Teen Author Challenge, Week 21 – First line grabs

Exclusive TAC Quote of the Week

“The most important thing a writer can do to improve their craft is to read! Read often, read widely, read everything you can, because the books you like, and the books you don’t like—they all have something to teach you! And then write! Write stories, poems, essays—write grocery lists, or keep a journal. Just get in the habit of writing, freely and without judgment—you can always go back and fix it later!”

~ Alyson Noel
Shadowland
(St. Martin’s Griffin, 11/09)

Teen Author Challenge

Do you ever get in a rut with your writing? Where the dialogue isn’t snappy, the prose is stilted and boring, and the description feels as flat as a bad hair day? Don’t fret, it happens to every writer. It’s not fun, but it’s not the end of writing as we know it. You can bounce back!

Everyone has their own ways of handing the writing doldrums, but one of my favorites is the first line grab. Here’s how it works:

1) Grab 12 books off your shelf. Preferably books that you love.

2) Open a document on your screen and type the first line of each book so they’re all on one sheet. If you need to type the first few lines because they’re kind of a package deal, that’s fine too.

3) Group the first lines on your screen into categories: dialogue, setting/atmosphere, characters, and plot. Most first lines will fit into these categories, though you should feel free to add categories of your own if they make more sense to you.

4) Look at the first lines in each category and see what works about them. Most authors spend a lot of time sweating the first few lines of their books, so these are often very effective examples of how to write that particular category well.

5) Choose a part of your manuscript (any part will do, though a part you’re struggling with is best) and see how you can tweak it based on what you’ve seen in the first lines you picked.

This isn’t a fix-all-ills kind of exercise, but you may be surprised at the Aha moments it leads to in your own work. Have fun with it and see where it leads!

Buzz Tip of the Week

This week, the second of two awesome posts from agent Rachelle Gardner about the financial side of publishing. This time, it’s all about crunching the numbers on the publisher’s end.

http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/2009/11/is-your-book-worth-it.html

Your Weekly Challenge

How did you do on your writing last week? Comment below with your weekly results from last Tuesday through today so we can cheer your progress!

The Teen Author Challenge Contest

Throughout the year-long Teen Author Challenge (TAC ends June 2010!), I’ll be giving away a book of the winner’s choice from my personal writing shelf. Why am I doing this? Because becoming a skilled writer has two important parts: learning about your craft and practicing your craft. That’s why active participation in each weekly challenge is so important!

So what can you win? Books to choose from include:

1. The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing by Evan Marshall
2. The Career Novelist by Donald Maass
3. Writing Dialogue by Tom Chiarella
4. Creating Characters Kids Will Love by Elaine Marie Alphin
5. Building Believable Characters by Marc McCutcheon

Everyone who participates via the comments on the Teen Author Challenge posts will be entered into this monthly contest.

Go forth and be creative!

Entry Filed under: Paying It Forward, Teen Author Challenge