Remember when I said that the contest ended on May 1st? Well, I knew I’d forget about it, so I set my email account to send me an email on May 1st to tell me the contest was over. But instead of sending me an email on May 1st, the thing sent me an email today! So here I am, on May 15. I am 15 days late, to tell you that yes, the contest is over, but I still haven’t figured out how or who to judge the entries. So if anyone has any suggestions, or if anyone has a contest entry that they forgot to send, now’s the time!

- Freshtalkingkids

http://www.ugliescakes.weebly.com/

http://www.thereaping.weebly.com/

“Uglies Cakes” is in progress, and “The Reaping” hasn’t started yet, but we’re always looking for members! (As you can see, the only page that has something on it in “The Reaping” is the Contact page…)

Anyway, join if you like!

The contest is to create a piece expressing an emotion. The piece can be any form of media. It can be writing (poem, story, essay, etc.), visual art (drawing, painting, sculpture, etc.) or a video. Actually, it can be any media as long as you can either scan it, type it, upload it, or take its picture to post here. So if you’d like to do a dance routine or bake a cake or something, film it/take its picture and we’ll post it! All entries will be posted and a winning entry will be picked. (either at random or with a judge or something). Hope you enter! (And yes, there will be some kind of prize. Okay?) The other thing is that if you’d like, you can do something in a group. If you win, you’ll each get a prize. The contest will end May 1st, and yes, more than one entry is wonderful!

So enter, enter, enter!
FTK

Now, don’t get me wrong. I love, love, love when people critique my work. Tells me what to do next. What to write, what to keep, what to change. But when critique goes from helpful to pointless, it’s a waste of the author’s time.

So, I present the Guide to Critiquing Properly.

Step one: Write legibly. Use pencil. I don’t care if you’re giving the most amazing, helpful critique on earth, no one will be able to use it if you write in bright yellow highlighter and your handwriting is horrible. Take a few seconds when you write. Don’t rush. And you’ll have legible comments.

Step two: If someone else has commented on the same manuscript, don’t comment on their comments. As a writer, this annoys me when some people comment “bad comment” to another person. That just wastes my time, and the other person — who’s already done with the manuscipt — won’t see the comment. It’s totally and absolutely pointless.

Step three: Do not, and I repeat, DO NOT try to change the writer’s style. Don’t start yelling at them because they write with a lot of page breaks, or, when they’re trying to accent something once every hundred pages, they. Write. Like. This. With. The. Periods. And. Stuff.

Step four: Have fun! You’re not reading this for school. Comment on stuff you like with smiley faces, and go random and spazzy in the margins. Make the author smile. They’ll thank you.

And that’s the simple, four-step guide to being a good critiquer. Write legibly and in pencil, don’t comment on other comments, don’t try to change writing style, and have fun.

Oh, and don’t bash everything you read.

I’m just curious… I love rereading books over and over again…

Here’s Ralph Fletcher’s answer to my questions:

How do you edit a novel? Can you describe working with your editor?

The best way to describe my relationship with my editor is to compare it with working with a favorite teacher. Like a good teacher, my editors give me a “reality check” by telling me what works in my working, and what I need to work on. They usually don’t suggest a solution, but they identify an area where the story or poem is weak.

What is your daily writing routine like?

I get up in the morning, get my son off to school, and have breakfast. I read the Boston Globe. I write in my office in my house, and work from about 9 to 12, then have lunch, and maybe go back to write more from 1 to 2 pm. After that I’m done. I have found that I need to give my freshest attention, when I’m most intelligent and wide awake, to my writing.

Thanks again, Mr. Fletcher!

Here’s Neal Shusterman’s answer to my question:

How do you edit a novel? Can you describe working with your editor?

The editing process is what really makes a novel come together.  I prefer editors that really challenge me.  My favorite editor fills my manuscript with about 1,000 post-it notes with suggestions for changes, and the manuscript usually comes back with a 20 page editorial letter, detailing the suggestions.  A good editor won’t rewrite you: It’s the editor’s job to see what you are trying to do, and help you reach your vision.   A good editor doesn’t necessarily pose solutions to problems, but instead illuminates exactly what the problem is. Once the problem is crystal clear, it’s easier to solve – and that’s the writer’s job.   A bad editor will pose solutions, or suggest changes without ever figuring out what the core problem is that they’re trying to correct.  That’s maddening, because then the writer must work backwards, trying to figure out WHY the editor made a change.
I usually go through six drafts on my own before I get to something I consider to be good enough to call “draft one.”  That’s the draft that goes to my editor.  Then I will do two drafts with the editor, until we’re both happy with it.   Rewriting, and editing is the most important part of the writing process.  It can be grueling, but you can’t call yourself a writer if you’re not willing to go through it. - Neal Shusterman

Thanks again, Mr. Shusterman!

More author interviews coming soon!

Number One: My friends over at Scott Westerfeld’s blog and I are stsrting a new writing project. If you’ve read Uglies and want to join, click here!

Number Two: We are having a new contest! *cheers and claps* Here it is: The contest is to create a piece expressing an emotion out of these ones: hope, fear, anger, joy, or sadness. The piece can be any form of media. It can be writing (poem, story, essay, etc.), visual art (drawing, painting, sculpture, etc.) or a video. Actually, it can be any media as long as you can either scan it, type it, upload it, or take its picture to post here. All entries will be posted and a winning entry will be picked. (either at random or with a judge or something). Hope you enter!

Number Three: Some of you know that I’ve been writing to various authors and asking them if they’d be willing to post on the site. They sent me back answers to various questions I asked them about writing. I will be posting them on the site one by one, so keep checking them out! If you leave a comment on one of their posts, when I write back to them to thank them, I’ll include your comment!

That’s all… sorry for not posting for so long, but I’m hoping to get back into it now!