Stephen Davies

I am a children's author writing picture books, chapter books and teen novels. My books are set in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, on the edge of the Sahara Desert. I have lived in Africa for more than ten years, working with World Horizons amongst Fulani cattle herders. Welcome to my site.

Tag: writing tips

The Importance of Physical Exercise for Writers

by Stephen Davies

Writing, like chess, is a famously sedentary activity. Authors spend their days sitting hunched over a keyboard, and the only exercise they get is wriggling the fingers, wrinkling the brow and reaching for Rich Tea biscuits. As the deadline nears, the hapless keyboard-basher begins to ignore her body’s needs for sleep, social interaction and physical [...]

Published: September 21, 2011 | Filed Under: Writing Tips | Tags: : : : : : : : : : : : :

The Making of a Picture Book Part Five: Synergy

by Stephen Davies

This is the last in this week’s blog series on how to write a picture book. Whether you are a published picture book author, an aspiring picture book author or a simply-curious, I hope that you have found one or two morsels of useful advice over the course of this series. I am no picture [...]

Published: September 9, 2011 | Filed Under: Picture Books, Writing Tips | Tags: : : : : : : :

The Making of a Picture Book Part Four: ILLUSTRATION

by Stephen Davies

There has been some kind appreciation and enthusiastic tweeting in response to this ‘Making of a Picture Book’ blog series, so thank you very much. If the series has interested or entertained or provided new ideas then I am happy. If you missed parts one, two and three, there’s still time to catch up: The [...]

Published: September 8, 2011 | Filed Under: Picture Books, Writing Tips | Tags: : : : : : : : :

The Making of a Picture Book Part Three: LANGUAGE

by Stephen Davies

Welcome to The Making of a Picture Book Part Three. Today we will be taking a closer look at the language of picture books, and zooming in on rhyme, rhythm, sequences and repetition. If you’re still catching up, here are Part One: PLOT and Part Two: CHARACTER. Rhyme and Rhythm: Why you should Listen to [...]

Published: September 7, 2011 | Filed Under: Picture Books, Writing Tips | Tags: : : : : : : : : : : :

The Making of a Picture Book Part Two: CHARACTER

by Stephen Davies

Welcome to part two of my blog series ‘The Making of a Picture Book’. If you need to catch up, here is The Making of a Picture Book Part One: PLOT. In today’s installment we will be looking at character. . The characters in most picture books are pretty two-dimensional. What can we say about [...]

Published: September 6, 2011 | Filed Under: Picture Books, Writing Tips | Tags: : : : : : : :
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