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WIFYR, the Writing and Illustrating For Young Readers conference, still has spots available. The early bird special price will be ending soon. Go to http://www.wifyr.com/ for more info.

This blog’s “30 Days, 30 Stories” Project will kick off the first of April. Each day of the month a new person contributes something. Expect any genre, fiction or non-fiction, poetry, whatever. Illustrators can add their art as well.

I’ve agreed to provide a story to this event and have put some thought in what kind of thing to contribute. I considered revamping something I’ve already done until the recent traffic on the utahchildrenwriters listserv about publishing work in such a format.

To do this I’ll probably come up with a short story. That will be a stretch as the format is different than the book length stories I’ve been working on. In a novel, the characters & plot evolve over time. Not so with a short story. I’m looking forward to the challenge.

A timely Writer’s Digest article appeared this week that addresses story ideas. Brian Klems’ How to Develop Any Idea Into a Great Story offers some interesting thoughts. Klems says to take your idea then bend it, amp it, drive, or strip it. He uses examples from some of our greatest literature and well-know writers. The Great Gatsby idea was bent into the Fight Club. Margaret Atwood drove Cinderella’s plight in The Handmaid’s Tale. Hemingway stripped the war theme in War and Peace down to his own war experience in Our Time. The article makes for an interesting read.

Enjoy 30 stories.