We’re talking feedback today. Those daunting, extensive edit letters that usually start with praise, then dive into everything that isn’t working in your story. In the past I’ve said good feeback usually stings– the knee-jerk pain is your brain fighting the realization that the criticism is valid (ouch.) And for me, it generally comes with…
Category: Querying
Author Mentor Match, Round 4
I couldn’t be happier to share that I’ve been chosen as a Round 4 Mentee for the wonderful Author Mentor Match program! My mentor’s name is Jamie Krakover and she’s a real live rocket scientist! Jamie is represented by the lovely Kira Watson at the Emma Sweeney agency and you can check out Jamie’s website…
#AMMConnect
Hi, I’m Emily, and I’m a glutton for writing mentorship programs. I can’t help it. I love writing, I love talking about writing, I love brainstorming with other people, I love developing my craft, I love writing friends and I looooooove revising. MY WIP Working Title: PARCHED Genre: YA Science Fiction Length: 75k (ish. I…
Stage 2
Sorry I’ve been MIA, friends. I’m determined to have a completed first draft of my newest book by the end of the month, and I just decided to switch from one main character to two, so now I not only have to finish writing the plot, but I have to go back to revise the…
Motivation
Okay, let’s talk about staying motivated while working on creative endeavors. It’s…. a challenge, isn’t it? As a psychology student and then a teacher, I learned a lot about motivation. The types of motivation, how to motivate students, what decreases motivation, etc. I’m also a mom, and I spend way too many hours a day…
Act 2
Most stories can be divided into Acts. Some swear by a 3-act structure, others by 4, but regardless of how you break down a movie or book, Act 1 is an introduction to the characters, the world, and the problem, and Act 2 is when the hero gets into the action. Act 2 is where…
The world is a dumpster fire-Don’t you want happy stories?
I keep hearing that consumers want “lighter fare” and escapism in their media. The world is a mess, people say, so people crave stories that take them to a happier place. And yet, dystopian and dark fantasy continue to do really well, and many of the top television shows, movies, and books right now take…
Space
PitchWars 2017 has come to a close, NaNoWriMo wrapped up a few days ago, and many agents are closing their submissions inboxes until January. For me, this means a bit of blessed silence. I’m not sending out any more queries until January and I’m putting my NaNoWriMo draft away for a few weeks to mentally…
Throwing Darts, Blindfolded
Alternate title: What I learned from entering a bunch of mentorship contests. Hey writer people. I know it’s been another tumultuous week in the world of aspiring writers, with the most recent round of Author Mentor Match mentees announced yesterday. First, congratulations to all the writers chosen! I hope this is the beginning of an…
How does this work, exactly?
This post is for people who are writer-adjacent, the friends and family of writers (hi, friends and family!) or for people who are new to writing and still trying to figure out how this whole process works. So, for my experienced query-warriors, you may mosey on past this post if you’d like to. With the…