It’s time for another installment of this! (Click here to find installments 1, 2, and 3.) You know how when you read advice on querying, they suggest comparing your manuscript to a published book? For my first manuscript, this was really hard to do–it’s a YA mystery, with some historical fiction, with some magical realism, with […]
I think Mondays are a good day for a quick writing lesson, don’t you? At the beginning of the work week I’m (usually) in a productive mindset. So going forward, on Mondays I’m going to be sharing some little tips that can improve your writing in a big way. First up: On how (and why) […]
For my first novel, the only people I had reading and critiquing it were friends and family. Which was awesome for my ego–not so awesome for my work. For my second novel, I actually did what the internets have been advising me to do–I searched for critique partners. And I actually found two! More on […]
I’m still struggling with getting the beginning of my novel just right, so it’s time for another installment of this. (Installments 1 and 2 here and here). I’ve been getting more and more into YA contemporary. Jandy Nelson, Stephanie Perkins, Robyn Schneider, Gayle Forman, Rainbow Rowell, and David Levithan are all recent faves. But I’d argue […]
I’m currently revising the first book I ever wrote. After many years of debate, I’ve decided to definitively kill my darling of a prologue and start right away with the main story. I wrote before about the importance of the first 250 words of your manuscript and I’ll probably write about it again because it was […]
So in my contemporary YA work in progress, I’m finally finally at the point where the people I want to kiss, do. Yay! I wrote a draft of that scene. And then reread it. And it was … meh. I wanted the literary equivalent to fireworks, only less clichéd. I did not produce that. And though I know […]
Much has been written on the importance of the first 250 words of your manuscript. All of it is true. It can be hard, as a writer, to keep that in mind–you have the whole story to keep in your mind–so polishing (or demolishing and rewriting) your opening is something best done at the editing stage. Once […]
So I wrote a book. (In a sun-drenched field, on a typewriter. Isn’t that how you write, too?) Then I rewrote it. Then I rewrote it again. And again. And again…
“It starts with this: put your desk in the corner, and every time you sit down there to write, remind yourself why it isn’t in the middle of the room. Life isn’t a support system for art. It’s the other way around.” —Stephen King My humble writing spot. I’d love to see photos of yours!
As a writer, I’m constantly asked: “Where do you get your ideas?”
