If you can't muster the will to lay off Gawker, how are you going to write a book? I can't blame modern technology for my predilection for distraction, not after all the hours I've spent watching lost balloons disappear into the clouds. I did it before the Internet, and I'll do it after the apocalypse, assuming we still have helium and weak-gripped children.

Field Trip Friday: April 29, 2011

Magical realism is a genre which everyone and no one is writing.

Everyone says their book has elements of magical realism, but hardly anyone actually knows what that means. Hey, I don't even know what it means - I'm just writing this because it's my turn to post.

In all seriousness, you guys - magical realism is weird. Its very definition defies logic. The magical + the actual. Illusion + cold hard reality. Enchantment + disenchantment. It's a paradox. Which is precisely what makes this genre so interesting.

In a nutshell, magical realism is a very subtle genre which adds elements the surreal to a character's everyday life. There is usually no explanation for these magical ingredients; there is no world-building; there is only a dose of strangeness to interrupt what would otherwise be a completely contemporary, realistic story. According to critic Luis Leal, "If you can explain it, then it's not magical realism."

Because it's such a slippery genre, it's hard to create a novel that falls under the category of "magical realism;" but it is possible, and it's a great way to add some life to a tired story. If your characters and your plot feel worn out, maybe you should think about adding a dose of magic to shake them up. Luckily you don't have to be a master writer of fairies and dragon to inject some surrealism into your WIP; you just have to do something unexpected.


Some good examples of magical realism:

Skellig
Coraline
Love Medicine
"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings"
I Am The Messenger
The Graveyard Book
The Pricker Boy
Jellicoe Road
Holes

...and a whole lot more.

Good luck marrying the magical and the real.

Magic + real life = ?

Road Trip Wednesday #77: Your Manuscript Music, Revisited

Daemon's comment: "I can't deny it."

Call it a sneaky PR move on the interviewee's part, but man, has YA Highway scored an awesome interview today! It's true: not 48 hours after receiving his blood-soaked, smoking letter containing instructions and GPS coordinates, I had the chance to sit down with Daemon Cain: a professional villain of the Young Adult genre. Why? In Daemon's words, to "spread the teachings of the Ultimate Darkness." Not totally sure what that means, but I knew I couldn't pass this opportunity up.

Daemon was reluctant to share much information about himself, like whether he was a demon or a vampire, a mean girl or a futuristic mastermind (though we can guess). But he was eager to spill his deepest thoughts on everything from his worst pet peeves to his favorite fellow villain. Without further ado, here he is: Daemon!

Oh anti-Christ, I'm so glad you asked this question. Let me start by saying that I detest this idea that all YA villains are full of nothing but hatred and selfishness and evil. If the public just got to know us better, they'd find that we can be downright multi-faceted sometimes! If you expect me to be mean, that's what you're going to get. But I am highly layered person, you know, I'm not just trying to murder teens all the time...

No, no. Hold up. I am definitely evil. If I wasn't, I wouldn't be a card-carrying member of the YAVS (YA Villians' Society). All I'm saying is I'm not evil all the time, and I really wish people would appreciate that and not act like I'm some kind of soulless piranha.

You know, in the trilogy I'm working on now, I've been taking my time off from the story to go work at the local animal shelter! But do they show that? No. They only show my insane attempted kidnapping of the main character a chapter later. It's slander, plain and simple.
Three words: Deux ex machina. I'm this close to achieving my goal, and then BAM! Something or someone swoops in, completely unpredictable, and grabs the main character from my grasp. It's so infuriating! I put all that work in for no payoff! I mean, what the hell?

Also - pretty-boys who call themselves villains because they're a danger to the main character, or whatever, but really they just want to get in her (it's always a her) pants. They're a disgrace to the YAVS, those guys. Announcement: real villains do not glitter.

They're my ultimate dream. Unfortunately, they only come along about once in a blood-streaked moon. There should be more of them - they're so traumatic and awesome! I heard they depress readers, but honestly, you people just need to suck it up and rejoice in the dawn of a new villainous era.
I know I'm supposed to say Voldemort here, and yeah, the guy's a legend, but... come on, story-dying at the hand of your own wand? He will never live that down, at least in the social circles I come from.

There's a ton of choices, but personally, I have to say... that Anna Morrison, queen bee girl! From Some Girls Are by Creator Courtney Summers. Dear anti-God, I met Anna at a YAVS conference last month and it was just horrifying. I thought she was going to tell the whole conference about my rash problem during her keynote speech. Instead she just made me get her coffee a bunch of times.

Well, the most important difference is that we're better. Why? We're more shocking. The fact is, you expect to see villains in the adult world. A bunch of 30-something wizards traversing the land in search of whatever? Of COURSE some dastardly warlock is going to come along and try to vanquish them. They can handle it, being adults.

But teenage wizards-in-training? If a villain comes along, it's like... holy crap, those are kids. I love it when a fan asks me whether I ever feel guilty for going after the small and immature. No way! It adds to the rush, the amazing feeling of evil. What does suck is when the kids vanquish you and it's like... I really need a coffee or something because that is just humiliating.
No main character?

I... don't understand.
What? But... someone has to try to stop me... where's the fun otherwise? I... (trails off)

I think I need to lie down....

***

Wow! Seems to me like Daemon is a pretty awesome villain. And that was a really fun* interview, even if he did sort of creep me out with his glaring. Who's your favorite YA villain? And what are your thoughts on the state of villainy in YA today?

*Also, fictional (sadly). Hope you enjoyed the silliness!

Bats, Blood, & Bête Noires: An Interview With a YA Villain

Today we welcome Lexa Hillyer, editor and co-founder of the literary development company, Paper Lantern Lit! If you're unfamiliar with what a lit development company does, check out their FAQ page.










Five Real Fast

1. Free plane ticket to any destination in the world – where would you go? Right now? Anywhere sunny and beachy!

2. What was your favorite book as a child? Jacob Have I Loved

3. Favorite coffee drink? Earl Grey Tea

4. Least favorite paranormal creature? Dragons? Do they even count? I’m less into creatures that don’t have any human qualities, ya know? But I am always open to being convinced otherwise!

5. If you had to choose, would you rather be an elf or a hobbit? Elf.

Publishing Interviews: Lexa Hillyer, Co-Founder of Paper Lantern Lit

Apostrophe misuse is all too common. Pretty much every single day, I sign onto Facebook and at least one person has written a status with an inappropriately placed apostrophe (or inappropriate lack of apostrophe). And that’s not the only place: Twitter, blogs, forums, the instructions on the package of one of those rubbery animals you put in water and it grows. Mistakes happen. I can’t pretend I’ve never made an apostrophe-related mistake myself, but apostrophes seem to be an area of particular trickiness for a lot of people, so I bring to you a super exciting lesson on using apostrophes. (Okay, okay. Unless you’re a serious fanatic, exciting’s probably not the right word. But still! Educational and useful.)

First, contractions. This sounds obvious, and it’s easy to remember where the apostrophe goes in words like don’t and wasn’t. But sometimes, it gets confusing. Anytime you are leaving a letter out of a word, put the apostrophe where you left out that letter. As an example from above, I wrote “exciting’s probably not the right word,” combining exciting and is, and putting an apostrophe in place of the I. If you aren’t sure where you’re supposed to be putting your apostrophe, think about the two words separately, and then you’ll know. Like the commonly butchered word y’all, for instance. Y’all is you+all combined. You are removing the ‘ou’, so the apostrophe needs to go after the Y. Not after the A*. Apostrophe using omissions also include years, like: "class of ’11", which leaves out the 20 in 2011.

Next, forming possessives. Again, this sounds simple, but it can be confusing. Basically what helps me remember whether or not an apostrophe belongs is to rearrange the sentence in my head. For example, if I write the sentence, “I am going to Mary’s house.” I could rewrite it as “I am going to the house belonging to Mary.” If you can’t rearrange the sentence so that the word with the ‘s possesses something, you don’t need it there. And don’t forget to think about whether the apostrophe goes before or after the S. For example: “I am going to the smith’s house” vs. “I am going to the Smiths’ house.” In the first sentence, I would assume you’re going to see a blacksmith (or other type of smith.) And in the second, I would assume you’re going to the home of a family with the last name Smith.

It’s also important to think about when not to use apostrophes. Just because a word ends with an S doesn’t necessarily mean you need an apostrophe there. No apostrophe is required in a sentence like, “I saw the Smiths when I was out for a walk.” They are plural, yes, but they aren’t possessing anything in this sentence. And when you are referring to two people possessing the same item – for example, “I went to Mary and Matt’s house.” – you don’t need an apostrophe after the first name. And do not use apostrophes with possessive pronouns (his, yours, its, etc.) because they already show possession as they are.

Apostrophes (not apostrophe’s!) come up so often when we write that they seem really basic and get forgotten about, but it’s good to refresh ourselves every now and again, isn’t it?

And for a slightly more thorough version of what I said, in flowchart form (with pictures!), visit The Oatmeal.


*Really you guys. I think I see this done wrong more often than I see it done right.

Apostrophes

Kate's still fishing (and writing!)

This Week In Writing:

The always hysterical Intern counts down the Top 10 Reasons You Should Rewrite That.

What's that Toto? We're not in Kansas anymore? If you find your story demands a setting that, well, doesn't exist, Kathleen Peacock has you covered with her guest post at The Other Side of the Story on Creating a Fictional Town.

Josh Getzler says no news is . . . ready for it? No news. Nothing more, nothing less.

Renee Collins over at Midnight Meditations has a wonderful post about the one thing we all need to succeed.

So you wanna be a professional writer? (HOLD UP. I totally just found the next big reality television show.) Terrible Minds has a funny, but rather honest list of why you might not be ready.

And another great one on Janice Hardy's blog helps you decide if your descriptions are helping your story or holding it back.

Karen Healey breaks down the hot topic of sex and young adults.

Veronica Roth opens up about fear in a beautiful post here.

This Week In Reading:

How well-read can one truly be? Even if you don't sleep a wink, you'll never get to 'em all. But the NPR says well-read isn't a destination.

Can't wait for Veronica Roth's DIVERGENT to hit the shelves in May? Get a taste by finding out which faction you'd belong to here!  

This Week In Publishing:

Heading to BEA this May? Our own Kody Keplinger will be there signing books May 26 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 at table seven! Stop by and say hi! (You'll find she's rather awesome.)

And in some more awesomeness, Kody and another lovely highwayer, Kirsten Hubbard, are going to be part of this year's Teen Author Carnival!!

You wrote a book. Now what do you do? Tahereh has a great post for anyone who has questions about what happens next.

And if you are about to dangle those toes into the dark void of angst fantastic exercise in patience, also known as querying, Sarah LaPolla offers the Ultimate Query Tips.

Considering e-publishing? Huffington Post explains why you want to go higher than .99 cents (where the heck is the cent symbol on this keyboard?!)  

This Week In Contests:
Some great giveaways this week!

Jenny's giving away a signed copy of Ellen Hopkins' GLASS. Head over to her blog to enter.

Gretchen McNeil's giving away an ARC of her debut novel, Possessed.

Abbey Stevens has an interview with Christina Mandelski and is giving away a copy her debut novel The Sweetest Thing.

Jennifer's giving away a book of your choice and an ARC of HALF-BLOOD.

Lisa's got a Kindle, loaded with two books, up for grabs. Just tell her when/where you'd travel to if you could.  

This Week In the Random:

It's National Poetry Month! Take a walk, drink some chai, and join in on some of the events going on before it's over!

Proof that real-life skills can be obtained from playing World of Warcraft (p.s. not all meese are dangerous. We here at the highway are fluffy, sweet, and wouldn't hurt a fly. Spiders, well, that's another story. o.O)

Watch this. If you're not breathless by the end, I find you strange. The Mountain from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.


And finally, a HUGE, HUGE thanks to my highway meese and all their help rounding up links for the post!

Field Trip Friday: April 22, 2011

Image by cbenjasuwan

Say you took every letter you've ever written and put them all together. Would you have a novel?

Probably not. For a start, there’s no overarching thread that joins them up. You know, you might spend one letter to a friend talking entirely about your cats, because that particular friend is a cat person who likes hearing about your cats, and then another talking about your family, and some weird dream you had about sandwiches, and also some form that needs to be filled out by next week. And I don’t know about your letters, but in mine, there’s, I don’t know, a tiny amount of rambling and incoherence. Just a tiny amount. Well, a moderately tiny amount. Ok. A lot.

Basically, a lot of the letters we write in everyday life are, at best, only interesting to the person who received them. And a whole bunch of letters is usually exactly that: a whole bunch of letters.

Except in an epistolary novel.

Most epistolary novels are written entirely in letters, from one character to another*.  And because of this, epistolary novels manage something incredible: they can make a whole story take place without a conventional narrative. There’s no third person voice that jumps in to tell us that he/she said that, and did this. We only have characters’ words to rely on. There’s no one main voice either, because the story jumps between one character and another, and from one voice to another. In each letter, the story unfolds a little more and new things are revealed, and we know the characters that much better. There’s something about epistolary novels that draws us in – there’s the quick pace, jumping from one letter to the next. And there’s the fact that they feel like you’re peeking inside someone’s mail. But not just someone’s boring, everyday mail. Someone’s extraordinarily interesting mail.

When Jaclyn Moriarty talks about writing her epistolary novels, she says this:

Letters are neither reliable nor static; they’re designed to fly through the air and gently fall into the recipient’s lap like a gift, or hit the recipient in the eye. If a teacher asked students to write letters to a neighbouring school, as part of an assignment, you couldn't trust the students to be honest or to be themselves.

What's she talking about? Well, are any of us completely honest with everyone you talk to? No. You’re always aware of who you’re talking to. There are the things you make up or exaggerate, the things you hide or gloss over, the little white lies, the version of yourself you show to one particular person, as opposed to the other faces you show to other people. Characters write letters with an awareness of their audience too. They know who they're talking to. And they know who they want to be for that person.

And even then, the person they think they're writing to can turn out to be very different to the person they’re actually writing to, because of how that person has made themselves look in their letters. Which means that there’s huge potential for dishonesty in epistolary novels. And misunderstandings. And conflict. And all sorts of drama and humour.

Sometimes, just sometimes, a whole bunch of letters can be something far more than a whole bunch of letters. In the hands of a good writer, a whole bunch of letters can be entertaining and thought provoking and beautiful.

Some examples of epistolary fiction:

The Ashbury books by Jaclyn Moriarty, especially Feeling Sorry For Celia (which I’ve already written about here) and Finding Cassie Crazy/The Year of Secret Assignments.

Letters from the Inside by John Marsden.

What do you think of novels in letters? Have you read any good ones that I've missed?

*I’m going to stick to just talking about novels in letters here, but epistolary novels don’t have to stick to letters at all: they can also feature diary entries, blog posts and newspaper articles. And other things too!

Epistolary Novels (and why they are awesomeness)

Welcome to our 76th Road Trip Wednesday!

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

We'd love for you to participate! Just answer the prompt on your own blog and leave a link - or, if you prefer, you can include your answer in the comments.

Road Trip Wednesday #76: Spin On First Kiss

Two weeks ago, we discussed taboos of sex and romance in YA. This week, in part two of our mini-series about sex in YA, we're discussing the use of protection.

Sex In YA, Part 2: Keeping It Safe

Who are the strong female characters in YA fantasy and science fiction?

I’ll bet I can guess some of your answers. Katniss (The Hunger Games) and Katsa (Graceling) and Tris (Divergent) and Tally (Uglies). These girls kick ass. Literally – they fight and even kill. They take on the protagonist roles that have been traditionally held by male characters. They also smash the assumption boys won’t read female narrators, by appealing to both boys and girls.

Presumably, boys are reading these characters because they aren’t “girly” girls. They’re tough. They’re powerful, proactive, even aggressive. They train, quest, battle, fight – just like the boys do, and often much better.

But what about the girls who don’t fight, battle, kill?

Do girls need to act like boys to be read by boys?

Do girls need to act like boys to be considered “strong”?

What about the reverse: boys who take on roles traditionally held by females? Even typing this, I am struck by how absurd it comes off as – but why?

I’m not knocking characters like Katniss and Katsa. I definitely think they represent progress. Especially in a time when one of the world’s most brilliant forces for good, Pixar, can take 17 years to release a film with a female protagonist. (Brave, 2012. She’s an archer.) Teens need strong female characters in their books. They need girls they want to be – because of their awesomeness, not because of the smolder of their romances.

But this is also a time when a boy with pink toenails is considered newsworthy. When all that exploded last week, along with my head, I came across this comment on MetaFilter, which I haven’t been able to stop thinking about.

“…it feels like progress that women/girls can do things previously societally reserved for men/boys, but how much progress have we made when men/boys still cannot have anything to do with "feminine" things? How equal do we really have a chance to be when these gender norms are still so rigidly enforced from the time we are tiny?”

It's so true. Think about it – in general (not always, but in general), stereotypically masculine traits are thought of as positive, in the book world and beyond. Whereas, so many boys (and girls!) have been raised to consider acting “like a girl” to be a bad thing. It’s a common insult in athletics, between friends. It’s even used to offend girls. In high school water polo, I never wanted to throw like a girl. Even though I am a girl. And really, I have no idea what throwing like a girl means, anyway – I sucked, but our goalie could make a goal all the way across the entire pool. She was a girl too.

Of course, not all strong female characters are as "masculine" as Katniss. The popularity of Buffy – who kicks ass and looks great doing it – gave rise to entire tropes (like “Waif Fu”) of ass-kicking yet feminine girls, like River Tam pictured above. I’d say Rose from Vampire Academy and Evie from Paranormalcy and Ellie from Angelfire follow that lead. I know boys watch Buffy: The Vampire Slayer. But do they read books about girls like Buffy? Particularly, books through the eyes of girls like Buffy, without the ensemble casts of similar shows?

Are there any girls like this in YA SF?

More importantly, how about female characters who are complex and strong without literally kicking ass?

Here's an example. One of my all-time favorite female characters is Evanjalin in Melina Marchetta’s epic fantasy, Finnikin of the Rock. Not because she’s a master assassin or ruthless in the ring, but because she’s emotionally complex, ultra-intelligent and her ethics guide her actions, no matter the cost. Now that’s a girl I want to be.

Can you think of any more?
Could I have opened up a larger can of worms?

What Makes a Strong Female Character Strong?

Big things are about the happen at Maple's house. Mama's going to have a baby, which means now there will be four Rittle sisters instead of just three. But when baby Lily is born too early and can't come home from the hospital, Maple knows it's up to her to save her sister. So she and Dawn, armed with a map and some leftover dinner, head off down a river and up a mountain to find the Wise Woman who can grant miracles. Now it's not only Lily’s survival that they have to worry about, but also their own. The dangers that Maple and Dawn encounter on their journey makes them realize a thing or two about miracles–and about each other.


FLUTTER is one of those quiet, warm middle grade novels that you need to read with a cup of cocoa and a fuzzy blanket. Although the book starts out slow, Maple’s descriptions are so beautiful that the reader is willing to forgive the pace. The journey itself is patchworked with magical realism as Dawn and Maple search for the legendary Wise Woman and the healing waters she keeps in her woods. It sounds cheesy, but the real magic is in the sisters’ relationship and the way they learn to love and respect each other.

Moulton is a talented writer, but she seemed unsure of Maple’s voice throughout the book. Sometimes Maple’s descriptions were literary and poetic; sometimes they were colloquial, a little more immature. It was somewhat jarring, as if Moulton was writing two different characters and trying to decide which one would dominate the story. Still, I feel like this is an issue that Moulton will resolve with time and experience, and FLUTTER remains a wonderful middle grade debut.

FLUTTER will be published May 12, 2011 by Philomel.

Book Review: FLUTTER by Erin Moulton

Field Trip Friday: April 15, 2011

When Your WIP Is Too Short aka Massive Panic Attack Time!

This Week's Topic:
What is the story of your best scar?

Road Trip Song of the Week:
"Scars" by Papa Roach

Next week’s topic:
TBA

Road Trip Wednesday #75: Your Best Scar

Picture by the genius Allie Brosh, aka Hyperbole and a Half

Well. For a start, there’s the whole wish fulfilment thing. Not one, but two glorious man creatures to choose between. But even more than that, love triangles are an obvious way of creating conflict. And if you want to write a story about a relationship, then conflict within that relationship is essential. Especially if the relationship stretches over more than one book. No one wants to read a love story where two lovers meet, make gooey eyes, declare undying love immediately and then live happily ever after. We like our love stories more complicated than that. That’s what makes them satisfying.

Love triangles are one way to make relationships complicated, but are they the only way? I’ve read a few love triangles recently where it seems like the main character just has to choose who to be with – and often the ‘right’ choice is obvious to the reader all along. It’s a long agonising path for the main character to realise who the ‘right’ choice is, but once the main character has made it, the other guy dies. Or turns out to be evil all along. Or dies. Or falls in love with the main character’s vampire infant. Or dies. And meanwhile the main character and her ‘right’ choice destroy the antagonist, then get their hard earned happily ever after, and you just know that their relationship will be absolute dreamlike perfection from then on.

Love triangles easily create external struggles. But what about the internal struggles? What about the difficulties of merging your life and dreams with another person’s? Because that’s never a tidy process. There’s the ugly stuff where one thing makes one person happy, but the other person wants something completely different. What if one person wants to travel the world, while the other person doesn’t, or can’t? Or hey, what if one half of a relationship is a supernatural creature, living a supernatural life, while the other half is human, and likes being human, and wants to stay that way?

Don’t get me wrong. There are some fantastic love triangles out there, ones which have kept me guessing all the way through, and left me pondering for days. But my question is, does there always need to be a third party? Could two people be enough to generate interesting conflict? Does YA paranormal fiction need so many love triangles?

Why are there so many love triangles in paranormal YA?

We're so excited to launch Jessi Kirby's book tour for Moonglass! Moonglass will be released by Simon & Schuster on May 3rd, 2011.

I read once that water is a symbol for emotions. And for a while now, I've thought maybe my mother drowned in both.

Anna's life is upended when her father accepts a job transfer the summer before her junior year. It's bad enough that she has to leave her friends and her life behind, but her dad is moving them to the beach where her parents first met and fell in love -- a place awash in memories that Anna would just as soon leave under the surface.

While life on the beach is pretty great, with ocean views and one adorable lifeguard in particular, there are also family secrets that were buried along the shore years ago. And the ebb and flow of the ocean's tide means that nothing -- not the sea glass that she collects on the sand and not the truths behind Anna's mother's death -- stays buried forever.

I was lucky enough to read an ARC of Moonglass last week. I enjoyed every word of Jessi's quiet, lovely and powerful story -- a story haunted by the unsettling yet evocative image of Anna's mother walking into the sea. I especially loved how the ocean serves as another character in Moonglass. Despite the manner in which her mother died, Anna belongs to the ocean, spending as much time as possible in it, under it, beside it. It beckons to her, gifts her jewel-like sea glass, even incites her independence in one memorable scene (see question three below). But it also reminds her of the mysteries surrounding her mother's death -- and life. I finished this book with tears in my eyes, but also with an irresistible urge to hunt for sea glass (and hot lifeguards.)

Below, Jessi Kirby answers a few questions about Moonglass.

What's the significance of the title MOONGLASS?

The word moonglass is one that Anna made up when she was a little girl. She and her mom sometimes went searching for sea glass at night, and when she found a very special piece in the moonlight she called it ‘moonglass’.


MOONGLASS is set in a beach town. Is it a real place? If not, upon where did you base it?

Yes! It is a real place! Crystal Cove is an actual state park in California, with actual abandoned cottages, sea glass-littered sand, and cute lifeguards.


Which was your favorite scene to write in MOONGLASS?

There’s one scene that takes place at a lifeguard bonfire that Anna isn’t supposed to be at. There is so much going through her head in that scene, between a revealing story about her dad, swimming in the ocean at night alongside her crush, the freedom of being out when she shouldn’t be, jumping off a towering rock…getting caught. I got to pack a lot into it.


Which was the most difficult?

Hmm…I’d have to say it was the very last scene, because I’ve read so many books that are great the whole way through, but then the ending doesn’t quite give you that ‘Wow’ feeling. I wanted it to do that, so I spent a ridiculous amount of time on the last scene trying to get it just right.

What are some young adult novels you think every teen -- and adult! -- should read?

Ooh, I love this one! The Giver, Looking for Alaska, any one by Sarah Dessen -- although This Lullaby and The Truth About Forever are my favorites -- The Hunger Games, The Sky is Everywhere, The Book Thief. I could go on forever, but those are a handful of my very favorites.


What was the most unexpected part of your publishing journey?

I had no idea how many people are involved in creating a book, how many steps it goes through, or how much waiting I’d do, constantly checking my email for any little bit of news.


Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?

Read! It’s the best possible way to study what you want to do, coming from the best possible teachers. Pay attention to the things that leap out at you or move you as you read. Savor them. Study them. Then remember what it was you loved reading so much when you sit down to write.

• Moonglass on Amazon
• Moonglass on Goodreads
• Moonglass on IndieBound

Book Tour Launch for Jessi Kirby's MOONGLASS

I get an idea for a book. I get excited. I think about it all day. I set aside an hour, two hours, sometimes a day, specifically for and only for writing said book. But when I sit down at that scheduled time, those urges kick in – send an "urgent" email, change the fire alarm batteries, tweet that I #amwriting but really scroll through the latest trending topic... you know the drill.

It’s not that I don’t want to work on the book – I do! But the blank page is scary, the pressure to get to a certain word count is scarier, and if you’ve got one of those “progress meters” that show you how far you’ve got to go, that’s the scariest thing of all.

Last year I wrote a post about mini-retreats – writing a first draft in 250 words a day. It worked well for me at the time, because I need to take it slow and figure out the story.

This time, I know the story I want to tell and when I’m not at my laptop I’m writing it in my head. By the time I can sit down and work on it, it should be easy to get a few thousand words out in one go, right? Absolutely. In fact, I'm just going to do that right O LOOK AT THE BABY AYE AYE

Baby Aye-Aye also fears the first draft.

Yes, I, Michelle Schusterman, am a focus-impaired writer. It's a disease that eventually afflicts all who work online, and unfortunately, there is no cure. Aside from, like, Internet abstinence, which....no.

But I have discovered a method that works for me, and if you suffer from focus impairment, it can work for you too. In fact, 60% of the time, it works. Every time.

Step 1: Work 1 hour at your freelancing, personal training, duchessing, or other occupation.


Step 2: Write 150 words.


Step 3: Work 1 hour answering phones, taking notes, or organizing LOLcats in order of relevance to your life.


Step 4: Write 150 words.


Step 5: Order lunch, make lunch, or put out any small kitchen fires.


Step 6: Write 150 words.


Step 7: Work 1 hour filing bills, preparing tax returns or watching the best song ever on YouTube.


Step 8: Write 150 words.


Step 9: You see where I'm going here.

Go about your regular work day, but at least once every hour, stop and write 150 words on that first draft. That's less than half of this blog post. 150 words! That’s nothing! That’s like eight tweets!

Using this method, I’ve found I can get over 1,000 words a day easily, sometimes over 1,500, which is much higher than I could ever expect my tweet-filled YouTube-comment-horrorstruck Tumbld-over brain to churn out all at once.

If you suffer from focus-impairment, give this method a shot. Embrace your inability to focus - use it! Because the alternative – limiting online shenanigans, the source of our focus woes – is too horrifying to contemplate.
 

First Draft Guide for the Focus-Impaired Writer