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Friday, October 30, 2015

Guest Post with Robin Talley, author of What We Left Behind


Welcome to Day #10 of the What We Left Behind Blog Tour!

To celebrate the release of What We Left Behind by Robin Talley (10/27/15), blogs across the web are featuring exclusive content from Robin, as well as 10 chances to win a copy of What We Left Behind or a 7-book LGBT YA Prize Pack chosen by Robin herself in the Grand Prize Giveaway!

Robin Talley's Top 5 Tips for Newbie Writers

Writers often get asked for advice from folks who want to write but aren’t quite sure how to get started. Having been one of those folks myself not so long ago, I’ve put together my top 5 writing tips for those just starting out: 

1. Read everything you can get your hands on. 
 Your favorite genre, out of your favorite genre. Fiction, nonfiction. Books, articles, poetry, drama ― it’ll all teach you something about language, about plotting, about what you like and what you don’t. Even if you don’t realize it at the time. 
2. Write every chance you get. 
Don’t wait for the perfect time, for the muse to strike, for that unicorn that is a commitment-free weekend. You’ll be waiting your whole life. Write when you can, whether it’s in 10-minute intervals on your lunch break or at night while the rest of your family is watching Netflix. Building a writing career is all about finding time where you never knew you had it. 
3. Try outlining. 
Outlining your stories might work for you, or it might not. Personally I couldn’t live without outlining, but I have friends who say it kills their creativity. But you don’t know which camp you’ll be in until you try it. And if you’re like me, your writing just might be incomprehensible unless you outline first. 
4. Connect with other writers ― and have them read your work. 
Your family and friends are fantastic, but unless they’re writers themselves, they won’t completely get what you’re trying to do. You’ve got to find other writers who are at the same point in their careers as you (social media is great for this). You’ll need them for bonding, for commiseration, and, perhaps most importantly of all, for beta-reading. 
5. Read writing advice books ― but ignore the parts that don’t work for you. 
There’s a lot of excellent advice there. Some of my favorite writing advice books are Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, A Writer’s Guide to Fiction by Elizabeth Lyon, and Second Sight by Cheryl Klein. Read what other writers have to say about writing, but don’t feel like you have to follow their advice to the letter ― you should pick and choose the tips that work for you. The same goes for this blog post, too!

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Today is the last day of the tour! Be sure to stop by the other blogs for more chances to win!
 
Blog Tour Schedule:
October 19th – Once Upon a Twilight
October 20th — Novel Novice
October 22nd — Reading Teen
October 23rd — Great Imaginations
October 26th — I Read Banned Books
October 27th — Ravenous Reader
October 28th — Candace’s Book Blog
October 29th — Book Love 101
October 30th — The Hiding Spot

Follow Robin: Twitter | Facebook | Website | Instagram | Tumblr | Goodreads
From the critically acclaimed author of Lies We Tell Ourselves comes an emotional, empowering story of what happens when love isn't enough to conquer all. Toni and Gretchen are the couple everyone envied in high school. They've been together forever. They never fight. They're deeply, hopelessly in love. When they separate for their first year at college—Toni to Harvard and Gretchen to NYU—they're sure they'll be fine. Where other long-distance relationships have fallen apart, their relationship will surely thrive. The reality of being apart, however, is a lot different than they expected. As Toni, who identifies as genderqueer, falls in with a group of transgender upperclassmen and immediately finds a sense of belonging that has always been missing, Gretchen struggles to remember who she is outside their relationship. While Toni worries that Gretchen, who is not trans, just won't understand what is going on, Gretchen begins to wonder where she fits in Toni's life. As distance and Toni's shifting gender identity begins to wear on their relationship, the couple must decide—have they grown apart for good, or is love enough to keep them together?
GRAND PRIZE GIVEAWAY
  • One (1) winner will receive a 7-book LGBT YA Prize Pack featuring the 5 novels chosen by Robin in Day #1's post (The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily Danforth, Ask the Passengers by A.S. King, If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan, Far From You by Tess Sharpe,  The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson), plus copies of both of Robin Talley's novels (What We Left Behind and Lies We Tell Ourselves)
  • Enter via the rafflecopter below
  • US/Canada Only
  • Ends 11/1 at midnight ET
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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