Lexi Donahue finished the draft!

Teacher. Mumma. #pb and #mg Writer. Learning and playing with illustration. Animal admirer. #SCBWI #12by12 Grateful daily (she/her)🏳️‍🌈

[Lexi Donahue finished the draft! @lexidonwrites]

#PBPitch Destination: Library. Journey: Raindrop Race. But Tina’s sister Ali says she's too old to play. Will Tina convince Ali that the journey is just as fun as the destination? VROOM x HELLO, RAIN!

[Lexi Donahue finished the draft! @lexidonwrites]

Help us howl with happiness at the relaunch of https://t.co/9BJvjBHTfH 🐶! Enter to win a pawsome giveaway of books, critiques, and a $50 Amazon gift card! 🐾 https://t.co/ZjYgqZJDv2

[Lexi Donahue finished the draft! @lexidonwrites]

@JustinRColon I pulled this one together a few days ago for the match happening today! I don’t teach in a disadvantaged town though, so please donate to others first and come back to me there aren’t enough responses!

https://t.co/jrNyOdnljW

[Lexi Donahue finished the draft! @lexidonwrites]

Donations to my classroom are currently being matched! https://t.co/jrNyOdnljW

[Lexi Donahue finished the draft! @lexidonwrites]

Having a blast listening to author/illustrators at #PictureBookPalooza while researching agents that represent #PB and #MG!

#amquerying #writingcommunity #kidlit

[Lexi Donahue finished the draft! @lexidonwrites]

Drafting a #pb with sketches for the first time 😁 #amwriting

[Lexi Donahue finished the draft! @lexidonwrites]

@PBChat1 Thanks so much for tonight! These chats motivate me to write. I always get a bit done afterwards 😁

[Lexi Donahue finished the draft! @lexidonwrites]

@PBChat1 Read out loud. Go read favorite books. Make a dummy. Mark the important pacing moments and try out changing how quickly they happen. Rewriting my wip with a full new blank page after spending too much time change one or two words here or there and then comparing to past drafts!

[Lexi Donahue finished the draft! @lexidonwrites]

@PBChat1 @kateallenfox I am interested in others’ input in post acquisition! Usually, I need to cut out 3-5 sentences and start further in! When I find good mentor texts pacing often matches what I want my story to feel and reading that out loud and then my story helps me revise.

[Lexi Donahue finished the draft! @lexidonwrites]

@ACurleyWrites @elaynecrain @PBChat1 It’s not wordless, but this makes me think of a brilliant spread in @kirsticall’s new board book, the big scream. The entire books is paced amazingly with such few words. It is just a joy to read with the youngest of readers!!

[Lexi Donahue finished the draft! @lexidonwrites]

@PBChat1 anytime a story leaves the reader in a space to predict what comes next and be surprised to see the answer when the page turns can really aid in keeping it moving. And rhyme vs prose/ varying sentence length. Every story is different!

[Lexi Donahue finished the draft! @lexidonwrites]

@PBChat1 If there isn’t space for reactions and responses from characters so I can care and root for them! Also, if there are words/ details that are redundant because of illustrations

[Lexi Donahue finished the draft! @lexidonwrites]

@PBChat1 I got paid for writing this week! I wrote a story for stories podcast that will air this week and they want more!

[Lexi Donahue finished the draft! @lexidonwrites]

@PBChat1 Dear dragon by @joshfunkbooks is a book that made me want to write books. Two many birds by @CindyDerby is absolutely a favorite too!

[Lexi Donahue finished the draft! @lexidonwrites]

@Carrie_KidLit @PBChat1 I almost picked her!

[Lexi Donahue finished the draft! @lexidonwrites]

@PBChat1 How quickly to introduce different key components of a story so that the reader can build and engage with a story. The characters, setting, regular day, problem, what changes or gets worse and when.

[Lexi Donahue finished the draft! @lexidonwrites]

@PBChat1 That’s hard. Now I need to read biographies on everything😂 but my first answer was Alfred Russel Wallace, who’s scientific contributions and sailing tenacity despite literally surviving a burning a ship on an expedition inspired my first #mg manuscript!

[Lexi Donahue finished the draft! @lexidonwrites]

#amwriting a #pb draft that’s been turning around in my head all day! #kidlit

[Lexi Donahue finished the draft! @lexidonwrites]

@MrsCHeidrich I do audio book or paper for mg most of the time and then I use my kindle for “adult” books. I’m not sure why!

[Lexi Donahue finished the draft! @lexidonwrites]

Rejection is hard. Finding time to create is hard. But creating happens so I’ll keep going

[Lexi Donahue finished the draft! @lexidonwrites]

The 10-12 years olds that met for a critique group today amazed me. I learned so much about setting and hooks from their writing. And they were kind enough to give me feedback too! #kidwriters #WritingCommunity #mg #giveback