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....
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...
I’ve just turned in my new draft of Illuminate so I wanted to participate in Beautiful People as my reward! The character I’ll be talking about this time is my darling romantic interest, Luc. Sweet child. 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. How do I join? Just jump in! Snag the September questions, post them on your blog, and come back to add your link! I also recommend checking out the posts...
