Get a Hobby! Seriously...

In order to be inspired, writers need material. And while most of us have millions of pages of material already stored in our heads (especially if you had an awkward childhood), there's so much more to be discovered. And the world is changing. The only way to stay current, especially with YA trends which change at the speed of light, is to get out into the world and see what's going on.

I'll illustrate my point with personal experience. One of my hobbies is improv (I practice with a group out here in Miami and have done a few shows). And I've found that in a lot of ways, improv has helped me to become a better writer. I've got to make up stories and characters and think on my feet. I have to be creative and keep the action going and the plot exciting. And I'm learning what I need to do to keep an audience engaged as I tell a story.

 One of the things I've learned that's really helped my writing is how to 'cut to' a scene. For instance, if I'm onstage playing a recently divorced woman who's arguing with her husband about who gets to keep the dog and I say "I don't know who you are anymore. I can't believe you're the same man I married, who said all those beautiful things in his vows." And one of my castmates might say from the wings "Cut to the wedding," in which case my scene partner and I would then act out the scene I just made reference to and the audience gets to see our characters in a whole different light. "Cut-to" can also be used to fast-forward action. If I'm playing a party girl and I tell my best friend "I can't wait for our spring break trip in Cabo next week" one of my castmates might call "Cut to Cabo!" and the scene will switch to the two of us on the beach. And that is so much more exciting than standing there for five minutes having a conversation about how great the beach trip is going to be. Plus, it presents all sort of exciting new opportunities for the action to move forward.

 I used this technique a lot when I made revisions to cut down the word count of my first novel. (From over 100,000 words to 65,000) As I made those revisions, I noticed several places where I had too much set up for an exciting event. For instance, there's a big party (I'm very inspired by 90s teen movies. So of course there's a party!) and I had written a four page scene about the main character and her best friend setting up and getting dressed, etc. But as I did revisions I was like "why is this here? They just talked about the party. Cut to the party!" And it's much more interesting that way. I have improv to thank for that.

So get a hobby, preferably something creative which gives you a chance to interact with or observe people. It'll make you a better writer. And if you're in the query trenches/Writer's Purgatory while you wait to hear back on submissions, it just might prevent you from pulling your hair out...