Do you know any teens who dream of being writers? Many teens want to write or are already writing a novel. They ask for tips on how to improve their writing and how to get published.
Writers Jill Williamson and Stephanie Morrill have heard this question many times and decided that it was too broad a topic to cover on their blog, so they paired up to write a book with the same title as their popular website: Go Teen Writers.
Here’s the blurb:
Whether you’re just starting to write your first story or you’ve
finished and are wondering how to edit, this book will help you learn
how to perfect your craft and get your project ready for publication. Click to learn more.
Includes tips for:
-Getting published, finding
the right agent, book surgery, thicker plots, deeper characters, richer
settings, weaving in theme, dealing with people who don’t get your
writing Find this book at your local bookstore, or… In ebook at: Amazon.com • BarnesandNoble.com • Kobo
But this book isn’t just for teens. Any writer can benefit from their sage advice. They have some great ideas for dealing with saggy middles and deepening your characters. The authors go beyond the usual advice of giving the character a goal and an inner desire. They suggest creating a lie for the character to believe and a reason for him or her to believe it. As they point out, “And just like the lie can be a point of weakness for your main character, it can be the downfall of your antagonists.”
Pick up a copy of the book to find out more tips for improving your writing. And be sure to give a copy to your favorite teen author.
Also one of Stephanie’s books is free. Take advantage of the offer while it lasts.
I’m thrilled to be the first stop on an exciting blog tour. Today we’re welcoming Tameka Fryer Brown, picture book writer extraordinaire, who is launching her most recent release, MY COLD PLUM LEMON PIE BLUESY MOOD. With a title like that, you just know it’s going to be a great read.
In fact, I was so struck by the title that it was the first thing I asked about when I interviewed Tameka:
I adore your title, Tameka, and the way you play with words. I’d love it if you could talk about how you come up with your creative ideas and then pull them together in such a lyrical way.
Thanks, Laurie. It is a pretty cool title—but I can’t take sole credit for it. My agent, my editor, the art director, sales and marketing…all of us were involved. It was a major team effort.
I suppose my ideas come to me much the same as most writers’ do: an interesting turn of phrase, human behavior, song lyrics, memories, even dreams—these are all things that have influenced stories I’ve crafted. The lyrical part, I suppose that’s just a characteristic of my personal voice as an author. Even when I’m not attempting to write in rhyme, my stories tend to emerge in some poetic fashion. For example, MY COLD PLUM LEMON PIE BLUESY MOOD (Viking Children’s) came out as free verse—and when I say “came out,” I mean that literally.
One day I was being self-reflective, acknowledging that my behavior that day was due to my being “in a mood.” Immediately it struck me that this would make a great title or first line of a picture book (first lines and titles are what usually come to me initially). Once I sat down to write the story, the words just started flowing.
Here’s a sneak peek at the book trailer:
Can you tell us a bit more about your other books–published and in process?
AROUND OUR WAY ON NEIGHBORS’ DAY (Abrams, illustrated by Charlotte Riley-Webb) is my debut title. I describe it as a love story between a young girl and her close-knit, multicultural neighborhood. MY COLD PLUM LEMON PIE BLUESY MOOD (Viking Children’s) is my second picture book. It’s illustrated by Shane W. Evans, winner of last year’s Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award, and I am extremely excited about it! I fell in love with the sketches when I first saw them, and the finished artwork does not disappoint. The pictures are so colorful and lively—I believe kids are going to adore them as much as I do!
I am working on another picture book project, but I’m keeping the details a secret for now.
Can’t wait to see that secret project go public. And how lucky you are to have two talented illustrators for your books. I loved the art in Shane W. Evans’s award winning title, Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom, which is quite different from his work on your book. But both of these books have amazing illustrations. And Charlotte Riley-Webb has a wonderful vibrant style in your book as well as in her many other titles, including Sweet Potato Pie and Our Children Can Soar.
***
Everyone always enjoys hearing authors’ success stories. Can you tell us yours?
I decided to pursue children’s book writing after being a stay-at-home mother for about eight years. I felt it was time for me to get back to some type of cerebral pursuit and, having read tons of wonderful and not so wonderful picture books during that time, I was sure I could write some pretty good ones myself. Of course, I had to learn what “pretty good” was and was not, but I do believe my hard work and persistence are finally paying off.
And I don’t know about you, but I always enjoy seeing pictures of an author as a child. Tameka was kind enough to supply a picture of her as a youngster and as a fifth grader. I’m betting she was a talented writer and storyteller even then.
For more about Tameka Fryer Brown you can visit her website or visit her Facebook page. And be sure to follow her whirlwind blog tour this month.
This has been a month of major deadlines–a YA historical due to the editor mid-month, 60 articles on children’s and YA authors, and a 3-sample-chapters request from a book packager. Plus NaNo–which got a bit sidelined with all the traveling for the holidays. I met all my deadlines and am now ready to start on a new project.
It’s temporarily under wraps, but I’ve started some research and hope to get a lot done on it over the next month or two. I’m working with a great collaborator (it’s actually her idea that we’re working on). It’s great to work with someone so enthusiastic and supportive!! Can’t wait to see what we produce together. And thank heavens for the Internet and cell phones as we live on opposite sides of the country.
Right now I’m in the fun stage of the project–the preparation. It always reminds me of getting ready for the first day of school. The blank pages of new notebooks and smell of sharpened pencils and unused crayons. The anticipation part of the process. The adrenaline charge when everything is fresh and new and anything can happen.
So much of writing is just showing up to the page, churning out word counts, ignoring carpal tunnel syndrome and stiff necks. So before the newness wears off and the dull dailiness sets in, I’m taking time to revel in the broad expanse where anything can happen and usually does. This is when magic happens.
Editors and agents say that style is one of the main things they look for in submissions. Yet, they often can’t define it. They just know it when they see it.
If you’re struggling with finding your style, you may want to check out this post I did on Downtown YA.
As an editor, I often have the onerous task of writing rejection letters. Many newbie writers dash off their first novels in a few months. Then proud of their efforts, they pop them into envelopes or attach them to emails, positive they will soon have a book contract in hand. And many also expect to quit their day jobs once the book sells.
I sat across the table from one starry-eyed hopeful a few months ago who told me that she was spending all her after-work hours penning her middle grade book. “I can’t keep up this pace forever,” she confided. “It’ll be great once it sells. Then I can quit my teaching job and just write full time.”
If only… I struggled with what to say. Should I tell her the truth and dash her dreams? Or let the shock of rejection letters and the truth of royalty statements (should she be so lucky) knock her down later?
I opted for soft-pedaling the truth. “You know, many writers, even famous ones, needed to keep their day jobs even after they were published.”
She gave me a dubious look, and I could practically read her thoughts, That won’t be me.
I have never understood why people – who would never think they could pick up an instrument, spend a few months practicing, and debut with a symphony orchestra – think that they can sit down and write a best-selling novel.
I think F. Scott Fitzgerald explained things beautifully when he added this to the end of a letter he sent to a beginning writer:
P.S. I might say that the writing is smooth and agreeable and some of the pages very apt and charming. You have talent—which is the equivalent of a soldier having the right physical qualifications for entering West Point.
Succeeding in anything can be difficult. Look at all the Olympic hopefuls coming home without medals. If they compare themselves with the winners in their sport, they may feel like losers, but they’re not. Just making it to the Olympics shows how talented they are. They’re still winners, and so are you.
Who are you comparing yourself to? The winners in your field? Your ideal self? The one who does everything right while you never do?
OK, so maybe they don’t hate all of them. Some rhyming picture books still get published, but they have to be exceptional.
Many first-time picture authors believe stories should be told in rhyme. Not so. It’s so easy to trip up and make mistakes. The first and most glaring mistake is to use unnatural phrasing to make your lines rhyme. Would your phrases make sense if you wrote them out in prose without the rhyme? Convoluted sentences that lack flow drive editors crazy.
Newbie authors almost always twist word order. The cat on a fence sat is not normal sentence order. If you want an editor to consider your story, be sure it reads the way people speak. For a wonderful example of natural word order, read Alice Shertle’s poems. Here’s an excerpt from one of her poems:
I Am the Cat
I am the cat in the easy chair–
velvet arm, and a cushion where
I scratch my claws and groom my hair–
Mine, alone, is the easy chair.
I am the cat in a puddle of sun–
isn’t a sun puddle wonderful fun?
Doesn’t the light make my dark coat shine?
Isn’t it right that the sun is mine?
Read more samples of her work at the Miss Rumphius Effect blog, or better yet, pick up some of her 40 books. You’ll be glad you did. And if you have the opportunity to take a workshop with Ms. Shertle, do so. I had the privilege of attending a conference breakout session with her, and it was phenomenal. You’ll never look at a poem the same way again. Guaranteed.
So back to editors’ peeves… Another major flaw is choosing words because they rhyme. Often the words make little sense or are unrelated to the story. (And, yes, rhyming picture books do have to tell a story.) Having your giraffe drink from a carafe may fit the rhyme scheme, but not the storyline.
Near-rhyme is another annoyance. Is your turtle wearing a girdle? Close but not quite there. As Deborah Diesen says on the 12×12 blog, “it’s not enough that the words end with the same final syllable sound. Instead, the last stressed syllable andeverything that comes after the last stressed syllable must rhyme.” She gives the example of bunny and chickadee. Both end with the same long e sound, but they don’t rhyme.
After all this advice against it, if you still think you want to write a rhyming picture book, then I recommend hopping over to Diesen’s post for a long list of fabulous tips on editing your poetry. If you follow all her steps, then an editor may just be thrilled to pick up your submission.
All royalties go to support the Fredricksen Library.
Just got a notice that the book featuring my story, “Angel in the Mist,” is up for presale.
My story, a light paranormal, is an unusual twist on a love story. It begins in Ireland during the potato famine and crosses the ocean twice. If you love historicals, romance, or ghost stories, you might want to give it a try.
Best of all, all proceeds benefit a library. Combine your reading with your giving or vice versa and allow others to do the same.
Here’s a list of the other authors who are included:
Hunting Season – Rayne Ayers Debski
Take Care – Margaret DeAngelis
Angel in the Mist – Laurie J. Edwards
Survivor Barbie – C.A.Masterson
A Soldier’s Gift – Don Helin
Operation Pumpkin Patch – Gina Napoli
A Cautious Life – Larry C. Kerr
The Green Eyed Monster – Catherine Jordan
Smoke – Lori M. Myers
Number 11 – Maria McKee
The Things She Chose to Keep – Susan Pigott
The Surprise Party – Carol A. Lauver
an excerpt from “Oops,” Said God – Duffy Batzer
Swan Song – Ann Elia Stewart
Dragon Riders – D.A.Morrow
Free as a Bluejay – Madelyn Killion
4:30 – Bob Walton
Fade to Black – Kathryn Grace
The Nature of Sin – Maria McKee
Dead Letters – Susan Girolami Kramer
Dissipation – C.A.Masterson
The Mirror – Susan E. Bangs
Betsy’s Delight – Marlene Ross
Moving Targets – Debra A. Varsanyi
Creature of Habit – Don Helin
I’m also thrilled that 3 of my CPs also have work in the anthology. Nothing like having group booksignings.
You know those letters you get from publishers that begin with “We regret to inform you…” They end with “not right for our line,” “too many similar projects,” or other stock phrases that let you know this isn’t the publisher for you. Even worse are the preprinted ones without a signature. Many people call them “Rejection Letters.”
Not Sally Stuart. In herGuide to Getting Published, she calls them “Pre-Acceptance Letters.” Isn’t that a much nicer way to look at them?
