Suzy Vitello’s award-winning short fiction has appeared in Mississippi Review, Plazm, Tarpaulin Sky, various anthologies and other literary journals. She is an Oregon Literary Fellowship recipient and the author of three young adult novels: The Moment Before; The Empress Chronicles, and The Keepsake.
Suzy will be teaching Starting the Young Adult Novel this winter. Here is more about the class.
Q: Describe what happens in a typical class.
A: Class will open with a specific aspect of craft and development (e.g. finding your character’s misbelief, pacing, supporting character litmus test, amping tension, etc…) and then there will be time to workshop material from two or three participants (depending on class size). I will send out a suggested reading list two weeks ahead of the first class.
Q: What do you like most about teaching this class?
A: I am passionate about young adult literature and its potential to reach into the hearts of a broad teen and adult readership from an emotionally resonant standpoint.
Q: Who do you recommend this class to?
A: Other writers who are passionate about young adult literature and have a concept they’d like to develop.
Q: What do you hope students will get out of it?
A: An understanding of what constitutes a successful book in this category as well as the tools to develop a complete story arc.
Q: Describe your writing process/practice.
A: I’ve developed a unique hybrid that merges a pragmatic approach with an emotional, character-driven journey, borrowing concepts from Lisa Cron’s STORY GENIUS, Tom Spanbauer’s Dangerous Writing workshops, and my own trial and error process that has resulted in three published young adult books.
Website: https://suzyvitello.com/books/
