We as writers all know about the adage, "Show Don't Tell" and one of the ways we do this is through the use of the senses. Of course the sight sense is used mostly and the touch sense but the senses of smell and taste can be often ignored. When used well, it can deepen a scene and make it pop in the reader's mind as more vivid. Here are some examples from YA novels that have stood out for me. One thing that all of these scenes share are the specifics of taste and smell. "At first I'd hold … [Read more...]
Action Scene: The Hunger Games
April 7, 2010 Read Comments
On Monday, I talked about some of the characteristics of what can make a good action scene. Today I'm going to share two paragraphs from a YA novel that I think executes characteristics of an action scene really well. These two paragraphs are from Chapter 13 of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. This book is currently No.1 on the New York Times Children's Chapter Books Bestseller list --- and a mainstay on that list for a whopping 81 weeks. For those of you who read the blog, you … [Read more...]
Mockingjay
February 12, 2010 Read Comments
In the midst of the chaos that is my day job, the news about the final book of the Hunger Games Trilogy brought some excitement into this week. Scholastic has unveiled the title and the cover of the third book, Mockingjay, which drops on August 24, 2010. I don't believe that they are sending out ARCs for this one so any spoilers should stay at a minimum. To say that I'm excited about this final book would be an understatement. So although August is a long way off---it will be here … [Read more...]
