Comments on: Writing FAQ

By: Aude

Aude — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 21:32:01 +0000

Justine, i wanted to thank you for your blog, it’s a wonderful help for the teen writer that I am. But how did you manage to find a publisher after your so-called “midlife crisis” when you were seventeen and no one wanted your writings?
I’m kind of in the same situation!

By: Justine

Justine — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 07:06:53 +0000

Addy-la: Names are hard. Every title I’ve come up with for one of my books has been overruled by my publisher so now I just give them stupid working titles and don’t worry about it.

While I’m writing I tend to have working titles like “The Fairy Book”, “The Liar Book”. Currently I’m writing “The 1930s Book,” “The Lodger Novel” and “The Other Book.” I usually don’t come up with an attempt at a proper title till the book’s close to finished or actually finished.

Hmm. Seems I’m not really the person to ask. I am not good at titles. Good luck!

By: Addy-la

Addy-la — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:44:29 +0000

Umm Okay so i have another Q! How to I give my Book a amazing name??? I want to give it something good but i don’t know how to go about naming it!

(It’s like looking at a huge cupcake. And as you sit there, with your mouth as wide as it can go, you can’t find the perfect place to start devouring it’s yumminess. So your stuck with this amazing looking cupcake with a very hungry tummy.) Please help me! Thanks you the best!
~ Addy-la

By: Addy-la

Addy-la — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:59:26 +0000

Thanks you so much!!! I feel better already!

By: Justine

Justine — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:22:03 +0000

Breanna: I have a whole post on editing and rewriting here. Addy-la: It turns out I have answered part of your question before but buried on the blog. Here it is. The other part is more about confidence. One of the hardest parts of writing is having confidence in what you're doing, believing in it. Almost every writer has moments of being full of doubt and convinced their work is unoriginal, boring or bad or all three. It's just part of the territory. So keep working on your novel, make it as good as you can, and put your worries aside as best you can! Good luck!

By: Addy-la

Addy-la — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:25:19 +0000

Dear Justine,
I have read just about every bit of advice you have on here… But i have one question… (Even thought asking it makes me feel like a complete fool.) I working on this “book” (I want to become an author, that least that’s the dream…) But as I’m writhing it i feel as if it sounds to much like some other books that have already been written… Does this mean I’m not a good writer? Or that I’m stealing? Or I’m not original? And how can I fix it? How can i save my Book? (I love this book like its my baby and have started over 2 many times because i have felt this way…) PLease help me!
Thanks ~ Addy-la

By: Breanna

Breanna — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 07:43:13 +0000

I have read the advice on your website, and your essay on the topic, but I have another question—and I know this is sad . Do you have any advice AT ALL on editing? I mean, like the tiniest, slighest advice? Because I’m really, really awful and I want to know if the experts have any more of a clue… Thank you for your time; you’re AMAZING!!!
~Breanna

By: Justine

Justine — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 04:13:53 +0000

Breanna: Liar is full of very short scenes. I think the shortest one is 45 words. James Patterson and Dan Brown have very very short chapters and there books are very popular. Don’t worry about the length of scenes! Just write the best you can.

By: Breanna

Breanna — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:33:33 +0000

Do you think it is bad to have short scenes? As in, 800 words short? In the beginning of my novel, the scenes were at least 1,500—ranging to 6K!—and now they’re quite short. Although some of them are a bit longer, I’m just being a worry-bug and would like to know what you think . Thanks for reading, hope for your reply! ~Breanna

P.S. When I first saw “Liar” ’s cover in stores, I was like, “What does that say?” It was so confusing—and then I finally worked it out! Yay for me!

By: Justine

Justine — Sat, 23 May 2009 02:16:44 +0000

Taylor: I've written a couple of posts on related questions that might help you. I link to them below. Many describe what you're going through as "writer's block". It's very common. There are lots of ways to beat it but they pretty much all involve pushing through. You have to ignore whatever is creating the anxiety and just write. First drafts are almost always terrible. Mine are. Don't let that worry you. Just keep writing down the story you set out to tell. You can always fix it later. Here are two posts that might help. One on generating ideas and the other on how to get unstuck.

By: Taylor

Taylor — Fri, 15 May 2009 03:38:59 +0000

Hi, I’m 14 years old and I’m writing a book. I have already written the prologue and part of the first chapter but I’m having trouble going on. Whenever I try to write I kinda freeze up or something, kinda like an anxiety I guess; but I really want to write and this thing is getting irritating. I’ve read something kinda similar to this called “Black Days.” Do you know it? Think you have a way to (semi) cure it?

By: Angela

Angela — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 01:38:57 +0000

[Comment deleted because it was a series of questions for my husband, Scott Westerfeld. Please don't do that. If you send Scott questions and he doesn't answer them it's because he doesn't have time. Scott gets a ridiculous amount of mail every day. He tries to answer all of them. Sending your questions to me won't magically supply him with the time needed to answer them. He has a long FAQ of his own. And there's loads of other information on him if you read around his website.]

By: Justine

Justine — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 06:29:42 +0000

Lily: Why not write your story in all those different ways? A condensed one for your English class. A long one for yourself. And why not try writing it in first, limited third and omni to see which one works best?

I frequently write stories lots of different ways before I figure out which one works best. Not only is it fun but you learn a lot about writing.

Here’s what I’ve written about points of view. I don’t think any of them are intrinsically harder than any of the others. I recommend trying your hand at all of them.

Good luck with your story!

By: Lily

Lily — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 02:12:09 +0000

I’m twelve and I’m writing a short story for my English class. Un fortunately, my plotline is extremely complex, and it’s going to be way too long for the assignment. My English teacher says that I should write my story in several installments, but that’s not really the way I want it to be read. Should I bag the idea altogether and go with something else entirely, or should I keep the idea and just condense it a bit.
The thing is, though, my story has at least four different climaxes, and it would be confusing reading it if it started after one or two of the climaxes, and had lots of flashbacks (if any).
Also, I don’t really want to do my story in first person, or third person limited, but is third person omniscient too difficult for a beginning writer? My English teacher told me that it was a very old fashioned writing style, and although I’ve seen it used, it’s always been on stories that are at least fifty pages long (our stories can’t be longer than eight). I’m afraid my idea will turn out to be several hundred pages worth of material, so would that be too long to condense into eight pages?

By: Justine

Justine — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 04:06:06 +0000

as lee: I answered this question a couple of years ago and nothing much has changed. The sad truth though is I exaggerated in that answer. I do not write every day. It's a bit more haphazard than it should be. But I aim to write every day . . .

By: as lee

as lee — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:16:13 +0000

What is your typical day like? Do you have a strictly disciplined schedule that you are able to fallow? Or do you write on a more when ever schedule?