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By Rosalinda Alcalá Let’s talk about plot. Some people may think a writer chooses some events that will occur and drop a character into an obstacle course of events. Instead, the writer should choose their character with an entire life prior to appearing on the page. This character will react a certain way dependent on their background. Let’s say we are back on a high school campus and one of the alpha-girls approaches a girl (protagonist) that stepped too close to her guy. D

Conflict to reach a goal. The Antagonist By Rosalinda Alcalá Your teen novel needs an antagonist. Who is the antagonist? Well, someone strong enough to match your protagonist. In my previous post, I mentioned that secondary characters had their own agendas and goals. The antagonist not only has their own agenda but also motivation for achieving their desired result. Making life miserable for your protagonist because she’s in the way also makes for a great story. Let’s look at

Cheer on the sidelines and in quiet conflict Secondary Characters & Conflict by Rosalinda Alcalá You’ve imagined your teen novel and main character, but you conjure up more characters. Carefully consider your main character’s friends, frenemies, and enemies. Secondary characters are not the focus. However, secondary characters have their own goals and are the stars of their own life; remembering this is incredibly powerful when writing. When we consider a conflict, it exists

By Rosalinda Alcalá So, you want to write a teen novel. Your mind is racing with ideas. Specifically, a homecoming football game. You know the one inspired from a movie, a real-life event, or your imagination. You can see it now, the quarterback on the football field. The band is playing music, and the cheerleaders are jumping and kicking. A few five-year-olds girls are trying to cheer with their parents nearby. Meanwhile, the high school principal is watching everything. The

Types of Editors By Rosalinda Alcalá When writers complete a writing project they usually realize they need another pair of eyes on their work. The editor chosen most often is a copyeditor. This well-intentioned move to catch stray commas and polish the work is probably not the correct choice. There are six different types of editors, and each serve a different stage of a fiction or nonfiction manuscript. The type of editors are a book doctor, substantive editor, developmenta