Fall Passionately in Love with Your Book

Yesterday, dozens of us 2013 debut kid-lit authors offered writing and marketing advice at WriteOnCon. I feel like I need to expand upon the advice I gave over there, so I'm going to continue my thoughts here.

This is what I said:

Make sure you’ve fallen passionately in love with your book before you try selling it. If you don’t love it, readers won’t either. It’s also perfectly fine to call the book a practice run and move on to a completely new project.

If you're an aspiring writer and you're not feeling passionate about your current project, I don't mean to leave you shaking in your boots. I'm not suggesting you immediately scrap the entire draft of the troublesome manuscript you're tackling. But let me offer some food for thought...

Writing a book isn't easy. You're mapping out plots, struggling to make your characters fascinating and three dimensional, avoiding awkward sentences, keeping grammar in check, etc., all at the same time.

You NEED to have passion to keep you going. If your story is feeling more like a business relationship—something you feel obligated to sit down and do each day—and less like the rush of a brand-new romance, perhaps you should question yourself, "Why am I writing this book?" Is it because everyone else on Twitter is announcing their daily word counts and you want to keep up? Is is because you once caught the writing bug and are fighting to get it back? Or is it because you truly have a story inside you that needs to be told?

In the Shadow of Blackbirds is my first major book success story, but it's not the first manuscript I ever wrote. I started penning a few novels as a kid, completed my first book in high school, and finished another one in college. Those books were set aside. They were practice runs, not ready to head out to the world.

After I graduated from college in the mid-90s, I fell madly in love with an idea for a historical novel geared toward adult readers. I sat down and churned out the pages and daydreamed about my plot on my drive to work and while shopping in the grocery store. I was brimming over with the need to share this book with the world, and I was more than happy to revise it and polish it like crazy after receiving feedback from other writers.

That was the first book that landed me an agent.

The book never sold because of marketing reasons, and I did have to put it aside and move onward. But I learned that my own passion for a story would translate into other people falling in love with it.

Fast forward to 2007. I fell in love with another book idea, which led to me signing with a new agent. The book also didn't sell for marketing reasons. 

Fast forward again, this time to 2009: A brand-new romance bloomed. I fell head over heels in love with an idea for a WWI-era YA ghost tale. I was calling the manuscript simply Blackbirds at the time, and I knew in my gut this book was extra special. Yes, some scenes didn't come easily, and I would end up reworking the entire manuscript numerous times, but I loved the story dearly and always looked forward to sitting down with my characters. My agent and I sold In the Shadow of Blackbirds to Amulet Books in the fall of 2011, seventeen years after I started writing the first book that I sold to an agent.

Were there other books in between that didn't inspire as much passion in me? Yes. Definitely. I had many practice runs along the way—manuscripts I was rushing through just to try to sell anything, but those novels didn't garner agent interest. I knew deep down they weren't my best work, but I was trying to write books I thought would sell... not books I truly loved.

Can you eventually feel passionate about a manuscript that initially feels more like work than pleasure? Yes. I'm working on a new book right now, and earlier this year, that story started feeling more like a business relationship than a romance. After I put the manuscript aside a couple times to work on In the Shadow of Blackbirds edits, some serious character changes hit me, and I found myself daydreaming about the book at the grocery store, in the car, etc. In fact, I'm feeling the itch to work on the new manuscript as soon as I finish this post.

Why do you write? Is it just to put words down on paper in hopes that someone—anyone—will read them? Or is it because you have a story you want and need to share?

Your love for your story will become our love for the story. Find your passion, and you'll eventually find success.  

My Number One Tip for Revising a Novel

Over at The Lucky 13s today I'm sharing a revision tip that proved to be crucial for my In the Shadow of Blackbirds edits. I'm also sharing the book's fluctuating word count, which dramatically rose and fell as I cut scenes/characters from the story and added new material.

I always think of book edits as a complicated jigsaw puzzle: you have to figure out which pieces fit where and what parts don't belong before you end up with your final, satisfying picture.

Here's my post:

http://thelucky13s.blogspot.com/2012/05/my-number-one-tip-from-revision.html

Links for Young Writers

If you attended one of my writing sessions for 5th to 8th graders at the Soar with Your Dreams Conference today, thanks so much for signing up to hear what I had to say. Welcome to my website!

As I mentioned during my talk, my love of writing started in childhood, so I completely understand the need to express yourself creatively at a young age. I'm even including a picture of me at thirteen, the age when I started submitting my work to publications and won my first writing award. No, I definitely wasn't the most popular kid in my school (not even close!), but I was able to release all my fears and hopes and frustrations through my poetry and stories.

The good news for young authors these days is that there are numerous places where you can submit your work. For starters, check out the following links:

Young Willamette Writers
Young Willamette Writers List of Contests and Publications
Kay Snow Writing Awards
"Be a Famous Writer" Contest
Teen Ink 
Merlyn's Pen

Jump on some of these opportunities to submit your writing if you can, but please be very careful to avoid places charging fees. Kids should not be paying anything to get their work into print.

If you have any questions regarding writing or my upcoming novel, please drop me a note in my comments section or find out how to email me through my contact page. I'd be more than happy to send you a reply when I have the chance. The only thing I'm unable to do is provide feedback on your work. Check with friends, family members, and teachers for help in that department, or join a group like Young Willamette Writers. If you know other writers your age, start a critique group of your own. That's what adult authors do.

If you've arrived at this page for a reason besides the Soar with Your Dreams Conference, please pass along these links to the young writers in your life. With budget cuts trimming more and more creative classes in schools, our student authors need encouragement and support.

Happy writing!

Read Books That Make You Squirm with Envy

I started reading John Green's new young adult novel, The Fault in Our Stars, today, and I immediately found myself hooked by his writing, his protagonist's memorable voice, and the novel's central predicament: a wisecracking, terminally ill young cancer patient named Hazel finds a new love in her life. Even as I sit here and type these words, I'm tempted to chuck all attempts at getting any writing done today and dive back into his story.

My instant love of Green's novel got me thinking about all the books I've read—from the disappointing to the brilliant—and I realized I can place them into four categories:

Category #1: Books I dislike shortly after I start reading them. Perhaps a rave review, the opening chapter, or the promising premise got me to pick up the book in the first place, but the book rapidly goes downhill. I usually set these novels aside instead of forcing myself to read them.

Category #2: The so-so books. I give the book a fair shot and eventually make my way through to the end, but it's not without some pain and regret. Usually I hold onto the hope that the ending will make the difficult journey worthwhile, and sadly, I'm often disappointed I stuck out the ride.

Category #3: The good books, worthy of 3- to 4-star ratings. I enjoy the reads, but there are one or two flaws that fail to make the book superb.

Category #4: The superb books. The authors are so skilled at their craft that they're able to juggle fascinating characters, a compelling plot, and ridiculously gorgeous writing without letting any element fall to the wayside. Typically, these are the award-winning books, and leaving their fictional worlds behind when I close the last page usually makes me feel a little lost. It's always hard to find a worthy follow-up read after finishing this type of book.

As a writer, I find Categories #2 and #4 are the ones that challenge me to write better books.

When I come across a so-so book in one of my favorite genres, I'm disappointed as a reader. In response, I set out to write the book I wanted to read. If all books in a genre were superb, I probably wouldn't feel such a compelling need to spin my own tales. For example, I've never experienced an overwhelming desire to write children's picture books, namely because the messages I'd want to get across for that age group have already, in my opinion, been achieved incredibly well by someone else. 

When I come across a book in the superb category, I feel my own writing improve. The skilled author sets the bar high, and as a writer, I find myself trying to climb to meet their nearly impossible standards and produce a story equally as compelling as theirs. It's like a cook who wants to improve themselves by eating a feast prepared by a master chef: you savor, you absorb, you fill yourself up with the other person's bounteous talents, and you learn.

If you're a writer, seek out the superb books as often as you can. Find yourself squirming with envy at an author's work. Treat your mind to writing that blows you away.

Never, ever be afraid of a challenge.

Your readers will be thankful.

My Musical Ode to Rejection Letter Survival

The theme this week at The Lucky 13s is What Keeps You Going When the Going Gets Tough. I responded with a song:

"THE TWELVE DAYS OF REJECTION"

My Long, Grueling Writing Road and the 21 JUMP STREET Writer Who Gave Me Advice

Once upon a time, when I was a teenager and some good-looking guy named Johnny Depp starred in a TV series called 21 Jump Street, I met a writer of that series at my friend's house. The writer knew my friend's parents, and I remember him sitting on their couch and telling me, "The best writing advice I can give you is to never give up." I believe I responded, "I won't," for I knew deep in my gut that I wouldn't and couldn't.

Decades passed, hairstyles dramatically improved, a recession came and went and then returned with a vengeance, people started needing to take off their shoes and half their clothes just to make it through airport security. Yet one thing stayed the same: I remained a struggling writer.

Recently, I got back in touch with my high school friend and asked her, "Didn't your parents know a screenwriter who wrote for shows like 21 Jump Street? Do you remember his name? I'm not totally imagining that incident, am I?" She wrote back, saying, "I am glad you did not give up. His name is Gary Hall."

Mr. Gary Hall: Thank you, thank you, thank you for planting that "never give up" advice inside my head. Since that day I met you, I've written countless manuscripts geared toward adult audiences, won several writing awards, received dozens and dozens of rejections, signed with two different agents, married my college sweetheart, given birth to two remarkable children, and pulled at my hair, wondering why, why my books are considered too risky and too unmarketable for publishers. Several times I considered giving up. I didn't understand why my brain was telling me to write when no one wanted to publish my words.

But...I also flew to a Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators conference in January 2010. Over dinner, I told my agent an idea for a young adult novel involving a teenage girl and the dark, bizarre world of early-twentieth-century spiritualism. I saw the excitement in my agent's eyes and dove back into the new manuscript as soon as I returned home. I shared the book with critique partners, revised, showed the book to my agent, revised again, and just this past fall sold that book to Amulet Books/Abrams. I did not give up. As recently as this past September, I cried on the phone while telling one of my best friends I felt like I was wasting my life by chasing this agonizing dream, but I still kept going.

Richard Bach wrote, "A professional writer is an amateur who didn't quit." We writers hear quotes like that all the time and absorb the words of wisdom into our souls, but sometimes we want to shout out, "Wait a minute. I'm not giving up, but I'm still not getting anywhere!" You know what? The advice is true. I'm proof that determination, time, blood, sweat, tears, and the pure, incomparable joy of spinning tales can indeed eventually lead to a deal with an amazing publishing company.

In celebration of Gary Hall and his advice that never left my brain, I'm sharing the 21 Jump Street opening credits below. Thank you again, Mr. Hall! To the other struggling writers out there: if writing feels as essential as breathing, keep plugging away.

Oh, and enjoy the Johnny Depp clips. I wonder whatever happened to that kid. ;)