Laini Taylor Shares a Fun Writing Exercise

So over on Instagram, Laini Taylor @lainit, author of the bestselling Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy among other YA titles, shared this really fun writing exercise. With Laini's permission, I'm sharing it here:

"This was the writing exercise we did this morning at my weekly Zoom meeting (optional; some people just work on their wip’s):

Choose 1 word off list A and 1 off List B and use the result as a title or prompt for a freewrite, poem, brainstorm, story, or whatever. I posted a numbered version of the list too, since we’ve sometimes found it better to let a dice roll choose for you (there’s a virtual 20-sided die site if you don’t have one). I got “riot whisper” and gave it a quick 15-minute freewrite effort, which was fun! There are some good combos in there if you want to play!” —Laini Taylor

Here's the close-up on those lists:

Hope it inspires you as well! Thanks, Laini!

Learn more about Laini and her books here.

Illustrate, Translate, and Write On,
Lee

Writing Advice from Laini Taylor (via Publishers Weekly's BookLife)

New York Times and USA Today-bestselling author and National Book Award Finalist, Laini Taylor shares some excellent writing advice over at BookLife, including:

Never sit staring at a blank page or screen. If you find yourself stuck, write. Write about the scene you’re trying to write. Writing about is easier than writing, and chances are, it will give you your way in. You could try listing 10 things that might happen next, or do a timed freewrite—fast, non-precious forward momentum; you don’t even have to read it afterward, but it might give you ideas. Try anything and everything. Never fall still, and don’t be lazy.

Go read the full article here - it's well worth it.

Illustrate and Write On,
Lee

Social Media Fans Unlock An Annotated Extra Genesis Chapter Of Laini Taylor's Fantasy Series: Innovations In Book Marketing

It was covered in Publisher's Weekly, and was so cool I reached out to Jessica Shoffel, Director of Publicity at Little, Brown and Company Books For Young Readers to find out more.

Jessica explains:

The campaign was done to continue the buzz leading into the July 7th release of the paperback edition of DREAMS OF GODS & MONSTERS.

LBYR's social media channels asked fans to share a favorite quote from DREAMS OF GODS & MONSTERS with the hashtag #UnlockLainiTaylor. Once we reached 613 hashtags (the page count in DREAMS OF GODS & MONSTERS) we released a chapter from Laini that inspired the series.

And the genesis chapter wasn't just put out there. As Jessica shared:

LBYR partnered with Genius to create a reading experience where fans can read Laini’s own annotations about the chapter. They show up as highlights throughout the text, and when you click each one, a pop-out with her note appears, see it in action HERE. It was an incredible collaboration that allows fans into the early genesis of the series and Laini’s beginning ideas on what it could become.

Here's a screen shot of the unlocked chapter, with an open note:

It's a very cool use of social media to build buzz and reward fans!

You can find out more about Laini and her books here.

Illustrate and Write and Market On,
Lee