Category: Blog Chain

For November’s YAOTL post, I write about NaNoWriMo and giving ourselves some credit for what we’ve accomplished. Check it out here.

This month’s post on the WIT site is all about adding some spark to your writing. Check it out here.

Sorry I’m late to post! October’s YAOTL post was about how we read. Check mine out and share your thoughts!

On this month’s YA Outside the Lines blog chain, I wrote about recharging my creative batteries. Or, rather, how I don’t. Check it out share your tips.

I just started posting on YA Outside the Lines! This month’s theme is Summer Love. Instead of writing about the romantic love, I wrote about my love of a place. If you read PIECES OF US, you’ll get the summer references. If you didn’t, you’ll like the post anyway. Check it out here! 

Sandra is the woman behind the topic this round. She asks:

We all know it’s important to read fiction if you want to write fiction, but what about reading non-fiction? How much non-fiction do you read? What kinds of non-fiction books do you read, and why? Has reading non-fiction influenced your fiction writing style?

First, let’s get this out there: with a 5 1/2 year old, I don’t have that much time to pleasure read. Not fiction. Not non-fiction. Not much. When I do have the time (like, I am desperately trying to finish a book for my book club next Sunday and am hoping I am not THAT girl–you know, the one who never finishes the books?), I like to read books on my list–usually YA novels, I’ve been dying to read (like Barry Lyga’s The Game, sequel to I Hunt Killers, or the sequel to Unwind, or Lindsey Leavitt’s The Back of Sean Griswold’s Head that is currently on my Nook). Gosh, that was such a long-winded sentence, I almost forgot my point. Oh yeah, SO when I DO have the time, I try to catch up on books I’ve been meaning to read OR books that will help me with a genre I’m writing. Non-fiction usually falls under the category of pleasure reading unless it’s something I need for book research. And, if it’s pleasure reading, well….refer to the first line of my response. However, if all stars align perfectly and I have the time to pleasure read, I love biographies and memoirs. I love finding out the nitty gritty behind celebs or historical figures I think I know. Natasha: The Biography of Natalie Wood by Suzanne Finstad was a favorite read. The Bad Guys Won by Jeff Pearlman about the 1986 Mets was another winner. I really enjoy sports books, and Jackie Robinson’s autobiography, I Never Had It Made, is high on my list as well.

If I love a book and the purpose is pleasure reading, I try to keep it that way and not let the do’s and don’ts of the book get into my head. When you’re a writer, it’s very hard to read something and not take writing notes, but I try. So, good time books will stay just that, and I’ll not let them do something pesky like influence me. 🙂

How about you? Where do you stand on non-fiction? If you missed Amparo’s post, check it out here. And if you missed ANY of the posts on this chain, start with Kate’s blog and catch up.

Time for another round of blog chain fun! This round’s topic is brought to us by Kate. She asks:

As a reader and/or a writer what are some of your favorite fiction
tropes? Are you sucker for secretly in love with best friend type
stories, stories set in mysterious boarding school stories, stories
that contain time travel, or something else entirely? As a writer how
do you try to give the tropes you tackle in your own books a fresh
spin?

Hmm…I really enjoyed reading others’ posts on this, but I’m not sure what my response is. I don’t know if I’m drawn to one particular literary device when reading or writing. I suppose I like tried and true stories that take the traditional concept and then do something surprising. For example, GONE, GIRL, by Gillian Flynn, appears at first as a typical mystery. In fact, it seemed so typical that for the first 1/3 of the book, I was tempted to throw it across the room because I was so sure I knew how everything was going to unfold….but then, I didn’t. And as the book went on, just when I thought I knew what would happen, it twisted again. That was impressive to me. And, Flynn is a skilled writer, because I ABHOR plot twists for the sake of twisting and shock. I hate when I read a book and the ending or middle is a “surprise” but it totally does not fit with the flow of the story.

As I was writing, I realized another trope I really like: retellings. I love retellings of biblical stories, in particular, but also like new takes on other known stories (e.g. retellings of Shakespeare, Dickens, etc.). My favorite retelling is THE RED TENT by Anita Diamont. It tells the story of Dina, the story of Jacob’s 12 sons. Such an awesome prospective.

How about you? What’s your favorite literary trope? And don’t forget to read Amparo’s post, and if you missed any go back to Kate’s and start again.