Paper Hearts, Vol. 1: Some Writing Advice

YA author Revis (A World Without You) offers sensible and useful advice for writers in this empathetic and empowering manual. After providing a brief rundown of her own writing career, Revis gives aspiring writers the advice she wishes she’d had when starting out. Among the lessons are discussions of showing rather than telling; building characters, plots, and worlds; developing protagonists and antagonists; crafting emotional arcs and structure; receiving critiques; dealing with writer’s block; and finding an agent. Revis also takes on the eternal debate about whether to plot everything in advance or fly by the seat of one’s pants. Like every writing teacher, Revis has her writing pet peeves—prologues being a star example—but she is absolutely correct when she opines that every rule in writing can be successfully broken by a skilled, experienced author. Her frank advice on what has worked and not worked for her will prove comforting to writers prone to second-guessing themselves and their talents, and her practical “what to do if” appendices will help many to solve writing challenges. Revis’s book should find its way to the keeper shelf of both aspiring and accomplished writers. (BookLife)