'Growing up isn't easy, but sometimes being true to yourself is even harder.'
Ellen's tips for new writers: emerging from the writing cave
09/26/2016
As the darker months approach, I emerge from my summer writing cave, bleary eyed but invigorated. Because I am a teacher, I relish the off-time to work on my writing. This past summer, I spent ten-twelve hours each day editing and revising my current manuscript.
I'd like to share a little bit of my process with you, then I'd love to hear how you revise. Something I hear from other writers: how do you know when you're finished?
Revising is like running down hill: you have to put on the brakes at some point and try not to scrape your face. I think I am at that point. I think... ... read more here
As the darker months approach, I emerge from my summer writing cave, bleary eyed but invigorated. Because I am a teacher, I relish the off-time to work on my writing. This past summer, I spent ten-twelve hours each day editing and revising my current manuscript.
I'd like to share a little bit of my process with you, then I'd love to hear how you revise. Something I hear from other writers: how do you know when you're finished?
Revising is like running down hill: you have to put on the brakes at some point and try not to scrape your face. I think I am at that point. I think... ... read more here
in which the writer sends a query
03/28/16 updated
Hello, kind blog visitor. I am polishing my query in hopes of locating an agent for my most recent YA, IN BLOOM. Please take a look inside the world of author anxiety. Behold, the query letter:
Dear Awesome Agent:
When fourteen-year-old Zinnia finds her mother’s high school diary, she uncovers a disturbing secret about the dad she’s never met--her mother lied about not telling him about her. Finding the right moment to confront her mom will not be easy.
Obsessive-compulsive Zinnia believes if her dad were here, life would be normal. Her brother isn't buying this, but he is equally curious about all the connections to the movie Back to the Future. There’s the BTTF lunchbox where the two siblings found the diary, the new boy named Marty, and their neighbor's fancy new DeLorean. Desperate for a normal family.. read the rest here
03/28/16 updated
Hello, kind blog visitor. I am polishing my query in hopes of locating an agent for my most recent YA, IN BLOOM. Please take a look inside the world of author anxiety. Behold, the query letter:
Dear Awesome Agent:
When fourteen-year-old Zinnia finds her mother’s high school diary, she uncovers a disturbing secret about the dad she’s never met--her mother lied about not telling him about her. Finding the right moment to confront her mom will not be easy.
Obsessive-compulsive Zinnia believes if her dad were here, life would be normal. Her brother isn't buying this, but he is equally curious about all the connections to the movie Back to the Future. There’s the BTTF lunchbox where the two siblings found the diary, the new boy named Marty, and their neighbor's fancy new DeLorean. Desperate for a normal family.. read the rest here
Meet Ellen
Author, reader, poet, teacher, mom, star gazer, dreamer.
I grew up in San Bernardino, CA, on a block filled with boys. Dirt-clod throwing, tree-climbing, worm-eating boys. I countered that world with fiction, spending hours and hours at the local library reading hundreds of books and imagining life as Nancy Drew, Elizabeth Bennett, and Mick Kelly. As a teen, I spent time daydreaming about the world, the universe, and how I might one day write stories and create characters that young people would fall in love with like I had.
Author, reader, poet, teacher, mom, star gazer, dreamer.
I grew up in San Bernardino, CA, on a block filled with boys. Dirt-clod throwing, tree-climbing, worm-eating boys. I countered that world with fiction, spending hours and hours at the local library reading hundreds of books and imagining life as Nancy Drew, Elizabeth Bennett, and Mick Kelly. As a teen, I spent time daydreaming about the world, the universe, and how I might one day write stories and create characters that young people would fall in love with like I had.
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Best tips for storytelling. Ever. (thanks @A_WritersStudio @DisneyPixar)
If you're a teen, this site has great ideas to get you started on your writing path. (thanks @writing_tips) |
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