Ellen Leventhal | Writing Outside the Lines |

04 Aug Love Your Story

Posted at 03:01h in authors, children's literature, critique groups, failures, kid lit, middle grade, non-fiction, picture books, Uncategorized, writing by Ellen Leventhal 11 Comments

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A group of writers and I are reading a wonderful book called Fearless Writing by William Kenower. I won't say it has been life changing, but I will say it has made me look at my writing and other parts of my life in a...

09 Jul Author Laura Clement

Posted at 17:09h in authors, children's literature, critique groups, kid lit, picture books, publishing, revision, writing by Ellen Leventhal 5 Comments

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One of the best things about the kid lit community is meeting so many other like minded people. It gives me great pleasure to highlight these talented people, and today I am introducing you to fellow "Spork Sister," Laura Clement and her adorable book, Egg....

09 May Ten Year Anniversary! But Why?

Posted at 01:27h in authors, children's literature, kid lit, marketing, picture books, publishing, reflection, revision, writing by Ellen Leventhal 2 Comments

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People always ask me why we “reinvented” Don’t Eat the Bluebonnets and published a new version. After all, it was a good story. It’s a great question that deserves a great answer. So I'll try to answer it as best I can. We really liked the old...

02 Mar #50PreciousWords

Posted at 20:17h in authors, children's literature, Dr. Seuss, kid lit, picture books, publishing, Uncategorized, writing by Ellen Leventhal 10 Comments

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It's time! It's here! It's short!! In honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday, Vivian Kirkfield has challenged writers to write a short (very short!) story using only fifty words. Did you know that Green Eggs and Ham has only fifty words? Well, only fifty unique words. Dr. Seuss shuffled and repeated them...

24 Feb Author Debbie Levy

Posted at 14:26h in authors, children's literature, kid lit, non-fiction, picture books, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, writing by Ellen Leventhal 1 Comment

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As someone who is trying to break into non-fiction writing for kids, I have been reading as many non-fiction books as I can get my hands on. I am amazed at all the wonderful titles out there! When I happened upon Debbie Levy's I Dissent,...

07 Jan Small Successes

Posted at 09:23h in authors, children's literature, critique groups, failures, holidays, kid lit, marketing, new year, picture books, reflection, revision, Uncategorized, writing by Ellen Leventhal 6 Comments

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Each January first, I beat myself up. Not literally, of course, but it's still pretty painful. I focus on everything I did not accomplish during the past year. Was I lazy? Not good enough? What was it? Turns out that type of thinking is not...

10 Dec Happy Everything!

Posted at 21:47h in children's literature, holidays, kid lit, picture books, writing by Ellen Leventhal 17 Comments

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It's that time of year again! Susanna Hill's fabulous Holiday Story Contest! Shopping? Nope. Wrapping? Nope. Slashing words? Why, yes. Read on to see why I must slice and dice all those pesky little extraneous words. Here's Susanna's challenge: Write a children’s holiday story using the basic format/concept...

13 Oct Crazy About Crtiques

Posted at 23:08h in children's literature, critique groups, kid lit, picture books, Uncategorized by Ellen Leventhal 8 Comments

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Let me say at the outset that I love my smart, talented, kind critique buddies. Not everyone is so lucky. Picture this: You write something, give it to your critique group, and everyone says it's wonderful. No problems at all. Great feeling? Maybe. Helpful? Nope. The whole point...

30 Jun The Rule of Three in Writing and Life

Posted at 22:40h in children's literature, kid lit, picture books, publishing, revision, rule of three, Texas, Uncategorized, writing by Ellen Leventhal 1 Comment

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There is power in the number three. Julius Caesar didn't ask only friends and Romans to lend him their ears. It wouldn't have been nearly as powerful without the countrymen. And don't ever just stop and drop when your clothes are on fire. You better...

31 Mar Bluebonnets Part Two…Moving On

Posted at 18:08h in children's literature, kid lit, picture books, publishing, reflection, revision, Texas, Uncategorized, writing by Ellen Leventhal 9 Comments

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Ellen Rothberg and I loved our book, Don't Eat the Bluebonnets. Lots of other people loved it too. It had heart, great illustrations, and kids connected with it. Ahh...