As a writer, I collect so much information I often find myself dreaming of an organized library archive. I’m constantly processing nuggets for my current projects – which can include anything from body disposal in 14th century Venetian quarantines to the household traditions of Afghan families to the most popular aiming techniques in Mongolian archery – while also on a constant stream of pirates, economics, star lore, and whatever other thing I’ve recently read about. What I’m trying to say is, there’s a lot in my head. The reality is, I’m not going to remember it all. Especially if it...
When your friends start to leave the nest and send out queries, sign contracts, and talk to publishers – or commission their cover, finish up formatting, and prep to self-publish – it gets pretty gosh darn exciting. Everyone’s on alert, waiting for the next tidbit of publishing news. Their dreams are all becoming real! Highs and lows come hand in hand with the publishing journey. Sometimes a high can be just as stressful as a low – like when a friend of mine was caught between two amazing publishers in a bidding war. Though it’s an awesome problem to have,...
Literary agent. Offers. First refusal. Revision. Contracts. Murder. These are all words that could describe my journey to signing with an agent. (Except for that last one. I was just joking. Or was I?) Readers of the blog might remember that I signed with Amber Caraveo of Skylark Literary back on December 16. But like all stories, it doesn’t actually begin there. When most writers decide to go the route of traditional publishing, they start by querying literary agents. They send out a juicy story blurb, tantalizing first chapters, maybe a sexy synopsis (two words you never thought you’d see together)....
Back in 2014, I finished my MA in Writing for Young People. Workshops were a vital part of the coursework, my love for them grew exponentially. We officially stopped workshopping for class in May of that year. But unofficially? We never actually stopped. Sure, people pop in and out of the group as schedules change, and we’ve added another writer in the meantime. But a year and a half after our workshops “ended,” most of us meet every other week to critique each other’s pieces, even though we’re now split across three different time zones. How do we do it?...
Antagonists are tricky. Too little work, and the antagonist comes across flat. A flat antagonist is easy and boring, because he or she won’t push the protagonist hard enough. Plus there’s that practice of making fleshed out characters and having interesting three-dimensional people, blah blah. We all know the saying: Every villain is his own hero. Though I wrote these questions and prompts with famous antagonists in mind, you could actually pose them to your protagonist or other characters (just switch out the protagonist-themed questions for antagonist-themed) and it will still work. I’ve always found it most helpful to answer questionnaires...
NaNoWriMo is around the corner! I’ve participated for the last several years, and I’m planning to have a go again. Over the summer, I pounded out a (very) rough draft of Popinjay, reboot edition. My plan for NaNoWriMo this year is to retype the whole thing, fixing the biggest problems as I go. I’m looking forward to exploring Talvas’s dialect more, and emphasizing the Mongolian influences in his culture. But mostly, I’m just anticipating writing a character voice that is so jaded and dry and basically the opposite of most of my other guys. It’s fun to dabble in something...
Whether you’re a plotter or a pantser, these are some universally delightful ways to prepare for the madness of NaNoWriMo (which is coming very soon!). 1. Make a Playlist This is possibly my favorite part of brainstorming: Making a playlist! I particularly love to come up with a playlist with lyrics for characters or scenes, and a second playlist that is all instrumental. It’s a lot of fun deciding what instruments would be used for your characters’ themes in scores, and then building your own soundtrack around them. #nerd My favorite places to hunt for new music are: 8tracks, Spotify browse, and...
Whether you’re in a workshop group, volunteering as a beta reader, or helping out a fellow writer as a critique partner, the art of giving a constructive writing critique is very important. All writers need input on their writing, and your feedback will be most effective if you give some thought to how you frame and deliver it. Throughout my undergraduate and graduate degree, workshops were a vital part of my education. I’ve also developed my practice through six years or so as a beta reader/critique partner for numerous writers. Below are the three ways I’ve learned to best give...
Do you have a writer friend? Have you ever tried to write a joint story, or ever wanted to? Over the past four months, my friend Anneka Freeman and I have been cranking out a first draft for a dual project (mostly just for fun, but we’ll see). Keeping separate copies of the story on separate hard drives can get messy, so we opted to use Google Docs (even though we are both avid Scrivener fans). Below are some of our tips for how to use Google Docs to the max! Make a System The most important principle to any...
A friend recently contacted me with this query: I need some book recommendations for my daughter. She is 15, an avid reader and enjoys historical fiction or fantasy books. She also loves classics like Pride and Prejudice and light humorous stories like Anne of Green Gables. Preferably long and in a series. Little did she know what she was getting into! By the end of the evening, I had scoured my shelves and my Goodreads lists to come up with 25 books for her daughter. Then I thought, “Hey, there are other teens out there who like fantasy and history and might appreciate this list....