by Shannon Dittemore | Aug 30, 2019 | Author Life, Productivity, Writing, Writing Life
Did you all see this tweet from author Erin Morgenstern? When it popped up in my feed, I almost choked. People have been tagging me in complaints about my books being slow so often lately I've decided to start taking it as a compliment. — erin morgenstern...
by Jill Williamson | Aug 28, 2019 | Guest Posts, Learning from Other Authors, Self-Publishing, Writing
Jill here. A couple things before we dive into today’s interview. First, congratulations to Jerah Winn, who won a copy of Story Trumps Structure by Steven James from the blog giveaway. Yay! For those of you joining the book club, today is your first reading...
by Stephanie Morrill | Aug 26, 2019 | Author Life, Getting Published, Writing
Since we frequently get questions about publishing, I thought it could be beneficial to see the traditional and self-publishing processes at a glance. I’ve talked about the traditional path once before in my post Publishing 101, but it’s been a few years,...
by Shannon Dittemore | Aug 23, 2019 | Brainstorming, First Drafts, Plot
I’m not an outliner. The very idea of making decisions on behalf of my characters before I hear their voices in my head makes me itch. I write to find these things out. To do it any other way feels like planning out all my rest stops on a road trip–a waste of time....
by Jill Williamson | Aug 21, 2019 | Go Teen Writers Book Club, Learning from Other Authors, Reading, The Craft of Writing, Writing
The title of this post says it all, doesn’t it? We are starting a book club! This isn’t just any book club. This is a book club in which we will read books on the craft of writing fiction. We’re going to take it slow with this first book. We’ll...
by Stephanie Morrill | Aug 19, 2019 | Productivity, Story Ideas, Writing Life
Back in December, I wrote about seasons of creativity and creative winters. Creative winters are seasons when might you find yourself unable to come up with a decent idea for a story, regardless of what you do. Or maybe the ideas are simmering, but with all your other...
by Shannon Dittemore | Aug 16, 2019 | Productivity, Writing, Writing Life
This is a reprise, a post that went live on this site just about one year ago today. After talking to both Jill and Steph this week, I’ve realized we could all use these reminders once again. It’s not easy coming back to the page! Many of us are regrouping...
by Jill Williamson | Aug 14, 2019 | Writing
Jill here. I’m away today, teaching and mentoring at a writing conference. See you all next week! Keep on writing!
by Stephanie Morrill | Aug 12, 2019 | Contemporary, Historical, Mailbag, Setting
The topic of settings, specifically the benefits of creating a fake town versus using a real one, was brought up on the Go Teen Writers Community Facebook Group by Michaella. She’s writing a story set in the 1970s and has a real small town in mind for her...
by Shannon Dittemore | Aug 9, 2019 | Writing Exercise
What have you all been reading this summer? I’ve been trying to catch up on my YA fantasy stack and I’ve been so pleased with what I’ve read. So much wonder! It’s one of my favorite elements in a fantasy novel. The circus that appears out of...
