TeenageTells

2 years ago, I was just starting the version of my book which is now on Amazon. But the story begins much earlier. It starts in 2021, when I was in year 5ish (10). I wrote my first non-school-related story. Named Red and Green Destiny. You're going to see this title a lot. It was about two girls, Ruby and Emerald, who sat in a blossom tree at their school, before the earth and fire rose from the ground to gift them powers. They also had a friend called Hazel White. In some dr

Writing is not a casual thing if you want to get your work published. It is a dedication. My first point will be there is no right way. You do you, don't let anyone stop that. But, taking advice and 'critiques' is a skill that also has to be mastered. It's a balance between listening to yourself and to others. My second point is that there are some conditions you can control, so that your writing will be the best it can. Comfort. Whether it's your bed, your desk or in the ca

I'm starting a busy few months. I'm trying to edit Emerald, and do a little something for Christmas (more on that next week), along with school, and next year I'm doing work experience and mocks... Ah! I could go on and on. What I've found is that it's hard to do everything. It is so tiring and time-consuming that sometimes you just want to give up on everything and read or binge-watch your favourite series all day. I get it. This is not a message just to you, but also to

Books! They're not only fun to write, but also read. It's one of the best ways to explore language and all it entails, along with improving your own writing. This week I wanted to go through some of the books I loved, and which I think you should read. Additionally, I'll be including a little 'reading journal' for different genres, themes, etc, which are found in the books you might read. My Favourite Books (and age ratings): Oxford Blood- 14+ YA murder mystery thriller Enola

I know it's technically not called NaNoWriMo anymore, but I'm going to stick with that because it perfectly encaptures what it is. If you didn't see the previous post, NaNoWriMo was closed due to the use of AI, and their beliefs, but many websites are taking up a similar thing. At the end I'll leave some links to some of these platforms. Whilst looking for them, I found NaNoWriMo2, which I would be careful with, and do your research whether you are a fan or not. But you can j

When I say publishing, I mean I'm going to be talking about doing everything on your own, and how to do that. Because it's so hard to get traditionally published, especially as a teen, so we have to resort to indie publishing. But then we're left drowning in an endless sea of information, unable to find what we actually have to do, and what we can avoid to not have too much on our plate. I think I'm going to split this topic up into a couple of blog posts, so stay turned. Tod

Nadia, what is going on? I want to know what you're writing! Are you editing your second book? Are you doing any more events? Where's the after-writing guide! I'm here to update you on what's up in my writing career, in case you couldn't have guessed. I usually like to be snappy, and to the point, but this week I'm relaxing on that and having a chat with you. Comment below if there's more questions you want answering. Right now I'm not writing very much because I'm focused on

This week I want to challenge you to leave your comfort zone and try to include different writing techniques for every letter of the alphabet. For example, in a poem, choose 2/3 you want, or in a book, include as many as you can. It's fun to try to think of your own! It's a great challenge in itself, and finding the techniques themselves will stretch your knowledge and improve it. Before you scroll down and look at the techniques, try to find some on your own. Alliteration- t

It's officially October! Which for many authors means planning their next adventurous project. But why October? Well, because NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is coming up and there's lots to do. The history of NaNoWriMo: It is a U.S Non-profit that promoted writing all over the world. It started in 1999 when Chris Baty and his friends decided to write 50,000 word novels in 30 days. Now, however, the organisation is closed due to "financial difficulties"; however, man

Today marks one year of Amethyst- Time And Time Again. What a beautiful year it has been. In that time, I've sold over 500 copies of the book, written book two, appeared on the radio twice, participated in literary events, published a poem, and started the TeenageTells blog. I would like to thank anyone who purchased my book, critiqued the second edition, encouraged me, or visited my website. Everything helps so much, and all my achievements wouldn't be a reality if not for

If you're multilingual, you might realise some words don't exactly... translate into other languages. And this is so confusing. Why don't we have these wonderfully unique and relatable words in every language? We might be able to describe the concept, but it doesn't capture the feeling like these words do. Well, this helps define cultures, keep them alive, and add a layer of beauty to languages you can't truly understand until you know the language. So, this week, decided to

This'll be a quick post because I'm working on finishing my comprehensive writing guide (finally!) along with a few other things for my book-aversary, so look out for that. I wanted to quickly look at planning a story. Get a rough, rough, rough idea. Focus on an idea of who, what, where, when and why. What? -figure out the general plot or idea. It could even be a theme you want to explore. What actually happens. Because if nothing happens, no one will know where the plot is g

As the back-to-school season approaches, it brings excitement and a bit of anxiety for many students. You may be prepping for classes, juggling assignments, and diving into extra curriculars. This is also a great time to think about improving your writing and study habits. Let’s face it: striking a balance between school and your passion for writing can be challenging. You might wonder things like, "Will this interfere with my studies?" or "Am I dedicating enough time to impr

As an author, you almost need to use websites to write and publish your book. here are some of my favourites, along with popular options. The ones I have used are highlighter in yellow and all the names are also links to the site. Writing Word- " a word processing software within the Microsoft Office suite used to create, edit, format, and print text-based documents like reports, letters, and résumés ." note: I really like it. I wrote my first book in it, and it exported sea

Ever struggle to find the right writing contest? I struggle with it all the time. Why can't there just be a list of competitions which are available for teenagers, and are all free? Well, here they are. All writing competitions (that are still on!) that there is no reason for you not to take part in. Website Description Requirements Date Due https://fictionprize.worldhistory.org/ Historical of mythological flash fiction under 800-1000 words. in English from anywhere in the wo

This week I've been planning how to make progress on my next books and I think I have a rough publishing date for Amethyst's sequel! I've also started the third book in the series.... I'm so excited to share this whole series with you! Writing and life in general has been going very good, but there's not much to share! But be on the lookout for a title reveal for book 2... it could happen any day now. Notes on my Comprehensive Writing Guide: sorry it's taking so long. i want

This week I wanted to share some of my favourite quotes with you, because it's been an emotional week for me with some personal stuff going on, and adjusting to a new routine because I'm in Poland for five weeks :). These are some that help me, and hope help you too: "Write like the world ended yesterday and you're the only one left to remember how it felt." "Your whole life can change in 1 year. Make this the one." "being a great writer is 3% talent, 97% not being distracted