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This Frequently Asked Questions section is in two parts, general questions and questions/advice about writing. Please read this page before emailing me with questions as there's a good chance you can find your answer here.
PART ONE: GENERAL QUESTIONS Q: Why teen books? A: Why not teen books? More seriously, when I started
out writing City of Bones, I didn't think of it as young adult, just
as a fantasy novel. The characters simply happened to be teenagers.
At some point I was approached by a publisher who was interested in
the book, but they wanted me to "age up the characters" and
make them adults. I toyed with the idea for a while, but I knew it wouldn't
work. I wanted to tell a story about characters at that crucial life
stage just between adolescence and adulthood, where your choices determine
the kind of person you're going to be rather than reflecting who you
already are. Q: Tell me about City of Bones/The Mortal Instruments series. A: City of Bones is the first of three books in a
trilogy. The title of the trilogy itself is The Mortal Instruments.
The first book is called City of Bones, the second is called City of
Ashes, the third, City of Glass. You can find all sorts of detailed
information about these books, their plots and characters, and release
dates, on
my Mortal Instruments website under FAQ.
A: I'm part of a writing group that was originally called The Massachusetts All-Stars because most of us were in Massachusetts. Half of us have since moved to New York, but the name remains. You'll always see them thanked in my acknowledgements, because their feedback is priceless to me. I definitely recommend critique groups, just make sure you're all on the same page and compatible.
A: Urban fantasy is a subgenre of contemporary fantasy in which magical events take place in the real, familiar world we know and live in. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is an example of urban fantasy. I love urban fantasy because it allows you to juxtapose real life and real events with the supernatural in a way that illuminates them both. It allows for a very pure use of allegory. In a realistic fiction book, you might write about a girl who feels like she doesn't belong or fit in anywhere; in urban fantasy, that can be because she's truly not human, and you can use that as a way of exploring that feeling of not belonging.
A: Lots of fantasy. Susan Cooper's Dark is Rising series. Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles. E. Nesbit's Five Children and It books, the Narnia Chronicles, Tolkien, a ton of fairy tales and ghost stories. I also loved mysteries, primarily Dorothy Sayers' Peter Wimsey books.
A: Well, that's not really up to me. A studio or production company would have to option the rights. But I can report that there's been a lot of interest, and we'll see what happens!
A: I'm not going to write more books about Clary and her friends, because their story ends with City of Glass. But I do want to write more about the Shadowhunters and their world. Right now I'm working on outlining a Shadowhunter novel set in the Victorian era -- we might not see the current Lightwood kids in it, but we will meet their ancestors... Q: How do I get in touch with you? Write to me at:
PART TWO: WRITING QUESTIONS I do not really like giving writing advice. I have no belief at all that what works for me will work for others, or even that what works for me will work for me again next time I try it. So this page mainly collects other people's writing advice I have found useful in the past. 1) Where do you start a book? With plot, characters, or dialogue? I tend to start with characters, but everyone does it differently. 2) I don't know how to come up with ideas. Where do you get ideas? I think Steven King always says "Wal-Mart." Harlan Ellison says "Poughkeepsie." Lawrence Watt-Evans has a good essay about this. As you can see, this question is the one every writer hates and everyone always asks. The fact is, ideas come from all around you, from everything you experience every day. You see a light on in an abandoned building and you think "I wonder who's in there and what they're doing?" The answer to that is an idea for a story. Whether it's a good story or not is up to you.
A:There are three things you want to ask yourself about your characters. 1) Is my character developed and believable? Do they seem like a real person? Some people find "character worksheets" very helpful in developing their characters. It's not hard to find character development worksheets online. Holly Lisle has a good one. Crawford Kilian provides a "character resume" which is not dissimilar: 2) What does my character *want*? Character arcs are determined by desire. I.E. what does your character want at the beginning of the story? Do they get it? Do they not get it? How does getting or not getting what they desire change them? A character who doesn't want anything is flat, not to mention not 3) Speaking of flat, static, cardboard, round, and all sorts of other characters, James Patrick Kelly explains what the different kinds of characters are and how they function in a narrative.
A: Pat Wrede does. Can you answer all the questions she's helpfully compiled?
A: Everyone plots in a different way. The most important
thing to remember is that you're telling a story and your first reader,
and audience, is yourself. Make sure you're telling a story you yourself
are dying to read. Diana
Wynne Jones has some great tips on plot structure. In fact, if you're writing science fiction or fantasy, you
might want to read this whole site. Q: I can't write dialogue. A: One key to figuring out your dialogue is reading it out loud. Does it sound like something someone would actually say? John August, a successful screenwriter, has a great essay about dialogue (and since screenplays basically tell an entire story via dialogue, he knows whereof he speaks). Juanita Havill talks about the function of dialogue and balancing dialogue with plot and action.
A: No one answers this question better than Tamora Pierce does.
A: Read
this. A: It can often be easier to find a critique group online than in real life. Some of the most famous include www.critters.org and The Online Writing Workshop for Science Fiction and Fantasy. You can also search through yahoo groups or google groups for writing groups devoted to your specialization. In real life, try looking at message boards in libraries, taking classes at community colleges or universities, or putting out flyers yourself to meet other writers. There are also organizations you can join, like the Authors Guild,
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