My Writing Sucks

In Chapter Ten, Kree faces the (loose) consequences of dueling Jamison’s father and, through another mystically unexplained dream, her grandmother shows her two glimpses of her future—one as a princess and one as a forester. I talk about how gosh dang annoying Kree is being, the importance of having characters process traumatic events, as well as how to effectively pace a story.

In Chapter Nine, our favorite trio of overzealous fourteen year olds gathers supplies for their quest, but more importantly, Kree randomly decides to dual Jamison’s drunk of a father for no real reason. I talk about adding emotional complexity to your characters, running parallels, and the dangers of taking yourself and your writing too seriously.

In Chapter Eight, Kree has this bizarre dream where her dead grandmother introduces her to an alternate version of herself if she’d decided to stay at the palace and be a princess, which introduces the most convoluted and confusing subplot of the novel. I talk about my fourteen year old self’s incredible ignorance and insensitivity as well as the difficultly in balancing seriousness and humor in your writing.

In Chapter Seven, Canopy recovers from the battle with Mountus and, out of absolutely nowhere, a random side character delivers a prophecy announcing that Kree is the one who is destined to slay the dragon (so, yeah, she is the Chosen One). With like three seconds of consideration, Kree, Abreen, and Jamison decide that they, a group of totally unskilled fourteen year olds, are completely qualified to undertake this quest and begin preparations. I talk about the importance of agency and motivation behind your characters and plot as well as my personal hatred of the Chosen One trope.

In Chapter Six, the plot suddenly slams on the gas pedal when the evil dragon Mountus attacks Canopy and Kree fights along side the Foresters in the battle. I talk a lot about my thoughts on Kree of Canopy as an (unintentional) feminist text, finding stillness in your writing with Hiyao Miyazaki as an example, and placing your story in context with the Great Conversation.

In Chapter Five, Kree goes through her entire first day in Canopy from dawn to dusk in the span of like an hour and a half somehow. She finally meets the other two most important characters in the book—Jamison and Abreen. Also, there are dragons in this world now, I guess (because why not?). I talk about the practical concerns of worldbuilding as well as how to write authentic dialogue and meaningful dialogue tags.

In Chapter Four (the most illogical chapter of any book I’ve ever read), Kree travels across the entire country in a day somehow and ends up in a forest town called Canopy where she takes part in an absurd trial to determine if she is a spy or not. I talk about time and space in fiction, introducing magic systems, and using imagery and sentence length to evoke a specific tone.

In Chapter Three, things finally start to happen! Kree's father the king decides to send her off to a finishing school for being a rebellious teenager (or whatever) and with the help of Mrs. Shelton and Ms. Hendrix, Kree runs away from the only life she's ever known in the palace. I talk about moralistic heroes and villains, combining and cutting characters, balancing a lack and overabundance of detail, and Mrs. Shelton's crime boss past. 

In Chapter Two (are you ready?), not a lot happens! Kree does some unrelated things in a totally random order. I talk a whole heck of a lot about having a motivation behind your characters and your scenes as well as the importance of effective worldbuilding. 

In Chapter One of Kree of Canopy, pretty much nothing happens for no reason at all. I talk about the goal of first chapters, plot and pacing, transitions, and picking one freaking tense (Oh my gosh fourteen year old me, pick one! First or third--it's not that hard!).