In Chapter Sixteen, the mood is tense as the confrontation with Mountus and Orchid grows closer. When Abreen and Jamison fall into a mysterious mountain passage, Kree chases after them, meeting two mysterious figures along the way. I commend my fourteen year old self for some decent writing in this chapter and talk about how to evoke a specific tone in your writing through descriptive language.

In Chapter Fifteen, Kree, Abreen, and Jamison learn they’ve been camping in the Valley of Perfection, a dangerous place of illusion and magic, and are chased away by the valley demons—a hoard of white bunnies (because, sure, why not?). I talk about how funny this scene is and what a shame it is that fourteen year old me didn’t commit to a humorous story and tried to be way more serious than she could pull off.

In Chapter Fourteen, our favorite trio of overzealous fourteen year olds actually act like fourteen year olds for once and take a night off from the quest to dance by the campfire. Kree and Jamison have *a moment.* I talk about why this scene is my favorite in the entire book and setting goals for yourself in your writing (as well as my personal love of Nanowrimo).

In Chapter Thirteen, in a stroke of incredible convenience, the trio receives help escaping from a random forest imp named Quinnley who seems to know way too much about them (which is never explained because he disappears from the narrative after this). Kree has a dream about her family attending her funeral and feels suddenly conflicted about leaving them. I talk a lot about characters—from fleshing out side characters to dissecting why Abreen and Jamison are so flat—as well as my...

In Chapter Twelve, Kree is nearly forced to marry the king of the forest imps to save Abreen and Jamison from becoming their main course at dinner, but thanks to an insane plan Kree comes up with in two seconds, the group miraculously escapes with no issue whatsoever. I talk about the bizarrely inconsistent tone of this novel, using asides effectively in your plot, and how to chose which perspective to tell your story from.

In Chapter Eleven, Kree, Abreen, and Jamison finally leave Canopy to go off on their quest to slay the dragon Mountus. All is going well for like five minutes until strange forest creatures drop down from the trees and take them hostage. I talk about the horrific magic system in this novel and how to use foreshadowing effectively (hint: don’t copy fourteen year old me).

In Chapter Ten, Kree faces the (loose) consequences of dueling Jamison’s father and, through another mystically unexplained dream, her grandmother shows her two glimpses of her future—one as a princess and one as a forester. I talk about how gosh dang annoying Kree is being, the importance of having characters process traumatic events, as well as how to effectively pace a story.

In Chapter Nine, our favorite trio of overzealous fourteen year olds gathers supplies for their quest, but more importantly, Kree randomly decides to dual Jamison’s drunk of a father for no real reason. I talk about adding emotional complexity to your characters, running parallels, and the dangers of taking yourself and your writing too seriously.

In Chapter Eight, Kree has this bizarre dream where her dead grandmother introduces her to an alternate version of herself if she’d decided to stay at the palace and be a princess, which introduces the most convoluted and confusing subplot of the novel. I talk about my fourteen year old self’s incredible ignorance and insensitivity as well as the difficultly in balancing seriousness and humor in your writing.

In Chapter Seven, Canopy recovers from the battle with Mountus and, out of absolutely nowhere, a random side character delivers a prophecy announcing that Kree is the one who is destined to slay the dragon (so, yeah, she is the Chosen One). With like three seconds of consideration, Kree, Abreen, and Jamison decide that they, a group of totally unskilled fourteen year olds, are completely qualified to undertake this quest and begin preparations. I talk about the importance of agency and...

In Chapter Six, the plot suddenly slams on the gas pedal when the evil dragon Mountus attacks Canopy and Kree fights along side the Foresters in the battle. I talk a lot about my thoughts on Kree of Canopy as an (unintentional) feminist text, finding stillness in your writing with Hiyao Miyazaki as an example, and placing your story in context with the Great Conversation.

In Chapter Five, Kree goes through her entire first day in Canopy from dawn to dusk in the span of like an hour and a half somehow. She finally meets the other two most important characters in the book—Jamison and Abreen. Also, there are dragons in this world now, I guess (because why not?). I talk about the practical concerns of worldbuilding as well as how to write authentic dialogue and meaningful dialogue tags.

In Chapter Four (the most illogical chapter of any book I’ve ever read), Kree travels across the entire country in a day somehow and ends up in a forest town called Canopy where she takes part in an absurd trial to determine if she is a spy or not. I talk about time and space in fiction, introducing magic systems, and using imagery and sentence length to evoke a specific tone.

In Chapter Three, things finally start to happen! Kree's father the king decides to send her off to a finishing school for being a rebellious teenager (or whatever) and with the help of Mrs. Shelton and Ms. Hendrix, Kree runs away from the only life she's ever known in the palace. I talk about moralistic heroes and villains, combining and cutting characters, balancing a lack and overabundance of detail, and Mrs. Shelton's crime boss past. 

In Chapter Two (are you ready?), not a lot happens! Kree does some unrelated things in a totally random order. I talk a whole heck of a lot about having a motivation behind your characters and your scenes as well as the importance of effective worldbuilding. 

In Chapter One of Kree of Canopy, pretty much nothing happens for no reason at all. I talk about the goal of first chapters, plot and pacing, transitions, and picking one freaking tense (Oh my gosh fourteen year old me, pick one! First or third--it's not that hard!). 

Get to know your host a little! I talk briefly about my writing journey from childhood to MFA. In summary, I was born, I learned to write, I wrote somethings, and then I started a podcast about writing out of boredom during quarantine. That just about catches you up on things. 

"My Writing Sucks" is a podcast for writers who feel that their writing will never be good enough. So, every writer! This podcast will be me analyzing the first (awful) novel I wrote back in middle school chapter by chapter and discussing to see what works and what isn't, and from there, draw some lessons we can learn about craft. Everyone's past writing is cringe-inducing, but it's also important to acknowledge your past self's hard work in getting you where you are today. Be proud of...