WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

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Writing Heroes: the Spies at YA Confidential

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For a long time now, Angela and I have wanted a way to acknowledge the people who have helped us develop into stronger writers and who add to the writing community as a whole. As a new feature here at The Bookshelf Muse, Angela and I will take turns giving well-deserved recognition to some of the people who really make an impact…people who truly are Writing Heroes.

The operatives at YA Confidential get my hero vote for all that they do for the YA writing community. If you don’t write YA, you may not be as blown-away, but you can at least respect their ingenuity and creativity. First of all, it must be said that this awesome blog just started in September, so the operatives have achieved hero-dom in just a few short months. Here’s how:

Reason #1: a can’t-beat posting schedule. They post 6 days a week. Six. Days. A week. As a blogger, I totally dig that. Yes, I know there are 7 of them, but that’s part of their genius. Want to really help writers? Give them lots of excellent content. Can’t do it by yourself? Convince, finagle, or entrap six others to do it with you. Brilliant.

Reason #2: excellent teen-centric content. If you write for teens, you need to know your audience. You really can’t do too much research in this area, and when it comes to research, this site is totally awesome because you hear, from the mouths of teens, what teens like: what turns them off in a romance, do they read the newspaper or keep up with current events, what’s cool for teens to do on Halloween?

You can’t get this kind of intel short of doing the footwork yourself, and why bother, when the operatives do it for you every week?

Reason #3: The man’s perspective. The latest operative to join YA Confidential is The Black Wiggle, who posts about male stuff that, as a woman, I still just don’t get. Not only does he give tips on how to write the male voice, but he also answers questions girls send in about guys. Again, genius.

So if you haven’t checked out the YA Confidential blog, run on nimble little fingers to have a look-see. And thank you, tricksy spies at YA Confidential, for being my WRITING HEROES. You inspire me, people!

To pay it forward, Angela or I will give a 1000-word critique to each Writing Hero we profile. The hero can then choose who to grant it to, or offer it as a giveaway on their blog. All writing heroes will also have a permanent link in our header!

 

 

 

So tell me Musers…do you know the operatives at YA Confidential? Have they helped you or your writing in some way? Please tell us in the comments and help celebrate these amazing WRITING HEROES! 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sara McClung says

    Oh my gosh–thank you SO much for this post 🙂 I know I’m late, but I was out of town! Seriously. This was a fabulous post to come home to.

    Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

  3. Matthew MacNish says

    I was happy to be one of the first 100 followers (I think, and that was tough, because the numbers shot up fast) because I’m good friends with several of the operatives. Shhh. Their identities are secret. #notreally

  14. Lenny Lee* says

    hi miss becca! wow! writing heros! how cool is that. i dont write ya yet and i dont read ya yet but pretty soon. 🙂 but i think its way cool theres a place you could go that helps you do better ya writing. i learn sooo much from my blogger friends thats helping me be a way better writer.
    …hugs from lenny

  16. Angela Ackerman says

    Huge Kudos to YA Confidential–such a fantastic start in blogging and unique slant to the topic of YA is so wonderful to see. Resources like this, as Becca said, are so fantastic for us YAers! Thanks for rockin’ it, YA Confidential team!

    Angela

  17. Copil Yanez says

    You are too kind by half. Thank you so much for this amazing honor! Also, I’d like to thank my publicist, my stylist, my chef and a couple of astronauts who are all part of my rapidly growing entourage. Also, my. . . Oh. That’s the band playing. I guess I’m done.

    Seriously, we are flattered and thrilled to be made heroes! I now have a justifiable reason for wearing spandex and a cape every day.

    Thank you!

    Copil “The Black Wiggle”

  18. Cambria Dillon says

    HOLY MOLY GUACAMOLE! Thank you, Becca & Angela, for the HUGE shoutout! I think we’re speechless over at the YA Confidential blog today…seriously.
    On a personal note, I’ve followed this blog for the longest time, so writing heroes? HA! RIGHT BACK AT YOU, BOOKSHELF MUSE! RIGHT BACK AT YOU! You ladies took “I’m happy” and changed the way we SHOW on the page so it’s authentic and fresh. Writers everywhere have a lot to thank you for. *a thousand hats off to you*

  21. Stina Lindenblatt says

    Awesome choice. It’s a brilliant blog for YA writers. But I didn’t know the part about The Black Wiggle. I get the posts via email. Geez, how could I have missed that fact????

  24. Mark says

    Aloha Becca (and Angela),

    Mahalo for the heads up! I also started my blog this past September, and while I’ve posted on a regular basis, I’m one of one.

    However, I’m always looking for intriguing ways where folks will consider joining my “Aloha Nation.”

    While I haven’t had much (any!) dealing with YA Confidential (I’m co-writing a memoir about an opera singer), I’m off to check out the blog – and the Black Wiggle (that sounds rude, sorry 🙂

    The operators are obviously setting themselves up for a lot of success in the future, and I wish them well.

    Regards, and aloha!