and Follow Fest.

 Pitchfest - In this context, a pitch is a very short description of a story you've written. A longer description of a story is called a synopsis, but a very short one is a pitch. You write a short description to pitch your idea to an editor or an agent in an effort to get them interested in reading more. Pitches can very in length. Some I've written were only as long as a tweet (a term used with the program called "Twitter"), which can't be more than 140 characters (including spaces and the "hashtag"), making it very short indeed. Other pitches were up to 35 words, which still isn't very long. These pitches were sent via email, rather than through Twitter. A pitchfest then, is a time frame set aside (a few hours or a day or two) when writes can pitch their ideas to editors/agents in a festive atmosphere (sometimes prizes are given out to participants), hence the term.

PitchMAS - PitchMAS is a type of pitchfest that takes place in both July and December. The first PitchMAS took place in December, the month of Christmas, hence the term PitchMAS. Now it is held in both December and July. Here's a link where you can get more information about this year's December event: PitchMAS 2013.

New Acronyms


MoP stands for Month of Poetry. According to the website, MoP is "a personal challenge to write one poem every day for the month of January." It's not a competition and there are no judges. You can write what you want. The idea is to inspire you to write poetry as well as to learn more about the art of writing poetry. If your interest lies in writing poetry, or if you'd just like to give it a try, you can get more information by clicking on the above link.

NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. According to the website, "NaNoWriMo is an annual (November) novel writing project that brings together professional and amateur writers from all over the world. During NaNoWriMo, you write 50,000 words in the 30 days of November. The challenge may be hard, but the logistics are not! Here, let us guide you through ‘em." The event is FREE and you can win prizes for participating (in addition to being motivated to write a novel in 30 days! Find out more about it by clicking on the above link.

Paula Yoo hosts an event called NaPiBoWriWee, NationalPicture Book Writing Week. Participants are challenged to write a complete picture book draft each day of the week. Writers are encouraged to brainstorm ideas, do research, take notes, and even outline the books ahead of time, but the actual writing is to take place during the week. You can find out more about this challenge by visiting her website.

PiBoIdMo stands for Picture Book Idea Month. PiBoIdMo is similar to NaNoWriMo. Both take place in November, both offer prizes for participation, and both are great motivators if you're a writer, but there are some differences between the two. First, the event is for picture books, not for novels. Second, the idea is to come up with 30 different ideas for picture books during the 30 days in November. Also, you don't have to write a complete picture book, you just need to come up with 30 different ideas for pictures books. These can be titles, names of characters, simple plots, etc. Then, when the event is over, you will have a list of 30 picture book ideas to work on. Again, click on the above link to find out more about the event.

ReviMo stands for Revise More. The main idea behind it is for writers to take a week of their time (January 12-18, 2014) and revise manuscripts that they have already written. You can read more about it by clicking on the above link.

Angie Karcher hosts an annual event called RhyPiBoMo which means Rhyming Picture Book Month. In You can find more info at her website.

her own words she explains her Mission Statement: "My goal is to guide those aspiring to write rhyme and poetry through the process of learning the craft and offering resources, short lessons, writing prompts and the wisdom of experienced folks in the business to improve the quality of rhyme and poetry for children. Participants will need to reference a different rhyming picture book for each day of the month and make notes on them throughout the month.
 

SkADaMo stands for Sketch A Day Month. Like both PiBoIdMo and NaNoWriMo, SkADaMo takes place during the month of November. This event is for illustrators. Find out more about it by clicking on the above link.

PiBoIdMo

Well, folks, it looks like I'm now an "Official Participant" in PiBoIdMo. And just what is "PiBoIdMo"? Glad you asked. It stands for Picture Book Idea Month. Clever, eh?

So now I guess you want to know more about it? Yes? Great. Here's the scoop:

* This is a special opportunity set up with children's writers in mind. As creator Tara Lazar says: 'The challenge is to create 30 picture book ideas in 30 days. You don’t have to write a manuscript (but you can if the mood strikes). You don’t need potential best-seller ideas.You might think of a clever title. Or a name for a character. Or just a silly thing like “purple polka-dot pony.” The object is to heighten your picture-book-idea-generating senses. Ideas may build upon other ideas and your list of potential stories will grow stronger as the days pass.'

* Participants will have access to daily blog posts by authors, illustrators, editors and other professionals who specialize in children's literature, that will hopefully serve as inspiration for the creations of a new file of story ideas.

* This is the fifth year for PiBoIdMo. When it was started in 2008 Tara Lazar was the only participant. Then in 2009, she hosted it on her blog. 2012, over 750 writers participated. She is hoping for even more this year.

* The event will take place during the month of November 2013, but registration is open now and will continue through the first week of November. When the event concludes in early December, participants will be asked to "take the PiBoIdMo Pledge," which states you have completed the challenge. Don't worry, no one will check up on you; you will be on the honor system.

* If you register for the challenge, you will be eligible for some neat prizes:

• Feedback from literary agents
• Original sketches by picture book illustrators
• Picture book critiques from published authors
• Signed picture books
• Jewelry
• Other Cool Stuff

You can't win if you don't register. 

* Guest bloggers for the month include an impressive list of kid lit professionals including (but not limited to):
Peter Brown; James Burks; Dianne de Las Casas; Kelly DiPucchio; Julie Hedlund; Carter Higgins; Emma Ledbetter, Assistant Editor, Atheneum; Wendy Martin; Debbie Ridpath Ohi; and Corey Rosen Schwartz

(Click on the names to read their guest posts)

Join me, and lots of other writers, for this sure-to-be fun event. This is my first year of doing it, so if you're a "newbie" too, don't worry about it. We can have fun together!

DON'T DELAY; REGISTER TODAY!