When I first began writing my YA fantasy novel, Illuminate, all I knew about the story was that it needed to include illuminated manuscripts. The problem: I only had a scattering of knowledge about illumination. In this entry, the first of a series about my research adventures, I’m going to talk about the places I went, the books I read, and some of the weird things I learned. Hopefully this will be entertaining and educational–and perhaps help another young writer on their way! Research Trips: The Places I Went Living in England during my master’s opened a lot of opportunities...
It will probably surprise no one that worldbuilding is my favorite part of writing fantasy. I love sitting down and asking questions about the cultures I’ve studied, places I’ve been, and stories I’ve heard. It’s always exciting to feel the new place take shape, and to discover my protagonist’s role in it. So I’m thrilled to reveal that now when you subscribe to this blog, I’m able to offer you a cool perk: Creating Stunning Worlds. This is a short PDF that includes my worldbuilding tips, a questionnaire to help you brainstorm, prompts to help you focus your brainstorming, and recommendations...
The world needs more pretty things. So I made 15 hipster pretty graphics with inspirational quotes. All the lovely photography was by my crazy talented brother, Jason Koons. From quotes about writing craft to writing in general, these calm my spirit and make me smile. “Writing fiction is the act of weaving a series of lies to arrive at a greater truth.” – Khaled Hosseini (more…)
It’s the fifth and final round of my Q&A session about Bath Spa University’s Master of Arts in Writing for Young People. This section is all about the international student angle. Though I’m approaching it as an American, it should be basically applicable to my Aussie and Indian and Canadian and [insert origin of choice] friends looking into the course. You can see the rest of the series under the Q&A tag! As always, feel free to reach out with more questions by contacting me at: alyssamhollingsworth [at] gmail [dot] com A thousand disclaimers: I only have my experience of the Writing for Young...
It’s round four of my Q&A session about Bath Spa University’s Master of Arts in Writing for Young People. This section is about the professional and personal development I underwent during the course. You can see more posts in the series under the Q&A tag! As always, feel free to reach out with more questions by contacting me at: alyssamhollingsworth [at] gmail [dot] com A thousand disclaimers: I only have my experience of the Writing for Young People course to draw from (class of 2014). I’m not a member of staff and can never hope to be as informed as the infallible Julia...
It’s round three of my Q&A session about Bath Spa University’s Master of Arts in Writing for Young People. This section is about the instruction and environment in the classroom, and what to expect during the final third term of the course. Enjoy! You can see more posts in the series under the Q&A tag! As always, feel free to reach out with more questions by contacting me at: alyssamhollingsworth [at] gmail [dot] com A thousand disclaimers: I only have my experience of the Writing for Young People course to draw from (class of 2014). I’m not a member of staff and can never hope...
Click the pictures to see them full-size (and read the full blurbs). I’m taking a quick break from the Q&A series to participate in A Novel Idea. Yes, I’m talking about my own projects quite a lot here lately – mostly because that’s what my life currently revolves around! The Eleventh Trade is back with my agent now, and I’m busily editing away at Illuminate (and having entirely too much fun rediscovering the story after a nine month break). Here’s the Novel Idea prompt for this week: What would the back cover of your novel say? Try to make it...
It’s round two of my Q&A session about Bath Spa University’s Master of Arts in Writing for Young People. This section is about the classes (or, in British-speak, “modules”) and what to expect during the first two terms of the course. Enjoy! You can see more posts in the series under the Q&A tag! As always, you can reach out with more questions by contacting me at: alyssamhollingsworth [at] gmail [dot] com A thousand disclaimers: I only have my experience of the Writing for Young People course to draw from (class of 2014). I’m not a member of staff and can never hope to...
It’s a well-documented fact that I love the Master of Arts in Writing for Young People program at Bath Spa University (geez, that’s a mouthful). Since posting my 5 Questions to Ask Before You Get a Master’s in Creative Writing entry, I’ve had a steady stream of perspective students reach out with questions about the course. I love chatting with these guys and I’m always excited to get a new email! A few particularly inquisitive students graciously gave me permission to share part of our exchange in a sort of Q&A for other perspective students out there. It got quite intense, so I’ve broken...
Before we kick off the Q&A series, I wanted to do an exercise in Beautiful People! And since I’m back in revisions for Illuminate while my agent evaluates The Eleventh Trade, the character I’ll be talking about is Perl. I need to refresh my memory. What is Beautiful People? Beautiful People is a blog meme hosted by Sky @ Further Up and Further In and Cait @ Paper Fury. Every month, they post ten questions to help writers get to know their characters better. I haven’t done it before, but I’ve wanted to for a while now! (Mostly to share pretty pictures. Shhh.) How do...
