Writerly Insights with Bestselling Author, Elin Hilderbrand

In today's Books with Hooks, Carly and CeCe tackle two queries each. In the process, they discuss how you have less time to get to the inciting incident in a YA novel; being mindful of ‘telling’ that doesn’t move the storyline forward or is irrelevant; why too much interiority isn’t good in a query letter and how to replace interiority with plot; avoiding redundancies and repetition in your query letter and pages ; and how building mystery requires specificity by the author.

After which, CeCe chats with bestselling author, Elin Hilderbrand, about how to make unlikeable characters whole and real; the benefits of third-person close, and why you can get even closer than with first-person; why Elin will never write in first person; how the University of Iowa writing program made Elin miserable; how Elin’s literary background has contributed to her commercial success; how classic techniques can be transformed into fresh ways of thinking and writing (the Greek chorus in Elin’s case); how Elin deals with writer’s block; how writing isn’t magic but hard work; and Elin's plans for retirement.

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Elin Hilderbrand can be found at www. elinhilderbrand.net and on Instagram and Twitter at: @elinhilderbrand 

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