Literary Birthday – 1 October – Nicola Yoon

Happy Birthday, Nicola Yoon, born on 1 October 1972.

Nicola Yoon Quotes

1. I have an idea notebook that I write stuff down in. The ideas that I keep going back to are the ones I end up working on.
2. Let your freak flag fly. Your odd, quirky, unique voice is what makes your story special. Be who you want, and be joyful.
3. I get up early. I write by hand into a notebook. Every three or four days, I type what is in my notebook into a computer. I don’t make a super detailed outline. I do a basic, three-act structure and flesh it out.
4. Finish the first draft. No one publishes half a book. Finish, so you can revise.
5. When you’re writing, make sure you’re writing characters and not caricatures. And if you’re writing about a cultural group outside of your own, get someone inside that group to read it so that they’ll tell you about anything that’s harmful or problematic.
6. I write my first drafts by hand into notebooks. For me, there’s something so freeing about writing into a notebook. Nothing is set in stone. I can always cross out what I’ve written and write something else. I know I can also do that on my computer, but something about typing feels more permanent and permanent is not how I want to feel when I’m drafting. When I’m drafting I need to feel like anything is possible.
7. My books tend to be heavily character and idea driven. Sometimes the characters are young and coming of age and sometimes they are older and coming of age in a different way. Either way the writing is the same, it’s just the marketing category that it slots into that’s different.
8. I didn’t know I was going to write a thriller until I was actually writing it. I tend not to plan out what category a book is going to be in and, instead, let the story guide me.
9. For me, writer’s block usually indicates that I’ve taken a wrong turn in the drafting of the book. For example, maybe I’ve made a character do or say something they wouldn’t. In order to get unblocked, I need to recognise where I went wrong.

Source for quotes 1-4: WritersDigest and 5: PardonMyWriting and 6-9: Kobo

Nicola Yoon is an American author who writes books for young adults. She is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Instructions for Dancing, Everything, Everything, The Sun Is Also a Star, and a co-author of Blackout and Whiteout. She also wrote the adult novel One of Our Kind. She is a National Book Award finalist, a Michael L. Printz Honor Book recipient, a Coretta Scott King New Talent Award winner, and the first Black woman to hit #1 on the New York Times Young Adult bestseller list. Two of her novels have been made into major motion pictures. She fills her stories with diverse characters and unusual situations. She used her novels to explore different types of love and the ways that people experience them. Follow her on Instagram.

Source for photograph: Author’s Website

by Amanda Patterson
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