by Shannon Dittemore | Mar 8, 2023 | Elements of Fiction, Theme, Writing, Writing Life
Today, as we explore theme, we reach the end of our series on The Five Elements of Fiction. If you’re jumping into the series now, or would like to revisit the other elements, tap the links below: The Five Elements of Fiction The Five Elements of Fiction: Style...
by Stephanie Morrill | Mar 1, 2023 | First Drafts, Genres, Historical
I’ve noticed over the years that writers tend to have a genre that comes naturally to them. For me, it’s contemporary YA. Even before I knew that YA contemporary fiction existed (true story: I thought I invented the young adult genre) most of my stories came out as YA...
by Jill Williamson | Feb 22, 2023 | Scenes and Scene Structure, Story Structure, Writing
In my early days of writing, I spent some time studying scene structure. I was trying to understand pacing, and it just wasn’t clicking for me. I eventually gave up trying to “put myself in a box,” and ever since, I’ve written my scenes...
by Jill Williamson | Feb 15, 2023 | Author Life, Brainstorming, Learning from Other Authors, Writing
I’ve been to many writing retreats. Most of them have loose schedules. We write. We eat. We write. We sleep. We write. We sometimes go out into the world for a change of pace. But we usually come right back and write. I prefer retreats where the authors who come...
by Shannon Dittemore | Feb 8, 2023 | Plot, Story Structure, The Craft of Writing, Writing
Just two elements left! Plot and Theme! If you’re playing catch up, here are the previous articles in this series introducing the Five Elements of Fiction: The Five Elements of Fiction The Five Elements of Fiction: Style The Five Elements of Fiction: Character...
by Stephanie Morrill | Feb 1, 2023 | Brainstorming, Creativity, Practicing, Story Ideas, Writing Exercise, Writing Tools
If you’re a writer, it’s inevitable that you have little sparks of inspiration written down and tucked away in various places. A Google Doc where you dump story ideas. A character idea that you wrote on a napkin. A Post-it where you documented a...
by Stephanie Morrill | Jan 25, 2023 | Writing
Hello, writers! Every year or two, we like to offer you an opportunity to weigh in on life here at Go Teen Writers. What do you want to learn about? How do you like to learn? What are your aspirations? We care about your answers because we care about you. That’s...
by Jill Williamson | Jan 18, 2023 | Goals, Learning from Other Authors, Writing As A Business
Many of you have likely heard my publication story, how the first time I pitched my book, I bombed big time? The speaker had just taught how to write a logline, and I ignored everything he said. If that wasn’t bad enough, I was pitching him a book that...
by Shannon Dittemore | Jan 11, 2023 | Elements of Fiction, Setting, The Craft of Writing, World Building, Writing
Today, we’re going to dive back into our series focusing on the Five Elements of Fiction, but first things first! Yesterday, my newest book, REBEL, BRAVE AND BRUTAL, hit shelves! It’s the sequel to my 2020 release, WINTER, WHITE AND WICKED and it feels so...
by Stephanie Morrill | Jan 4, 2023 | Editing, First Drafts
Happy 2023! I’m freshly home from lovely Gulf Breeze, Florida, so I’m feeling good about the new year! I kinda wanted to talk about goals today because . . . well, because I’m me. I love talking about goals at any time of year, but the energy in...