As an editor, sometimes I can be a bit harsh. When you have high standards and a bit (maybe more than a bit) of an ego, your feedback can be blunt—brutal, even. It seems justified when you’re the one giving the criticism. But as we all know, receiving feedback can be a gutting experience. Here … Continue reading How to Give Useful Feedback Without Losing Your Friends
In the first week of July, I went to my first writing conference, the annual LA conference with the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI.) And holy cow, did I learn. I learned so much I feel as though my head will never stop spinning. As I decompress, refine my goals, and stare … Continue reading 8 Lessons I Learned from Going to My First Writing Conference
Here are the writing prompts from July. I hope they spark some inspiration. If you write something, let me know! I’d love to read it. Like these prompts? I post a new writing prompt every Friday on Twitter. Follow me @nikiblois for more writing inspiration.
Ruta Sepetys’ Salt to the Sea is an incredibly moving novel that follows the journey of four young people fleeing the approaching Russian army in the last months of WWII. What you can steal 1. Sepetys’ incredible, sparse prose Sepetys writes with astonishing clarity. Her chapters are short, her sentences bare, but her characters are … Continue reading Salt to the Sea Review
Ever since I was a kid, my dream was to be an author. I scribbled stories in notebooks, daydreamed about pirates and mermaids, and devoured any fantasy book I came across. But as much as I loved writing, I never finished anything longer than a short story. Understatement of the year: writing a book is … Continue reading 12 Lessons I Learned from Writing My First Book
