Writing Advice from 30 YA Authors

In the last few months I’ve been in book festival fantasyland! I attended the Los Angeles Times Book Festival, LitFest Pasadena, and Pasadena Loves YA Teen Book Festival. I’ve had the joy of seeing over 30 YA authors speak about their books and share insights on their writing processes. It has been glorious!

I love to take notes at these type of events, and my notebook is full of fabulous sound-bites and pieces of advice. And of course, I couldn’t wait to share them with all of you.

Enjoy!

On Your Writing Voice:

  • “There’s no such thing as an original idea. But you can have an original take on something. What you do have is an original voice. Your voice!” – Jessica Brody (Unremembered, The Karma Club)
  • “Henry Van Dyke said: Use what talents you possess: The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.” – Julie Berry (The Truth That’s In Me, The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place)
  • “Voice is one of the hardest things to get, understand, or teach. But we feel it when we read it. We feel it when it’s authentic.” – Lissa Price (Starters, Enders)

Silent Birds quote

On Writer’s Block:

  • “You don’t have to know every detail in a scene to move forward and write.” – Victoria Aveyard (Red Queen)
  • “Books don’t always have to be about life and death. Learning this really freed up my work.” – Alexis Bass (Love and Other Theories, What’s Broken Between Us)
Pasadena Loves YA Event

Authors Stephan Chbosky, Liz Maccie, Jennifer Niven, and Ava Dellaira at the 2015 Pasadena Loves YA Teen Book Festival.

On Character:

  • “The foundation of all my character work is respect. Every person is the hero of their own story.” – Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower)
  • “A lot of times when I’m writing I feel like I’m acting. Don’t be afraid of the emotion. Be your character.” – David Arnold (Mosquitoland)
  • “Character comes first for me. I have a responsibility to the character and the story, to tell the truth. It will be a responsible book if it’s true.” – Jandy Nelson (I’ll Give You The Sun, The Sky is Everywhere)

On Writing Fantasy, Sci-fi, and Magical Realism:

  • “Create your world based on something familiar. The more familiar it is the more the audience will believe in the fantastical.” – Kirsten White (Paranormalcy, Mind Games, The Chaos of Stars)
  • “I write magical realism because I see a lot of magic in my daily life. I like to ground that magic in reality. It makes it more powerful and profound.” – Francesca Lia Block (Weetzie Bat, Pink Smog)
  • “If we were given the choice to be a super hero, we would probably turn it down. It’s the responsibility. It always does something to destroy the lives of the characters. There’s something very tragic about super heroes.” – Nicole Maggi (The Forgetting, Winter Falls)

Character qutoe

On Writing Historical Fiction:

  • “To me historical fiction is like fantasy. You’re opening a portal to a place that is unfamiliar.” – Lisa Freeman (Honey Girl)

On Diversity:

  • “How silly is it that we have dragons in fantasy books and no people of color?” – Elissa Sussman (Stray)
  • Discover your own gender biases … Are you always making soldiers male? Caregivers female? “Switch the genders in your story and see the gender prejudices you’ve put in it.” – Cecil Castelucci (Stone in the Sky, Geektastic)
  • “There’s a default idea to write about white males, but teens can relate to all types of characters.” – Elissa Sussman (Stray)

Dragons quote

On the Writing Process:

  • “I try to be structured and have a routine, but sometimes the words aren’t structured.” – Jandy Nelson (I’ll Give You The Sun, The Sky is Everywhere)
  • “I write with my ear and I read out loud. And If it takes a year and a half to write, then it takes a year and a half.” – Ron Koertge (Stoner and Spaz, Coaltown Jesus)
  • “It took me three years to write I’ll Give You The Sun, and I wrote it in pitch black room with no lights. Just me and my computer screen.” – Jandy Nelson (I’ll Give You The Sun, The Sky is Everywhere)
  • “Finish what you start, and be accountable.” – Jessica Brody (Unremembered, The Karma Club)
Jandy Nelson and Ingrid Sundberg

I took a photo with the amazing Jandy Nelson at the Los Angeles Times Book Festival!

On Publishing and the Business:

  • “Always remember that writing is an art, and publishing is a business.” – Kody Keplinger (The DUFF, Lying Out Loud)
  • “The spider doesn’t always know what part of the web will catch the fly. You don’t know what is going to stick.” – Victoria Aveyard (Red Queen)
  • “Good luck is getting an opportunity and being prepared for it. Bad luck happens when you get an opportunity and you aren’t prepared.” – Victoria Aveyard (Red Queen)
  • “YA is not a genre. It’s a marketing category. It’s very flexible.” – Cecil Castelucci (Stone in the Sky, Geektastic)

On Why These Authors Love Writing for Teens:

  • “I write for teens because teen readers are willing to listen and be changed by a book. They are a hopeful and receptive audience.” – Julie Berry (The Truth That’s In Me, The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place)
  • “Discovering YA was like coming home. It took me back to a time when I could escape into a book. When I read books to survive life.” – Nicole Maggi (The Forgetting, Winter Falls)
  • “I always listen to teens with unconditional positive regard.” – Mary McCoy (Dead to Me)
  • “YA is not afraid to break out of the mold.” – Francesca Lia Block (Weetzie Bat, Pink Smog)

Pasadena Loves YA

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2 responses to “Writing Advice from 30 YA Authors”

  1. Bec Clarke says:

    What a great summary of some wonderful ideas and thoughts. Thank you

  2. Bev says:

    Love this post – so much excellent advice from amazing authors!

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