I read a lot of manuscripts–some partials, first chapters, first 250 words, fulls and everything in between. I don’t read nearly as much as agents and editors but the difference is that the ones I read are ones I’m asked to analyze and discern how to fix what may be wrong.

I’ve noticed a pattern in what I’ve read to the point where I think it’s time for me to talk about the common mistakes I see new writers make–relative to writing young adult literature. I hope this helps!

1. Not focusing (or not focusing enough) on the main character in the first chapter so that the reader never really gets a sense of the character–thus making her/him unrelatable: I’ve seen a lot more focus on secondary characters for the purposes of trying to bring in backstory or an explanation as to why things are happening as they are. This…