Category: Writing Advice
Why We YA and You Should Too
Guest Bloggers: Stephanie Wardrop, Kelly Hashway & Rachel Schieffelbein It’s summer, which means that visions of spending days basking in sunlight, reading a great book by the pool, and freedom from homework are dancing around in the heads of many. But summer also brings one more delight; Swoon Romance’s …
What to Do When You’re Stuck (Or How Scorpion Deception Almost Didn’t Get Created)
Seriously Funny
Guest Blogger: Jill Wolfson The four novels that I’ve written for the middle-reader and the young adult audience all deal with heavy topics – foster care, unemployment, depression, death, medical emergencies. In COLD HANDS, WARM HEART, I actually killed character – a likeable teenage girl – in the first chapter, …
Point of View is Not Always a Good Compass For the Truth
Guest Blogger: Anne Greenwood Brown I love writing in the first person point of view. Somehow, telling the story how one character perceives it helps me channel that character’s emotions and capture a unique voice. I think first person works particularly well with YA fiction, where the reader wants to …
The Secret Lives of Characters
Guest Blogger: Hilary Davidson While I while writing my first novel, I discovered that characters and their histories take up as much real estate in my brain as close family and friends. More, really, because I didn’t have to think about the long-simmering antagonism between two friends unless I’m inviting …
Tomorrow Is the First Day of the Rest of Your Life
Food Trucks and Hoarding
Guest Blogger: Lisa McMann I admit it. I love reality TV. I love the thrill of SURVIVOR, all the cooking shows, especially THE GREAT FOOD TRUCK RACE, and I am strangely fascinated by shows about people’s obsessions, addictions, and dark secrets. I’ve even been on a reality show called SEARCHING FOR …
Five Key Ways I Built My Indigo World
Guest Blogger: Jordan Dane The inspiration behind Indigo Awakening (book #1 in the Hunted Series, Harlequin Teen) came from researching Indigo children. Query “Indigo Child” on the Internet and you’ll get over 8 million hits. Real life and headlines often inspire my books and this time is no exception. Conspiracy …
Concept: Your Story’s Hollywood Pitch
Guest Blogger: John Robert Marlow So, you have a great story, and you want to pitch it to Hollywood. Before doing that—grab a stopwatch, start the clock and answer this question out loud: What’s your story about? Tickticktick… When you’re finished, check the time. If your answer took more than ten …