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Writers I meet at conferences, online, and through courses I teach often ask me questions. Here are a few of them, along with my answers, and some of my thoughts on the writing process.
Where do you get your ideas?
I get my ideas from things I feel passionate about - things I love (for example, I love teddy bears, and that led to my writing A Bear for Miguel); things I hate (I can't stand housecleaning, and wondering who invented the vacuum cleaner led to my writing Vacuum Cleaners and my other books in the "Household History" series); and things I fear (I fear losing my sight, and that produced the short story "A Song in the Dark" that has been reprinted in numerous magazines and anthologies, and won the SCBWI Magazine Merit Award in the fiction category).
Do you ever use real life or real people in your writing?
Yes. I often use real life experiences. For example, the combination of an unhappy move to New York City when I was a youngster and a difficult military move to a small Midwest military proving ground led me to write The Proving Ground. However, I only used them as a jumping off point. I then empowered my main character to find ways to deal with the fictional situation, different from the ways I found to deal with my real life situation. What's important in a real life memory is the strong feelings you still have about it. If you use those feelings in your writing, then you'll give it an emotional power that will resonate with readers.
Sometimes I'll use a real person I've observed in my writing - Benjy in The Ghost Cadet comes from a real boy I observed. When I start with a real person, I try to change things so that he or she won't recognize himself. I ask myself what's important about that person to make me think of him or her as a role model for that character, and hold onto that, then change other personal attributes.
How did you sell your first book?
I joined SCBWI and found a listing for Henry Holt in the "Publisher's Corner" section of their Bulletin. However, before that I had sent The Ghost Cadet to over twenty-five different publishers, based on their listings in various market books. I got a collection of form rejections, requests to revise, and personal letters from editors telling me they liked the book, but it wasn't for them. One editor even invited me to visit her in her New York office, and assured me that I would be published one day, and she hoped it would be by them, but said regretfully that she couldn't publish this book. I believed in the manuscript, however, and Henry Holt's confidence in it was justified when it made thirteen state award lists and won the Virginia Best Book Award. So research your publishers, stay on top of the latest breaking market news, join SCBWI (more and more publishers are closing their doors to unsolicited manuscripts - unless the manuscript is submitted by a SCBWI member), and believe in your manuscript.
I've written my novel (or picture book) once, and I like it. Why do I have to revise before I can get published?
Getting your story down the first time is the fun part. It's new and exciting - the characters seem alive, and the plot is thrilling. But chances are your story isn't perfect yet. It often needs a fresh pair of eyes. This is because we know what we wanted to write, but we don't always know if we've succeeded - will another reader understand the story we meant to tell? Fellow writers can read your work critically and tell you what they got out of it - and what they didn't understand, or what wasn't believable for them. Writing is all about communication. It's up to you to make your writing clear enough that a reader will understand the story you meant to tell. Revising to clarify things or deepen your themes or tighten your prose can turn a manuscript with potential into a saleable manuscript. Overworked editors are much more likely to buy a manuscript that is close to publishable than one needing a lot more work. The more you revise before sending it to them, the better your chances of publication.How do I find a critique group?
When you join SCBWI you'll receive a membership roster. Contact members who live in your area. They may already have a working writer's group that you can join, or you may convince them to start one. You can also meet writers who live close to you by attending a SCBWI or other writer's conference in your region. Or you could put an ad in your paper or a notice in your library, asking other writers to contact you. Meet each other and see if you can work together. It's a wonderful way to keep yourself inspired and to polish your work before sending it to an editor.Magazines pay so little - why should I write for them?
Magazines are a wonderful training ground on which to build experience - experience in market research, in submission procedure, in working with an editor to revise, even in contract negotiation. Sometimes a magazine sale can even lead to a book sale, as book editors read children's magazines. I published an article about the invention of the vacuum cleaner in Cricket magazine, and an editor from Carolrhoda saw it and contacted me to ask me to write a book for them - that one magazine article led to a total of four books sold to Carolrhoda for their "Household History" series, and an invitation to start writing biographies for their "Creative Minds" and "History Makers" series.
I have great ideas, but I've got a family and a job - I'm so busy it's hard to get those ideas down on paper. How do you manage?
Having great ideas is the first step. After that, you have to look at your priorities and decide how important writing is to you. If it's more important than, say, watching television in the evenings or sleeping in the morning, then look at ways to cut out something else so that you make time to write. Some writers get up early while their spouses and children are still asleep in order to write. Personally, I'm a night person, so I stay up late to write, after my husband is asleep. But there's only one secret to getting those ideas down on paper - sit down at your computer or typewriter, and just do it. For some, writing is sweating blood; for others it's a joy. I invest a lot of time and emotion and hard work in creating the most believable characters, doing the most accurate research, and writing the best stories and articles I'm capable of, but I love every moment I sit at my keyboard. I can't think of anything else I'd rather do with my life than write.
I love to write - when can I quit my day job?
I don't recommend quitting your day job until you've made a few book sales. I quit mine after my second book, The Proving Ground came out, when my third and fourth books (Tournament of Time and A Bear for Miguel) were sold. But I'd already sold over 100 magazine stories, articles and activities, and I had other books under consideration. My first book, The Ghost Cadet, was already earning royalties so I knew I could count on a regular income. Be realistic about how much income you need to contribute to your household, and don't quit your day job until you're sure your writing can support that. That's not to say you shouldn't take a year off, when you can manage it, to get a feel of what it's like to write full time - if you can swing that, it's a wonderful testing ground.
I hope you find some of these tips helpful. Discard the ones you don't. In the end, every writer is unique, and every writer approaches his or her work in a unique way. Use what works for you, and ignore the rest. If you have a question you'd like me to consider answering here, please e-mail me with it!
And if you're interested in learning more about my Writer's Retreats and Workshops, please click here.
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