Contest alert

New Dear Luck Agent Contest. This time it's for Young Adult and Middle Grade. Good luck everyone!

WHAT TO SUBMIT
The first 150-200 words of your unpublished, book-length work of middle grade or young adult fiction. You must include a contact e-mail address with your entry and use your real name. Also, submit the title of the work and a logline (one-sentence description of the work) with your entry.

 Contest details

What a wonderful world we live in

Gotta love Louis. This song always makes me smile. I hope it makes you smile today. And share in comments what makes your world wonderful.

 

Quote of the day

“Don't wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.”

Mark Victor Hansen

If you haven't started, why? What's holding you back? Or if you have started and are having trouble staying with it, why? Please post in comments and maybe we can help one another. 

A minute list

Looking for three words or phrases to describe a tree. Here's mine. Please add your's in comments.

Tree
Gnarly branches scratch the sky
Naked
Crusty

Quote of the day

"Success is not measured by what you accomplish but by the opposition you have encountered, and the courage with which you have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds."

--Orison Swett Marden

Check out Inkwell

If you haven't checked out Inkwell yet, please do. This online community for writers and artists is really growing. It's awesome to see everyone working together and helping each other. I'm absolutely stunned by the site's growth in just one week, and I'm honored to be a part of this vibrant community. I truly think that together we are going to achieve some amazing things. Please join us on this site, and I hope that you become an active member. The site will only be as successful as we make it. Each of you can make a difference.

Script frenzy

Here's the skinny on Script frenzy. Be sure to check it out. Sounds like a lot of fun!
Who: You and everyone you know. No experience required.
What: 100 pages of original scripted material in 30 days. (Screenplays, stage plays, TV shows, short films, and graphic novels are all welcome.)
When: April 1 - 30. Every year. Mark your calendars.
Where: Online and in person (if you want!). Hang out in the forums, join your fellow participants at write-ins, and make friends by adding writing buddies online.
Why: Because you have a story to tell. Because you want a creative challenge. Because you’ll be disappointed if you missed out on the adventure. Because you need to make time for you.
How: Sign up. Tell everyone that you are in the Frenzy. Clear your calendar. (US participants: Get your taxes done now!) Start some wrist exercises. Have fun!

Contest alert

Upcoming Query Tracker Blog Agent Pitch Contest
Jason Yarn of Paradigm Literary Agency will be the judge. Contest opens at noon March 29. Entrants will submit a one-line pitch and the first paragraph of a completed manuscript. The contest is open to all genres except short stories and
romance. Yarn is accepting 100 entries.Good luck to all who enter.

 Details here

A minute list

List six adjectives that describe you. Then tell us why you think these attributes help or hinder you. I'll start. Can't wait to read yours in comments.
Loving
Energetic
Honest
Obsessive
Tenacious
Worrier
I think my biggest demons are being obsessive and a worrier. While these attributes help me succeed in life they can hinder me if I allow them.

New agent alert

Marissa Walsh of Shelf Life, a boutique literary agency specializing in pop culture, humor, narrative non-fiction, memoir, and children's books. Shelf Life

Contest alert

Check this link for information about the Katherine Paterson Prize for Young Adult and Children's Writing

Learning and growing writing skills

What do you need to work on? Maybe it's making your dialogue sounds more realistic. Or getting better at working backstory into your novel. Or making sure the stakes are high enough for your MC. Or world building or…
I think that a huge part of our growth as writers is recognizing what we need to improve. For me, it's integrating backstory seamlessly into the novel. I think I'm getting better at this. I can see a big improvement in my WIP.
So what do you need to work on? And how will you go about doing it? Let's talk about it. Maybe someone has a suggestion that might help you grow this skill. Please share in comments.