Top 20 from "Alex has somewhere to be."

Not sure yet if I'll be up to blogging tomorrow. My 4 year old is extremely sick (had to rush her to the doctor yesterday when her temp spiked to 104.5) and now I seem to have some variation of her bug. Blah.

But I do have the top 20 for you. For those whose names are not on the below list, I'll be emailing out the judge's feedback as soon as I can.

Here is the list of those who made the top 20 (in alpha order):

Gillian Adams

S. J. Bouquet

Lindsey Bradford

Rachel Crew

Paulina Czarnecki

Imogen Elvis

Kaitlyn Evensen

Abigail Hartman

Alyssa Liljequist

Cheyenne Lynnae

Jenna Blake Morris

Caroline Niesen

Faye Oygard

Rachelle Rea

Katie Scheidhauer

Melanie G. Schroeder

Olivia Smit

Jessica Staricka

Whitney Stephens

Allison Young

Writing Books on My Shelf Part 1

Don't forget - today's the last day to get your 100-word writing contest entry turned in!

I've been asked a multiple times about recommendations for books about the craft of writing. I'm not sure I've ever made a list of the ones I keep on my shelf, the ones I continue to find valuable. Major oversight on my part! Here is a picture of the writing books on my shelf:

Pictured left to right: Deep and Wide by Susan May Warren, Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook, Writing the Breakout Novel, The Career Novelist, and The Fire in Fiction all by Donald Maass, On Writing by Stephen King, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, Plot & Structure, Revision & Self-Editing, and The Art of War for Writers by James Scott Bell, The Story Template by Amy Deardon, and Elements of Style by Strunk and White.

That's obviously way too many to talk about in one post, so today I'll just cover four of them:

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott is the first writing book I ever owned. It was required reading in my AP English class, and even though I was the only one in the class longing to be a novelist, everyone seemed to enjoy it. Probably because it's funny.

I reread portions of this book every year, and even now as I'm glancing over the chapters list (False starts, The Moral Point of View, Index Cards, Finding Your Voice) I'm itching to pause blogging and read Bird by Bird instead.

Now ... there's some language. Quite a bit, really. Even still, I cannot recommend it highly enough.

On Writing by Stephen King is the second writing book I acquired. My parents gave it to me for Christmas my senior year of high school. The first part of it is Stephen King's journey to publication, which is fascinating. The second part is advice on writing well. On the editing process, description, language, grammar, everything. And it's all in that wonderfully funny voice of his.

Again, there's a decent amount of language in this book. Again, I can't recommend it highly enough. This is another one that I come back to time and time again.

Writing the Breakout Novel and Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook by Donald Maass were the first two writing books I bought for myself. They have remained some of my favorites. Donald Maass is a legendary literary agent, and after 20ish years of watching the publishing industry, he studied "breakout" novels. Those novels that for no apparent reason took off in the market. He says in the introduction that committing to writing a breakout novel is to "say 'no' to merely being good enough to be published."

And the workbook is the advice given in Writing the Breakout Novel but applied to your novel. It's full of hands-on exercises to enrich your story. It gives you space inside the book to write your answers, but I always do the writing on a separate sheet of paper. I will, however, make notes beside the exercises, like which manuscript I used them on.

I think both the regular book and the workbook have tremendous value. I remember sitting on my porch in Florida (where I had a lovely view of our apartment complex parking lot) and highlighting the heck out of Writing the Breakout Novel feeling like maybe, someday, I really could do this.

An Ezine Opportunity for you

From the creators of Teens Can Write Too comes a new kind of ezine, and they are accepting submissions! This is a great way to meet other young writers are start building your platform.

The Trivial Typewriter is made up of original and odd fiction by young people—anything with that crazy, unexpected, humorous, or macabre twist that makes a story unforgettable. Although the zine comprises work by people in their teens and early twenties, it’s designed to be enjoyed by all, young and old.

In addition to fiction, we’re accepting artwork for our cover contest and proposals for articles pertinent to teen writing.

Submissions are now open and will be for the rest of the year.  We’re unable to offer payment at this time, but the zine is free, and your work might be showcased along with other great young talent. Don’t be afraid to submit work: even a rejection is another step closer to an acceptance.

For more details, you can check out The Trivial Typewriter's website.

Also, don't forget your entries for this round's writing contest are due tomorrow night! Details here.

A checklist for self-editing

I'm really excited to have Amanda Barratt here today. Amanda is a teen writer whom I "met" on Seekerville. When I saw this self-editing checklist on her blog, I immediately shot her an email and said, "I know you don't know me, but please come share this on Go Teen Writers!"

Okay, I tried to be a bit more professional than that, but that was the gist of our conversation.


Amanda Barratt is a Historical Romance author who has just finished her fifth novel. She has won several awards for her fiction and enjoys writing about eras such as the Gilded Age and Regency England. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Faith Writers. She lives in northern Michigan with her family where she enjoys attending writers conferences, reading, researching history, and of course writing.
To learn more about Amanda and her writing visit www.amandabarratt.blogspot.com

And here is Amanda's wonderful list for self-editing:



She’s making a list and checking it twice. Gonna find verbs that are naughty or nice. Okay, well maybe I’m going off the deep end here. :)

But on a serious note when I’m editing I do make a list and check it twice. This is a list I’ve compiled using various writing books, other sources and things I’ve developed myself. I generally use this for every chapter, usually when I’m on my second or third draft. It’s a great tool for analyzing each chapter to see if all the necessary components are there. It also might be a good tool to use when critiquing or analyzing another piece of fiction.

So without further ado, my self-editing checklist.

1) Is there a good beginning hook? Does it drop the reader into the fictional dream? If not, what changes need to be made

2) Is there well-defined conflict and a feasible problem for the protagonist to solve? If not, what problem/event can be added or heightened?

3) Is there a brief description of the setting/time and place? Does it inform the reader without boring them? What changes can be made to improve this?

4) Does each chapter “begin with a bang”? Or does it start slowly, with unnecessary details or backstory? Where does the chapter really begin? Do I need to eliminate things that dull the beginning?

5) Was the chapter compelling? Will it keep readers turning pages? Or was it filler? What can be done to fix this?

6) Did the chapter move the plot forward? What is this chapter’s purpose?

7) Will the ending of the chapter hook the reader? Will they want to read more? Can you end the chapter a page earlier and gain more tension?

8) Are there any flashbacks? Are they necessary? Do they slow the plot down? How can they be shortened or made more dramatic?

9) Were there enough sensory descriptions? Do they seem too wordy? Would the reader skip over them or do they add to the fictional dream?

10 )Was the dialog consistent with each character’s age, education, and view on life? Was it full of tension? Did the character’s “pass the time of day” in any parts? Delete those and reword.

11) Are the character’s actions consistent with their personalities? If not, is there a genuine reason why they acted out of character? Is this reason revealed to the reader?

12) Are there unnecessary dialog tags that can be omitted, such as when only two characters are conversing? Is it clear which character is speaking?

13) Is there any “head hopping” or unclear POV’s? Is the POV consistent? Make changes accordingly.

14) Are there any continuity errors, such as character descriptions, etc.?

15) Are the historical details conveyed accurately? Double check sources. (Note. This only applies to novels set not in the present era)

16) Any clichés that can be replaced? Replace these with fresh intriguing phrases.

17) Is the inspirational element present in a way that is not preachy? Is the character’s faith journey displayed at all?

18) Is there continual romantic tension? (Note. This only applies to romances or novels with romantic subplots)

19) Is the chapter a suitable length? Is it too long or too short?

20) Is all grammar and punctuation correct?

**Lastly, when ending the book and that last chapter, consider:

21) How is the ending of the book? Were all subplots wrapped up? Was it a dramatic “leave the reader pondering ending”, along with a lasting impression. Can it be improved?

There you have it. My self-editing checklist. Feel free to use this for your own novels, and may it help you as much as it has me.

Happy Writing!

Amanda 

Amanda, thank you so much for being here and sharing such a great resource with us! 


Anyone have something they'd like to add to the list? Something on my self-editing checklist is to run a search for all my "pet words," like just, was, something, it, really, and quirked. 

Nicole O'Dell is here with a giveaway!

Usually on Go Teen Writers, the focus is on fiction writing. That's because it's the best.

Just kidding. Sort of.

The fiction focus is because that's where my interests lie and where I have the most knowledge. But today I'm thrilled to feature Nicole O'Dell, who writes both fiction and non-fiction. Today she's here talking about  her latest non-fiction release, the cowriting process, and how she manages to fit writing into her extremely busy life.

View Girl Talk on Amazon

Nicole, is Girl Talk a tool primarily for daughters, or is it something moms should be reading too?

Technically, it's for girls. All of the questions are from them and the answers are directed toward them. However, I think it's a great tool for parents to see what's going on in teen culture today. Also, I've heard of moms and daughters using it together as a discussion guide of sorts. Here's what one mom had to say in a review: "Girl Talk was an uplifting inspirational journey that not only brought my daughter and I closer; it opened lines of new communication. Also, in an unexpected and welcoming way the word of God was brought into our home. " (Lissa Smith Book Nut Reviews )

What was the inspiration for this project?

A few years ago, I started a Girl Talk column on my blog where my daughters and I fielded readers' questions. It has proven to be a great tool for readers as evidenced by the amount of questions I get on a regular basis. When it continued to grow, my publisher, Barbour Publishing and I decided to do a book of mostly unpublished Q&As.

Girls want answers. They want to know someone is listening and that people care. By giving them a format to ask their questions, and then providing answers, teens feel heard and understood--even if they disagree. ;)

By reading the dilemmas other teens are facing, girls realize they aren't alone and can prepare their own responses to life's challenges.

I think it's super cool that you write and blog with your daughters. Some of the writers in the Go Teen Writers community co-write books. What advice do you have for making the co-writing process a smooth one?

I love working with Natalie and Emily. It's really cool to see how they think and learn about what they'd do in certain circumstances. They are both so wise--I wish I'd had a fraction of their wisdom when I was a teen.

The co-writing process can be great--but it can also have it's challenges. My top five tips are:

Leave the ego at the door--it's not about you, it's about the project.

Do your part--make sure you're working within your strengths and sharing the workload.

Accept constructive criticism--realize that you have things to learn, and be open to learning them.

Show grace when you offer criticism--your suggestions are ultimately opinions and each writer needs to have her own voice.

Pray for syngery--unity of purpose and an easy time working together.

You also write fiction (The Wishing Pearl, Scenarios for Girls series). Do you have things that you prefer about the process of writing nonfiction?

As I finish a fiction project, I can't wait to get into a non-fiction one. Then, as I finish that non-fiction book, I'm totally ready to get back into fiction. I'm so grateful that I'm able to do both. But you asked about the process. Yes, the non-fiction process is easier in many ways, like there's no need for character development or plot structure. However, there's a lot of responsibility in putting yourself out there as an expert on a topic, so that has to be considered, too.

Nicole, just hearing you talk about your life wears me out sometimes! (Nicole has 6 children including triplets who are 3) She does a weekly radio show and is always churning out great books. A couple questions I get asked a lot are, "How can I make time for my writing? How can I be better about prioritizing it?" What are some tips you have or some things you've done that have made it possible for you to write despite your busy schedule?

Flexibility is the name of the game in the O'Dell household. I just have to go with the flow and take stolen minutes or hours when I have them. Sometimes even days. When my hubby is off for a couple of days in a row and I'm facing a deadline, I sometimes disappear from sun up to sun down.  We just make it work.

Nat, Em, and I hope you'll enjoy Girl Talk! Also, the Girl Talk column is ongoing. You can write to us with your questions anytime! Contact us here.

And if you'd like to win a copy of Girl Talk, signed by all three of us, just leave a comment here. Tweeting about this post will earn you another entry if you use the GoTeenWriters hashtag. (For example: Just read a great interview by @Nicole_Odell on #goteenwriters. http://goteenwriters.blogspot.com/ ) I'd also love it if you signed up for my Choices e-Zine/newsletter, too--that will earn you a third entry!

7 Common Mistakes Teen Writers Make Part 2

Gina here!

Yesterday, I talked about the first three mistakes teen writers make. Today I focus on the last four. But whether you’re a teen writer or just new to writing, these are mistakes all beginners usually make. With time and practice, you can master them and make them less common in your own writing.

Telling Emotions instead of Showing

Though teen writers have a good grasp of showing the actions of a scene instead of telling like younger writers, they still have difficulty showing emotions. They often use adverbs at the end of their dialogue. For example, she said, angrily. Or he said, shyly. A better way to write the dialogue would be to use an action beat to show the emotion. Instead of she said angrily, after the dialogue you can say, She hit the desk with her fist. No one likes to be told how to feel. The same is true with the reader. If you learn to allow the reader to feel your character’s emotions instead of telling them, it will make for a richer reading experience.

No Goals

Teen writers tend to write about what they know. Which is a good place to start, but if you just write about fun people, school, annoying parents, and boys without giving your main character a goal, then your story will be boring. Every character needs to have a goal (or dream) and a greatest fear that they must face. That goal should be hinted to in the beginning of the story. But remember not to tell simply tell the reader the goal, but to show it.

Let’s take a look at the Wizard of Oz. Dorothy is a typical teenager who doesn’t like her family or authority. She wants to escape. To run away somewhere over the rainbow. That is her goal in the beginning, but it’s not her story goal! That comes later when she is in Oz and wants to get back home to Auntie Em. But that’s another post for another day about story structure. The point is, don’t just have interesting characters on the page. Have them want something…something big and then send them on their journey. Which brings me to the next common mistake.

Not Enough Conflict

Once your character starts her journey toward her goal, there has to be conflict, preferably on every page. Yes, every page. But remember conflict comes in many forms. There’s internal conflict that is inside the character and stems from opposing goals, dreams, fears, insecurities, and past mistakes. There’s relational conflict where another character causes problems (external or internal) for the main character. And there is external conflict that comes from outside the character. Conflict is anything that slows the journey of your character and makes it more difficult (yet not impossible) for them to reach the end of their journey.

Now I know you love your characters and throwing problems at them is hard, but it’s necessary for a good story. Our job as authors, whether you’re a preteen, teen or adult, is to torture our characters so they can learn their lessons. Kind of sounds like a parent-child relationship, huh!

No Story Structure

I was twenty-three and newly married when I started my first novel. I had an idea I couldn’t get out of my head, so I just started writing. How hard could writing a novel be? Four kids later in my thirties, I wrote THE END. Then I tried to sell it, and soon realized there was more to writing then just putting words on a page. There was something called story structure, and I needed to learn it to be a good writer. Needless to say, that first story never sold.

Now some of you might be thinking, oh great, story structure. {insert eye roll} A bunch of writing rules I have to follow. Instead of thinking of story structure as a bunch of rules, think of it as destination stops on the way to where you want to go. If you were taking a cross country trip, there would be certain places you’d stop. This is the basis of story structure. But HOW you get to those different places has endless possibilities. For example, you can start in New York and drive to Philadelphia. Then you can take a plane to Dallas, take a bus to Oklahoma city and maybe rent a motorcycle for the rest of your journey.  Not so structured, now is it.

Whether you’re young or old, a new writer is a new writer, and we all need to learn the “rules” to great writing. The best thing about being a teen writer is you’re going to learn and master them way before most people. So go write! And help make these 7 common mistakes not so common!

I’m giving away ONE first chapter critique up to 10 pages (a $20 value!) to commenters on this post. I’m in the process of crafting an ebook for teen writers outlining the 7 mistakes and everything you need to know to structure a novel. If you would like to know when the ebook will be made available, or if you’d like to take my online story writng course, please leave your email. If you tell me you found me on Go Teen Writer you will get a 10% discount!


Stephanie speaking: Thank you so much, Gina, for being with us and for giving away such a fabulous prize! Hey, writers, you can get entered twice if you leave a comment yesterday and today. To get entered today leave a comment saying with of the 7 traits on Gina's list trip you up the most: Too much backstory, not starting in the middle of the action, head hopping/POV, telling instead of showing, no goals, not enough conflict, or no story structure.


And learn more about Gina and her books at Writer ... Interrupted!

7 Common Mistakes Teen Writers Make Part 1

Today Gina Conroy is here to talk about 7 Common Mistakes Teen Writers (and new writers) make. She's giving away a 10 page critique to one lucky commenter. To get entered to win, leave a comment saying what common mistake resonated most with you (or what mistake you used to make, but you now know better). If you comment today and tomorrow (Gina will be back for part two in her series) you'll be entered twice.

Gina Conroy used to think she knew where her life was headed; now she's leaning on the Lord to show her the way.  She is the founder of Writer...Interrupted where she mentors busy writers and tries to keep things in perspective, knowing God's timing is perfect, even if she doesn't agree with it! ;)

Gina loves words and the power of story. As a teen writer she honed her writing through journaling and writing for her high school news paper. In college, she followed the journalism path and became news editor of her college paper. After college, she found her true love in novel writing, but still wrote for magazines and papers to pay the bills. Decades later she is represented by Chip MacGregor of MacGregor Literary, and her first novella, Buried Deception, in the Cherry Blossom Capers Collection, released from Barbour Publishing January 2012. Gina is a creative writing teacher and mentor to writers of all ages and  loves to connect with readers. When she isn’t writing, teaching, or driving kids around, you can find her on Facebook and Twitter.

From Gina: Maybe you’re like me when I was a teen writer. I wrote my heart out, not giving any attention to the “rules” of writing. After all, I got straight A’s in my English classes and my teachers all loved my stories. And to be quite honest, I didn’t know there were any “rules” to writing a book. I figured you just started at the beginning and kept going until the end.

But it wasn’t until I finished my first novel as an adult and wanted to submit it to an editor that I realized there were a million things I didn’t know about writing a novel. So I joined a critique group and learned the “craft,” then decided it was time I helped others.

After mentoring adults, then teaching 3rd -5th graders how to craft a novel, I realized I could take what I’ve learned and teach it to teens in a way they could grasp. Using the same techniques I used as a novelist, I broke down the ideas into easy to understand language and watched my teen students soak in the information. Their ideas and imaginations were engaging, and many were already good writers, but they were making the same mistakes I made when I first started writing. It was my hope to make them great writers by teaching them what I had learned as a new writer.

One thing I learned about teaching teens and mentoring new adult writers is that a new writer is a new writer, no matter what their age. And many of the mistakes older new writers make are the same ones teen writers make. If you master the 7 common mistakes teen writers make, you’ll be well on your way to crafting the best novel you possibly can.

Too Much Backstory

Everyone falls in love with their characters and their entire history. We want everyone to know everything about them so they can fall in love with them too. But what teen writers don’t realize is that you don’t have to tell a character’s entire history or backstory for the reader to be interested in your character. In fact, the less you tell up front, the more intrigued your reader will be about your character and the motivation behind their actions.

If you have a bunch of backstory, that’s okay. In fact, writers sometimes have to get to know their characters really well before than can tell their story. If you don’t know your character’s story you can start by journaling about their life. Just let the words flow.

But once you know their story, ask yourself “What is the most important thing about my character the reader needs to know NOW to understand my character’s action?” Include that piece of information and then later look for ways to weave in your character’s history instead of explaining it all at once in narrative.

How do you do that?


You can show your character’s history through her present actions. Did something happen in her past to make her angry or cynical? Did something happen to cause her to have a bad relationship with a friend or family member? Resist the Urge to explain (RUE) why a character is acting the way she’s acting and just show it. Then as the story progresses you can drop little nuggets of information, one liners, or subtle comments through dialogue or internal thought to give the reader a HINT at her backstory. If you drop all the information about your character up front, the mystery and intrigue will be gone, and your reader will be bored and not want to turn the page.

Not Starting in the Middle of the Action

This mistake goes along with too much backstory. Teen writers often feel the need to explain or show all the actions that lead up to the important action that starts the book, but it’s much more interesting to drop the reader in during the action! If your story is about high school bullying, it’s not necessary to show the reader everything that happens before your main character gets to school. Just drop your reader into the scene where the action is starting…when the bully is getting in the face of the main character or maybe is doing the bullying herself!

Head Hopping and Wrong Use of POV

Many teen writers like to get inside of every character’s head in their story, but this can be confusing to the reader. The basic rule is to tell the story through the eyes of one character during a certain scene or chapter. The character whose eyes you see through is called the POV character and when you write action or description, you only write what that character sees and feels. Think of it like looking through a camera lens. Whatever your character sees through the lens is what you have them see. That means they can’t see when someone sneaks up behind them, BUT they may be able to hear footsteps or smell a distinct odor as the person approaches. This also applies to emotions. You can’t know what every character thinks or feels. Just the thoughts and feelings of your POV character.

The exception to this rule is when you end a scene or chapter and start a new scene or chapter, then you can choose a different POV to tell the story. But I don’t recommend this unless you’re writing a romance or thriller which needs the POV change. Staying in one POV may seem more difficult, but the challenge will make you a better writer and it will help solidify that deep POV connection with the reader.

Come back tomorrow for the rest of the 7 Common Mistakes Teen Writers Make!

I’m giving away ONE first chapter critique up to 10 pages (a $20 value!) to commenters on this post. For a second chance to win, come back for part 2 of 7 Common Mistakes Teen Writers Make. I’m in the process of crafting an ebook for teen writers outlining the 7 mistakes and everything you need to know to structure a novel. If you would like to know when the ebook will be made available, please leave your email and if you tell me you found me on this blog, you will get a 10% discount!