Russell Hirsch

Kill your darlings! Get to the point! Plot over prose! How many times have you heard advice about simplifying your writing for middle...

We all know the feeling of finding our tribe. Whether we were kids discovering new friends on the playground, teens navigating a new...

Last post, I dove into an investigation of Middle Grade fantasy word counts using a random selection of novels from my own shelf. The...

If you’re an over-writer like me, you probably agonize over word counts. If you’re an under-writer, you probably also agonize over word...

Great books begin with great openings. It’s our first taste of a story that will excite, move, and enthrall us. And endings are just as...

Great writing has two main components: The “storytelling” component — big, structural things, like an exciting plot, good pacing, and...

We’ve all heard of writers grappling with the blank white page. But sometimes, writers leave readers grappling with a frustrating...

Today, we continue to unravel that most dreaded of all fantasy writing phenomena… EXPOSITION! Oh, so messy… Writers know that getting...

Exposition. Few words strike more fear into writers. Not exposition! Noooooo! Exposition is the explanatory stuff within a story. The...

With 100 published books (and counting!) Gordon Korman has delighted generations of readers with his signature blend of humor, adventure,...

Ten years ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing a great Canadian children’s author who described his books as full of “running and...

THE GIVER is one of the most successful children’s novels of all time. Winner of the 1994 Newbery Medal, Lois Lowry’s tale still...

Come with me and delve into the deep, dark woods of William Ritter‘s magical middle grade fantasy, The Oddmire, Book I: Changeling....

This week, Storythreads takes to the stars with a review of Joshua S. Levy‘s funny, fast-paced middle grade sci-fi adventure, Seventh...

I rejoin Caitlin from the Words in Living Color podcast blog to chat about The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe–in its book form and as...

Today, it’s my pleasure to shine a light on Harper and the Fire Star, a charming middle grade fantasy and the fourth book in Cerrie...

Today on Storythreads, the worlds of Indian mythology and space opera collide in Sangu Mandanna’s YA novel, A Spark of White Fire, the...

Twelve-year-old Molly Pepper and her mother Cassandra Pepper have inventions that could change the world! Except the World’s Fair won’t...

The YAK features articles devoted to Education, Writing, Children’s Literature, and Speech Arts. It is published by The Bolton Academy of...

I rejoin Caitlin from the Bookology blog for her inaugural Words in Living Color podcast, wherein we nerd out over Philip Pullman’s The...