I read your book "Bang" and was astonished to see how well you wrote Sebastian to develop the way you did. How in the world did you make him bottled up so full of anguish and how did you make the reader feel the same way? I'm writing a book about a very tragic topic myself, and as a teen writer, I want to soak up as many different writing tips as possible.

Barry Lyga Well, part of it might have been that when I wrote that book about a dead baby, I was a new father! So I was writing about that tragedy while my little daughter slept in a bassinet next to me. It made it very raw and real for me.

But this is the key to getting ANY character to resonate on the page: You have forget who YOU are and become the character. That means thinking, feeling, and saying (writing) things that you might never in a million years thing, feel, or say. It means kicking your sense of judgement out the window and letting the character speak their own real, honest truth. Whether that's a kid who accidentally shot and killed his sister or Billy Dent, the serial killer father from I HUNT KILLERS, or anyone. If you write in judgement of your characters, they won't feel real.

You have to take the risk and let the character's speak honestly, even if their honesty is difficult or upsetting or offensive to you.

Good luck!

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