Z is for ZZzzz

Yay! I made it through my first A-Z Blogging Challenge.

26 letters can change the world, but they also have made me a bit sleepy.

Now I think we all deserve a nice, long rest.

Y is for YA

Random person: What kind of books do you write?
Me: Young Adult books.
Random person: Er... Are you going to write an adult book?
Me: Why?
Random person: Because that means you're a real writer. You'll probably get published quicker with a real book.
Me: *blinks* No. It doesn't work like that. Besides, a real writer writes.
Random person: But why YA?

And that is the question. Why do I write YA novels?

I write YA because those are the voices that come to me. The ones who wake me up in the night. Who want their stories told. They're the stories that interest me. The ones I want to tell. To know. To share. To inspire.

Teenage years are the time things will probably be the most raw. Everything is a first. Everything a discovery. A snapshot in time where, for a moment, you can do whatever you want to do. Be whoever you want to be. To feel. To learn. To love. To live in the moment.

I won't say I'll never write an 'adult' book. I read them. I enjoy them. But, in the end, I think it comes down to this:

"You have to write the book that wants to be written." Madeleine L'Engle

What about you. Why do you write a certain genre?

X is for eXtraordinary

There is something I don't think I've told you before. You are extraordinary.  

How?

Each time you put pen to paper, open that word document to begin a new project, or think about a story/plot/main character you are extraordinary.

Every word you write. Every revision. Each re-write. Every query sent. This makes you extraordinary.

Why are you extraordinary? Because you never give up. We write, we learn. We read, we learn. We query, we learn. Every part of this journey tests, inspires, challenges and frustrates us, but we learn.

We grow.

We do what we love. 

And, by doing what we love, we are extraordinary. 

Note: This post was originally on Operation Awesome, but I feel you all need to be told how awesome you are again. 

W is for Writing Rules

                            From: A Novel Approach (To Me)

It might just be me, but I feel like there is one thing missing from this list... 

That's better. 

Do you have any writing tips/rules to share? 

V is for Vary the Sentence.

This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals–sounds that say listen to this, it is important. 

 From: sweetthesound

U is for Ugh, I Got Nothing.

Ugh. I got nothing today. This means either the chocolate I ate yesterday has moulded around my brain, creating a solid mass of goodness... or I've fallen victim to the dreaded Easter Monday lazybug. 

I'm going with a mixture of both. 

So I vote we all relax today. We deserve it. 

And if anyone says different... 

Release the Krakken! 

Have a great Monday! 

T is for TBR Pile

         "If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that." 

Stephen King

Most of us who write have huge, hang on, HUGE TBR piles. You only have to check the Goodreads 'to read' to see some of the books we're itching to read. And sometimes that's before we've even bought them!

Here are the new books I've bought to add to my 'physical' TBR pile this week:

 

All images from Goodreads

What books are on your TBR list this week?