RTW: Writing Superpowers . . . and Kryptonite

I'm a long time lurker for YA Highway's Road Trip Wednesdays--and I've been telling myself that one of these days I'll jump in. So . . .

*jumps*

For those who don't know, Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

Today's topic: What are your writing and publishing superpowers (drafting? beta-reading? writing queries? plotting? character creation? etc.) -- and what's your kryptonite?

I had no trouble pinpointing my areas of kryptonite! But when it came to my writing superpowers? Totally different story. Because I still see a lot of room for improvement with every strength I have. So I got kind of stuck. (You'll soon see that this is not quite uncommon, ha!) THANKFULLY, I have my CP Cristin on speed dial. Or, wait . . . Is speed dial even a thing anymore? She's in my favorites, which, you know, is probably a cooler way of saying it. Anyway, she came to my rescue and suggested some things I could use.

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My superpower? Teen voice! I'm proud of this because, considering I write for teens, it's a pretty important power to have. Maybe because I was a teacher for a while, and a youth leader--or maybe because I'm still not entirely sure what my "adult" voice is--but teen voices come very easily to me while I write.

Cristin also recommended pacing, but I'm just going to talk right over that one, because some days I really can't tell . . .

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And my kryptonite? Oh mans. I'd have to say it's world building. Which, for a fantasy/paranormal writer, is unfortunate. I'm working on it, though! I didn't realize quite how big of a weakness it was until recently. But, honestly, that discovery was priceless.

Here's the thing: I have no problem coming up with fun and different concepts for my WIPs. Like my current story, oh how I love it. I have these awesome (imo!) characters with these . . . unique aspects and with these . . . unusual, um, abilities. (Heh. Could I be anymore vague? <--Chandler Bing voice.) This story's been in my head for a looooong time. And when I finally started writing, it flew out of me. In the beginning, anyway. But I got stuck over the summer. Super stuck. Not able to write at all stuck.

Then in September, I went on a writing retreat and after lots and lots and lots of discussion (seriously, thank goodness for CPs and writing friends with brains to pick) I discovered my problem was my world building. I wasn't able to continue writing--even though the story was outlined (the high points anyway)--because while I have these super special characters, I wasn't keeping what makes them so special prevalent throughout the story. The way their uniqueness impacted the way they functioned in our world wasn't fully enough developed.

*ENTER TONS OF BRAINSTORMING*

*And--dramatic sigh--a complete restart to the project*

Which, yeah . . . Holy a lot of work, Batman. (Or, I guess Superman, considering today's topic!) But it was so, so, so worth it.  Because you know what? I'm completely back on track. And maybe--after all this work--world building will grow from my kryptonite into another superpower.

What about you? What are YOUR writing superpowers and kryptonite? And don’t forget to visit YA Highway to see how the other Road Trippers answered today’s question!

WAIT! Don't go yet!! 

ATTENTION!!! 

Have you stopped by Jessica Love's blog today? No? WELL YOU SHOULD. She has some HUGE NEWS!!!