Breakout Session 4: How Tension and Conflict Drive Storytelling with Krista Marino

Krista Marino is a VP & Senior Executive Editor at Delacorte Press where she acquires and edits Young Adult and Middle Grade fiction. Among her list are bestselling series, like the Maze Runner; literary gems, like Kathleen Glasgow’s Girl in Pieces; genre-bending classics, like Rory Power’s Wilder Girls; trendsetters, like Karen M. McManus’s One of Us Is Lying; and masterful works of fantasy, like Amélie Wen Zhao’s Song of Silver, Flame like Night. Whether it’s an original voice, a unique world, or a compelling plot, she’s looking for stories you can’t stop thinking about.

How Tension and Conflict Drive Storytelling

The basics:

• Conflict is the engine of plot.
• Tension is the emotional strain that keeps readers hooked. 

How Conflict Drives Tension:

1. Conflict sets opposing forces in motion--it is "a problem with resistance"

2. Tension lives in the place between want and outcome--between a character and a character's desire and whether they'll achieve it

3. Conflict raises stakes, which amplifies tension

4. Unresolved conflict sustains suspense

So...

• conflict creates friction
• friction produces uncertainty
• uncertainty + stakes = tension

Tools for building tension:

• layer conflict (external and internal)
• use secrets and silence
• raises the stakes 
• mix fast-faced conflict with slow-burn emotional tension

Now, make it more tense:

1. withhold key information (peel back in layers)

2. Use time pressure

3. Layer internal and external conflict

4. Raise the stakes in every scene

5. Exploit secrets and lies

6. Shorten scenes in high moments (pacing)

7. Trap characters together

8. End chapters on uncertainty 

Krista takes this breakout group through all of these many aspects of conflict in tension in story, uses the books above, and more. Check out the greater depth of exploration and conversation in the replays.

If you are not registered and want to view this session to hear the full content, along with the rest of the conference, register at https://www.scbwi.org/events/virtual-summer-conference-2025. Replays of the conferences will be available until September 14th, 2025.

The Editors' Panel is About to Begin!

Moderated by Lin Oliver, the panelists are:

Left to right: Krista Marino, Amanda Maciel, Elizabeth Law

Left to right: Laura Godwin, Namrata Tripathi, Francesco Sedita

Krista Marino: After the Contract; What You Can Do To Make Your Book A Success

Krista Marino

Krista Marino is an Executive Editor at Delacorte Press (Random House Children's Books) where she acquires and edits young adult and middle grade fiction. Some of the books on her list include the Maze Runner series by James Dashner, the Reckoners series by Brandon Sanderson, and the Nightmares! series by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller. Other books she’s published include The Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson, These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly, The Darkest Corners by Kara Thomas, and the young adult works of Matt de la Peña. Krista is always looking for strong new voices, innovative concepts, and great stories for her list. @KristaMarino on Twitter.



Along with a robust handout and an overflow crowd (they had to bring in extra rows of chairs), Krista's session is packed with information and tips. She talks about timelines (what to do before publication and after), the importance of agents, and how being published early isn't always what's best for your book.

Some highlights...

On blurbs:

you want it on the galley or ARC, and the best way to get one is author to author.

On social media:

"the biggest part right now of putting yourself ahead of the pack."

She also shared three authors who do twitter really well: Nicola Yoon, Melissa Grey, and James Dashner.

On school visits:

And how she's seen them play such an important role in careers, like for Matt de la Pena, Chris Gravenstein and James Dashner.

And there's so much more shared in this invaluable breakout session!

Happy Hour Hangouts

A new opportunity at the SCBWI Summer Conference, these informal conversations with faculty members including agents and artist reps (Ginger Clark, Erica Rand Silverman, Tina Wexler, Kirsten Hall and Brooks Sherman) and editors and publishers (Krista Marino, Neal Porter, Sara Sargent, Melissa Manlove, Stacey Barney, Kat Brzozowski, and Reka Simonsen) are a big hit!

Attendees with agent Ginger Clark

Attendees with Publisher Neal Porter

SCBWI TEAM BLOG Pre-Conference Interview: Advice on Critiques From Editors & Agents

Yesterday Alice Pope offered another in our series of SCBWI TEAM BLOG pre-conference interivews with Annual Winter Conference faculty. Alice talked to a handful of editors and agents on receiving and giving manuscript feedback.

Below is a bit from her post. Click here to read the full interview.  

SCBWI's Annual Winter Conference in New York is just eleven days away! If you're attending, you may be planning your outfits and your evening activities in the city (which you certainly should), but you should also be thinking about how to make the most of the event. So I checked in with a few of the editors and agents participating in the conference to ask for some advice to pass on to you.

Today's topic: CRITIQUES

Editors Krista Marino (Delacorte), Franceso Sedita (Penguin) and Jennifer Rees (Scholastic) and agents Kerry Sparks (Levine/Greenberg) and Kary Kole (Andrea Brown) are participating in the Writers' Intensive that kicks off the weekend of conferencing. At this day-long event, writers have the opportunity to get feedback on a manuscript from a several editors and agents, and writers offer feedback to one another.

Intensives have limited space for writers and this year's Writers' Intensive (as usual) sold out super fast. But even if you aren't attending it, you probably have been or will be in a critique situation, whether at a conference with an editor or agent, one-on-one with a critique partner, or in a critique group setting. Here are some things to keep in mind offered by our group of industry insiders.

Although the Writers' Intensive is sold you, you can still register for the Annual Winter Conference and rub elbows with industry insiders like the ones above. Click here for information.

A Peek in on Day 3 of Krista Marino's Premium Workshop

Krista Marino is a Senior Editor at Delacorte Press (Random House Children's Books).

I'm peeking in on Day 3 (of 4) of her premium workshop Finding and Revising Your Protagonist's Voice in a Young Adult Novel.

The class was given pre-reading and movie watching assignments prior to the conference as well as homework during. Last night's homework: eavesdropping. (Now that's what I call homework!)

How about this one, coming from a teen overhead at a bookstore: "I think this is the supposed-to-be-a-good-book section."

The class is dishing on dialogue today.

Marino: A lot of people think voice means dialogue, but it doesn't.

Dialogue is more than just words. It has to feel real. But dialogue is not only what a character says, but it's also the character's internal monologue, which might be even more important.

Exercise: Krista reads an excerpt from Jennifer Donnelly's REVOLUTION (pre-reading homework). She then reads it again but removes the inner monologue to look at how it changes it. Without, the character becomes kind of one note.

Steven Malk, Krista Marino, Frank Portman - From Idea To Book: The Writer-Agent-Editor Team

Steven Malk discovered Frank Portman (a musician) at a Mr. T Experience show and thought his music would translate well into young adult literature.

Frank Portman performs his song Even Hitler Had a Girlfriend. (If you're not hear to experience it...find it on iTunes!)

Malk invited several editors to see one of Portman’s shows and Marino went. As an editor building her own list, she saw the potential.

Over lunch, Marino asked Portman if there were any songs he could turn into a story. Portman took that as an assignment and his first book came out of his song, King Dork.

Portman performs his song King Dork. (again...find it on iTunes!)

Portman sat down and wrote thirty pages…all voice and attitude. From that, the book was sold to Random House.

Malk says those fist thirty pages were so amazing, with a voice that you’ve never heard before: such a strong voice, such great humor.

Every word counts in a song, the same as with a picture book. And Frank has a mastery of language.

Important take-aways:
-you need to take from everywhere in your life for a story idea
-read a ton of YA, the classics and the new stuff
-your publisher wants to sell your books but they can’t do it without your help
-blogging is important, it’s a way to reach out to readers
-use all of your connections…networking is so, so important
-expect the book writing and revising process to be a collaboration
-find an editor who gets your project

Frank Portman's second book ANDROMEDIA KLEIN is out later this month.

Insider Info Not to Be Missed!

Afternoon Session Preview: Frank Portman, Steven Malk, Krista Marino

Sometimes you end up in the right place at the right time and get great scoop at the conference. For me...twice!

So, since I'm part of Team Blog, lucky you, I get to share. Shhh...

Later today, Portman, Malk, and Marino will be presenting together in the afternoon breakout session: The Writer-Agent-Editor Team. This scoop from Steven Malk: the talented Frank Portman will preform a song (or two!) during the session. How cool is that?

Then yesterday, Frank's über cool editor, Krista Marino, handed me a Frank Portman promo CD FULL of goodies (some of them secret...squeee!).

Nothing like cook swag, huh?

I'll be there live blogging (and sharing a bit from my swag!), but if you don't want to miss a Frank Portman performance, you'll have to join me.

Anica Rissi and Krista Marino: The Teen Movement

Anica Rissi is a Senior Editor at Simon Pulse, a YA imprint of Simon & Schuster. They publish young adult books from the very literary to the very high concept.

Krista Marino is a Senior Editor at Delecorte Press (Random House Children's Books). She works on YA and MG fiction.

Anica: There is a need to target teens where they live...on the computer. Teens are building a relationhip with authors in ways they didn't used to.

Krista: What I see happening right now (and down the line) kids are really moving away from the books that resemble their world. They're buying THE HUNGER GAMES instead of SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS. They don't have to think about what's happening at home, in their world.

Anica: A key of YA is the immediacy of the moments, intensity of the experience.

Many teens are leaning towards dark books. But the girl-ends-up-with-the-boy type of book is also still working.

Anica: There's no room for something that doesn't have layers.

POSTED BY JOLIE STEKLY

Krista Marino: Establishing Your YA Voice (workshop)

Special workshops are offered at the SCBWI conference. Krista Marino is presenting Establishing Your YA Voice throughout the four days of the conference to a limited number of attendees.

This is day 2 of her workshop. Today's topic is dialogue. Presenting with her is Matt de la Peña, author of MEXICAN WHITEBOY.

Matt: "I lock into the characters...once you know who they are, it makes the dialogue that much easier."

Matt: "Dialogue is not only what people say, but what they don't say."

Matt revises dialogue a lot.

"I like to think about the musicality language."

Stage direction within the dialogue is also important.

Matt believes consistency is the most important thing, if you break the rules you set up early in the book that when the reader is pulled out.

Krista mentions that some of her writers read their entire book out loud to be able to hear it and feel the rhythm.

Matt adds, "You really discover when you've packed in too much dialogue in one exchange."

POSTED BY JOLIE STEKLY

Krista Marino-Establishing your YA voice

Fabulous editor Krista Marino (Delacorte) is giving a super in-depth workshop on how to establish your YA voice. After 5 minutes of listening, I thought, "Wow. I still have a ton to learn!"

This workshop required preregistration and it's obvious that Krista worked very closely with these writers and will do so over the next four days. I'd highly recommend it if you're looking for some serious editorial advice.

Some of her great points were focusing on finding your authorial voice. If you read a Meg Cabot or Stephen King book, you know the author without having to look. How do they do that? She offers a handout with several elements that are key to establishing your voice.

I wish I had that handout!!!

But she did say that as adults writing for teens we should try to recapture our childlike outlook. Our perspective changes as we experience things, so it's important to be able to identify with that unaffected self.

All in all, I wish I'D PREREGISTERED! She sounded brilliant! Next year, I'm so in! Hope you wil be too!

Posted by Suzanne Young