Anna Staniszewski

Archives: September2009

• Whales and Rewrites

  I’ve been going back and revising a slightly older manuscript, one that I love but just can’t seem to get right. While the characters and the overall premise work, the plot keeps giving me trouble. This week I realized that I would essentially need to start from scratch with the story and use some of

• A Slow Kind of Torture

  I finally finished reading The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness last night. It was just as fast-paced as the first book in the Chaos Walking series, and much darker. It showed not only individuals doing terrible things, but also how communities act during times of war. Very thought-provoking stuff. The book ended on

• An Extra Burst of Inspiration

  Happy Monday! It’s starting to feel like fall, which always seems to be the busiest time of year. It can be hard to find time to write with so much going on. That’s why we need extra bursts of inspiration. So I’ve decided to give you some more of Jane Yolen’s writing wisdom from her

• Defining Thirteen

  I’ve started reading The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness, which was just released in the US this week. I was blown away by the first book in the series, The Knife of Never Letting Go, and I’m so excited to see what happens next in the story. Not only are the books imaginative

• Is Steampunk the Future?

  The publishing world is always trying to figure out which trend will be the next big thing. For a while it was Harry Potter and all things magic, then it was vampires, and now it seems like zombies and werewolves are taking over. I’ve heard many agents and editors say that steampunk is next. So

• WIP Wednesday

  Things have been going rather slowly with my WIP. Last week I was moving along and watching my word count grow. Then I got stuck and couldn’t figure out where to take the story. After some whining and a lot of chocolate, I wound up taking a break and doing some fun activities instead (it

• Stories All Around

  I hope everyone had a lovely long weekend. For me it was a fun but busy few days. I didn’t get much writing done, but I thought quite a bit about my WIP and storytelling in general. When I had some downtime, I watched the pilot of the new show “Glee.” I had heard from

• Telling a Unique Story

  I’ve been working on a WIP recently which I’ve given the code name Lightning here, but the working title I have is The Wielding. I wasn’t sure if that would be the final title, but I figured I’d worry about that once the manuscript was done. Then, earlier today, I read a query critique on

• Gaining Writing Wisdom from “Models”

  The new season of “Project Runway” started recently and thus far it’s been enjoyable and interesting to watch. The show that follows it, “Models of the Runway,” has been less successful, however. I tried again to watch it last night but wound up spending most of my time online instead. I realized that what’s missing

• Taking Joy in Writing

  I’ve been reading through Jane Yolen’s wonderful book Take Joy this week. It’s filled with wisdom and inspiration on writing. My copy is currently filled with little post-its to keep track of all the tidbits that really struck a chord with me or made me think. Here are a few of the ones that really