Since I spent the summer teaching writing workshops for both adult and teen writers, I’ve been thinking more about the basics than I usually do. I’ve been thinking about plotting and structuring a young adult novel. So I thought I’d talk today about the most basic of the basics–the structure of a novel, and specifically, … [Read more…]
It seems like every year I hear someone say, “Oh, the vampire trend is finally dying down.” And yet when you look at the list of young adult releases, there are still plenty of vampire books today, both established series and books by new authors. So…are vampires really a trend? One in danger of dying … [Read more…]
One question I often hear floating around in regards to YA fiction (and even middle-grade fiction) is “How dark/edgy is *too* dark/edgy?” The problem with this question is that it presumes that there is a “right” answer–a definitive line between what is acceptable in the YA market and what isn’t. In an interview, someone once … [Read more…]