Cassandra Clare: Master of Love Triangles

“Sarah, have you ever heard of The Twilight Clause?” This was Sarah Rees Brennan at a Books of Wonder reading a few years ago, quoting a piece of advice her agent gave her about her Demon’s Lexicon trilogy. The Twilight clause (I am paraphrasing from memory here): in any young adult novel in which romance is involved, sales increase if the love occurs in a triangular formation. This may be true, or it may be that everyone in the publishing industry decided it was true because Twilight sold. Either way, love triangles have become a pervasive device in the YA fiction world. And just like any popular trope, some instances of the love triangle seem to have been opportunistically dropped into a story where they don’t belong. And then there is Cassandra Clare’s The Infernal Devices series, which reminds you just how great love triangles can be when wielded with skill and mastery.

(By the way, Sarah Rees Brennan is quite skilled at triangles herself, but she tends toward subversion of the convention, which is another conversation entirely.)

MAJOR spoilers ahoy for The Infernal Devices, as well as Twilight and The Hunger Games. If you haven’t read these books, I suggest you stop right here.

World Building Skills: Days of Blood and Starlight

It’s hard to build a world from scratch. So when I see great examples, I take notes.

Book: Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

World building skill: Common Expressions

Don’t sheathe your claws: a chimaera saying that means “don’t hold your breath,” but with an undertone of preparing for coming danger.

Spoilers ahoy!

Micro Skills: Writing Emotions

Micro skill: a writing technique used to create an element of a novel that, although small, contributes with other small elements to the bettering of the novel as a whole. When employed masterfully, micro skills can transform a novel from “The writing wasn’t great, but I really enjoyed it” into “That book totally changed my life.” See also: macro skill, e.g., plot, character, setting. Micro skills form like a Voltron to create macro skills.

Today’s featured micro skill: conveying a character’s emotions in a fresh, interesting, and clear manner.

J.K. Rowling: Master of Plot

A few weeks ago, Buzzfeed posted J.K. Rowling's outline for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and it further cemented my belief that she is a master of plotting. Let's take a closer look. (Click on the photo to see the original large image from at Buzzfeed.)

Warning: this post reveals plot points from book 5 of the series.

Awkward Beauty: Real High School Romance in Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor and Park

Most teen romance novels are complete fantasy. And that’s OK. Who doesn’t love a good fantasy once in a while? Especially when the alternative is the sweaty, awkward, or even nonexistent reality that most of us endured in high school. But Rainbow Rowell’s Eleanor and Park manages to use the standard romance format to tell a high school romance story that is realistic, in all its cringe-inducing glory, while still managing to be swoon-worthy.

Days of Blood and Starlight: Laini Taylor Strikes Back

Last year, I had a conversation with a friend about Book Twos in trilogies, how often they are either boring retreads of Book One or sacrificing excitement and plot for Book Three setup. “I think you have to go full Empire Strikes Back with it,” I told her. Hyperdrive doesn’t work, Han gets captured and frozen in carbonite, Luke loses a hand; in other words, everything goes wrong. So I was overjoyed to see Kevin Nguyen of Grantland call Days of Blood and Starlight “Young adult fantasy’s Empire Strikes Back…” And after reading it, I have to agree wholeheartedly.

Reasons to Write Every Day

Because if you don't work on your novel every day, you forget what it is about.