Twitter Takeover: See David Haynes take over our Twitter account!

This week YA Author David Haynes took over our Twitter as a part of our weekly Thursday Twitter Takeover. David Haynes is the author of Right by My Side (See YEM’s write up of David Haynes here.) See highlights from the takeover below.

Hey Twitter! My name is David Haynes @ddhayneswrites and I’m the author of the just published Penguin Classic RIGHT BY MY SIDE. I’m your writer tonight for the #YAAuthorTakeover @PenguinClassics @penguinusa @kimbiliofiction

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

RIGHT BY MY SIDE first found its YA audience thirty years ago, and it’s a treat to talk about it with a new generation of readers and writers.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

Lots of things have changed in since the book was written.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

The job of telling the story: the same.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

The process: Well, that's a different story.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

I wrote the book longhand, on yellow legal pads. But, sometimes I still write by hand. I like the feel of pen on paper.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

But computers were involved. Eventually those legal pads had to be turned into a manuscript.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

So I borrowed the one from school and took it home in the evenings.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

This computer: pic.twitter.com/94Z53rbgG7

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

It was HEAVY!!!!!!

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

It used these: pic.twitter.com/xjYE6lozje

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

One in the top drive, containing the word processing program. One in the bottom drive for the saved file.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

One chapter fit on each floppy.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

I saved those two dozen floppy disks for a long time, but eventually they moved to digital files on this laptop–which is MANY TIMES lighter than that old computer.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

When I wrote the book I was teaching middle school in St. Paul, Minnesota. Publishing a first novel was a dream come true. A dream I know many of you also have.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

The characters in RIGHT BY MY SIDE are based on many of the students that I taught, but its not a one-for-one match.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

This character has that student's eyes but another student's voice. Another character is similar to a friend from junior high, but has the hair of a student who was in the class across the hall.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

As for Aunt Lucille–well, she was basically my Aunt Lucille.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

When my characters Marshall and Artie and Todd were in high school, If you wanted to meet up with your friends you had to dial up on one of those old, landline phones. I thought a lot about these kinds of changes as I worked on the new edition of the book.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

It's a different world when you can be constantly in touch if you want to be.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

Back then, a common plot device was the "missed call." The famous scene where the phone call with the crucial information comes just after the characters leave the room.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

I sort of love the way that this is handled now by people forgetting their phones or neglecting to charge them.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

But important point: The phone doesn't ring much in RIGHT BY MY SIDE. No one has one in their pockets because that wasn't a thing. All the action takes place face to fact.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

Or in letters. Marshall's mother writes him letters. When was the last time you got a letter?

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

Three years ago when I moved from Dallas to St. Louis, I discovered a box of letters that had been written to me over many years.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

It was great hearing all those voices in my head again, including a lot of folks who are no longer with us.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

In a separate box, I found all the correspondence from the first publication.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

Letters from agents and editors and … READERS.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

One thing I couldn't save was a collage made for me by a middle school class in Minneapolis. Lots of hearts and love. Hearing from readers is the best.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

It intrigues me to imagine Marshall and friends connecting with a new generation of readers.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

Marshall and his friends are fairly ordinary high school students.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

They come from working class families, but they go to school with kids who have a more money and… things.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

They're trying to figure out how to fit in. Or maybe just trying to get through the day.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

At home, the boys… well, everybody's issues with their parents are unique. Marshall's are particularly challenging. I think I lot of readers will relate.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

Creating Marshall's parents, Sam and Rose, was one of my favorite things about writing RIGHT BY MY SIDE.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

Sam is a big bear of a guy. He has an easy laugh and loves a good time. Maybe kind of lazy, too?

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

Rose is a wild spirit. Always the one with big dreams, but the one who didn't even know where to start to make them come true.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

Writers: This is a fun exercise! Write short psychological descriptions of your characters.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

The writing teacher in me heartily endorses all exercises that help bring your characters to life.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

An exercise I feature in all of my writing classes is to write a monologue in the voice of character from your story.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

For me, if I can get the character talking in my head, I can bring them to life on the page. I think I did that in #RightByMyside

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

It's an honor to have Right By My Side as part of the Penguin Classics series.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

I never dreamed my book would have a second life!

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

Some of the things @ddhayneswrites is talking about this round are the familiar and some of them are brand new.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

I'm certainly not the same writer–or person!–as I was when the book first appeared.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023

What's the same: Marshall and his friends, who are being read now by a new generation of writers.

— all about firsts (@YoungEntmag) February 10, 2023