I’ve had brainstorming a new project on my to-do list for weeks. It’s remained there while I’ve crossed off everything around it and found other tasks to busy myself with. It’s gotten to the point of being downright ridiculous. But this is not a new problem for me. Three years ago I listed Procrastination as…
Writing
What I’ve Learned in Five Years of Querying
I’ve become a huge fan of the memories that pop up on Facebook. It’s a fun way to look through old photos, videos, and the occasional comment. Anyway, on July 3, a writing-related post showed up that made me smile and shake my head at the naive Michelle of five years ago, but it’s appropriate…
What Genre Is This Manuscript? Plus A Call for Readers
I’ve finally finished revising that manuscript that wouldn’t let me go (read more about that here or here), and it’s time to give it a new title and description here on the blog. One of my CPs was getting after me because even though I’d told her the new title, I was still calling it…
New England SCBWI Conference: So Worth the Trip!
This past weekend I traveled to Springfield, Massachusetts, for the New England Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators Spring Conference. It wasn’t my first SCBWI Conference. I’ve attended the Missouri conference multiple years, and it’s been very valuable. However, the New England conference is significantly larger and offered the draw of my long-time critique…
Quick Tip: Listen to Your Manuscript WITHOUT Reading Along
I’ve read my manuscripts out loud to myself before and expounded on the benefits of it. After a commenter on my last post about it suggested I have my computer read it to me instead of doing it myself, I even tried that. It’s amazing how listening to the robotic text-to-speech program on my Mac…
5 Signs You Should (or Shouldn’t) Be Tweeting Tomorrow
Last fall I wrote a popular post featuring two contests that were happening on the same day–On the Block and #PitMad–and I’ve revived it the last couple of times #PitMad popped up, but I decided it was worth updating the post to only cover #PitMad, so here goes. In case you’re new to the Twitter…
How Repeated Words Affect Your Voice
As I have my manuscript out with another reader, it occurred to me that in addition to not doing a voice check since an earlier round of edits, I also hadn’t done a check for repeated words. Although my reader may give me some line edits–she doesn’t have to :)–that’s not the main focus at…
Quick Tip: After A Major Revision, Do a POV Voice Check
When you’re writing multiple points of view, it’s important that those voices stay distinct. I’ve recommended before that you revise each POV individually early on in the process to ensure the characters have their own arc and voice (Revising One Character at a Time, 3 Tips for Revising One Character at a Time). It must…
Quick Tip: Visualizing Your Feedback
One of the hardest decisions to make as you start receiving feedback on agent submissions is whether you should stop querying and revise. The tricky part of the equation is that the publishing business is subjective, and it’s challenging to sort through the comments you’ve received and determine whether they’re leaning toward “Yes, you definitely…
An Update on The Manuscript That Wouldn’t Let Me Go
Nearly a year ago I wrote about the manuscript that wouldn’t let me go, and the post resonated with quite a few readers. This response didn’t surprise me as I knew it was a common phenomenon to love a particular story so much. Well, I have an update on that project. I finally finished redrafting…
The Search for Solid Comp Titles
As writers, we’re often told to include comp (or comparative, for the non-writers) titles in our queries letters. But it’s tricky. These titles can’t be too well-known, or we’ll look ridiculous. Or arrogant. “I’ve written the next HARRY POTTER! HUNGER GAMES! TWILIGHT! DIVERGENT!” No. You haven’t. Sorry. Or even if you have, there’s no way…
I’m on Team Ravenclaw for Pitch Slam!
For those of you curious about my current project, AS SEEN ON EVIE, I was selected for Team Ravenclaw in the Harry Potter-themed Pitch Slam contest. Over the next few days, agents (or Professors, as the contest has deemed them 🙂 ) will be awarding points to entries within the different houses, which equate to…
Welcome!
Welcome to my blog, where I offer writing tips and share thoughts about reading, my writing journey, and other random stuff. If you subscribe, you’ll also receive news about my books and upcoming events. Check out the categories in the sidebar to narrow down some of my older blog posts, including book reviews, or if you’re a writer pursuing traditional publication, visit my Resources page for more targeted links. If there’s something I haven’t tackled on the blog that you’d like me to address—including questions about my books!—please contact me and I’ll do my best.
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