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Descriptive Language that Sparkles
Kill your darlings! Get to the point! Plot over prose! How many times have you heard advice about simplifying your writing for middle...
Russell Hirsch
Oct 25, 20232 min read
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SIWC - Simply Inspiring Writers' Conference
We all know the feeling of finding our tribe. Whether we were kids discovering new friends on the playground, teens navigating a new...
Russell Hirsch
Oct 10, 20231 min read
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0 comments


Descriptive Language that Sparkles
Kill your darlings! Get to the point! Plot over prose! How many times have you heard advice about simplifying your writing for middle...
Russell Hirsch
Oct 25, 2023


SIWC - Simply Inspiring Writers' Conference
We all know the feeling of finding our tribe. Whether we were kids discovering new friends on the playground, teens navigating a new...
Russell Hirsch
Oct 10, 2023


Middle Grade Fantasy Word Counts – Part 2
Last post, I dove into an investigation of Middle Grade fantasy word counts using a random selection of novels from my own shelf. The...
Russell Hirsch
Sep 26, 2023


Middle Grade Fantasy Word Counts – Part 1
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...
Russell Hirsch
Sep 12, 2023


Imagine that! Opening and Closing Images
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...
Russell Hirsch
Aug 30, 2023


Making Music With Words
Great writing has two main components: The “storytelling” component — big, structural things, like an exciting plot, good pacing, and...
Russell Hirsch
Aug 15, 2023


Setting the Scene
We’ve all heard of writers grappling with the blank white page. But sometimes, writers leave readers grappling with a frustrating...
Russell Hirsch
Aug 1, 2023


Exposition 101 – SPELL SWEEPER
Today, we continue to unravel that most dreaded of all fantasy writing phenomena… EXPOSITION! Oh, so messy… Writers know that getting...
Russell Hirsch
Jul 18, 2023


EXPOSITION 101 – Fablehaven
Exposition. Few words strike more fear into writers. Not exposition! Noooooo! Exposition is the explanatory stuff within a story. The...
Russell Hirsch
Jul 5, 2023


How Gordon Korman uses 6 POVs!?!
With 100 published books (and counting!) Gordon Korman has delighted generations of readers with his signature blend of humor, adventure,...
Russell Hirsch
Jun 21, 2023


The Best Action Writer in All of Kid-Lit…
Ten years ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing a great Canadian children’s author who described his books as full of “running and...
Russell Hirsch
Jun 7, 2023


The Secret Genius of THE GIVER
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...
Russell Hirsch
May 24, 2023


REVIEW: The Oddmire by William Ritter
Come with me and delve into the deep, dark woods of William Ritter‘s magical middle grade fantasy, The Oddmire, Book I: Changeling....
Russell Hirsch
Jul 9, 2019


REVIEW: Seventh Grade vs. the Galaxy by Joshua S. Levy
This week, Storythreads takes to the stars with a review of Joshua S. Levy‘s funny, fast-paced middle grade sci-fi adventure, Seventh...
Russell Hirsch
Apr 26, 2019


Podcast: Adapting Narnia
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...
Russell Hirsch
Mar 8, 2019


REVIEW: Harper and the Fire Star by Cerrie Burnell
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...
Russell Hirsch
Feb 6, 2019


REVIEW: A Spark of White Fire by Sangu Mandanna
Today on Storythreads, the worlds of Indian mythology and space opera collide in Sangu Mandanna’s YA novel, A Spark of White Fire, the...
Russell Hirsch
Jan 11, 2019


A Dastardly Plot by Christopher Healy (Guest Review for The Book Wars)
Twelve-year-old Molly Pepper and her mother Cassandra Pepper have inventions that could change the world! Except the World’s Fair won’t...
Russell Hirsch
Nov 24, 2018


The YAK Speaks: Messy Rough Drafts
The YAK features articles devoted to Education, Writing, Children’s Literature, and Speech Arts. It is published by The Bolton Academy of...
Russell Hirsch
Nov 18, 2018


Podcast: Adapting The Golden Compass
I rejoin Caitlin from the Bookology blog for her inaugural Words in Living Color podcast, wherein we nerd out over Philip Pullman’s The...
Russell Hirsch
Nov 6, 2018
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