5 Tips for Turning Your Teen Turmoil Into a Novel

HarperCollins Canada asked me to write a post  for their official YA Blog, HCC Frenzy. Here’s a short except, followed by a link where you can read the whole article.

There’s no way around it: high school hurts. The good news? Pain is precious to writers. It motivates us, inspires us, fuels us. Oysters only make pearls when something harmful penetrates their protective shell. They turn pain into beauty—and so can you.
As Riley, my protagonist in Symptoms of Being Human, weathered the whips and scorns of high school, I had to tap into the rejection and isolation that had plagued me as a teenager. You, too, can harness the power of your painful experiences to create something meaningful for yourself and others. Here are my top 5 tips on how to do just that.

1. PLUNDER YOUR JOURNAL

I chronicled the highs and lows of my [mostly miserable] high school experience in a battered green journal. While writing Symptoms, I found some of my old writing relevant and inspirational, like this excerpt…

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