30. Favorite line you’ve ever written.
Ooh. Um…
This one:
“This is not about us ! This is not about you!” The words burst out of her, her voice raised. She has been trained not to do this. She has learned, over and over again, but now, here, she is shouting, her anger and pain too much to be confined. “There are people out there now living in slavery – men and women and children who will be separated from their families not by my war but by men of your race who see them as property! Husbands and wives, brothers, and sisters, and grandmothers who will never know freedom because men like you would rather put your own comfort above their lives! You would put my life – my safety above theirs and that is not my role to play!”
It’s not exactly one line, but it’s arguably the easiest paragraph I’ve ever written and one where Madi just – took over and wrote herself. It’s also really, really important, story-wise and just in general.
54. Any writing advice you want to share?
Yes. Little things are so, so important. If you want someone to really feel a scene, to be there in their heads, you’ve got to give them anchor points – you’ve got to tell them if a character’s hands are clammy, or if there’s a lantern in the corner that’s making a creak sound with every roll of a ship, or if there’s just total silence other than some sound you want them to hear as if they were in the room with the characters. Don’t just say what’s happening in a scene – describe the little things the way you see them in your head and the way you hear them.
Meg's Mumbles 