WELCOME YOUNG WRITERS!

2008-05-08T09:33:00.000-07:00

Hey there! This blog is for you if you are a young writer who wants to get some quick tips on writing and publishing. I will be asking various authors for some tips, things they wish they knew when they were your age, and some quick tips to improve your writing.

So, bookmark this page and email me your questions!

CLICK HERE TO SEND ME AN EMAIL

Quick Tip #15

Love deeply. The greatest hearts write the greatest stories.

Quick Tip #14

When trying to create drama, show, don't tell, what's going on. Instead of writing,
"He was terrified."
Write:
"A cold sweat broke out across his back. He jumped at a sound he heard in the woods. 'Oh, it's only the wind,' he said as his heart raced.

Quick Tip #13

This tip is from practically my writer's Bible, a great book called "The First Five Pages," by Noah Lukeman.

He said to imagine that your reader is at least as smart as you. Be subtle. Make them guess for the meaning (but give them some clues!). A really great book is one in which the reader gleans something new each time they go back to it.

Quick Tip #12

I got this tip from my very first newspaper editor:

Imagine that you had to pay a dollar for every word you used. You'd say what you mean in as few words as possible. That tightens up your writing, making it more powerful.

QUICK TIP #11

The biggest tip, I've heard, from Ted [Dekker's] publisher is that writers need an agent. It's one of the only ways they will look at a manuscript. An agent can help get the proposal ready, meet with the publisher and help plan out a strategy so that it is a win-win situation.

www.creativetrust.com
Alicia Ferguson

QUICK TIP #10

This is my favorite and easiest tip: eliminate "be" verbs (is, are, was, were, am).

"It was starting to get dark,"

becomes
"Darkness fell."

Much more powerful, dramatic.

QUICK TIP #9

Before I sit down to write, I would think of happy memories or stories for three minutes. I start to write for twenty minutes. At the last word of my writing, I draw a circle with two dots and a big curve :-). I begin writing happily and end writing with a big smile on my paper. That helps me to continue to write everyday.

-- Irene Tsai
Author of "The Frog in the Well" and science articles for kids
VISIT HER PUBLISHER

QUICK TIP #8

A truly good book cannot be written without hope being in the story. I believe hope is the greatest attraction, and power a story can have. Lead characters often are underdogs, and heroes rise above adversity and achieve great things because of hope. When there is no hope in a story, the tale has no life. Breathe hope into every story you write.

-- Kevin Scott Collier
Author and Illustrator of many children's/tween book titles
VISIT HIS WEBSITE

QUICK TIP #7

On your computer, open a file. Call it "Ideas for Writing." When you're away from your computer, carry a notebook or a piece of paper in your pocket. When an idea for a story, a rhyme, or a theme for an article comes to you, write it down or type it into your file RIGHT THEN. Don't wait. Ideas are like wisps of smoke. They can come quickly and dissipate in a heartbeat. When you're ready to write, you'll already have a list for inspiration.

-- Donna J. Shepherd
Author of "No More Gunk!" & "OUCH! Sunburn!" - in Bookstores Now
VISIT HER WEBSITE

Blogger's Note: Donna's first book, "Topsy Turvy Land," was voted one of the top 50 children's books of all time by World Magazine (Dec. '06). My husband, Kevin, illustrated this book for her.

QUICK TIP #6

If you are writing fiction use things from your life past and present. Characters can be composites of family members, friends, or just people you meet. You have the choice to magically make your character smart like your brother, good looking like your uncle, an artist like your friend Kevin. Whatever you want them to be. Be a people watcher and you will see how many different kinds of people there are in the world.

-- Shari Lyle-Soffe
Author of "The Misadventures of Rooter and Snuffle"
"On the Go With Rooter and Snuffle" and
"Trouble Finds Rooter and Snuffle"
VISIT HER WEBSITE

QUICK TIP #5

During my sophomore summer of high school, I sat down and wrote a 300 page book. I didn't make any corrections. I just wrote the whole thing to prove to myself I could do it. If you want to be a novelist, I think you can learn so much through learning that kind of discipline. Let your characters come alive. Let them make their own decisions, instead of forcing them into your plot. From there the whole story grows on its own. You're just the gardener, watering it every day, pulling it back into the light, and weeding it as necessary.

-- Eric Wilson
Author of Facing the Giants, Field of Blood, and Expiration Date
VISIT HIS WEBSITE

QUICK TIP #4

1. On writing: do research and writing on what interests YOU the most, and then try to make it as interesting for others as it is for you.
2. On publishing: publishing the first article, story, or especially book is always the most difficult. Be prepared for rejection slips. After that, other projects will have a much easier time finding their way into print.

-- Paul L. Maier
Professor of Ancient History at Western Michigan University.
Second Vice President of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod.
READ AN ARTICLE

QUICK TIP #3

Concentrate on using strong verbs that don’t need adverbs to help them along. For instance, instead of using “walk” with an adverb you can use words like jaunt, stroll, amble, shuffle, saunter, or stride. Each one means a slightly different kind of walk.

-- Jean Matthew Hall
"Writing for the generations to come" Isaiah 30:8
VISIT HER BLOG

QUICK TIP #2

Think of the story you are writing as a garden, and all gardens need fertilizing, weeding and pruning. When you have finished your first draft, begin weeding out all the weak verbs and replace them with active and powerful ones. Your Find & Replace (Shift F) will help with this.

Then, prune back all those overblown sentences and descriptions. Remember, a few active and powerful words tell it better than a lot of weak and non-active words.

Now, fertilize by sprinkling snippets of back-story, and clues planted about your plot and the characters. Weave these snippets of information around and through your story, like a winding garden path - free of the weeds and overgrown branches. Beware of sidetracks that go nowhere.

FOCUS on what is important to your plot and your characters, and your story will blossom like a wonderful garden, full of delightful surprises readers will love.

-- Margot Finke
Children's Picture Book Author, Writing Resources Columnist and Teacher
VISIT HER WEBSITE
VISIT HER BLOG

QUICK TIP #1

Here’s the advice I always give to young writers when I visit schools:
Believe in yourself and your writing!
· Don’t be afraid of rejection. Even the best of writers, like J.K. Rowling, received numerous rejections before they had something published. So go ahead…send your story or poem off to an editor. Then start working on your next story.
· Don’t be so sensitive about your writing that you’re unwilling to take constructive criticism. Writing is only the beginning of the process…then comes the even more important part—rewriting.

-- Cynthia Reeg
Author of Kitty Kerplunking:
Preposition Fun Gifts From God
VISIT HER WEBSITE

Young Writer's Central

WELCOME YOUNG WRITERS!