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Author of THE ELEVENTH TRADE

alyssamhollingsworth@gmail.com
Alyssa HollingsworthAlyssa Hollingsworth
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Resilience Questionnaire: Adapted for Characters

Resilience Questionnaire: Adapted for Characters

May 24, 2024

I’ve been spending the past few years getting my doctorate degree in creative writing with the thesis Breaking the Curse: Retelling a Folk Fairy Tale to Explore Trauma and Healing in Novels for Young People. During my research, I came across Donna Jackson Nakazawa’s brilliant book Childhood Disrupted. She included a resilience questionnaire, which I have adapted here for creative writers to use in their character development process. I recommend taking this questionnaire alongside the Adverse Childhood Experiences quiz. Resilience Questionnaire My character believes that their mother loves them. Definitely True Probably True Not Sure Probably Not True Definitely Not True   My...

The Adverse Childhood Experiences Quiz: Adapted for Characters

The Adverse Childhood Experiences Quiz: Adapted for Characters

May 24, 2024

I’ve been spending the past few years getting my doctorate degree in creative writing with the thesis Breaking the Curse: Retelling a Folk Fairy Tale to Explore Trauma and Healing in Novels for Young People. As part of my research, I came across the Adverse Childhood Experiences quiz. I have adapted the quiz for creative writers to use in their character development process. I recommend taking this alongside the resilience questionnaire. The CDC’s Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACE Study) uncovered a stunning link between childhood trauma and the chronic diseases people develop as adults, as well as social and emotional problems....

International Covers are Here!

International Covers are Here!

Jul 23, 2019

One of the coolest things in my life was seeing my book out in the wild, but a close second? Seeing The Eleventh Trade in different languages — and the covers international publishers choose for the story. And now, a little under a year since the English language version launched, I can finally share all of the translations with you! If you want to see a cover in more detail, just click the picture.   Van Niets Naar Iets (Dutch) & L’Ultimo Scambio (Italian) The Dutch and Italian version of The Eleventh Trade took the cover from the US design....

Workshop: The Moment Everything Changes

Workshop: The Moment Everything Changes

Jan 25, 2019

I hope you have enjoyed these flashback entries from WriteOnCon 2018! Remember to sign up for the 2019 conference, which takes place February 8-10! In this workshop, I talk about how to find your novel’s opening — one of the hardest parts of the process, if you ask me. I give short talks, then release the viewer to do writing exercises. I also read and discuss some of examples. Early in the workshop, I ask the viewers to answer these polls. You can’t vote in them now (sorry!) but I’m including them as examples below. My YA fantasy is about a girl...

Workshop: How to Identify Your Story’s Core

Workshop: How to Identify Your Story’s Core

Jan 18, 2019

I’m continuing my theme of sharing my events from WriteOnCon 2018 (an annual online kidlit writing conference I help organize) in preparation for WriteOnCon 2019. If you haven’t signed up yet, you should! This is a recording of a live workshop I did (which basically covers the premises in my How Plot and Narrative Strengthen Stories entry). You can still follow along yourself, try out the exercises, and hear me discuss people’s entries. Questions? Leave a comment here!

Vlog: From Pupil to Published

Vlog: From Pupil to Published

Jan 11, 2019

Last year for WriteOnCon 2018 (an annual online kidlit writing conference I help organize), I worked with the lovely Sarah Driver and Jess Butterworth to put together a video that would entertain and educate. We all selected an excerpt from one of our first creative projects and then took a bit from the first chapters of our debut books. As we discuss and critique our writing (and the ways it’s changed), we talk through tips that can help young writers on their way. It was a lot of fun! Included in here is a sneak peak at the Very First...

How to Create an Awesome Author Website

How to Create an Awesome Author Website

Aug 3, 2018

As I mentioned in my last post, I recently did a huge website overhaul to make sure my blog was appropriate for a fancy author sort of person. Also, since a lot of you seem to like my blog post about author business card designs, it seems that sharing a few tips from my research here might be helpful. There are three main elements to any web design — hosting, the design itself (the way it looks), and the content (what’s on it + the way it’s organized). I’m going to address them all below, and give you some ideas...

Stop Glorifying the First Draft and Finish It

Stop Glorifying the First Draft and Finish It

Jul 28, 2017

As a mentee for writers, a critique partner, and person who generally has a lot of friends in very different stages of the author business, I end up talking to a lot of people about their first drafts. Especially their first-manuscript first drafts. The attitude of many first-manuscript writers can be summed up nicely in this graphic, which I’ve grabbed off Pinterest: (So much is wrong about this graphic, but I only got time for the starry-eyed attitude today.) There’s something very sweet and appealing about this. It reminds me of the sentimental early days of writing, and how every...

10 Travel-Themed Exercises for Character Chemistry

10 Travel-Themed Exercises for Character Chemistry

Jun 9, 2017

As you may have gathered, I travel. A lot. So I figured — why not take a look at my travel experiences and see what brought out the biggest differences among my companions? That way I can steal from our adventures and use it for character chemistry in my writing. (If you travel with me, there’s an 85% chance this will happen. That’s the risk you take being friends with a writer-person.) Even when you’re traveling with great people, there are subtle conflicts and compromises along the way. If you’re less lucky, those little adjustments can become stewing rage or explosive...

Story Graphics: Theme Collage

Story Graphics: Theme Collage

Jun 2, 2017

Continuing on in my (somewhat infrequent) story graphics series, let’s talk about one of my favorite things to make: Theme collages! These can be a fabulous way to visually brainstorm your project from all angles (character, setting, conflict, you name it). I particularly love to make collages for my fantasy stories, because there are so many pretty pictures to choose from. For maximum brainstorming effectiveness, I recommend putting on your story playlist (or a playlist of fitting music), getting a cup of tea, and snuggling down to put all this together. The music in particular really helps! Full credit where...

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Alyssa Hollingsworth

Alyssa was born in small town Milton, Florida, but life as a roving military kid soon mellowed her (unintelligibly strong) Southern accent. Wanderlust is in her blood, and she’s always waiting for the wind to change. Stories remain her constant.

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the girl

Alyssa Hollingsworth
Alyssa was born in small town Milton, Florida, but life as a roving military kid soon mellowed her (unintelligibly strong) Southern accent. Wanderlust is in her blood, and she’s always waiting for the wind to change. Stories remain her constant.

© 2018 · Alyssa Hollingsworth

  • Home
  • Bio
    • Press Kit
  • Books
  • Blog
    • Master List of Story Tips
  • Teacher Resources
    • Author Visits + Events
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  • Invite Me to Speak