12 Agents Looking for Your Coming-of-Age Books

They like characters, Big Ideas, and events that feel like they’re speaking directly to them.

make sure all of the relationships in your hero’s life are interesting and unresolved!

Theme is a writer’s interpretation of life.

You need to first review your interests, your curiosities, and your style to determine the foundation of where your stories will come from. Understand who you are before learning what resonates with others.

ground the stakes in your characters and make them small, believable, and specific. That’s how you hook into emotion.

Different writers like to tackle theme in different ways. Some, with a question, others with a statement, and some, with only a word.