by Stephanie Morrill | Dec 4, 2012 | Writing
by Jill WilliamsonEvery scene in your novel should have a purpose. This I’ve always known, but at a writers’ conference this past summer, Nancy Kress taught us that there are three reasons for a scene:1. To advance the plot2. To deepen characters3. To fill...
by Stephanie Morrill | Dec 3, 2012 | Writing
by Stephanie MorrillOne of the best parts of both writing and reading a book are the unexpected twists. But I think twists are most effective when you balance them out with what I call ripple scenes.These are scenes that show the effects the twist had on the...
by Jill Williamson | Nov 30, 2012 | Writing
by Jill WilliamsonIn her book, Getting into Character, Brandilyn Collins has a chapter on what she calls emotional memory. This concept will help you learn to write emotions for your character that you’ve never actually experienced by using a combination of...
by Stephanie Morrill | Nov 29, 2012 | Uncategorized
by Stephanie MorrillI have always been fascinated by writers and their routines and how they split up their time. I don’t expect to unlock some trinket of time management that will magically fix my frustrations (though that would be nice), but I’m...
by Stephanie Morrill | Nov 28, 2012 | Uncategorized
by Stephanie MorrillI have a deep love for all things that involve organization. I use my label maker frequently, I like my spices lined up alphabetically, and Container Store catalogs make me swoon.So it’s somewhat maddening to me that rewrites always feel like...
by Jill Williamson | Nov 27, 2012 | Writing
by Jill WilliamsonLike it or not, formulas can work very well. The trick is to know how to twist the plot so that the formula’s cliché isn’t recognizable. That’s not the case with the children’s cartoon Dora the Explorer. My kids both loved watching...
by Stephanie Morrill | Nov 26, 2012 | Uncategorized
by Stephanie MorrillIt’s time for a new writing contest! Here are the details for this round:Your prompt is: Why did we come here? Your word limit this round is 110 words. (100 words + the prompt sentence + 5 bonus words just for the heck of it.)...
by Jill Williamson | Nov 20, 2012 | Writing
by Jill Williamson & Mindy Starns ClarkSince I’ve been talking about mystery and suspense in my last few posts, I thought you all might find this list helpful. Like many other genres (fantasy, romance), there are many sub-genres that fall under the...
by Stephanie Morrill | Nov 19, 2012 | Uncategorized
by Stephanie MorrillLast week, I received news that threw me into a frenzy of rewrites on a contemporary YA manuscript of mine. That means on Saturday, I made this:The white cards are the current scenes. The Post-it notes are changes or additions...
by Jill Williamson | Nov 16, 2012 | Writing
by Jill WilliamsonWhen I wrote my mystery vs. suspense post on Tuesday, I tried to link to this post. Then I discovered that I never posted this post on Go Teen Writes. This was one of my last posts on my old Teenage Authors blog. So I decided to post it here for...
