Writers' Chasm

I AM THE MESSENGER by Markus Zusak Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers (May 31, 2006) Ed Kennedy is an underage cabdriver without much of a future. He's pathetic at playing cards, hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey, and utterly devoted to his coffee drinking dog, the Doorman. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence until he inadvetently stops a bank robbery. That's when the first ace arrives in the mail. That's when Ed becomes the messenger. Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary) until only one question remains: Who's behind Ed's mission? I've been a Zusak fangirl ever since I read THE BOOK THIEF so of course when I saw this book in the library I had to pick it up. It didn't disappoint. Zusak has a tendency to have me racing through the pages and then leave me amazed, shocked, and confused (in a good way) when I finally close the book. I think this is one of those books you...

I didn't have the best month reading-wise this time, but I'm...going to cheat. Again. I'm sorry. But I just can't choose which one of these two books was better. Looking for Alaska by John Green This book is still stuck in my head. I haven't stopped thinking about Alaska. She was so infuriating and intriguing and all around awesome... The writing and voice were incredible (as usual) and it's a plot that sticks with you long after you've turned the final page. I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak I'm not going to lie. I put off getting this book for awhile because it didn't really sound interesting to me and I don't go for the more plain (in my eyes) covers very often. But it was Markus Zusak (THE BOOK THIEF is one of my favorite books. Of all time.) and I saw it in the library so I just decided to grab it. Did. Not. Disappoint. Absolutely beautiful writing and voice. I'm still confused over the plot, but it's a good confused. I feel like th...

It's not "Where do we go when we die?" or "What is the meaning of life?" or "What came first: the chicken or the egg?" No, I'm talking about "What's more important: a great idea or great execution?" I'm going to say both. The Idea This is the plot. The life of the story. Without a great plot you're left with 100,000 words of rambling. The characters wouldn't be faced with many challenges, there wouldn't be a lot of tension, and readers won't be interested in the story. A great idea is the first thing that comes. The plot of the final draft might be slightly different than that of the "Eureka!" moment, but without it there wouldn't be a final draft. The Execution This is the skeleton of the story. Without great writing, the idea won't shine through and no one will be able to muddle through the writing to see how awesome your plot is. Think of the idea is an uncut diamond and the writing as the cutt...

Sometimes it can be hard to find time to write among all the homework, jobs, friends, family, sports, and everything else in high school life. Here are five tips to help with the balancing act: Prioritize. Over the summer, I was able to spend my days doing whatever I wanted. When school started again, I had to take a look at my priorities and decide what was most important to me. Sometimes you have to give up things and that's okay. Schedule. If you're organized, schedule your time. Set aside time for studying and time for writing. Make time for writing. If you find yourself putting off writing for the next day because you "don't have time," make time. Now you shouldn't be looking at your writing as a chore. If schedule time for writing kills your desire to do it, take some time off and come back with a fresh outlook. I've been scheduling 30 minutes of writing time every night. Even on my busiest days I can still find a quick half hour to write. If that...

Road Trip Wednesday is a "Blog Carnival," where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic. This Week's Topic: If you went to high school with your characters, would you be friends? I'd definitely be friends with Kaye. We're both shy and we both love horses. I think we'd become friends right away, but grow apart as we grew up. I'd want to get away and she'd want to stay in Nevada. We might try to stay in touch, but I don't think it would last long with either of us. I wouldn't be friends with Skylar, but I might have a secret crush on him. Pre-BB Skylar would be a bad boy, a fleeting crush for me. I'd be in love with post-BB Skylar. As for Belle, I don't think we could ever be friends. She's based on a mixed-up sophomore at my school and we just wouldn't get along. ...

Looking for Alaska by John Green before. Miles "Pudge" Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole existence has been one big nonevent, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave the "Great Perhaps" (Francois Rebelais, poet) even more. He heads off to the sometimes crazy, possible unstable, and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, screwed-up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young, who is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart. after. Nothing is ever the same. LOOKING FOR ALASKA was my second John Green book. I'm going to look for more soon. The characters are incredible and so original. I'm still getting over the WORLD'S LARGEST COLLECTION OF BLACK SANTAS from Paper Towns. And now I have Miles who's o...

Today, I returned from church to find that Twitter had exploded. I was scared to post this, but this is not the time to fall silent. This is the time to stand up and SPEAK. SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson, the story of a young girl that is raped and decides to keep quiet, has been challenged by Mr. Scroggins. This is what he had to say: One such book is called "Speak." They also watch the movie. This is a book about a very dysfunctional family. Schoolteachers are losers, adults are losers and the cheerleading squad scores more than the football team. They have sex on Saturday night and then are goddesses at church on Sunday morning. The cheer squad also gets their group-rate abortions at prom time. As the main character in the book is alone with a boy who is touching her female parts, she makes the statement that this is what high school is supposed to feel like. The boy then rapes her on the next page. Actually, the book and movie both contain two rape scenes. Rape i...