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l. READ
Read, read, read all of the best books
you can. Current ones, old ones, as long as they are “good ones” – ask
your favorite librarian, she or he will know. Read like an apprentice –
this is the art you wish to create. Lessons of voice, plot,
characterization, setting will soak inside you unawares. As you are
reading, pay attention to what you LOVE – circle those things, mark up
the pages with reactions and connections. You will most likely be good
at writing the sort of books you enjoy reading.
2.
WRITE
Write, write, write. If you want to be a
writer, write. Write what you know. Write from your heart. Think BIG.
Think DIFFERENT. Tell a universally true story in a freshly original
way. If you want to be a writer, write. If not, don’t sweat it. There
are a lot of other perfectly nice jobs out there in the world. But… if
the hope of being an author is pounding inside your belly like an
over-due baby’s heel kicking to get out, if your heart races and your
pulse quickens with firefly ideas, and you notice you are happiest when
your fingers are tapping along the keyboard like one of those pre-set
pianos at the mall, well then, please don’t quit and become a
stockbroker. Write, write, write.
3. REVISE
Revise, revise, revise. The best stuff
comes with revision. Draft after draft we get closer to the truth,
closer to the light. Read your work aloud, cut the fluff, get to the
heart of it, circle the diamonds and write from there. Focus on the
story. Who is your main character and what does she or he want more than
anything else in the world?
4. GET CHEERLEADERS
Identify a few people in your life who
really want the best for you -- people who inspire you and encourage
you. Share your dream of being published with those folks and check in
with them every once and awhile for a “rah-rah-shissh-boom-ba!
GO (fill
in your name)! GO (fill in your name)! GO (fill in your name)!
5. GET FEEDBACK
When you’ve captured a story to the best
of your ability, it’s time to put it in the stroller and take it out for
a walk. Ask some trusted peers in the field -- fellow writers,
librarians, teachers, to critique the manuscript for you. Test-market it
with a class at a local school. Kids are so honest. Gotta love that.
Listen, really listen, to reactions/comments without
defending/explaining. If anything rings true, use it and revise again.
Now be truthful. Are you still in love? If there’s a beating pulse
there, great, stick with it. If you’ve lost your passion, so be it.
Chalk this story up as one of your “practice pieces.” Say “thanks a lot,
it was great, I had a fun,” and move on. Write your next story. This is
a tough business to break in to. Publishers are scaling back lists.
Every new potential acquisition, even from the most highly regarded
authors of our day, has to have that WOW factor. Be honest…… Do you feel
the WOW?
6. JOIN A CRITIQUE GROUP
If you are serious about being published
and want to grow in your craft -- find four or so like-minded folks in
your area and start a “critique group.” A simple model is to meet once a
month and everybody brings 5 copies of a chapter they’re working on. As
you read your chapter aloud, your colleagues are marking up their copies
with helpful comments like “love it!” or “explain more.” Listen
carefully, then, as people share first what they liked, and then,
secondly, areas of concern. Build in time to compare notes on editors,
conferences, good books you’ve read, etc., but make the writing your
main focus.
7. JOIN SCBWI
The Society of Children’s Book Writers
and Illustrators is a fabulous organization and if you’re serious about
breaking-in, you absolutely must join today -www.scbwi.org
– do not pass go, do not collect 200 rejections, join. Every career
field has its major professional organization – this is ours. For a
reasonable annual fee, you get a great guide to submitting manuscripts,
an updated list of publishers and what they’re looking for, a bi-monthly
magazine, and the chance to learn and network at excellent conferences
on the local, state and national level. This is where most of the
published authors I know got their feet wet. And the LA Conference has
dancing!
8. STUDY THE FIELD/DO MARKET
RESEARCH
Writing is a craft; it is also a
business. You will need to put in your time studying the field of
children’s publishing. An excellent starting point is to read Children’s
Writer’s and Illustrator’s Market – this is the children’s-market
version of the publishing bible, Writer’s Market. A newly revised
edition comes out each year. Read it with a pen in your hand. It’s full
of great stuff. There are many other fine books on writing for children,
too numerous to list, but here are a few I found especially helpful when
I was breaking-in:
Dear Genius, The Letters of Ursula Nordstrum, Leonard Marcus
How to Write a Children’s Book and Get it Published, Barbara
Seuling
The Essential Guide to Children’s Books and Their Creators, Anita
Silvey
The Way to Write for Children, Joan Aiken
Worlds of Childhood: The Art and Craft of Writing for Children,
William Zinsser
How to Write and Sell Children’s Picture Books, Jean E. Karl
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Publishing Children’s Books, Harold
Underdown
Picture Writing, Anastasia Suen
The Writer’s Guide to Crafting Stories for Children, Nancy Lamb
It’s a Bunny-Eat-Bunny World, Olga Litowinsky
And here are two books about the art of writing which I devour again and
again:
Writing Down the Bones, Natalie Goldberg
Bird by Bird, Annie Lamott
Make regular visits to bookstores and
libraries and see what’s hot. Which books appeal to you? Whose
publishing them? Where would your book fit? Leaf through publishers’
catalogs (you can call and order or borrow for free if you have a
librarian/bookseller friend.) Oh, and, if you don’t have
librarian/bookseller friends go make some today. These are the wonderful
people, who (in addition to teachers, of course) will be hopefully
recommending your books to readers one day. Without teachers, librarians
and booksellers, books can quickly become dust-bunny collectors on
shelves.
Check out local organizations where you can meet and network with people
in the field. In my upstate New York area, the Children’s Literature
Connection is a jewel.
www.childrensliteratureconnection.org. If there isn’t a group like
this in your area, why not start one?
9.MAKE A HIT LIST AND BEGIN
SUBMITTING
Based on
your research make a “hit list” of ten publishing companies you’d like
to work with. Now identify an editor (preferably an assistant editor as
they are still list-building) at each of these houses to whom you will
send your manuscript based on the procedures outlined in the SCBWI
guide. A great place to meet editors is at the smaller SCBWI conferences
and at the Rutger’s University Council on Children’s Literature
One-on-One Plus Conference which pairs promising writers and
illustrators with established authors, illustrators, editors, art
directors and agents for networking and mentoring -www.ruccl.org.
10. BELIEVE, BELIEVE, BELIEVE.
Good luck and all best wishes,
Coleen |
