Thank you to all the brave souls who entered this month’s Four on 400 contest! Sharing your writing takes courage, and we appreciate your enthusiasm for our contest.Below, we’ve posted the first 400 words from this month’s winner, along with feedback from at least four of our members. We also encourage our readers to share their (constructive) suggestions and encouragement in the comments section below. A Conspiracy … Continue reading July Four on 400 Feedback
Thank you to all the brave souls who entered this month’s Four on 400 contest! Sharing your writing takes courage, and we appreciate your enthusiasm for our contest.Below, we’ve posted the first 400 words from this month’s winner, along with feedback from at least four of our members. We also encourage our readers to share their (constructive) suggestions and encouragement in the comments section below. Contemporary MG: WE’RE … Continue reading May Four on 400 Feedback
Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Last year, we walked you through every step from getting the big idea through polishing your finished novel. Now, we’re discussing what to do with that novel once it’s written! So far, we’ve talked about the mechanics of querying and how to face rejection. But did you know that there are an entire range of responses an agent can … Continue reading MYC: Responses and what they mean
Welcome to a bonus Master Your Craft post! We’ll still have our regular post Wednesday, and in the meantime… Chapter endings are like fish hooks. A hook alone can catch a fish, but it’s easier with a worm. So what lure can you use to entice readers to take the bait and keep turning pages? Two good options are “contagious” emotions and the sometimes-misunderstood cliffhanger. In Jonah … Continue reading MYC: Chapter Endings, The End is Only the Beginning
Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss writing a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. Last year, we walked you through every step from getting the big idea through polishing your finished novel. Now we’re working on what to do once you’ve actually finished your book. Get caught up on last week’s post on researching agents before you check out … Continue reading MYC: Querying Strategy
Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss writing a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. Last year, we walked you through every step from getting the big idea through polishing your finished novel. Last time, we posted some tips for drafting a query. This week, we’re tackling the dreaded synopsis. Numerous resources exist for how to write a synopsis. Any writer … Continue reading MYC The Dread Pirate Synopsis: Into the Shallows
It’s road trip time again! There has been a TON of great stuff flying through cyberspace in the last few weeks. Here are some of our favorite informative, motivating and moving finds: On Craft Whether you’re on Draft 1 or Draft 100, it seems like there’s always room to improve. From the nitty-gritty — like this article on how to avoid transition words — to … Continue reading March Road Trip!
Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss writing a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. Last year, we walked you through every step from getting the big idea through polishing your finished novel. Last week, we tried to answer the question Are you ready to query? So if you answered “YES!” this week, we aim to help you get your query drafted. Queries … Continue reading MYC: Query Tips, Tricks and Tidbits
I’m working on revising one novel and pre-writing another, and one thing keeps coming up with both projects: friendship. I have two teen daughters, and I can tell you that EVERYTHING revolves around friends. And I remember that from my own teenage years – friendships were all-consuming, intense, up and down, and central to my daily life. So as I’ve worked on these two projects, … Continue reading The Magic of Friendship
For the last couple of years, every time one of my writer pals would ask me what I was working on, the answer was the same breezy, “Oh, I’m still plugging away on that rockstar mom book I told you about ages ago.” I’m pretty sure that more than a few of them wondered if I shouldn’t just give it up and move on to … Continue reading How to Survive Your Toughest Draft
Thank you to all the brave souls who entered this month’s Four on 400 contest! Sharing your writing takes courage, and we appreciate your enthusiasm for our contest.Below, we’ve posted the first 400 words from this month’s winner, along with feedback from at least four of our members. We also encourage our readers to share their (constructive) suggestions and encouragement in the comments section below. MG Fantasy, JAMES … Continue reading Four on 400 November Contest Feedback!
This week’s MYC post is going to be a bit different because instead of focusing on an aspect of writing a novel, this week, we’re focusing on YOU! So, THANK YOU for following along on our series, which addressed everything from finding a big idea for your story, to honing in on voice, to charging through that first draft, to tightening your manuscript and getting … Continue reading MYC: Wrap-up
