I hail from Arkansas and until now, we’ve been known for the Clinton Presidential Library, the US’s only diamond mine (Crater of Diamonds State Park), and the headquarters of Wal-Mart. But this year we’ll be known for the Arkansas Teen Book Award, established by Arkansas Librarians. (Facebook page.) The reading list was announced in December, [...]
I hail from Arkansas and until now, we’ve been known for the Clinton Presidential Library, the US’s only diamond mine (Crater of Diamonds State Park), and the headquarters of Wal-Mart. But this year we’ll be known for the Arkansas Teen Book Award, established by Arkansas Librarians. (Facebook page.) The reading list was announced in December, [...]
Take a Reading Day
Standard advice: read what you want to write.
If you want to write a novel, then read mysteries or thrillers or teen or easy readers or whatever genre you want to write.
Last week, I took a reading day and had great fun. I often advise people to read
I’m going today to a high school English class and writing class to talk about my writing process. It may not come up, but I’ve been thinking about what advice I would give a teen about becoming a fiction writer.
Advice on Becoming a Fiction Writer
Essentials
First, be a reader. Read widely.
Listening to Teens
Yesterday, I taught writing to a dozen at-risk teens. We worked on a personal narrative for about 4-5 hours. Now, the kids didn’t want to be there, but had to be. They didn’t want to write, because it’s summer and who wants to do English class in the summer.
For the first fifteen minute [...]
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