This post is co-written by Akshaya and Mara. We all know what separates fantasy from every other genre—magic systems! And not just any old magic systems! No, these must be cool, unique, complicated, fully explained, excruciatingly detailed, never-been-seen-before-by-anyone, never-even-conceived-of-until-you-put-it-to-the-page, constantly-blowing-everyone’s-mind-with-their-uniqueness magic systems! Or…maybe not. Maybe it’s just that, as fantasy writers, that’s sometimes what we… Continue reading Magic Systems: When It Feels Like It’s All Been Done Before

When talking about filling the creative well, there’s usually something missing in the conversation, in particular when it comes to writing for the YA audience. I fear that in our quest to catch up on the books that we’ve been highly anticipating and stay on top of new releases from the novelists who inspire us… Continue reading Filling the Creative Well

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

How to Liven Up Dull Scenes I think we’ve all had the experience during drafting where you get to a scene that you just don’t. want. to write. You know the scene needs to be written to move your plot along, but you just can’t seem to muster the enthusiasm to write it. (And granted,… Continue reading How to Liven Up Boring Scenes

Story time! Last winter, I got the green light to write a sequel/companion novel to REBEL SEOUL. One problem: I had no plot! I had characters & concept, with several scenes that I was super excited to write, but I was missing all those elements pivotal to plot structure: an inciting incident, stakes/motivation, subplots, escalating… Continue reading Writing a Synopsis Before Drafting

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