Struggling with revision? Well, it’s time to dig in to the second half of this awesome revision series hosted by YA Author Heather Demetrios. If you missed the first four interviews, CLICK HERE to learn more about them. Get your revision on! REVISING WITH PRIDE: A DEBUT AUTHOR ON REVISION FEELS Interview #5 with Miriam…
Are you freaked out about revision? Do you feel paralyzed about where to begin? What if you mess it up? Or even worse … what if you make it better and now you really DO have to revise the whole thing? Have no fear: YA authors Heather Demetrios and I, are the kind of sickos…
My amazing YA author-in-awesomeness Heather Demetrios (with whom I’m hosting the Pneuma 2018 Writing Retreat) has put together and AH-MAZING interview series all about revision called: Once More With Feeling! If you fear revision, psyche yourself out, or feel like you have to write a perfect first draft, then this series is for you. Revision…
You know those scenes that you LOOOOOOOVE, but you feel like you can’t cut? You know the ones. They’re the scenes that turn you into a frothing angry velociraptor when someone suggests you might cut them. The scenes your beta-readers keep mentioning might not be necessary, and you’ve pretty much lost all faith in your beta readers…
“Don’t tell me what I want to hear. Tell me what is intolerable to bear alone that we must hide it in a story.” – Libba Bray In all her guts, glory, humor, and wisdom the fabulous and charismatic Libba Bray spoke at the 2011 LA SCBWI Conference. During her keynote speech she shared the…
The amazing JUDY BLUME was a surprise guest at the 40th anniversary SCBWI Conference this summer! What a treat! She sat down with SCBWI President Lin Oliver to talk shop, and all us attendees got a little insight into the brilliant Blume and her writing process. Judy Blume’s Thoughts on Her Writing Process: Typewriter vs….
“On plenty of days the writer can write three or four pages, and on plenty of other days he concludes he must throw them away.” ~ Annie Dillard Annie Dillard is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author. She is best known for her narrative prose in both fiction and non-fiction. She has published two novels, poetry, essays, prose,…
A few days ago I spoke about what I learned from editor Jessica Garrison (Dial Books), at the SCBWI 2010 NY Writer’s Intensive. Today I’ll share what I learned from my second critique with assistant editor Sara Sargent. In case you didn’t read the previous post, at the event authors were given the opportunity to…
I participated in the 2010 NY SCBWI Writer’s Intensive. This is a great opportunity where authors get to sit down at a round table with an Editor and get feedback on the first 500 words of his/her manuscript. The neat thing about this type of set-up is not only do you get personal feedback, but…
A lot of conferences offer special opportunities to have your work read by an agent or editor. This exciting opportunity can be invaluable, but it can also be nerve wracking and in some cases down-right confusing. How much weight do you give one person’s opinion? What if you get conflicting feedback? What if they don’t like it? To settle…