#Writers, what is your magic number? Great #pubtip from @agentkristinNLA bit.ly/1NtficR

#PitDark #pubtip: Include genre AND target age hashtags as #agents and #publishers use those to search through feeds or we may miss yours.

When writing black moments, consider The Gift of the Magi. Giving up something important, like a huge goal, for love is powerful. #pubtip

30 minutes before #BEA16 and I was already cornered by a self-published author and pitched to. No. #pubtip

How do you avoid "episodic writing"? After every scene, ask yourself if the scene moved the plot forward. If it didn't, cut it. #pubtip

Yes! Benefits of guest blogging. #pubtip twitter.com/go_literary/st…

Friendly reminder: When torturing your characters, make it last! The key to torture is that it doesn't end quickly. #pubtip

On writing conflict and black moments: What's the worst possible thing that could happen to your characters? Do that. #pubtip

Querying writers: here's your to-do list when you get an agent offer: "Between Offer & Acceptance" jetreidliterary.blogspot.com/2016/05/betwee… #pubtip

Are you giving her a fair shake, allowing her to have agency in the story regardless of what your readers might think? 18/? #pubtip #pubrant

Are you looking at her as a human first, woman second? Is she interesting even if she isn't perfect? 17/? #pubtip #pubrant

OF COURSE she is mean. Do you know who isn't slammed for being mean? Ben (Benedict). Because he's a boy. 12/? #pubtip #pubrant

.@ms_lilyanderson's new book has some DNF on goodreads. BC Trixie is mean. Hell yeah she is. it's a Much Ado retelling 11/? #pubtip #pubrant

I want to see a mean girl MC who learns that the only way to survive is to cut others down. Then learn she's wrong 9/? #pubtip #pubrant

We should NOT have to force ourselves/our kids to have female role models who are always going to be better than we are 8/? #pubtip #pubrant

Just like women hold themselves to standards of Mary Sue perfection, so do we for our female characters. 7/? #pubtip #pubrant

THEY CAN'T. It's why most romance heroines are "clumsy" and therefore could NEVER get a guy with abs. 6/? #pubtip #pubrant

Which limits the agency of your female characters—how can they be "damaged" but also perfect? 5/? #pubtip #pubrant

But here's the problem with fiction—your MCs have to fuck up to change and to create a plot is there. 4/? #pubtip #pubrant

So this public discourse boils down into fiction in one main way: having your female MC be likable. Esp in YA 3/? #pubtip #pubrant