The Apocalypsies Battle Writer’s Block Part Two!
Welcome! Come on in. By now you know the drill.
Think the gates to publication are closed? There’s no way for you to break into the industry? Think again. Here is the second installment of “Gate Crashers” dedicated to the Apocalypsies, 2012’s up-and-coming debut authors in the Kidlit industry! Each of them shared similar doubts, worries that the road to publication was blocked, that they’d be writing forever, never reaching that awesome goal of—Wow! I challenged Writer’s Block and now I’m being published! Each persevered and a bunch of them agreed to join “Gate Crashers,” sharing three personal tidbits of wisdom to help other writers (YOU) stick with it. Check out what these amazing writers have to say!
Push open the gate. Step inside. Learn. Enjoy. Conquer.
Click the pics for awesome links
Kathleen Peacock
HEMLOCK
1. Advice to aspiring writers:
If your goal is to write and be published, you have to want it. Really, really want it. That probably sounds cliché—and it’s certainly an over simplification—but it is true. There will be nights where you don’t get enough sleep and days when cereal is your breakfast, lunch, AND dinner. There will be dizzying highs when you receive partial requests and feel like a rock star followed by days when you’re six-feet deep in form rejections.
But if you can make it through all of that—if you can hang on to your love of words and stories and finish your book—then you will have attained a goal many talk of and few reach. You will have written a novel. No matter what comes after, no one can ever take that accomplishment from you.
2. Hardest thing about the journey to publication:
Finding balance. It’s so easy to get swept up in writing and chasing publication that sometimes you forget that there is more to you than this one dream. That’s not healthy and it’s not a sustainable place. The first twelve months (when I was querying and then dealing with everything that comes after the offer) were really hard because I lacked that balance. All I could see was the book, so when things weren’t going well I sometimes felt like it was the end of the world. On those days, I had trouble seeing all the good that was happening.
3. Most fun thing:
Definitely the friendships I’ve made along the way. The writing community—especially the YA slice—is incredibly supportive.
I’ve also been blown away by how awesome book bloggers and readers are. My book isn’t even out yet, and I’ve already gotten so much support and met so many great people via social networks. It’s truly amazing and just makes me want to hug the internet (but I’ll refrain for fear of wrinkling it).
Laura Ellen
BLIND SPOT
1. Advice to aspiring writers:
Revising is often difficult for writers. This may be because when told to revise, people tend to think it means simply changing words. Revising is not editing. Revision is re-vision. It means taking that first draft, finding what works, and then cutting and adding, and cutting some more. After I write a complete first draft, I open a new document and start again, from scratch. This may sound crazy, but it works. It keeps me targeted on what I know needs to happen in those critical first three chapters, instead of getting caught in the “but I liked that” syndrome. Once I have the first three chapters written, I may go back and paste certain parts of that first version in, but honestly? I rarely do. That first draft mainly serves as a bin holding my plot – like a stockpile or pile of clay I am pulling my new draft from. And about those “but I liked that” scenes and bits of dialogue that need to go? I paste them into an “out takes” file before deleting them. That way they aren’t really ever gone, just relocated. It eases the pain.
2. Hardest thing about the journey to publication:
The hardest thing on my journey to publication was convincing myself that I was a good writer and to keep at it. I would get “champagne” rejections, the personal ones with specific feedback or offers to resubmit after revision, but a part of me was always afraid I was like one of those singers on American Idol – the ones who love to sing but can’t hold a tune, and keep trying out despite the judges saying “no”. Self doubt sucks and if I didn’t love writing so much, I probably would’ve given up way too soon.
3. Most fun thing:
The most fun aspect of my publication journey has been, hands down, networking with other authors, editors, and agents. I learned so much along the way from the generosity of others in the industry, the experience has been invaluable. Now as I get ready for my debut novel to be released, I continue to be amazed at how supportive everyone is. The children’s publishing biz is definitely the best!
Debra McArthur
A VOICE FOR KANSAS 
1. Advice to aspiring writers:
Surround yourself with people who will give you frank and honest feedback about your writing. This is probably not your mom or your kids. If you are lucky enough to live in an area with several people whose writing is publication-worthy (even though they may not yet be published), that’s great. Hook up with them. If you have attended a writing workshop, even one far from home, and connected with writers there, you can share your work-in-progress via email and/or video chats. If you have met writers through school (especially an MFA program), then continue that relationship past graduation. I’ve done all these things. If the people you are critiquing with are not asking you hard questions, then you need to find another group. This is the only way you will grow as a writer and the only way you will produce your best work.
2. Hardest thing about the journey to publication:
I had been writing nonfiction books for several years before I began my first novel. I really struggled to find the heart of writing fiction. My early chapters were more like a history book with characters. It took me about four years to really understand my protagonist and to know her true journey (i.e., what the book was really about). This was a gradual process, not an instantaneous “AHA!” moment. I was especially blessed to work with wonderful advisors in the Hamline MFA program who made me dig deep to uncover the most elemental emotions inside myself so that I could find those in Lucy as well.
3. Most fun thing:
So far, the most fun part was working on the book trailer. I was so lucky to find Lone Chimney Films, a nonprofit film company that makes dramatic films based on Kansas history. They were enthusiastic about my book, and they already had a great network of actors with period costumes, connections to a historical park to use for filming, as well as wagons, horses, guns, and everything. Ken Spurgeon, the executive director, read the book. I gave him a rough outline of scenes and a script for the voice-over, and he took it from there. I could hardly believe how many people showed up to help that day—all volunteers! My husband took a lot of photos of the action that day, and I’m grinning like my face would split in half. Watching scenes from the book come to life was just amazing, and the finished product is better than I could have imagined.
Gennifer Albin
CREWEL
1. Advice to aspiring writers:
Give yourself permission to write crap. Not everything has to be solid gold the in the first draft. That goes hand in hand with this though: learn to revise. Several times. Don’t think the first time you type “the end” that you’re done.
2. Hardest thing about the journey to publication:
I was very fortunate to have things move quickly for me once I wrote the book. The hardest part of my journey was finally sitting down and writing a beginning, middle, and end.
3. Most fun thing:
When you get to see your cover or talk with your publicist or find out your book has sold in another country it’s so much fun. Mostly because writing can be isolating, so seeing the fruits of your labor makes it worth it.
Lenore Appelhans
LEVEL TWO
1. Advice to aspiring writers:
Don’t feel like you need to rush to query or pitch your work. Learn the craft of writing. Read everything you can get your hands on (especially in the genre you want to write). Write the best book you can. On the surface, my own journey to publication looks like an overnight fairy tale, but there were so many years of work behind it you don’t see.
2. Hardest thing about the journey to publication:
Waiting is the hardest part! There is a lot of waiting in publishing. And even when the waiting is objectively not that long, it can feel like an eternity. My agent submitted my YA novel LEVEL 2 to editors on a Friday and the three days before the preempt offer from S&S came in felt like the longest days of my life. I was much more sanguine when we submitted CHICK-O-SAURUS REX (my picture book with my illustrator husband Daniel Jennewein), but the wait to see if it would get through acquisitions was still pretty brutal.
3. Most fun thing:
I’m still at the beginning of my journey really, since LEVEL 2 doesn’t come out until Fall 2012, so I’m sure a lot of fun things are coming up (can’t wait to see my cover!). So far it’s been fun to work on edits. My editor has a keen eye and great suggestions, so I am really loving the process.
Lynne Kelly
CHAINED
1. Advice to aspiring writers:
Find a good critique group to share your work with. You don’t have to take every bit of advice that every person gives you, but at least listen and consider the advice. It might be hard not to get defensive when someone criticizes your work, but keep in mind that the goal is to make your story better.
2. Hardest thing about the journey to publication:
All the waiting– everything seems to move so slowly! Then suddenly there’s a publication date hurtling toward you and it’s a little scary. Rejection is difficult too, of course, especially if it feels like you’re getting close to an acceptance. Continuing to write and revise helps with both the waiting and the rejection, though.
3. Most fun thing:
Meeting so many other writers along the way, in person and online. I’ve gotten to know so many awesome people I never would have met if I weren’t a writer.
Marissa Burt
STORYBOUND
1. Advice to aspiring writers:
Don’t be afraid to revise. Don’t worry about a scarcity of creativity. There is always a different approach to explore. Cut the favorite scene, and try something new. Kill off a character, and see what happens. View your writing as the dynamic, changeable thing that it is, and be playful with the process. Sometimes you must go through many, many revisions before you discover just the right way to tell your story. Also: read, read, and read.
2. Hardest thing about the journey to publication:
Making space for writing. Once I signed a contract, something that had once fit into the nooks and crannies of my life now demanded a serious chunk of time. And I still find it challenging to navigate the intense periods of working under a deadline. That and being on submission while being pregnant – talk about an emotional roller-coaster – haha!
3. Most fun thing:
People reading my book! It seems obvious that writers write things with the hopes that others will read them. But that moment when I realized that complete strangers were sharing in my fictional world…magical! Also, I’d have to say that I’ve so enjoyed meeting so many lovely creative people: debut authors (both online and in real life), my agent and editor, and other writerly types. It’s a great community!
Suzanne Lazear
INNOCENT DARKNESS
1. Advice to aspiring writers:
Like everything else, writing takes practice. Be Dorrie from “Finding Nemo” — just keep swimming. Keep writing, keep learning, keep revising and submitting, just keep going. INNOCENT DARKNESS was the 10th manuscript I’d finished, the 4th I querried. I just kept learning and kept writing and didn’t give up–for example, the first 6 manuscripts I wrote taught me that books needed plots.
2. Hardest thing about the journey to publication:
All those rejections can really wear on someone. Before I started querrying ID I amassed a lot of rejections on other projects. Sometimes it was hard not to give up, especially when you get *so* close. This is when you have to be Dorrie and just keep swimming. Keep writing, keep learning, and keep going because if you stop, it’ll never happen.
3. Most fun thing:
Seeing my cover for the first time up on Amazon with the book available for pre-order was an *amazing* moment. In that moment everything truly became real. I had a book and pretty soon everyone will be able to read it.
Tiffany Schmidt
SEND ME A SIGN
1. Advice to aspiring writers:
Read. Everything. It’s so important to know what works for you and know what doesn’t. If you’re disliking a book, ask yourself why and what you would do differently. If you’re loving a book, read it once to just enjoy and lose yourself in the story, but then read it a second time to analyze the writer’s craft and skill.
2. Hardest thing about the journey to publication:
I have never, ever been described as a patient person, but waiting for different aspects of the publishing process is especially painful. The wait for query responses. The wait for submission responses. And edits! Contracts! Copy edits! Covers! I’m surprised I have any hair left. Surprised I haven’t worn out the *refresh* button on my inbox. When I get TOO anxious, too jittery, it’s a signal to me that I’m much too focused on what’s coming next and not thinking enough about enjoying where I am right now. Having a book ready for querying, submitting, editing… each one of those steps is a triumph. And it’s so easy to lose sight of the Yay, You Did It! moments and focus on the next obstacle.
3. Most fun thing:
My favorite part of being a writer — besides the writing — is the other writers. The YA community is filled with kindred spirits. I’ve met so many people along my way who’ve offered support, encouragement, or inspiration — sometimes directly with a well-timed you can do it; I believe in you, and sometimes indirectly, by sharing their own stories of doubt and triumph. Writers spend so much of their time sitting alone playing with words, but knowing others who are battling their own blank pages, makes the tricky parts less tricky.
Trisha Wolfe
DESTINY’S FIRE
1. Advice to aspiring writers:
I know everyone says this…but, read. It’s honestly the best way to research your genre. And, it’s better than taking a writing class, in my opinion. I read about 150 (if not more) books a year while in the process of trying to get published. But I didn’t just read the subgenre in YA I write. I read the classics, edgy YA, YA that came out twenty years ago, Contemporary, Science Fiction, a ton of debut authors…everything. As you’re reading, study the style, flow, pacing of other writers and their stories. See how theirs relates or differs from yours. Study what works and what doesn’t. Just keep reading, and never stop writing.
2. Hardest thing about the journey to publication:
Sacrifice. I can’t tell you how many times I ignored my friends and family, muted my ringer, made excuses for not being able to go out to dinner, pretended I was sick…yeah. I know that’s bad. But it took a lot of sacrifice of my free and not-so-free time in order to put the work in to improve my writing. I didn’t want to wait ten years to write the novel that would make it. I wanted it NOW. I have no patience (which is not a good thing in this industry) so I sacrificed a lot of my social life and even family time in order to double up on my writing time. But, as I look back over that past few years, I don’t regret a single moment spent with my characters. And now I can share an amazing accomplishment with my family and friends.
3. Most fun thing:
When a reader tells me how much the story meant to them. When they find something relatable in one of my characters. Knowing that at least one person out there is enjoying reading something I created makes all the hard work worth it. It’s not vanity; it’s sharing that love of reading and creating. If I write something that inspires a reader, I’ve accomplished my dream, regardless if I never make it to the NYT bestseller list. I always do my happy dance when someone expresses their love for reading.
Zoraida Cordova
THE VICIOUS DEEP
1. Advice to aspiring writers:
READ. I’ve been in so many workshops where people ACTUALLY admit that they don’t read. It’s important to know your market. It’s not about comparing your work to others either. It’s about developing yourself as a writer. Every book you read is a weapon in your writerly arsenal.
Also, just as important is WRITE. Stop talking about your idea and just put it down. Sometimes when you talk so much about your plot you feel like its getting written when actually months go by and you wonder why you’re still on page 15.
2. Hardest thing about the journey to publication:
I don’t think I’ve had the absolute hardest part yet. My road to publication was so smooth. I’ve always known I wanted to be in this world. Signing the contract was the easy part.
I look at the time when I was seriously working on THE VICIOUS DEEP and I wonder how I got it done. I was 22/23 and I just left school to write a book, live on my own and work full time in the seedy New York City nightlife. I guess that was the hard part.
Now I’m 24 and everything is happening so quickly that all I can do is focus on the book and not the scary world of NY publishing.
3. Most fun thing:
The fun part so far has been meeting tons of new writers. From the Apocalypsies to writers I’ve been a fan of for years to aspiring writers. Then there are the bloggers who remind us that people still love to read! It’s great to do the things you love.
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