Nathan Bransford - The Forums

Taking "writing what you know" too literally

http://maybegenius.blogspot.com/2011/08 ... w-too.html

In today's YA lit, almost anything goes, honestly. The line for content is pretty much drawn at erotica (no erotic, descriptive scenes featuring sex acts) and extremely graphic/visceral violence. And even then, it's iffy and depends on how the scene is written. In YA, it's less about the topic you'r...

I don't think writing your own interests stifles a character unless you're doing a bit of authorial insertion and essentially using the character as a cipher of yourself. I mean, if you make the character super talented at a bunch of things you yourself wish you were talented at BECAUSE you wish you...

What everyone else said :) I think when we're just starting out, we have this idea in our head that "real" authors just spill words onto the page that are immediately easy and brilliant and flawless, and if we can't do that, we must be doing it wrong. And that could not be further from the...

I'm participating Thanks for spreading the word, Sommer!

What does "head hopping" mean? An explanation with examples.

http://maybegenius.blogspot.com/2011/08 ... -mean.html

Congrats, Cheeky and Guardian! Very cool, for both of you

For a debut author, yeah, each book should have some sort of self-contained plot. The trend with YA trilogies seems to be the first novel feels pretty complete, and then the SEQUEL is a little more liberal with the cliffhanger endings and dangling plot threads, because if they're publishing a sequel...

A post on increasing tension in tensionless scenes:

http://maybegenius.blogspot.com/2011/08 ... nless.html

On selecting beta readers for your manuscript.

http://maybegenius.blogspot.com/2011/08 ... aders.html

I wouldn't recommend creating a "gimmick" account unless you have a strong idea of how you're going to do the content or your book is already in the works to be published. For most unpublished writers, it's usually best to just be yourself, get involved in the writing community, and start ...

I attended several of the events last year. It was a lot of fun, and an amazing opportunity for people who would love to attend a kidlit writing conference but can't because of time/money/travel constraints. A lot of popular agents/editors/authors give live or pre-recorded video lectures that are in...

I don't get the jitters until AFTER I'm done writing a big scene. When I've just finished writing a scene I've been anticipating and it feels REALLY GOOD and strong and almost-perfect, I get so excited I have to get out of my chair and jump around a little. Not joking

Hey all - I just launched a new Tumblr for all lovers of young adult fiction. It's going to be a daily dose of all things YA - flash fiction, teen poetry, micro-reviews, relevant photos, videos, sound clips, and anything else. We'll accept submissions, so if you write any YA flash fiction, teen poet...

Thanks for posting that, hektorkarl. I just saw that, as well. What a crappy thing to do.