Anna Staniszewski

Archives: December2009

• Children and Reading

  Yesterday I was reading an article by Jon Scieszka about his two years as the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. It was interesting to hear about his experiences and to get a breakdown of some of the advice he’s been giving people about children and reading over the past two years.
  Overall the advice is

• Best Reads of 2009

  In general I tend to shy away from making “Best of” lists because I read so many great books that it doesn’t seem fair to leave any of them out! However, I was thinking back to all the books that were published this year and I realized that a few of the ones I read

• Agent Appreciation Day

  I just found out that today is Unofficially Official Agent Appreciation Day so I had to take a minute to gush about my lovely agent Ammi-Joan Paquette at the Erin Murphy Literary Agency. (Look, the agency has a pretty new website!)
  Joan has been a wonderful person to have on my side these past few months.

• Approaching Revision

  The other day I put together a list of helpful revising tips. Reading those made me think about my own revision process. It’s not the same for every project, but in general I’ve found that certain things work best for me. Here’s how I approach revising a first draft:
  1. Feedback. I give the manuscript to

• In the Revision Cave

  I’m writing this from a cave deep in Revision Land. It’s a frightening place where WIPs circle around you and taunt you with their unwieldiness. But fear not. I’m going to conquer those beastly WIPs, even if it takes all winter.
  Right now there are three of them lingering nearby. One is my NaNo project and

• Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

  You know those books that leave you feeling utterly satisfied when you finish them? I have a new one to add to that category: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin. This book jumped out at me the moment I saw it because of its beautiful cover. But there’s much more to it

• Revision Tip Roundup

  Now that NaNo is over, I’ve noticed there’s been a lot of revision advice floating around the internets. Everyone goes about revising a bit differently, but I think it’s interesting to read about other people’s methods and see what works for you. Here are some  revision tips I found especially helpful:
  -The great Laurie Halse Anderson

• Become a Follower!

  You might have noticed that I’ve added a new “Followers” feature to my website. I remember in high school being a follower was something to be ashamed of, but luckily the internet has changed all that. So will you be my follower? Please? Everyone else is doing it.

• When Are the Stakes High Enough?

  I have one WIP I’ve been working on for a few years. It’s a complicated story and I keep struggling to figure out how to tell it. It’s gone through so many versions at this point that it’s hard for me to figure out what it needs or what it’s lacking. But I keep coming

• My Monstrous Reading List

  For about a year now I’ve been keeping a reading list in an Excel spreadsheet. In one column, I write down books I’ve read. In another column, I write down books I’d like to read. Although I try my darndest to keep adding to List 1, List 2 continues to grow at a faster, almost