Are you writing autobiographical fiction? Recently I heard back from a literary agent who had requested my full manuscript: an upper middle grade contemporary that I wrote after reading some of my adolescent diaries. Here’s part of what the agent said: I was seriously getting flashbacks to my first relationships–dating in eighth/ninth grade was SO AWKWARD! You absolutely nail… View Post
I know what you’re thinking: unless you’re a non-native English speaker, it’s pretty easy to avoid verb tense mistakes. Well, okay, there’s the whole lie versus lay situation (read Grammar Girl’s explanation of it here), but I’m not talking about irregular verbs. I’m talking about global issues with tense that you might not notice in your own writing. So check out these… View Post
The Great Children’s Literature Study: Bridge to Terabithia It occurred to me the other day that in high school and college I studied plenty of great novels — The Great Gatsby, Beloved, The Scarlett Letter, etc. – but what I need to do now, as a kidlit writer, is study great children’s literature. By this I mean I need to… View Post
Voice. Agents want it and award-winning writers have it, but what exactly do people mean when they say a novel has a strong or unique voice? And how can you develop your own writing voice? *Note: This post contains affiliate links.* What IS a Writing Voice? There’s no exact definition of voice. According to literary agent Rachelle Gardner, “your writer’s… View Post
Is this you? You get super excited about an idea for a novel, write the first few chapters, and then get stuck. You wonder, where am I going with this? What’s going to happen now? So you abandon the novel and start something new (perhaps only to abandon the new project a few chapters in.) No judgment. I’ve gone through… View Post