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.

Follow Fest

This is something new for me. I'm participating in Melissa Maygrove's Follow Fest. It's a way for readers on my blog to connect with other writers (whether you're a writer or not). The idea is for you to read my blog with my personal info, and then follow the above link (either click on the "follow fest" board or where it says "Melissa Maygrove's Follow Fest" in the text) and it will take you to Melissa's page. You can read her info there, and then scroll down to where it says "To return to the Linky, click here." You will find the other lists of participants at the bottom of that page. (You can also sign up for the Follow Fest, if you want to.)

Here's my info:

Name: Christine M. Irvin

Fiction or nonfiction? I write both fiction and nonfiction.

What genres do you write?  Picture books, chapter books

Are you published? Yes. I started writing professionally nearly 20 years ago. At that time, I had my heart set on being a picture book writer. I found out it was very tough to get published as such, so I turned to other forms of writing in order to create a portfolio of published work. I wrote a couple of poems that were published in a local newspaper. I became the Publicity Chair for my daughter's Girl Scout Troupe as well as for her elementary PTA and then her high school marching band (and later at my son's elementary school and high school). As such, I wrote lots and lots of press releases about the various groups' activities. These were published in local newspapers as well. I wasn't making much money, but I was compiling a long list of publishing credits. During this time, I sold a children's story to Highlights for Children and another one to Our Little Friend.

And, I somehow managed to convince the editor a Franklin Watts to take a look at a proposal I had for a series of children's craft books. He liked the idea and wanted to see more. To make a very, very long story very, very short, I am now the author of eight craft books, known as the "Mania Craft" series because each title in the series has the word mania in it, i.e., MILK CARTON MANIA, CRAFT STICK MANIA, CARDBOARD TUBE MANIA, etc. After Children's Press (which bought out Franklin Watts) published them in 2002, Gramercy Press (a division of Random House) bought the rights to publish a "bind-up" of three of the volumes and called it CRAFT MANIA. I am also the author of a fictional picture book, ISAAC THE FROG, published by Sprite Press, a very small press owned by a friend of mine, as well as a book that I self-published along with two of my friends called THE LITTLE LIGHTHOUSE. 

I thought I had it made when it came to writing stuff for kids. I mean, I had a whole series of books under my belt. Every editor would want to publish my material. Right? Wrong! I hit a dry spell where I didn't sell anything and I didn't have much published. I was getting very discouraged. So I looked around for more ways to get exposure as a writer.

That's when I came across an opportunity to start writing book reviews of an online website, called Christian Children's Book Review. I started writing book reviews for them several years ago, and still write for them today. I now write reviews for other sites, as well: Book Reporter, Teens Reads and Kids Reads. And, I branched out into writing articles, recipes and blurbs for websites on a freelance basis.

In the past few months, although I continue to write book reviews and articles for websites, I have turned my attention back to writing for children, specifically in the form of picture books. I joined Julie Hedlund's 12 x 12 group, and was so inspired by all the wonderful posts from fellow members, I am now a member of Kristen McGill Fulton's WOW nonfiction FB page, as well as the 12x12 Member's Forum, the 12x12 FB page, and the Children's Book Creative FB page. I also belong to two picture book critique groups, one for fiction and one for nonfiction.

Do you do anything in addition to writing? I do editing and proofreading on a freelance basis. I also do something this is unrelated to writing, and that is crafts.

Where can people connect with you?

You can connect with me in a number of ways:

1) Through this blog. Just post a comment and I will get it. Or email me at: alamarr@sbcglobal.net.
2) Follow me on Twitter. The "Twitter" button is on the right-hand side of this blog.
3) Make me your friend on Facebook.
4) Link with me on LinkedIn.
5) Pin with me on Pinterest.
6) Read my book reviews on the Christian Children's Book Review website.
7) Read my book reviews on the Book Reporter website.
8) Read my book reviews on the Teen Reads website.
9) Read my book reviews on the Kids Reads website.
10) Read my book reviews on Amazon.com.
11) Visit my author page on Amazon.com.
12) Like my Stitches 'n Pearls Facebook page. This page is set up for my crafts as well as for my daughter's jewelry-making.

Is there anything else you’d like us to know?

I think I've covered everything. If you have any questions or comments, I'd love to hear from you!