I'm gonna be blunt: I’m looking for That Special Someone. (Or maybe Special Someones.) I'd love, love, love to find a CP who writes YA, especially contemporary, as that's the majority of what I write and have written. I did a little Q&A kind of deal below because I am that much of a dork. If you think we’d be a good fit based on experience, habits, goals, etc., PM me. Then if you really sweep me off my feet, maybe we can take this thing to the next level. 
So, without further ado, some questions I’d like to pose:
1. How long have you been writing novel-length stories?
I’ve been writing novel-length stories for about 9 years, though not all of those years were filled with novel-length projects. I’ve written 8 novels, but only completed 5 of them (along with the multiple drafts of each project). I’ve also written and completed 2 novellas. Most of these projects are no good (a handful were written when I was a teen, so that’s my excuse) but some I may rewrite. I do have a contemporary YA novel that I’m revising and would like to start querying once I'm finished, hopefully before November.
2. How long is your average novel?
My first drafts tend to run on the short side, so right around 50K. However, my last two novels have clocked in at a little over 70K.
3. How long does it take you to write a first draft?
I aim for a month. Probably from participating in NaNoWriMo during my formative writer years. If it takes me longer than a month to write a first draft, I stress.
4. About how many manuscripts do you produce in a year?
In theory, I could write 12 a year if I wrote one every month, right? HA. Hahahaha. It’s hard for me to give a definitive answer to this question, since I haven’t been very consistent over the years. For many years, I wrote one project a year. But I wrote two projects in 2015 and three novels in 2016. Honestly, I’d like to aim for 4 a year. It sounds doable...maybe.
5. What genre(s) do you write?
I mostly write contemporary YA, and I’d really like to work with someone who writes mostly in that genre as well. But I also have plans for some New Adult and Middle Grade, both in contemporary and fantasy and scifi. I’ve never written anything other than contemporary, though, so we’ll see how that goes.
6. Who are your favorite authors/what are your favorite books in that genre?
Some of my favorite authors of YA are John Green, Rainbow Rowell, Adam Silvera, Laura Wiess, Becky Albertalli, Angie Thomas, Sabaa Tahir, J.K. Rowling, and Sarah J. Maas. I particularly aspire to write books like THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES by Mindy McGinnis.
7. What is your ultimate goal with your writing?
I want to be a full-time writer, and I want my books to help people, whether to distract them from reality for just a bit or to give them some light in the darkness.
7.5. If publication, where are you at in that stage? Are you agented? Do you plan on querying soon?
I’m not agented, but I really would love to start querying soon.
8. Have you ever critiqued someone’s novel before? If so, what method(s) did you use?
I’ve critiqued a lottttt of essays, poems, short stories, etc. I worked in a writing center and participated in workshops in my college creative writing classes. I was also the Co-President of the creative writing club on campus. (Aren’t I so cool?) I've also critiqued multiple novels for friends and they all love my inline comments, just sayin'. I use Track Changes to make comments/suggestions, and I usually do line edits, even though I know it could very likely be a waste of time. I’ve been doing this reading and writing thing essentially my entire life, and I don’t mean to brag or anything buuuuut I’m pretty sure every novel I critique will become an NYT bestseller.
9. What would you say your strengths/weaknesses are in critiquing? In writing?
Hmm, I think I’m pretty good at helping with plot, characterization, conflict, line editing, etc. I would say that most experienced readers know when they’re reading poor writing versus when they’re reading good writing, but can’t necessarily determine why writing is good or bad. And I think my biggest weakness is that I don’t think I can describe it either. Sometimes a story comes to life for me and sometimes it doesn’t, and it’s hard to tell another writer that their story doesn’t come to life for me. How do you give revision suggestions for that?
As far as writing … In the past, I’ve felt like I struggle most with plot. I’d say I’m getting better at plotting my novels, creating conflict, and building tension (thanks to outlining), but I tend to struggle a good deal with thinking everything I write sucks, that the story only sounds good in my head and I ruin it by writing it, etc. The self-doubt/the fear is probably my biggest writing weakness.
10. Do you have any other CPs?
I've had a few CPs over the years, but I'm still looking for someone I really click with. I know someone in real life who writes novels. She writes YA, but it’s paranormal fantasy, which I a) don’t write and b) don’t read, so I don’t think I can give the best feedback in terms of the conventions of the genre, and I also don’t think either of us looooves the other’s story. We both respect each other as writers, we both think that the other is a good writer, but we just don’t love each other’s genres. That’s part of the reason I’m seeking another CP, so I can work with someone who does read and write in my genre. I want to fall in love with someone else’s work, and I want them to fall in love with mine.
11. What kind of response time would you like for full manuscripts?
I like to take about a month between drafts, so a month would be ideal. But I'm quite flexible on this.
12. Do you want to exchange manuscripts once completed, or do you want a CP you can exchange chapters with as you draft them?
When I was a teenager, I used to let people read my chapters as I wrote them. Now, I’m much more mama bear with my first drafts. They’re usually so terrible I can’t bear to share them, anyway. I need to fix stuff before other eyes can see them. However, I’m totally up for bouncing ideas off another person in the drafting phase. I had a CP when I was a teenager and we’d spend hours IMing about our stories, and it always made me even more excited to write.
13. What is life like for you outside of writing? Do you have work, family, school, etc. obligations that may limit your time for writing and critiquing?
I do have a full-time job (woo!), but I don’t have children or anything like that. I mean, I do have some social obligations, but it’s probably mostly my job that’s going to take up my time. But I am 110% committed to this writing-publishing thing, so I’ll make time for it.
14. What other hobbies do you have outside of writing?
Other than reading, I like playing video games, watching movies/Netflix (I love Gilmore Girls, Bob’s Burgers, New Girl, Modern Family, The Big Bang Theory. Movie tastes range from Warrior to Lord of the Rings to Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), listening to music on Spotify (mostly rap right now), hanging out with friends/family, and sleeping. I’m not on Twitter, Instagram, etc. I do have Pinterest and Snapchat. That’s about it. So if you’re a Twitter person, you’re gonna have to keep in the know.
And now we've finally reached the end of this terribly long post! This probably seems mostly targeted to CPs, but if you just want to be a writing buddy (i.e., not exchange stories but just support each other and basically be friends) that's cool, too! Just PM me.
So, without further ado, some questions I’d like to pose:
1. How long have you been writing novel-length stories?
I’ve been writing novel-length stories for about 9 years, though not all of those years were filled with novel-length projects. I’ve written 8 novels, but only completed 5 of them (along with the multiple drafts of each project). I’ve also written and completed 2 novellas. Most of these projects are no good (a handful were written when I was a teen, so that’s my excuse) but some I may rewrite. I do have a contemporary YA novel that I’m revising and would like to start querying once I'm finished, hopefully before November.
2. How long is your average novel?
My first drafts tend to run on the short side, so right around 50K. However, my last two novels have clocked in at a little over 70K.
3. How long does it take you to write a first draft?
I aim for a month. Probably from participating in NaNoWriMo during my formative writer years. If it takes me longer than a month to write a first draft, I stress.
4. About how many manuscripts do you produce in a year?
In theory, I could write 12 a year if I wrote one every month, right? HA. Hahahaha. It’s hard for me to give a definitive answer to this question, since I haven’t been very consistent over the years. For many years, I wrote one project a year. But I wrote two projects in 2015 and three novels in 2016. Honestly, I’d like to aim for 4 a year. It sounds doable...maybe.
5. What genre(s) do you write?
I mostly write contemporary YA, and I’d really like to work with someone who writes mostly in that genre as well. But I also have plans for some New Adult and Middle Grade, both in contemporary and fantasy and scifi. I’ve never written anything other than contemporary, though, so we’ll see how that goes.
6. Who are your favorite authors/what are your favorite books in that genre?
Some of my favorite authors of YA are John Green, Rainbow Rowell, Adam Silvera, Laura Wiess, Becky Albertalli, Angie Thomas, Sabaa Tahir, J.K. Rowling, and Sarah J. Maas. I particularly aspire to write books like THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES by Mindy McGinnis.
7. What is your ultimate goal with your writing?
I want to be a full-time writer, and I want my books to help people, whether to distract them from reality for just a bit or to give them some light in the darkness.
7.5. If publication, where are you at in that stage? Are you agented? Do you plan on querying soon?
I’m not agented, but I really would love to start querying soon.
8. Have you ever critiqued someone’s novel before? If so, what method(s) did you use?
I’ve critiqued a lottttt of essays, poems, short stories, etc. I worked in a writing center and participated in workshops in my college creative writing classes. I was also the Co-President of the creative writing club on campus. (Aren’t I so cool?) I've also critiqued multiple novels for friends and they all love my inline comments, just sayin'. I use Track Changes to make comments/suggestions, and I usually do line edits, even though I know it could very likely be a waste of time. I’ve been doing this reading and writing thing essentially my entire life, and I don’t mean to brag or anything buuuuut I’m pretty sure every novel I critique will become an NYT bestseller.
9. What would you say your strengths/weaknesses are in critiquing? In writing?
Hmm, I think I’m pretty good at helping with plot, characterization, conflict, line editing, etc. I would say that most experienced readers know when they’re reading poor writing versus when they’re reading good writing, but can’t necessarily determine why writing is good or bad. And I think my biggest weakness is that I don’t think I can describe it either. Sometimes a story comes to life for me and sometimes it doesn’t, and it’s hard to tell another writer that their story doesn’t come to life for me. How do you give revision suggestions for that?
As far as writing … In the past, I’ve felt like I struggle most with plot. I’d say I’m getting better at plotting my novels, creating conflict, and building tension (thanks to outlining), but I tend to struggle a good deal with thinking everything I write sucks, that the story only sounds good in my head and I ruin it by writing it, etc. The self-doubt/the fear is probably my biggest writing weakness.
10. Do you have any other CPs?
I've had a few CPs over the years, but I'm still looking for someone I really click with. I know someone in real life who writes novels. She writes YA, but it’s paranormal fantasy, which I a) don’t write and b) don’t read, so I don’t think I can give the best feedback in terms of the conventions of the genre, and I also don’t think either of us looooves the other’s story. We both respect each other as writers, we both think that the other is a good writer, but we just don’t love each other’s genres. That’s part of the reason I’m seeking another CP, so I can work with someone who does read and write in my genre. I want to fall in love with someone else’s work, and I want them to fall in love with mine.
11. What kind of response time would you like for full manuscripts?
I like to take about a month between drafts, so a month would be ideal. But I'm quite flexible on this.
12. Do you want to exchange manuscripts once completed, or do you want a CP you can exchange chapters with as you draft them?
When I was a teenager, I used to let people read my chapters as I wrote them. Now, I’m much more mama bear with my first drafts. They’re usually so terrible I can’t bear to share them, anyway. I need to fix stuff before other eyes can see them. However, I’m totally up for bouncing ideas off another person in the drafting phase. I had a CP when I was a teenager and we’d spend hours IMing about our stories, and it always made me even more excited to write.
13. What is life like for you outside of writing? Do you have work, family, school, etc. obligations that may limit your time for writing and critiquing?
I do have a full-time job (woo!), but I don’t have children or anything like that. I mean, I do have some social obligations, but it’s probably mostly my job that’s going to take up my time. But I am 110% committed to this writing-publishing thing, so I’ll make time for it.
14. What other hobbies do you have outside of writing?
Other than reading, I like playing video games, watching movies/Netflix (I love Gilmore Girls, Bob’s Burgers, New Girl, Modern Family, The Big Bang Theory. Movie tastes range from Warrior to Lord of the Rings to Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), listening to music on Spotify (mostly rap right now), hanging out with friends/family, and sleeping. I’m not on Twitter, Instagram, etc. I do have Pinterest and Snapchat. That’s about it. So if you’re a Twitter person, you’re gonna have to keep in the know.
And now we've finally reached the end of this terribly long post! This probably seems mostly targeted to CPs, but if you just want to be a writing buddy (i.e., not exchange stories but just support each other and basically be friends) that's cool, too! Just PM me.
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