James Jamison
I wish I could bring you in from the rain, but you stand there in the cold and shiver feverishly. I’m sorry I lost the right to care about you. Just so you know, I still do.
Melody Palm
You keep calling me a saint and it makes me worry. I worry that it will never really click with you - the reason for the difference you see in me. It’s not because I’m good or better, it’s because of the One who is in me. I hope I’ve told you this enough, I hope I’ve found the right ways. I hope you find Him. I hope.
Henry
You told me yesterday that you’re so frustrated by this maze, so tired of it, you’re ready to burn it down. And if you can’t escape the flames? So be it. I wish you wouldn’t talk like that. I wish I could believe myself when I try to tell you I know you’ll find a way out.
Alice Elyce
You cried the other night, amid the flashing lights and the oblivious emergencies. I wanted to wrap my arms around you and hold you until the pain and the worry had washed away with your makeup, but I did not. I don’t know how to love you right, I wish I was better at this. Perhaps time will be kind enough to let me try again.
The old Carolyn See prompt! If she were still alive, Carolyn See would love these--any writer or writing teacher would, and she was among other things both a writer and a teacher of writing.
ReplyDeleteHere's a question for you, perhaps a mental exercise for dealing with your rejections and for those comments and suggestions from agents. Imagine you were teaching a class in writing YA novels to...young adults. What would you tell them?
ReplyDeleteI'd probably say to start with the basics - snappy dialogue and strong characters. Then I'd encourage them to write a story that they are passionate about and uniquely qualified to tell. YA stories are often coming-of-age tales centered around characters trying to find their place in the world.
ReplyDeleteI'd probably also mention what's been brought up to me by some agents - YA is characterized by people 18 yo and younger as main characters. :/