Anna Staniszewski

Archives: October2009

• Redefining a Bestseller

  Yesterday I caught part of an NPR interview with John Irving. He talked about his latest book (his 12th!) and a bit about writing in general. At the end of the interview, when asked why he thought literary fiction wasn’t as popular as it used to be, Irving said something that really struck me. He

• Using Real Life for Inspiration

  There’s a great guest post by Matilda McCloud on Rachelle Gardner’s blog today about avoiding on-the-nose writing. McCloud encourages writers to go beyond the obvious types of characters you’d expect to find in certain genres and to use real life as an inspiration for creating believable characters who aren’t formulaic. She says:
  Observe and take notes

• WIP Wednesday

  As you might have noticed in my past posts, my WIP has been giving me some trouble. But after meeting with my writing group last Friday and doing some serious thinking over the weekend, I believe I finally figured out what the problem is. My epiphany started when my writing group told me that while

• Structuring a Manuscript

  As I’ve been struggling with my current WIP, I’ve realized I need to find a better way to think about structure in my manuscripts. Often the stories go haywire and it takes me a long time to rein them back in and figure out how to make them work. I’ve tried outlining but it’s not

• Writing a Satisfying Ending

  Since I recently posted on writing a good beginning, for the sake of symmetry, I thought I’d write a bit about endings. I’ll start by sharing some of Orson Scott Card’s brilliant advice on creating satisfying endings. Here’s an excerpt from How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy:
  The beginning must make the audience ask questions

• Doing the Research

  Research is essential to nearly all writing projects, though some require it more than others. When I first began my stint as Writer-in-Residence at the Boston Public Library, I spent the first couple of weeks scouring the library’s collection, looking for info about islands to model my fictional island after. Thanks to one of the

• Laugh Break

  I don’t know about you, but when I have a lot on my plate, I often forget to take minute to stop, relax, and maybe even have a good laugh. Luckily, I came across this hilarious video yesterday that not only made me giggle but it also reminded me of the power of a good

• WIP Update (With Pictures!)

  October has been rushing by, which means NaNoWriMo is just around the corner. I was hoping to have a draft of my WIP finished by then, but (surprise surprise) I’m stuck again. I still like the story, but I just can’t figure out where it’s going. Luckily, I’m meeting with my writing group on Friday;

• “Fire” and YA

  After posting about the definitions of YA yesterday, I kept thinking about certain books that didn’t easily fall into any category. As PJ Hoover’s comment on my post shows, I’m not the only one who has trouble making the distinction sometimes:
  It’s so hard to get a finger on this. I read a YA recently that

• What is YA?

  YA (or young adult literature) seems to be having a bit of an identity crisis these days. YA used to be strictly for teens and focused specifically on teen issues. Now YA is read by middle schoolers to adults and its topics are limitless. I’ve heard a few people argue that YA is no longer