Fast Response Deadline for Winter Cohort: December 15, 2024 Apply Now

S. Jae-Jones (JJ)

S. Jae-Jones (JJ)

Join JJ’s Cohort

S. Jae-Jones (called JJ) is an artist, an adrenaline junkie, and the New York Times bestselling author of Wintersong and Shadowsong, which have been published in ten foreign territories. Her latest novel, Guardians of Dawn: Zhara, was selected by Barnes & Noble as its YA Book Club pick and was published by Wednesday Books in August 2023; the next installment in the series, Ami, was published in August 2024. She was previously an editor at St. Martin’s Press in New York, and was also a contributor to the Pub(lishing) Crawl blog and co-host of their podcast. Born and raised in Los Angeles, she now lives on the wrong coast, where she can’t believe she has to deal with winter every year. When not writing, JJ can be found working toward her next black belt degree in taekwondo, being run ragged by her twin dogs, Castor and Pollux, or indulging in her favorite hobby — collecting more hobbies.

 

What excites you most about writing? How has it affected your life?

For me, writing was always a place to play; as an only child growing up, I didn’t have siblings to play with, so I often created elaborate tableaux of make-believe to keep myself entertained. As I grew older, writing became a place where I could explore myself and others through our shared thread of humanity. What makes us laugh, what makes us sorrow, what makes us connect to each other. Writing is a practice in much the same way as exercise or meditation or even faith can be a practice, and I strive to continually learn and grow and expand my empathy and understanding of human nature.

What mindset does a writer need to continue to grow and learn?

Writing is not a linear progression from “good” to “better”; every story requires different skills to fully realize the vision that lies at its heart. Sometimes those skills can be learned in the classroom, but a lot of time those skills come from simply living and gaining experience in order to bring depth and heart. Growth as a writer involves several things: openness, empathy, compassion, patience, and humility, but most of all, it requires the curiosity and courage to keep exploring the edges of your talent.

What three words describe you as a mentor?

Honest, incisive, compassionate.

What makes a good writing mentor?

A good writing mentor is one who understands and honors the vision at the heart of your story and does everything in their power to help you tell that story the way you want to. They understand that good work is one that connects the writer with the reader—through craft, through storytelling, and through language—and helps build and strengthen the tools you have in order to clearly communicate what you want to say. They are also flexible and accommodating of different needs and styles of support, and understand that mentorship involves much more listening than speaking.

What is your style of feedback?

From my days working in editorial, I tend to offer feedback in stages. The first would be a broad overview where I offer first impressions, what I thought was communicated in the text, and what I loved about the work, either in an editorial letter or a phone call. I like to have a conversation at this stage, talking with the writer about what they want to do with their story, what broader themes they want to convey, and how they want to go about it. I find that in conversation, a lot of questions are often worked out by the writer simply by having someone listen and respond. In the second stage I offer line edits, dialing down on specific places where things could be clearer and stronger through characterization, pacing, diction, and more. I also like to add little reactions of delighted surprise and other affirmations.