Make time to write. There’s never enough time to write, so writers can’t let this fact deter them. If you really want to write, grab any precious moment that you can and eventually those rare gems will add up. I get up early and stay up late, write on the train and bus during my daily commute and even noodle on phrasing when filling the dishwasher. When you do find an uninterrupted, golden block of time, don’t get distracted by laundry and yard work. Oh, and when you cook, make a double batch and put half in the freezer. Parents do this a lot, and it works for writing too. Every now and then I get home first after work. If I put the homemade frozen chili in the microwave, I’ll have up to 15 minutes to scribble before my husband and son get home—and I still get the points for starting dinner. Ha! (Thank goodness my husband is so wonderful! Make writing friends. Some of writing is a solo activity—being alone with your thoughts and characters, putting words and dreams onto paper. If you want to share your work with others—which is what publishing is—then writing is also a social activity. Sharing your work can be scary. Writing friends and groups
 
 
Thoughts on Writing Since I spend all day at a desk, I like to work on the couch at home with my feet up, and with my husband dozing off nearby. Poor guy, he usually gets poked awake with a “Can you read this?” I get a lot of writing done on my commute. My writing is better on the train than on the bus.
are a safe place to start. Writing friends cheer you on, help you stick to a schedule, celebrate even small successes and dust you off after a fall. And because they are outside your head (a very important criteria for writer friends) they can offer great insights into how others will respond to what you’ve put down on paper. Are all the dots connected? Do your character’s actions ring true? Are the words that you chose living up to the story? While others read your work, you’ll also get to read theirs, a great way to develop your own internal editor. My writer’s group in Chicago grew out of a class that members took together. I’ve found an online groups through the website for the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Each group has its own style and each group is great. Interestingly, the in-town bunch are healthy eaters (i.e. usually just a smidge of dessert), but I get the idea that if the online group met in person it would be desserts all ‘round. Mmmm. There’s lots of ways to fuel inspiration. Take classes, go to conferences. Again, writing for publication isn’t a solo activity. Taking classes and going to conferences are ways to build your skills and network, both important aspects of being a professional writer. These activities can help improve the technical aspects of writing and learn more about the market and how to fit into it. Two teachers that I’ve been lucky to take several classes with are Esther Hershenhorn, who teaches in Chicago, and Anastasia Suen, whose classes I took online. I also learned tons at the Highlights Foundation Workshop in Chatauqua. Toughen up. Sharing your work and taking classes generate—uh-oh—feedback. Deciding what to do with feedback can be tough. Sometimes it’s best to delete your favorite sentence in order to make the whole story better. Maybe five trusted writer friends have circled that sentence as not working. At first it’s like cutting off your finger tip, but when you snip the offending sentence out and don’t look at the story again until a week later, you have to agree that what seemed like major surgery was more like flicking off a tired, old scab. Other times even trusted readers flag something that really is the heart of the story and writers need the fortitude to keep it and just hope that someone along the way will recognize this aspect that makes their work unique. Then when an editor takes an interest, the feedback cycle begins again. It takes a thick skin and healthy distance from your own creation to sort out the value of other people’s feedback—but it’s worth it. Incorporating the experience and insight of others helps create stories that are bigger than any one person. Read like a writer. Read lots. Read the kind of stories that you like to write, plus other stories too. Read for the enjoyment of being a reader. And then go back and read again. How is the author using metaphors and literary devices? What moves the story forward? When and how do the characters grow? What details does the author use to paint the picture? When I wrote the Mendel book, I read lots of picture book biographies. Then I picked six favorites to analyze. I plotted out the contents of each double-page spread on a book dummy. I listed what biographical info was included. I counted words and wrote down how quotes and anecdotes were used and documented. I typed in a page and checked readability statistics. It may sound like a lot of work, but it was fun, and a great way to learn.http://www.estherhershenhorn.com/http://www.asuen.com/http://www.highlightsfoundation.org/shapeimage_5_link_0shapeimage_5_link_1shapeimage_5_link_2
I like to think of myself as an “emerging author.” I can’t offer the wisdom of someone who has written a library’s worth of books, but I have learned a few things so far…
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