Monday, January 11, 2010

Monday Madness (a.k.a. random awesomeness for writers)

First off, Steph Bowe over at Hey! Teenager of the Year is hosting an amazing contest. Steph is giving away 5 (or maybe more) first page critiques to aspiring writers. So get your butts over there and sign up, if you haven't already! (For those of you who don't know her, Steph is a 15-year-old YA novelist with her debut novel coming out in 2010. So she's not only someone I'm totally jealous of; she's also my target audience!)

Now, on to random nuggets of wisdom that I saved in a draft ages ago and forgot to share with you all. Perhaps it'll be a nice refresher.

1) Janet Reid, wise as ever, tells everyone here how to get no more rejections, EVER. Seriously, never ever ever get rejected again. The solution is simple as store bought chicken pot pie: All you have to do is stop writing. That's it. Presto. Doesn't sound appealing, does it? Then do what Janet suggests, and learn to take the good with the bad. Rejections aren't fun, but they're part of being a writer. So we can (a) suck it up, or (b) quit writing. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm putting on my big girl pants and sticking with (a). (Janet really has a way with words, so definitely check out her post, if you haven't already.)

2) Have you ever wondered whether you've committed some fatal error in your WIP that will make teens stop reading? If so, then go here. As I mentioned above, Steph Bowe knows teens well. She doesn't just write for them, she is one of them. Which makes her an amazing resource. Her list of what makes her stop reading a YA book is very thorough and a great resource for anyone coming up on an editing phase of a WIP.

3) Awhile back, Lauren (over at Lauren's Crammed Bookshelf) had an amazing guest post from author L.M. Preston. The subject? Whether teens can really fall in love. The answer? Love isn't reserved for old farts like me. Teens feel it, too, with an intensity that will probably keep me reading YA until my eyes fall out. Not only is teen love real, but if it could be bottled, Preston would call it "Love Potion #9." (Dangerous idea, bottling teen love. It could send the world into a frenzy.)


Wishing you all a Monday full of madness, but only the good kind.

6 comments:

Sarah Wylie said...

Ooh, I'm off to check out these links!

Test said...

Great links and thanks so much for linking to L.M.'s guest post at my blog! :)

Little Ms J said...

Love the linky dinks. Thanks sister...

Elana Johnson said...

I love Steph Bowe's blog too! Excellent links here. Thanks -- there's some I need to click on.

lisa and laura said...

Fab links, lady. Steph Bowe rocks. What a cool contest!

Daisy Whitney said...

Great comment from Janet Reid. So true -- we have to take the good with the bad and if we want to write, we must endure rejection!