My favorite part of starting a new project is getting to write new characters. Usually I go in already knowing what POV (or POVs, since most books I write have multiple) the book will be told from. But recently, as I started to brainstorm a new idea, I realized I was trying to choose between… Continue reading Picking The Right POV
For the longest time, pacing was my craft nemesis. I would write books that were basically all beginning, with a rushed middle, and then they would just END. And I could tell something was totally off about my structure, but I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to fix it. It took… Continue reading Tips for Writing a Well Paced Book
There’s no one single way to write a query. The point of a query is to entice people to read your book. And just like no one book is going to be like another, no one query is going to read like another. And as hard as it is to write a query in general,… Continue reading Writing Queries for Multiple POV Books
Once, when I was at a conference, I heard an author say the first hundred pages of a book teach you how to read that book. I love that so much, but the sad truth is, sometimes a reader won’t wait around for a 100 pages. And especially in YA fantasy, where things generally tend… Continue reading Info Dumping Isn’t Always Bad
A while ago I was talking to a friend about pop culture pet peeves–those things that really bother us when we’re watching or reading something. And when she asked me what mine was, my answer was immediate: poison. Specifically when someone eats or drinks a poisonous item and collapses 3 seconds later. And today I’m… Continue reading The Physiology of Poison
In A World… is a series of posts about world building, where our contributors share strategies and tips for creating well-rounded worlds. When I was in college, I had an internship where I was a mentor for international students. Before I (or any of the other mentors) was allowed to work with those international students,… Continue reading In A World…: Intercultural Communication
This post is co-written by Akshaya and Mara. Writing a novel takes a long time. You spend months, even years, wrestling with an idea you love. You slog through revision after revision after revision, because publishing is a difficult game that demands nothing less than your best. You work so hard, for so long, with… Continue reading The World Isn’t Wide Enough For My Book (Or Is It?)
