Writing Irresistible KidLit:The Ultimate Guide To Crafting Fiction For Young Adult And Middle Grade Readers (2012) - Plot & Excerpts
Thank you, Mary Kole, for giving me some clear ideas at last about how to fix the plot and pacing in my current project! I am now officially looking forward to 2014.Seriously, sometimes what you really need is a refresher in the basics, and this 101 on everything from plot to voice was very helpful. She gives specific examples from books and features picks from editors and others. Her advice is about both craft and market - from an "editing agent"'s perspective, which I found unique and helpful. And of course, her specialty is YA and MG, which is very specific versus a general writing book (and why I found this so helpful). She tends to give more examples from Middle Grade (which isn't really my thing) and the worksheets and exercises she throws in didn't really interest me. Sometimes it felt like she wrote the book more for slush pile writers who think they're awesome and haven't even done an edit of their rough draft before sending out. But everything she says is very clear, honest, straightforward (and written in a strong voice to boot) without hewing completely to a secret "formula" for getting published.The book is definitely not for an experienced author or one who has published much...but great for an unpublished writer who knows enough to know what she's talking about and can apply it self-critically to her own writing.4.5 stars if I could. Most books for writers are written by writers, which makes sense of course. Writing Irresistible Kidlit is written by an agent. She offers an interesting perspective. For example, she includes several lists of clichés that she sees all the time in the slush pile (plot clichés, character clichés, opening scene clichés etc.) And she has lots of tidbits of good advice, like: "Never be satisfied with the level of conflict you've engineered. Always twist it, always find a way to make it worse... But be careful - high stakes should never slide into histrionics. Melodrama happens when big emotions clash with a too-thin underlying Objective."and"In an effort to technically dodge the "Show, don't tell" bullet, a lot of writers have taken the external route to conveying character emotions: rumbling stomachs, beating hearts, twisting guts... and on and on.... If I were to go on an actual stage and check my watch or tap my foot to convey impatience, a director would yell at me for being way too obvious. But novelists do this all the time."Some of the book was geared to beginning writers (lots of basic definitions), but I think writers at any stage could learn from it. And she offers a lot of advice that isn't just relevant to YA and MG authors.
What do You think about Writing Irresistible KidLit:The Ultimate Guide To Crafting Fiction For Young Adult And Middle Grade Readers (2012)?
Mary really knows her stuff. Every writer targeting MG ad YA should read this book.
—bookworm
Down-to-earth, useful, and practical. Lots of good examples from current novels.
—Rajanand
Amazing advice on writing. A reference to go back to time and again.
—nao
