YARN: The Young Adult Review Network

Figment Daily Theme from Kerri Majors

Here’s your last daily theme from YARN Founder and Editor Kerri Majors. But don’t worry, you can get more excellent writing prompts and advice in her book on how to write YA, This Is Not a Writing Manual.

Saturdays! MGMT, Loverboy, Beck…they’ve all sung songs about Saturdays. And we love to sing along.

Now it’s your turn to pay homage to this special day of the week.

Write an essay about something that really happened to you on a weekend, or make up a story about an outrageous weekend, or pen your own poem-song about the day. Whatever you do, make sure that Saturday as a day of the week, a theme, or even an epic, permeates your piece from start to finish.

She calls again, voice lingering
like the confetti on brick walls
days after the Fisherman’s Feast.
I wonder what she dreams

“Aunt Mary” by Rachael Allen

Read the rest on YARN here.

YA LIT MEME » nine quotes (1/9) » Isaac, The Fault in Our Stars

_{YA LIT MEME » nine quotes (1/9) » Isaac, The Fault in Our Stars}

(via asheathes)

She made her home in between the pages of books.

Maggie Stiefvater, Linger (via 13ths)

(Source: lostariels, via fuckyeahyoungadultlit)

Shirley Lu, in her own words: I am a sixteen-year-old girl from China, currently studying at Milton Academy. In eighth grade, I decided I should explore a new culture, perceive a new worldview, and find a new self while I am still young. So I came to the States, where my pursuit for writing officially started. I have been writing stories ever since I was a little kid, but my parents never seemed to care much about my “masterpieces.” In high school, arts became mandatory, and without any hesitation, I chose to take creative writing to fulfill my arts requirement. To my surprise, although English is my second language, I actually find my own voice through poetry and fiction writing. Creative writing offers me a way to discover and express myself – my Asian heritage, my identity, and my self-awareness in the battle of cultural conflicts. Last December, The Marble Collection, Massachusetts High School Magazine of the Arts kindly accepted two of my poetry submissions. Being a member on the speech team, I also perform my literary pieces at tournaments. I learned about the YARN magazine from my creative writing teacher, Mr. James Connolly. I am looking forward to share my writing with more readers and invite them to join me in the exploration of identities!

If that biography didn’t convince you to read Shirley Lu’s poem for YARN, “Father, Can You Hear Me?” then I don’t know what will.

Read it here!

Easy reading is damn hard writing.

Nathaniel Hawthorne (via writingquotes)

therealladyhawkins:

claudiagray:

Truths about childhood reading.

Indeed. And part of why it makes me so happy to write for kids!

(Source: bellecs, via booksbeforebedtime)

aseaofquotes:

David Levithan, Every Day

How do you do that? How do you not be dead?

“Skating” by Sara Zarr

Read the rest only on YARN.

Figment Daily Theme from Kerri Majors!

Have Kerri Major’s daily themes convinced you to buy her book This Is Not a Writing Manual yet? I hope so!

Fan Fiction: I’ll admit it; I was impressed by the ways in which E.L. James used the Bella and Edward characters from Twilight to create her characters Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele. (In case you didn’t know, James’s mega-bestseller started out as Twilight fan fiction!) Of course Christian and Anastasia are not slavish copies of Edward and Bella; rather, they are interpretations of the originals. Reading them made me reflect on Bella and Edward, and reconsider them in new and interesting ways.

Writing such characters offers an opportunity to learn from, and perhaps build upon, the success of other writers. It’s kind of like apprenticing to a master painter.

Time to try your own hand at fan fiction. Pull one of your favorite novels off your
shelves (The Great Gatsby, maybe?) and choose two or three characters from that novel. Write a short story or first chapter of a completely new fiction starring those characters. Give them new names if you want, but try to keep their essence intact.