Memorial Day Sale and the Last Week for the Go Teen Writers Store

Jill Williamson is a chocolate loving, daydreaming, creator of kingdoms. She writes weird books for teens in lots of weird genres like, fantasy (Blood of Kings trilogy), science fiction (Replication), and dystopian (The Safe Lands trilogy). Find Jill on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or on her author website.

Stephanie and I put the Go Teen Writers ebook on a $2.99 sale for Memorial Day Weekend. The sale will run from right now until midnight on Monday and should apply in all the international Amazon stores as well.

If you weren't aware, purchase of the Go Teen Writers book earns points for the Go Teen Writers store.

Also, keep in mind that there is only one week left for before the Go Teen Writers store closes until the fall, so do all you can to get your points in by May 31st. Thanks so much to all of you for the things you've done to earn points so far. Stephanie and I are so impressed with your creativity and thankful to know you.

And since I just finished my edits and my hands are cramping up from a week of ten-hour days at the computer, I'm going to leave you all with some of my favorite writing quotes for the weekend.

"It’s a shame publishers send rejection slips. Writers should get something more substantial than a slip that amounts to a pile of confetti. Publishers should send something heavier. Editors should send out rejection bricks, so at the end of a lot of years, you would have something to show besides a wheelbarrow of rejection slips. Instead you could have enough bricks to build a house." –Jerry Spinelli

"Don’t use words too big for the subject. Don’t say 'infinitely' when you mean 'very'; otherwise you’ll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite." –C. S. Lewis

"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." –Douglas Adams

"If you don’t have the time to read, you don’t have the time or the tools to write." –Stephen King, On Writing

"It’s a job that’s never started that takes the longest to finish." –J. R. R. Tolkien

And my all-time fave—I know I’ve spouted this one before, but it’s so true and so important.

"Books aren’t written—they’re rewritten. Including your own.  It’s one of the hardest things to accept, especially after the seventh rewrite hasn’t quite done it." –Michael Crichton

What is one of your favorite writing quotes?

Grammar Gray Areas

by Stephanie Morrill

Stephanie writes young adult contemporary novels and is the creator of GoTeenWriters.com. Her novels include The Reinvention of Skylar Hoyt series (Revell) and the newly released The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet (Playlist). You can connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and check out samples of her work on her author website.



I've always thought of grammar as the math of the writing process. I've never liked it, never been great at it, and I'm not sure I could diagram a sentence more complex than "Stephanie wrote."

When working on a recent project, I found myself baffled by ellipses. My first agent had told me to always format my ellipses ... like this. With a space, three periods together, another space, and then a word.

But then I was told that there should always be spaces between the periods . . . like this. And then that there should never be a space, and they should be formatted...like this.

To make matters even more confusing, someone threw the four-dot method at me, to be used with trailing sentences....

Or, wait. Maybe it should be like this . . . .

Frustrated, I pulled my Chicago Manual of Style from my shelf, and found it to be lacking. Almost all the examples were for using ellipses when abbreviating a quote. But what I did find helpful is this:

"Three methods of using ellipsis points are described here: the three-dot method; the three-or-four-dot method, and a refinement of the latter, here called the rigorous method. The choice between the three is usually made by the author, sometimes by the editor."

Gasp! There isn't one right way?! There are three methods, and I have a choice?!

This is why the ellipses in my Skylar books are formatted . . . this way, and why the ones in Jill's Captives are formatted ... like this. Because our publishers made a choice.

This discovery led me on a Chicago Manual of Style tour, where I was shocked by how often I saw the words "usually," "traditionally," and "often."

Like here:

"Religious events and concepts of major theological importance are often capitalized.

the Creation, the Fall, the Second Coming 

Doctrines are usually lowercased.

atonement, original sin"

I also found answers to questions I didn't even realize I had. Like the proper capitalization for classes, which is rather important as a YA author.

In this sentence, the class should be capitalized: I grab my bag and head toward Ballroom Dance.
In this it should not: Taking ballroom dance classes has not helped my coordination.

And I learned that even though it makes my spell check cranky, the editors of the Chicago manual of style "prefer" that I use lowercase letters for brussels sprouts, french fries, dutch ovens, and other terms that take a proper noun out of its original context.

Spending time with my grammar manuals (I have three, all of which I recommend - The Chicago Manual of Style, Garner's Modern American Usage, and The Elements of Style, which is a hybrid) usually makes me feel dumb. But this time I learned even Chicago and Webster's disagree with each other on occasion, so it's okay if my ellipses don't match everyone else's.

And that I'll probably never again be asked to diagram a sentence, so I can let go of that fear as well.

Why You Need To Find Your Character's Tipping Point

by Stephanie Morrill

Stephanie writes young adult contemporary novels and is the creator of GoTeenWriters.com. Her novels include The Reinvention of Skylar Hoyt series (Revell) and the newly released The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet (Playlist). You can connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and check out samples of her work on her author website.

Trying to build contradictions into your characters can feel like an awkward exercise. Especially because we've likely all had the experience of enjoying a story, only to be ripped out of it by a character saying or doing something that seems completely off the wall for them, that seems "out of character."

We experience this in real life too ("Stephanie is just not acting like herself today") but the difference between real life and fiction, as I've heard many say, is that fiction has to make sense. 

So while contradictions breathe life into a character . . . how do you create them in a way that makes sense? You figure out their motivations and their tipping point.

What do I mean by tipping point?

I mean this: I'm a person who runs from conflict, and who feels uncomfortable being anything other than friendly with a store clerk. But when Piercing Pagoda and their careless employee botched my 4-year-olds ear piercing, and then when their customer service refused to deal with the situation, I discovered I can get rather nasty on the phone. When it comes to the defense of my daughter - she is my tipping point.

Even as I type this, the anger bubbles up in my chest. I remember being in the doctor's office holding down my screaming child while they tried to remove the earring. I think of all the times Kathleen in customer service made promises to me that never materialized. And how finally she just stopped answering the phone when I called.

Y'all can't see me in my office right now, but within minutes, I've become more like a vicious, snarling mother bear than my normal let's-all-get-along self.

Do you see what I mean? I'm a nice person. Except when I'm not.

Let's talk about your characters now. What about that warrior in your story? He's always brave in the face of danger. But something could make him tuck tail and run. And it's your job to figure out what and make it happen, to push him into a corner where running seems logical to him.

Or what about the girl in your book who doesn't believe in dating? What would change her mind?

In his book Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook, Donald Maass poses the question, "What's something your character would never do?" And after you answer, you're supposed to brainstorm ways to back them into a corner and make them do it.

What's something Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice would never do? Marry beneath his rank.

And then he meets Elizabeth Bennett and everything changes. Right?

What about Tally from The Uglies? She would never turn away the chance to be a Pretty.

Until she does.

And doesn't it make the character's store so much more interesting, so much more real?

So what about your character? What's something they would never do?

Jill's ABC Reading Challenge

Jill Williamson is a chocolate loving, daydreaming, creator of kingdoms. She writes weird books for teens in lots of weird genres like, fantasy (Blood of Kings trilogy), science fiction (Replication), and dystopian (The Safe Lands trilogy). Find Jill on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or on her author website.

I'm hard at work on my edits for Project Gemini (Mission League, book 2), which is supposed to come out June 1, so I'm having trouble keeping up with life. I had planned to write a blog post about research, but my husband gave me a different idea. An idea that I thought would take less time and thought for my overtired brain.

Wrongo. This post, sadly, took me all night. Still, it was a good idea, and I appreciate my husband's help.

But that's okay. It's really all the letters N, Q, and Us faults, anyway.

But here's what happened. I decided to challenge myself and any who would like to participate, to an ABC Reading Challenge! I have made a reading list for the alphabet, and I'm going to try and read all these books this year. Like I said, I had a lot of trouble with N, Q, and U. If I had a library I could run down to, I'm sure I could have found something. Alas, I had to rely on Google to help me, which is why I ended up with those classics on the list. I also tried not to read more than one book by any author.

So here is my list! I'll check back in with you in a year to let you know if I succeeded in reading all these. Most of them were already in my To Read pile. A few I had in my Amazon.com shopping cart. And then there was N, Q, and U... *sigh*

A- Alanna by Tamora Pierce
I just recently discovered Tamora Pierce, and I've never read any of her books. So I'm excited to dig in. I bought this one to read out loud to my daughter. (Other "A" books I recommend: Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer, Angel Eyes by Shannon Dittemore, Airborn by Kenneth Oppel, Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery.)

B- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
I've heard so many people rave about this that I finally bought it. (Other "B" books I recommend: Beauty by Robin McKinley, The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket, The Blue Umbrella by Mike Mason.)

C- Cinder by Marissa Meyer
I just wanted to read this ever since I saw the cover. I just want to see what it's like. I think the idea was brilliant. (Other "C" books I recommend: City of Ember by Jeanne Duprau, The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon---there is some swearing and adult situations in this book, so it's not for everyone. But the story is told through the eyes of an autistic teen boy, and the voice is absolutely incredible. I was spellbound.)

D- Dune by Frank Herbert
I've always wanted to read this. But it's SO THICK! But I found it at a thrift store for .50, so it's in the To Read pile now! (Other "D" books I recommend: The Door Within by Wayne Thomas Batson, Divergent by Veronica Roth, Dracula by Bram Stoker, Delerium by Lauren Oliver.)

E- The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
I had this book in my hand at a thrift store. I swore I bought it, but I can't find it anywhere in my house. So maybe I didn't buy it. Which was dumb. All that to say, I've never read a Robert Jordan book, and I want to start with book one. (Other "E" books I recommend: Emma by Jane Austen, Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, Eragon by Christopher Paolini.)

F- Feed by M. T. Anderson
Found this one at a thrift store as well. It's been on my shelf almost three years now. I think it's time. (Other "F" books I recommend: Failstate by John Otte, Faery Rebels: Spell Hunter by R. J. Anderson, Fablehaven by Brandon Mull.)

G- The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
I've heard so many good things. I'll have to check it out from the library. (Other "G" books I recommend: The Giver by Lois Lowry, Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell.)

H- Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
My mom told me to read this. I've been curious ever since. (There are a million amazing books that start with H. In fact, if you don't know what to name your book, maybe something with H? It seems to spark bestsellers. Other "H" books I recommend: Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien, Holes by Louis Sachar, Hoot by Carl Hiaasen, The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom.)

I- Intervention by Terri Blackstock
This has been in my Amazon cart for three-ish years as well. And I really needed a letter I. (Other "I" books I recommend: Inkheart by Cornelia Funke, Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder, Isle of Swords by Wayne Thomas Batson.)

J- Jerk, California by Jonathan Friesen
A few years back, someone told me to read Jonathan Friesen's books. So I bought this one and the sequel. And they've been sitting for years. Waiting for my attention. (Other "J" books I recommend: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton.)

K- The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
This is one I've heard a lot about. So, I'm curious. (Other "K" books I recommend: Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen, The King of Attolia (book three) by Megan Whalen Turner. Be sure to read The Thief (book 1) and The Queen of Attolia (book 2) first.)

L- Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
I've had this book for ages. It's super thick. I'm a little scared, but I think I need to give it a go. (Other "L" books I recommend: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving.)

M- The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart and Carson Ellis 
I've heard so many good things. I bought this, and it's been patiently waiting its turn. (Other "M" books I recommend: The Maze Runner by James Dashner, Maximum Ride by James Patterson, Matilda by Roald Dahl, Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, Magyk by Angie Sage.)

N- Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
I've heard of Neil Gaiman, but haven't read any of his books. But this book starts with an N. So I'm going to give it a go. Plus it's spec fiction, so that can't be all bad, right? (Other "N" books I recommend: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, Number the Stars by Lois Lowry  )

O- Owlflight by Mercedes Lackey
I've never read Mercedez Lackey, who is a mega-famous fantasy author. I was in desperate need of an O book and I found this one under my bed! I know. It's scary to be a book in my house. (Other "O" books I recommend: On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson, Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot---which is the book the musical Cats came from.)

P- Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
My husband bought this at the Scholastic book fair four years ago and read it. Then I put it on my shelf and never touched it again. And I've always wanted to read it. (Other "P" books I recommend: The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot, The Princess Bride by William Goldman, The Peculiars by Maureen Doyle McQuerry, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis.)

Q- Quentin Durward Sir Walter Scott 
I have no desire to read this book, and, frankly, if I'm going to fail this reading challenge, this is likely the place. I was desperate for a Q book. So very desperate. But there were some nice things said online that this might have been one of his best books. So, who knows? I might be pleasantly surprised. (Other "U" books I recommend: The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner, but read The Thief by her first, as The Queen of Attolia is boo two.)

R- Redwall by Brian Jacques
Yes, it's true. I've never read a Brian Jacques book. I've owned the first two since Luke was two, so that's been nine years. It's long past time, don't you think? (Other "R" books I recommend: The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet by Stephanie Morrill, Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan.)

S- The Spirit Well by Stephen Lawhead
This is the third book in the Bright Empires series. I got it from the Amazon Vine program and need to review it. So, yeah... (Other "S" books I recommend: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Seraphina by Rachel Hartman, Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen.)

T- This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen
(Other "T" books I recommend: To Kill a Mockingbird by by Harper Lee, The Time Traveler's Wife by by Audrey Niffenegger, The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. And in case you didn't notice, I really like The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner and the other books in that series as well. Tuck Everlasting might also be enjoyable, though I've never read it.)

U- Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe 
Here was another desperate search for a U book, but I've always wanted to read this one. I never had it assigned to me in school. So I'm assigning it to myself. Plus I was able to get it free on Kindle. Bonus! (Other "U" books I recommend: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld! Too bad I'd already read this...)

V- The Voice in the Wind by Francine Rivers
My friend gave me this book for Christmas almost ten years ago. I've tried to start reading it twice, and failed! Yet so many people rave about this series. I will read this book. It will happen. Finally. (Other "V" books I recommend: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis.)

W- White Oleander by Janet Fitch
When I was on my book tour with Bill Myers, he told me to read this book. He "assigned" it to me so that I would notice the authors beautiful way with words. He said that it's not a clean book, and  that it's not a feel good book. So I'm not sure what I've gotten myself into here... (Other "W" books I recommend: A Walk to Remember by Nicolas Sparks, Watership Down by Richard Adams.)

X- Xenocide by Orson Scott Card
This is the third book in the Ender's Game series. But it started with an X, you see? I'm not going to be able to read this one unless I read Speaker for the Dead, book two. So this book might get me in trouble too. (Other "X" books I recommend: I have no idea! LOL An X-men comic, maybe? In fact, I have no recommendations for X, Y, or Z. I was pretty thrilled to come up with the books I came up with!)

Y- Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay
I've heard lots about this author and have always been curious about him. This probably isn't his most popular book, but it's a Y and I'm going to read it! Boo-yah!

Z- Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien
I've had this book since my Alaska school visits when a librarian gave it to me when I told her I was thinking of writing a steampunk novel. She also gave me Airborn by Kenneth Oppel, which is a fabulous book. But Z for has been sitting all this time. I was so happy to find it on my shelf because I needed a Z!

Have you read any of these books? Do you have any recommendations? Especially for letters N, Q, U, X, Y, and Z?

Antagonists - A Closer Look At Their Goals

by Stephanie Morrill

Stephanie writes young adult contemporary novels and is the creator of GoTeenWriters.com. Her novels include The Reinvention of Skylar Hoyt series (Revell) and the newly released The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet (Playlist). You can connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and check out samples of her work on her author website.

Stories are strongest when there are multiple characters working against the main character. In the Harry Potter series, Harry isn't just up against Voldemort, but Snape and Draco and others as well. In The Hunger Games, Katniss is pitted against 23 other tributes, but also President Snow.

These antagonists have goals of their own that get in the way of the main character, and their goal tends to boil down to one of two things:

1. The same goal as the main character.

In Pride and Prejudice, Caroline Bingley wants Mr. Darcy for herself and has pitted herself against Elizabeth. They can't both marry him.

In the movie Cars, Lightning McQueen wants to win the Piston Cup. But so does his rival, Chick Hicks. Another antagonist in the story is Doc Hudson, who wants Lightning out of Radiator Springs almost as badly as Lightning does.

2. The opposite goal of the main character.

In Replication by Jill Williamson, Martyr and Abby are against cloning and want to expose the lab. But Dr.  Kane is desperate to continue creating clones and needs to keep his lab a secret.

In Incarceron by Catherine Fisher, Claudia is trying to get Finn out of the prison while Queen Sia is trying to keep him in.

Secret option # 3 - A combination of the two

Going back to the Pride and Prejudice example, Caroline also wants something that's the opposite of Elizabeth. Elizabeth wants her sister and Mr. Bingley to be married because she sees they're truly in love with each other. Caroline, however, wants her brother to marry Georgiana Darcy and finds ways to keep Jane and Mr. Bingley apart.

One of my favorite experiences as a reader is when new information about an antagonist is brought forward, and we see that in times when we thought the antagonist was working against the main character, they were actually working for them. J. K. Rowling is masterful at this in the Harry Potter series, and this is also done well in Pride and Prejudice. For the first half of the book, Mr. Darcy plays the role of antagonist and Mr. Wickham the hero. When new information is brought forward, they switch roles.

Pick an antagonist from your story and examine their goals. What does victory look like to them? Is it the same or the opposite as what victory looks like to your main character?

Opportunity for writers 18 and older

Happy Saturday everyone! Stephanie here. I'm jetting off the soccer fields in a bit (I've entered the Soccer Mom phase of life. Very scary.) but wanted to let those of you who are 18 and older know about a writing opportunity.


United Way is looking for some writers who can offer a teen perspective in their articles, and after checking out Go Teen Writers, they thought some of you might be interested. They offer a $10 payment per 300 word article, so this would be a paid gig and something you can add to your writer's bio. Your articles would live at this site.



I asked Juliana, the woman who reached out to me, if she could provide me with a few more details. Here's what she said:

The requirements are very loose -- they can submit as little as one article or as many as they like from a list of assignments that we provide on our site, and can stop contributing at any time. They will be paid every two weeks through PayPal for any published pieces and can track how their articles are doing through their Skyword account.

This is the link where they can find out more information about the United Way program and sign up (Teen writers should check off Kids Corner as the category they'll be covering.)

Once their application is reviewed and accepted, they will be assigned an editor and given instructions about the submission process. We've made it extremely intuitive and they can always ask their program manager or me if they need help.

If you have questions, you can contact Juliana at: JCasale(at)skyword.com, and just tell her you learned about the opportunity on Go Teen Writers.

Again, this is for writers 18 and older.

Describing Through Character's Interests

Jill Williamson is a chocolate loving, daydreaming, creator of kingdoms. She writes weird books for teens in lots of weird genres like, fantasy (Blood of Kings trilogy), science fiction (Replication), and dystopian (The Safe Lands trilogy). Find Jill on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or on her author website.

In my last few posts, I talked about different ways to describe. This isn't your typical description, but a way of getting deeper through writing scenes in different ways. I talked about writing scenes with different overall emotions for your main character, and I talked about writing scenes from different points of views. 

Today I want to take the point of view angle a little further. Who your point of view character is will affect how he or she describes things. This is not a new concept. But I think it's one of those concepts that we know, but don't usually find a lot of time to put into practice. So here are some ways to get into your character's head and see what he sees.

What does he own? What's on his desk? Under his bed? In his closet? If he has his own bathroom, what's on the counter? Is he neat or messy?

What thrills him? Hobbies? Interests? Addictions? Favorite foods or movies or video games?

What about his moods? What does he do when he's happy? Sad? Does he eat food when he's sad? Does he dress in certain clothes when he's feeling lazy? Any strange habits?

Now, take all this knowledge and send him to a house he's never been to before. As he looks around the place, what does he notice first? What do his eyes linger on? These things tell the reader a lot about who he is. This is getting deep.

For an example, I'll use two brothers from Captives and how each described the office of the task director general.

Omar: The rectangular room had a shiny wooden floor, sparse chrome and red suede furniture, and floor-to-ceiling windows on three walls. Clean, sharp, simple — minimalist design. This was another reason the Safe Lands intrigued him. So much beauty and architecture. There was none of this in Glenrock. Until Omar had visited the Safe Lands, he’d never seen anything from the Old art books Levi had given him.

Mason: Mason pushed open the door and entered what felt like a modern palace. The room was furnished in black and red, with hardwood floors and windows that wrapped around three walls, exposing a vast view of the valley below. Mason felt like he was walking among the clouds.


Omar, a guy who's obsessed with riches and art, spends more time looking around. He notices color and design. He likes what he sees. Mason is thinking about other things. He notices the room, of course, but ends on how it makes him feel.

And there are more differences about these two brothers. If Omar and Mason walked into my house, Omar would notice the movie shelf right away, and the video games. He'd be looking to entertain himself. Mason would notice the mess. The clutter. He might hope no one in my family had a dust allergy. And he would probably start asking questions about the electric muscle stimulator sitting on out kitchen table. We borrowed it from a friend when my husband pulled a muscle in his back.

So, try this with your characters. What types of things do they notice when they enter a new place or meet a new person (as this works with describing people too). What do their eyes linger on? What intrigues them?

Be sure and hop over to the Playlist blog, where Stephanie is giving away a copy of the Go Teen Writers book at the end of her super cool interview with Rachel, who won the "Respect Your Dream" essay contest, and Rachel's writing partner, Keely.