Happy One Year Anniversary GROG! Birthday Prizes for YOU!

Happy Birthday to the GROG!  

Today, March 3, 2015 marks our first 'official' anniversary!  To celebrate our birthday, we thought we would give you a 'by the numbers' account of our year and TONS of fantastic birthday prizes!

When we started last year, 14 bloggers decided to join forces around a funny name GROG to share what we love: writing for children!  In one year, our GROG has literally reached around the world to unite and encourage other writers and lovers of literature.

Our original mission still rings true for us:

Here are some facts about the blog:

In 2014, we wrote 161 blog posts!  

So far, in 2015, we've written 24 blog posts.

Over the year we've been writing, we've had over 2,800 posted comments.

Our Facebook page has 222 likes!

Our Top Ten Blog Posts Of All Time Are:

1.     How to Write a Rebus Story by Tina Cho

2.     Picture Books and Metafiction ~ by Patricia Toht

3.     Facebook Groups YOU Should Join by Kathy Halsey

4.     Writing a Mystery for the Highlights 2015 Fiction Contest by Marcie Flinchum Atkins

5.     Interview With Librarian Extraodinare Jon Schu: Part One of Two by Todd Burleson

6.     Twitter for Writers Part 2 with Corey Rosen Schwartz by Tina Cho

7.     We're Throwing a Party and You Get All the Prizes!

8.     6 Tips for Starting an Agent Seach by Leslie Colin Tribble

9.     16 Tips to Increase Your Productivity

10.   Miranda Paul Answers Writers' Burning Questions by Kathy Halsey

Our Clustr Map shows that we've had over 16,732 visitors from literally every corner of the world.  The map shows that every single continent (except Antarctica) has stopped by the GROG.  What an honor to know that so many people are finding our site and hopefully learning along with us.

Since March 2014, our blog has had over 59,000 page views!  

Here's the amazing breakdown:

Maybe not surprisingly, our largest country of origin is the United States, but what fun to see that we also have a large following in the UK and of course Korea where Tina lives!

We are so grateful that you have come along with us.  We hope you've found some guidance and wisdom in our writing.  Here's to a terrific second year!

Photo by ADoseofShipBoy

And now for the BIRTHDAY BONANZA! Enter the Rafflecopter drawing below to win one of twenty-one prizes:

Books and more books for your reading library!

• BACKHOE JOE by Lori Alexander

• PORTRAIT OF WOMEN ARTISTS: GEORGIA O'KEEFE by Robyn Montana Turner

• POWER DOWN, LITTLE ROBOT by Anna Stanizewski

• COWBOY CHRISTMAS by Rob Sanders

• OUTER SPACE BEDTIME RACE by Rob Sanders

• MISS MAPLE'S SEEDS by Eliza Wheeler

• Signed copy, BLUE ON BLUE by Dianne White

• Signed copy, THE GIRL'S GUIDE TO MANNERS by Tina Cho

• Signed copy, SUBSTITUTE GROUNDHOG Book and CD by Pat Miller

• Signed copy, ORANGUTAN HOUDINI by Laurel Neme

• Signed copy, KID PRESIDENT'S GUIDE TO BEING AWESOME by Robbie Novak and Brad Montague

• Signed copy, THE FOURTEENTH GOLDFISH (Newbery Honor Book) by Jennifer L. Holm

• Double-signed copy of SAM AND DAVE DIG A HOLE (Caldecott Honor Book) by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen

Books and goodies for your writing!

• THE WRITER'S BOOK OF HOPE by Ralph Keyes

• WRITING PICTURE BOOKS by Ann Whitford Paul

• 2 copies MENTOR TEXTS FOR WRITERS e-book by Marcie Flinchum Atkins

• 2 journals, personalized by Suzy Leopold

• Writer's journal and pen

• Adorable fuzzy owl puppet (great for story time!) selected by Jan Annino

And a picture book critique by author Carrie Charley Brown! For more about Carrie's author services, visit her website here.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! Celebrating GROG Blog’s 10th ~ By Julie Phend

Happy Tenth Anniversary, GROG!

https://groggorg.blogspot.com/

The GROG Blog has been offering support, information, and encouragement to members of the children's writing community for ten years! To celebrate this milestone, we're going to review GROG's history and mission and highlight some of the people who have made this wonderful resource happen. And for you, our readers, we're offering gifts and prizes as a thank-you for spreading the word. 

Intrigued? Read on.

The GROG Mission:

To provide:

    G: Guidance and support

    R: Resources on the craft of writing

    O: Opportunities to expand our skills

    G: Great folks who support readers and writers of all ages.

That spells GROG!

How Did GROG Get Started?

2014 WOW Retreat

The GROG origin story began in the mountains of Georgia in the summers of 2013-2014 when a group of writers who didn't know each other bonded at the Week of Writing (WOW) nonfiction writing retreat. GROG evolved out of their desire to gather a group of writers to form a new blog about children's literature. Being energetic, intrepid souls, these writers made their vision a reality.

Kathy Halsey & Christy Mihaly

Two of the writers at that original event, Kathy Halsey and Christy Mihaly, are still writing for the GROG blog. GROG grew by inviting writers from all over the world through online forums.

One of the original online recruits is Tina Cho.  

"In 2014, I was living

Tina Cho

in South Korea with my husband and kids," she said. "I had started writing in 2008, so when we moved to Korea, I participated virtually in critique groups, blogs, and social media groups. I started with the GROG blog when I took Kristin Fulton's nonfiction picture book biography class online. Todd Burleson was in the class, and he asked if we'd like to continue together and write a blog. I joined and have been submitting blog posts ever since."

Let's give a SHOUT OUT  to original Groggers Tina Cho, Kathy Halsey, and Christy Mihaly, who have been contributing great information for TEN YEARS! 

Watching the GROG Grow

The first GROG post came out on February 24, 2014. At that time, there were fourteen contributing writers. GROG came out daily, with a different focus each day. Talk about ambitious! 

Here's a quote from one of the first posts on March 22, 2014: "Why are we doing this? The answer is simple. It is for YOU--the writers, librarians, teachers, and lovers of books--especially books for young readers." That's still true today.

The post listed the fourteen original bloggers: Jan Godown Annino, Tina Cho, Christy Mihaly, Sherri Jones Rivers, Patricia Toht, Marcie Flinchum Atkins, Leslie Colin Tribble, Pam Vaughn, Suzy Leopold, Janie Reinart, Todd Burleston, Kathy Halsey, Cheryl Mansfield, and Jackie Wellington. I'm sure many of their names are familiar. (You can read the full post here.)

An early WOW Retreat
With some of the original Groggers

Over the years, the GROG blog has evolved and changed. Some bloggers moved on, and new voices were added. We now post weekly instead of every day. But our mission is unchanged. GROG remains a great place of enlightenment and support in the children's writing community.

Did You Say Something about GIFTS and PRIZES?

You bet! Keep reading to learn how. (Even that has roots in the past.)

How does a new blog get readers?

With a Blog Launch, of course. GROG's launch ran from March 24-April 7, 2014. Bloggers conducted a raffle, giving away free books and services. Readers could enter by visiting the blog and leaving a comment, signing up to subscribe, and re-posting about GROG on social media. The more you did to spread the word, the better your chance of winning a prize.

It worked, too. In its first year, the GROG blog had over 59,000 page views and 16,732 visitors from all over the world. (See the whole post at Happy One Year Anniversary )

As of today, GROG has 851, 244 views with 13,483 comments on 814 posts. Well done, Groggers!

Happy Ten Year Anniversary: 

GROG Giveaway!

In celebration of our tenth anniversary, we're doing another giveaway. Here's your chance to be part of our story and win some fabulous prizes.

How to Enter the Raffle:

We're giving away 10 prizes over 10 days! To enter, you need to comment on a blog post and follow the GROG Blog. For an extra entry, reblog a post on another form of social media and share the link.

What Can You Win?

Here are the prizes and the date entries will open for each one, as well as link to follow:

 

Books:

 

Day 1

3/20 Tina Cho, My Breakfast with Jesus

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e998ca2e3/?

 

Day 2

3/21 Sue Heavenrich, The Pie that Molly Grew

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e998ca2e4/?

 

Day 3

3/22 Eileen Meyer, The Superlative A Lincoln and swag bag

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e998ca2e5/?

 

Day 4

3/23 Christy Mihaly, three-book package: Little Golden Book about Mel Brooks; Patience, Patches; and choice of Free for You and Me or The Supreme Court and Us

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e998ca2e6/?

 

Day 5

3/24 Julie Phend, D-Day and Beyond: A True Story of Escape and POW Survival

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e998ca2e8/?

 

Day 6

3/25 Tina Cho, God's Little Astronomer

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e998ca2e7/?

 

 

Services:

 

Day 7

3/26 An Ask Me Anything Zoom chat with author, speaker, former librarian Kathy Halsey (For more information, see Ask Infowoman: A Library Consult )

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e998ca2e9/?

 

Day 8

3/27 An Ask Me Anything Zoom chat with author Sue Heavenrich

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e998ca2e10/?

 

Day 9

3/28 A nonfiction manuscript critique from author, editor, and agent Fran Hodgkins (1500 words, max. )

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e998ca2e2/?

 

Day 10

3/29 One ten-page fiction manuscript critique by author Julie Phend

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/e998ca2e12/?

 

 

THANK YOU for being a GROG reader and helping us spread the word about this great resource. Sign up to follow us each Wednesday for informative new posts and Blasts from the Past, where you'll find previous posts that are still relevant today. 

Look for a post on May 29, when I'll interview some long-time Groggers about what's changed in the world of children's publishing over the past ten years.

And good luck with the RAFFLE!

 

 

 

What is "Showing not Telling"

By Leslie Colin Tribble

When the GROG had its first anniversary, we queried readers and asked what topics they’d like to see featured in the blog. We got many great responses and will be working through the list as the year progresses.

Today I’m covering some information about that perennial writers’ nemesis, Showing not Telling.

So what is Showing not Telling? Often writers hear from critique partners or agent/editors, “Show me, don’t tell me!”  What exactly does that mean? Let me show you.

I recently checked out E.B. White’s Trumpet of the Swan from our local library. Here are some ways E. B. White shows us information instead of telling us.

Instead of telling the reader, “Sam was happy,” E. B. White says, 

“His heart thumped from excitement and joy.” 

Which sentence is more interesting? Which sentence better transports the reader into Sam’s life? That’s what ‘showing’ does. It gives the reader a richer experience, one with depth and substance that draws them into the story and keeps them there.

Here are more examples. The author could have said, “The swans trumpeted loudly.”

Instead he paints us a picture,

“Every wild creature within a mile and a half of the pond heard the trumpeting of the swans.”

 When the female begins building her nest, E. B. White penned, 

“The female reached for grasses, for moss, for twigs – anything that was handy. Slowly, carefully she built up the nest until she was sitting on a big grassy mound.”

I also reached for another classic, Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie. In Chapter 16, Fire in the Chimney, the author never once tells us it’s autumn. Instead she uses words to give us clues and pictures for our minds, 

“The prairie had changed. Now it was a dark yellow, almost brown, and red streaks of sumac lay across it.”

“The wind was cooler now, and all along the creek bottoms flocks of wild ducks were rising, flying and settling again.”

“The tree-tops along the creek were colored now. Oaks were reds and yellows and browns and
greens. Cottonwoods and sycamores and walnuts were sunshiny yellow.” 

What a lovely way to inform the reader of the change of the seasons.

I know. All you picture book authors out there are thinking, “That’s all well and good for middle-grade books. But words are high-priced real estate in the realm of picture books. Wouldn’t it be better to be succinct and just tell the reader what’s happening? 

Not necessarily. Granted, you can’t wax quite as lyrical with picture books, but you can still provide the same depth by showing the reader what’s going on. 

Peter McCarthy’s latest book, First Snow does just that. Instead of writing, “The children were excited to go outside and play in the snow,” Peter writes, 

“Put on your boots! Put on your coat! Put on your hat and mittens! We are going outside!” 

The excitement coupled with his incredibly beguiling drawings of the animal children made me want to go with them. Then when Pedro falls off his sled, we are treated to this description, 

“Over a bump and into the air, Pedro flew! Thump! Bump! Fump! he went, into the snowbank at the bottom of the hill. 

I probably would have written, “Pedro sailed off his sled and landed in the snowbank.” Fewer words yes, but less life as well.

Here are some practice sentences for you to change from telling to showing. How will you transform these boring sentences into something the reader actually wants to read? Post your ideas in the comments so we can applaud your efforts. Also, search the Web for classroom lessons on Showing not Telling. If it works to make kids better writers, it'll work for you.

1.       Susan was excited to start school.

2.       The family went to buy a puppy.

3.       John was scared to jump off the diving board.

4.       The tall tree stood in the field.

Think about how you can bring these sentences to life using words that beckon to the reader and draw them into the story, living and breathing the plot, the characters, the surroundings. Play with the words in your stories. Weave those strands into a richness that makes your reader want to experience the story again and again and again.