35 Years a Writer, 35 Lessons Learned

by Jane McBride

 

 

 
 
(Note:  This article is from the new January 2018 edition of Children’s Book Insider, the Children’s Writing Monthly.  To learn more about this essential tool for all kidlit writers, click here.)

 
 
 

Thirty-five years have passed since my first writing was published. Thirty-five years in the crazy business of writing have taught me a number of things. Thirty-five years have also taught me that I have much still to learn. But today we’ll start with what I’ve learned thus far. My hope is this list will shorten your own learning curve.

 

1. Writing is a business. Treat it as such.

 

2. Treat yourself as a business person. If you don’t respect yourself as both a writer and a business person, how can you expect others to treat you that way?

 

3. Keep records. Keep very, very good records. You never know when you’ll be audited, as my husband and I were five years ago.

 

4. Keep on top of your taxes. Do you need to make quarterly tax payments? Penalties are no fun.

 

5. Keep track of your expenses. Do you think that it’s too much trouble to record your mileage to a meeting or postage costs? Think again. Every penny counts.

 

6. Invest in yourself. If you can swing it, attend writers’ conferences. Subscribe to industry periodicals such as CBI, The Writer, Children’s Bookshelf (twice-weekly newsletter electronic newsletter from Publishers Weekly), etc.

 

7. Invest in good equipment. You wouldn’t try to cook professionally without the right tools. The same applies to writing.

 

8. Network. Even if you are an introvert, as many writers are, learn to network. You needn’t become a social butterfly at conferences, but don’t spend all of your time in your room. Engage others in conversation.

 

9. Have a support group. Writing is a solitary business. One of the best things you can do for yourself and for your career is to find a group of like-minded people. If you belong to a professional organization, see if there is a chapter in your area. If there isn’t, consider starting one. Or join an online group.

 

10. Find a mentor. A mentor can guide you in your writing, offer critiques, and tell you when you’ve gone off track.

 

11. Be a mentor. I’m a firm believer in giving back. Mentor a less experienced member of your writers group. Mentor a young writer at your local high school. You’ll learn much in teaching others.

 

12. Work to first learn and then improve your craft. Do you expect a surgeon to decide he wants to practice medicine and then start operating the next day? Of course not. You want a surgeon to have the necessary training and skills before he performs an operation. Then why do we expect to be skilled writers without learning how to write? Take classes. Attend workshops and conferences. Above all, practice your craft and write.

 

13. Don’t take the first offer that comes your way. In our eagerness to sell a book, especially a first book, it’s tempting to take the first offer, even a bad one.

 

14. Be wary of scams that pop up in the industry such as book doctors and others who claim they can fast-track your career. Some are legitimate; some are not. Always do your research before paying anyone to edit your manuscript or help you self-publish.

 

15. Remember that no agent is better than a bad agent. Don’t be in such a hurry to sign with an agent. Do your due diligence and check out any agent or agency before you sign.

 

16. Understand that a contract with an agent does not mean you are married to him or her, but that you will be “bound together” for the lifetime of any book he or she sells for you.

 

17. Don’t burn your bridges. Leave any agency or publishing house with good feelings on both sides. Any bad-mouthing about editors or agents on your part can and probably will come back to bite you.

 

18. Keep in touch. When an editor leaves your publishing house, it pays to stay in touch. The same goes for agents and other industry professionals.

 

19. Volunteer. Volunteer at your writers’ chapter, at conferences. Volunteer at bookfairs and the library. You will not only be giving back, you will also be making valuable contacts.

 

20. Establish working hours. When you’re writing, you’re working. Let your family and friends know that.

 

21. Don’t be afraid to say no. A few years ago, I received an offer to buy a book from a new publishing company. Something felt fishy about the offer, and I turned it down. In the end, I’m glad I did. The company proved not to be reputable.

 

22. Don’t be afraid to say no to family and friends. This goes back to treating yourself as a professional and expecting others to do the same. It’s tempting for others, when they learn that you work from home, to say, “Since you’re not working, will you ‘Let the repairman in,’ ‘Watch my sick child,’ Bake seven dozen cupcakes for the school bake sale,’ etc.” Smile politely and say, “I’m sorry, but I am working.”

 

23. Give yourself a break now and then. It’s wonderful to write every day (or whatever your schedule is), but it’s okay to take a break once in a while. You need to experience life to write about it.

 

24. Don’t beat yourself up when you can’t make your word count. Double down the next day. The important thing is that you keep writing.

 

25. Treat rejection as part of the learning curve. Rejections are a way of life for many writers, including me. After selling 36 books and hundreds of stories and articles, I still receive rejections with depressing frequency.

 

26. Respect your editor and/or agent. Don’t pester them with constant calls, texts, or emails. It’s okay to stay in contact, just don’t overwhelm them.

 

27. Meet your deadlines. Publishing houses operate on strict deadlines. If you don’t meet yours, you may put a crimp in the entire schedule.

 

28. If you can’t meet a deadline, let your editor know as soon as possible. Editors realize that emergencies happen. Give yours a heads-up if it becomes apparent that you can’t meet a deadline.

 

29. Be prepared to have financial dry spells. What happens if your last book doesn’t sell well? Can you still make the mortgage and buy groceries? (See # 30.)

 

30. Think twice before quitting your day job. Royalties can be delayed and/or be spotty. It helps to have the cushion of a regular paycheck to fall back on.

 

31. Know how many books you can reasonably expect to produce in a year. Set a realistic goal and then do your best to meet it.

 

32. Don’t be so quick to send off a book. Revise and polish, revise and polish again.

 

33. Stay current. Know what’s happening in your genre. Keep up with the latest trends. You don’t have to write to them, but you should know what is going on.

 

34. Find an outlet outside of writing. Writing is not just a business, but a form of expression as well. It helps to have another outlet to replenish your well of creativity.

 

35. Keep learning. A woman in my writing chapter expressed surprise when I mentioned that I had just returned from a writers’ conference. “With all the books you’ve published, I’m amazed that you that you still attend conferences,” she said. I replied, “I hope I never feel that I don’t need to learn something.”

 

 

Well, there you have it—35 lessons learned, many of them the hard way!

 

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Jane McBride is the author of 36 novels, numerous short stories and articles including pieces in 16 Chicken Soup for the Soul anthologies . Follow her writing blog at http://ift.tt/2EqH3z5

 

 
 

Children’s Author Gives Advice in New Edition of Book on Writing

By Laura Backes

Writing for Children and Young Adults (Self-Council Press) is the result of Marion Crook’s experience writing fiction series for both middle grade and young adult readers, nonfiction for children and self-help books for teens. Now in its third edition, Writing for Children and Young Adults aims to take aspiring authors through the creation of a manuscript, pitching it to publishers and then marketing it to the world. Here, Marion offers some tips on writing and presenting yourself as a professional author.

 

You write quite a bit in your book about creating characters. Can you please give us some important hallmarks of characters for picture books/easy readers, chapter books/middle grade, and young adult? How do these characters differ in their mindset and how they approach conflicts as they grow from young children to teenagers?

 

Characters in all books share common traits. They all need to be interesting. They need ideas and goals that the reader wonders about. They are usually intelligent so they can pursue their goals. They must have feelings that the reader can understand. And they must have faults that keep the reader unsure of the outcome.

 

Children have different interests and concerns at different ages. They move from simple, family and close neighborhood concerns to more complex issues and wider social connections. Young children can be seen to solve problems according to a simple moral code; older children can see nuances and more difficult moral dilemmas. As authors, we need to assess the moral and intellectual developmental stage of our readers and create stories that seem logical and possible to them.

 

Picture books/easy readers: The character must show the reader his or her world, even if it’s only a small pond where the duck wants to live, or an apartment where the dog tries to sleep. The characters give the child reader a personality to inhabit for a short time.

 

Chapter books/middle grade: These characters, particularly the main character, must have an interesting personality and a fascinating or curious quest. Readers at this age want a sense of “doing,” a feeling of movement and excitement. They are also aware of social and emotional choices that face protagonists of this age and expect the main character to solve problems ethically and to reveal some of her or his feelings and worries.

 

Young adult: characters in teen novels reveal more complexity than the characters of middle-grade books. They are seldom so self-confident that they breeze through life with few worries and great skills; they have self-doubt and often a sense of confusion. They are usually aware that they are, like adults, competent in some areas and incompetent in others and have to learn how to live with their limitations. Teens read for inspiration as well as entertainment and look for characters who have ambitions, skills in realizing those ambitions and a sense of purpose in life. They look for characters who are aware of beauty in the world and want to create it, who think about larger problems like peace and social justice and want to help create that. They want characters who show them how to be loved. Trends change quickly in this age group, so teens may be looking for new ideas and new worlds in their novels.

 

Is there a point of view to the text that’s best for each age group?

 

Young children like to follow a story from one point of view. If you are telling the story of the tortoise and the hare and the story is from the tortoise’s point of view, it is confusing for young children to try to see the story from the hare’s perspective. Older children may find multiple points of view interesting, but I stick to one point of view, even in my teen novels.

 

When one character tells the story from his or her point of view, the author must be careful that nothing can be known or understood by them unless it is reasonable. Susie, aged 10, cannot know what happened at the city council meeting the night before unless another character tells her, she reads about it or she overhears the information. With one point of view, the author must always be aware of what the character can and can’t know. The character can’t know what others are thinking unless it is obvious from their actions or conversation.

 

Do you have any tips on writing compelling dialogue?

 

Listen to people at the bus stop talking to each other. What kind of words do they use? What does their choice of word say about their personality? Their background? Their age? Each character has a distinct way of speaking that comes from their personality, their concerns, their preoccupations, even their occupation. If characters do not have distinct speech patterns, you will need to write more about them and get to know them better, so that they do sound unique. They don’t have to be unusual, just particular to the character. Beware of accents. They are hard to maintain and can be confusing.

 

Conflict drives dialogue. Write the dialogue and then go back and try to use more compelling, more dramatic or more engaging words.

 

You can write:

“Do the dishes, Susan.”

Susan whispered, “I don’t want to.”

 

Or you can write:

“Susan. Get your lazy bones up these stairs and into the kitchen!”

Susan whispered, “I work harder than you do.”

 

The second dialogue hints at a long-standing quarrel, a power imbalance and increased tension because the reader wonders if Susan is afraid and going to get into serious trouble.

 

What are a few things to keep in mind for fiction writers who want to try their hand at nonfiction for children?

 

What do the children you are writing for want to know? Pick something that your readers are going to be interested in, or find something so interesting that you can present it with such enthusiasm that readers will enjoy it.

 

Do the research and present accurate facts.

 

Write in a compelling manner. It may be instructional but it doesn’t have to be boring.

 

Keep your attitude one of exploration with your readers as if sharing your fascination with the subject and not top-down instruction.

 

What are your one or two best pieces of advice on writing a great query letter?

 

First of all, I recognize that query letters are difficult to write.

 

Go online to the website of the publisher or agent you are approaching and find their description of the query letter. They often tell you what they want in the letter. Read a book or two on writing book proposals as they will include how to write a query letter. Present yourself in the letter as professional, accomplished and eager. Be polite.

 

And finally, send out lots of queries and maintain an optimistic attitude.

 

Is there anything you know now about writing/publishing that you wish you’d known when you were starting out?

 

I wish I had known that it was important to keep all my pieces of writing in an organized filing system. It should be easy on computers, but somehow pieces of writing get lost.

 

I wish I had created a writing plan, much like a business plan, so that I could plot my progress over the years, readjust my goals and keep my career on a steady track. I wish I had taken more writing courses, and read more books on writing earlier. I wish I had connected with other writers more often over the years. I wish I had had a critique partner from the beginning. But I’ve decided to forgive myself for not doing all that. It’s been an interesting journey.

 

Learn more about Marion’s books on her website, or connect with her on Twitter or Facebook. 

 

This is a post from writeforkids.org. Read the original post: Children’s Author Gives Advice in New Edition of Book on Writing