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About Anne Greenwood Brown

Anne Greenwood Brown (@AnneGBrown) writes Young Adult ("YA") fiction. She is represented by Jacqueline Flynn of Joelle Delbourgo Associates. She is the author of the LIES BENEATH trilogy (Random House/Delacorte Press), GIRL LAST SEEN (co-author/ Albert Whitman & Co.), and COLD HARD TRUTH (Albert Whitman, April 2018). Anne was a proud contributor to Writer Unboxed's AUTHOR IN PROGRESS as well as a presenter at the 2016 UnConference. She also writes adult romance under the pen name "A. S. Green."

Recent Posts by this author:

  • The Science Behind the Meet-Cute
  • Do I Need a Platform and If So, How High?
  • Planning Your Own Weekend Writers’ Retreat
  • How to Write Emotional Scenes When You’d Really Rather Not
  • Visual Thinking
  • Cleaning the Lens
  • In Memoriam
  • *Pinch* Are You Awake?
  • Character Connections
  • Untitled
  • Fun With Literary Allusions
  • Collaboration

    • The Science Behind the Meet-Cute

    By 24 Comments

    At the WU Unconference last fall, I gave a presentation on the “meet-cute.” If you’re unfamiliar with the term, it’s that moment when your characters meet for the first time. Sometimes they click immediately (Titanic; 50 First Dates), other times they don’t (Pride & Prejudice; When Harry Met Sally). Regardless, some kind of chemistry is established between them that makes the reader want to root for the characters as a couple. It’s a typical element of every romance novel, but it can manifest in other ways in other genres. The typical meet-cute goes a little something like this:

    Sarah walked onto campus as a new freshman. While she wrestled one-handed with the campus map, her Human Anatomy textbook slipped from her hands and fell open on the sidewalk to a page her mother would have censored. Embarrassed, Sarah quickly crouched to retrieve the book before anyone saw, just as someone knelt to help her. She looked up and locked eyes with the most handsome man she’d ever seen. Sarah’s heart raced.

    When I say this example reflects the typical meet-cute, I mean really, really typical. Too many meet-cutes I read are all about racing hearts, or some other obvious go-to like stammering, sweaty palms, or stumbling over words and/or feet. These common crutches got me thinking. How can we better delve into our own personal experiences to come up with more unique and inspired ways to demonstrate the interior landscape of a scene? How can we show our characters’ feelings through more unique physical reactions to those feelings? [Read more…]

    Do I Need a Platform and If So, How High?

    By 8 Comments

    In 2010, when I first dipped my toe into the publishing world, the biggest mystery to me was—besides figuring out the difference between a query and a synopsis—this thing called a “platform.” At the time, I was writing about killer mermaids. I didn’t know how I was going to go about becoming enough of an expert on the subject that a potential editor would take me seriously. Imagine my utter relief when I learned that it was only the non-fiction writers who required a platform. All we fiction … [Read more...]

    Planning Your Own Weekend Writers’ Retreat

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    Photo Cred: Alex Robert With the WU Uncon just around the corner, many of us are getting excited for a writing retreat. There is the anticipation of seeing old friends and meeting new ones, the expectation of learning something new, and the chance to gain insight and inspiration for the current WIP. And while big retreats like the Uncon pack a big punch, there is also much to be gained from smaller, more intimate retreats—especially ones you plan yourself. I’ve done a few of these with my … [Read more...]

    How to Write Emotional Scenes When You’d Really Rather Not

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    This book gave me “all the feels.” We all strive to write the quintessential delivery system for “feels,” whether we know it or not, whether we’re consciously striving to deliver, or not. We do this because that’s what drives us to tell stories in the first place. Somewhere along the line—whether it was Vonnegut or Brontë, Irving or Rowling—we all read something that touched a chord and made us say, “Ah. Yes. I’ve been there.” Or maybe we were too busy blowing our noses to get those actual … [Read more...]

    Visual Thinking

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    A month or so ago, I was deep into first-pass editing. This is the stage after you receive an editorial letter that poses questions about character development, suggests adding scenes (or removing them), and encourages other "big picture" thinking. I posted a photo of what my editing process looked like for that morning, and Therese Walsh messaged me: “Please write a post about this.” I thought that was Therese just being sweet and supportive (as is her way) because what could I possibly say … [Read more...]

    Cleaning the Lens

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    I have a daughter. She’s seventeen. She’s a fantastic writer (truly), and a big-time reader (no surprise). She’s also totally blind. And this is where things get interesting. A few weeks ago, we were driving down the road. She was reading aloud to me from her work in progress—a fantasy that featured a blind person as the main character. Here’s a snippet of that conversation: Daughter reading: “As the minivan approached the curb, we all turned to look, and John’s face clouded with … [Read more...]

    *Pinch* Are You Awake?

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    Photo by alq666 We all have an inherent sense of story. There is an expected rhythm to it, like breathing, and we notice when that rhythm gets interrupted. This is why we give up on a novel we’re reading because it’s moving too slowly, or why we are dissatisfied with an ending because it felt too rushed. I had the pleasure earlier this month to present at Writer Unboxed’s Unconference in Salem, Massachusetts. One of my topics was “Wrangling with Plot,” to correspond with my essay in Author … [Read more...]

    Character Connections

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    (Photo by Alexis Mire) I’ve been thinking a lot about empathy lately. It’s been an obvious subject of conversation in the wake of the Orlando massacre and high profile sexual assaults. Violence is often the result of one person’s inability to connect with and appreciate the value and integrity of another person. In that regard, author Shannon Hale has been very vocal about schools not engaging female authors for speaking engagements and not promoting books with female protagonists on the … [Read more...]

    Untitled

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    Once upon a time (because that’s how all good stories start), the title of my work in progress was: LATEST BOOK. I considered submitting it that way. It was ironic. Poignant. It begged a deeper question of philosophical importance. Maybe. Or maybe the truth was: While I am rarely a victim of traditional writer’s block, I am a frequent victim of title paralysis (or TP, for short). As a result, I once consorted with the most dubious of online resources for book title ideas. I regret if this post … [Read more...]

    Fun With Literary Allusions

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    Let’s talk about literary allusion. For some of you, it may be a literary device you haven’t thought much about since tenth grade English, but it is a technique that I love as a reader and turn to often in my own writing to inform a character, to enrich a scene, or to evoke emotion. First. A refresher. Literary allusion is a quick reference to something or someone of historical significance--whether real or fictional. “A little bit of one story joins onto an idea from another, and hey presto, . … [Read more...]

    Collaboration

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    In April of this year, I got a call from my agent that went something like this: She:“I’ve been hearing from several editors that they’re looking for a book like X. They were wondering if I had anything to submit that would fit the bill. I don’t, but I do have an author who could write a book like that.” Me:“You do?” She:“Yeah. You. Can you get it done in twelve weeks?” Which is about when a few annoying character traits of mine kicked in: (1) I find it impossible to say no; (2) I think I … [Read more...]