Janet S FoxJanet Fox

Janet Fox is the award-winning author of nine books for young readers, including three YA novels, three middle grade novels, two picture books, and one middle grade non-fiction, with more coming soon. Janet is a book coach and former teacher and has an MFA in writing for children from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and is launching a mentorship program for kidlit writers in 2024.
Add a Luke Skywalker Moment: Give Your Main Character a Bitter Choice
Image: a man's face is shrouded in darkness except for his left eye which is illuminated by a vertical sliver of light.
For a memorable story, give your main character a strong motive, a flaw, and a series of escalating decisions leading ...
Read More
/ Fiction Craft, Guest Post
How to Create Character Mannerisms from Backstory Wounds
Image: a broad scar is visible on the surface of a tree.
To be vivid on the page, each character you write should display life-long emotional responses to wounds that occurred in ...
Read More
/ Fiction Craft, Guest Post
Gray Space: Making Room for the Reader
Image: a woman wearing blue overalls and a white t-shirt holds a small wooden picture frame to the viewer. The frame contains only empty white space where the picture should be.
When we let the reader fill in our intentionally left blanks, or “gray space”, we invite them inside our imaginary ...
Read More
/ Guest Post, Improve Your Writing