Kate

  • Kate posted a new activity comment 5 years, 11 months ago

    Hi MCave – I’m working on a middle grade fantasy myself at the moment, so hellooo! I don’t think there’s anything current in the crit section, but maybe you’d like to share something.

  • Kate posted a new activity comment 5 years, 11 months ago

    Great to ‘see’ you too @giselle. I love that feeling of time and serendipity. Mind boggling indeed. I’ve been quite interested in flint knapping since reading the Clan of the Cave Bear series. The author goes into the method in quite some detail. I have a flint blade on my mantle piece. Not old but from a knapping demo. Incredibly sharp and I use…[Read more]

  • Kate posted an update 5 years, 11 months ago

    @giselle – loved ‘A Perfect Fit’. It felt preordained. That piece of flint waiting for you down the years.

  • Kate replied to the topic Good news this time – finally! in the forum Podium 6 years ago

    Congratulations, Janette. Lovely news.

  • Kate posted a new activity comment 6 years ago

    Brilliant news Elle. I know how hard you’ve worked with all your short stories. Lovely to see that has paid off.

  • Brilliant Daed. Congratulations.

  • Kate replied to the topic Recent agent experience in the forum Blogs 6 years, 1 month ago

    How incredibly insensitive of her, Hilary. Of course you were excited and expecting something after being asked to meet her. What on earth was the agent thinking? But, as others have said, there mat be a positive side. Perhaps give yourself time to get some distance then decide if her suggested revision are for you or not.

    And Janette – another…[Read more]

  • Kate replied to the topic Mid grade 1st chapter in the forum Critiques 6 years, 2 months ago

    Thanks @KazG. Your thoughts on this are comforting. I was worried if I had to pull back and simplify more I might lose the voice, but I wanted to know if I needed to do a major edit on this aspect or not. I’ll stop worrying about it now.

    But, as always, the feedback has been great at throwing up some other issues, so I shall get to work on Pix’s…[Read more]

  • Kate posted a new activity comment 6 years, 2 months ago

    Hello Jill

  • Kate replied to the topic Mid grade 1st chapter in the forum Critiques 6 years, 2 months ago

    I had a sticky scene that wasn’t working Squidge, and after some time away from it I reread and thought D’oh, of course she wouldn’t react like that. She’d be angry. It’s funny how the characters become real people in our heads.

    Thanks for the heads up about Kingstone. I shall go take a look.

  • Kate replied to the topic Mid grade 1st chapter in the forum Critiques 6 years, 2 months ago

    I did a bit of googling and everybody says something different. Apparently in 2014 there were more first person than third, so I guess it just varies.

    I shall attempt to find more subtle ways of placing my characters, as you suggested. Thanks for all the help. I’ll keep it all in mind as I go in for the next round of edits.

  • Kate replied to the topic Mid grade 1st chapter in the forum Critiques 6 years, 2 months ago

    That’s a really good point Sea. I took a look at my MG books and they’re all third person! Thanks for the Jess Butterworth one – I shall take a look. I’ll also try and do some investigating into first/third. (And possibly have a cry over my keyboard at the thought of rewriting into third. :D)

  • Kate replied to the topic Mid grade 1st chapter in the forum Critiques 6 years, 2 months ago

    Thanks @seagreen, this is all great. I’ll have a think about the save the cat moment and ramp up the fear a bit as a few people have mentioned that. I’ll weed out some of the description as well.

    Re the being in the character’s head, and the explanations like ‘standing next to me’, I think you’ve cut to the heart of my question re YA vs MG…[Read more]

  • Kate replied to the topic Mid grade 1st chapter in the forum Critiques 6 years, 2 months ago

    Thanks @bella – it was fun to write.

    Perfect @squidge, that’s great to know it’s about right. I was worrying it was a bit densely packed but maybe I just have to be careful of too heavy descriptions. I shall tweak as suggested.

  • I’ve got a draft of what is meant to be an upper mid grade novel, but I have concerns I’ve written it in a too Young Adult style. I’m specifically looking for feedback from experienced MG writers on whether I need to adjust the language/structure, and how I might go about it.

    All other comments also welcome.
    Many thanks.

    (As usual the…[Read more]

  • Kate posted a new activity comment 6 years, 2 months ago

    Thanks @seagreen. I’ll post it up tomorrow.

  • Kate posted an update 6 years, 2 months ago

    Are there any mid grade writers on the Den that would be willing to take a look at the first chapter of my MG book? Someone suggested I was using a YA style that might not be appropriate and I can see what they mean. I’d like thoughts on language and structure relating to MG books before embarking on the next edit.
    I’ll post it up in crit for…[Read more]

  • This is so clever, Kaz. And I didn’t expect it to go in that direction either. Wow. Excellent stuff.

  • Kate posted a new activity comment 6 years, 2 months ago

    Thanks, Sandra. I must buy one of Emma’s books. I keep meaning to.

    • Her ‘Not a book about -‘ is excellent on the difficulties of writing, and ‘The Mathematics of love’ one I aim to re-read annually. Time I re-read the other one …

      • Shame on me, I haven’t read either of the novels, but yes, ‘Not a Book About…’ is excellent. And in this blog Emma, as usual, hits the nail on the head. That last bit, ‘To Be Heard’… yes, absolutely. After I resigned myself to ‘A faint hope of being read, maybe just a silly dream, but still…’ becoming ‘No hope’ my motivation drained away.

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