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There’s no time—or age—limit on creativity!

24 Wednesday Oct 2018

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Inspiration, Writing

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Creativity, Elizabeth Fais, Inspiration, Kate Messner, Mary E. Pearson, SCBWI, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, The Adoration of Jenna Fox, The Jenna Fox Chronicles, The Remnant Chronicles, Writing

CreativityUnlimited
Mary E. Pearson, author of The Remnant Chronicles, heralded the call to reason that “There is no creative clock ticking!” in her blog post on ageism in YA. This truth, as expressed by New York Times bestselling author Susan Dennard, is worth repeating:

There is no expiration date on writing. There is no expiration date on success, and I will keep preaching this until my younger and older readers believe me.—Susan Dennard

I’m as guilty as anyone for rushing to charge across the Publication Finish Line. I wrote my first young adult novel in two months with the idea that “that would be it.” Luckily, common sense seeped in. I rewrote that book three times before realizing I needed to work on my craft and deepen my understanding of story structure. It finally hit me that once a book is published that’s it. There’s no do-overs. That’s when I decided to take Time out of the Publication Equation.

At a local author event, Mary E. Pearson admitted that it was 10 years before she published her first novel. Her fourth novel, The Adoration of Jenna Fox, was the start of the hit series The Jenna Fox Chronicles. Pearson didn’t rush. She honed her craft and storytelling to resonate on a deeply human level.

Taking time out of the equation

Taking time out of the equation for a project isn’t always easy. It took me a year to figure out the right approach and voice for the picture book manuscript I’m currently revising. I was feeling bad about it taking me so long to get to that point. Then I saw the following tweet by Kate Messner and felt instantly better:

Woke up this morning with the right voice in my head for a picture book I’ve been trying to write for THREE YEARS. Writers, that’s why we should never give up on those dormant drafts! —Kate Messner

In a followup tweet, Kate admitted it had actually taken 4  years!

I’m currently revising for my third young adult novel, as well as my third picture book manuscript. I want my stories to be as good I as I can possibly make them, and I’m willing to work until they get there. You don’t have to be under, or over, a certain age to get published. The secret to getting published is to not give up!

When you’re in a creative slump

I’m not one to wait around for creativity to strike. When I’m in a creativity slump, I work on something different. If that doesn’t help, I immerse myself in other creative mediums, such as film, television series, music, or dance.

If your creativity is in retrograde, check out how some authors get their ideas in my post on how to Be your own muse. You might also like Creativity kickstart for writers ~ 5 super fun steps.

Time is relative. The journey is the reward. Enjoy the ride!

Time-is-irrelevent


The secret to getting published: Don’t give up!

31 Sunday Dec 2017

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Inspiration, Writing

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Elizabeth Fais, Flora and Ulysses, Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Inspiration, J.K. Rowling, Kate Dicamillo, Mary E. Pearson, Meg Cabot, New York Times, New York Times Bestselling, On Writing, The Princess Diaries, The Remnant Chronicles, The Tale of Despereaux, Veronica Rossi, writer's life

Writing your first book is a thrill like no other, a total high. Then the rejections come, and reality sets in. Fast. The thing is, rejections are part of the process. Get over it and keep going.

There’s no such thing as an overnight success

That is…unless you count the 10 years of hard work that came before. We’ve all heard the stories of the famous author whose success happened overnight.

The truth is, it didn’t. Successful authors put in years of work before ever getting published.

All that work was the foundation for the great books that lead to their success.

  • J.K. Rowling taught school and then was a researcher and bilingual secretary for years, all the while writing fiction on the side. She was unemployed and near poverty when she wrote the first Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
  • Meg Cabot spent several years (!) rigorously submitting manuscripts before landing her agent. She got a book deal after that, but had to keep working at her job and New York University until her success with The Princess Diaries series.
  • Kate Dicamillo received something like 463 rejections before selling her first book. She went on to be one of six people to win two Newberry Medals—for The Tale of Despereaux and Flora and Ulysses—all because she didn’t give up.
  • Mary E. Pearson, author of the New York Times Bestselling series The Remnant Chronicles, admitted at an author event that she wrote five (!) novels that would never see the light of day, and that it took ten years before she sold the one that made her a published author.

The difference between a published author and an unpublished author is that the published author didn’t give up.

 

How to keep writing while dodging tornadoes

TornadosLife drops roadblocks and raves in our paths—like tornadoes dropping from the sky—forcing our writing onto uncharted detours. Who knew dodging tornadoes would be a valuable writing skill?

There are happy detours, and those filled with sadness and loss. Even life threatening, if you discover a loved one’s being extorted by the Russian mafia and they come after YOU when you publicize their crimes across social media, looping in the FBI. Hey, it could happen. Tornadoes come in all shapes and sizes, all equally disruptive to our writing goals.

Whatever tornado you’re dodging right now…know you are not alone. Here’s a few things that kept me going when tornado dodging got tough:

  • Write something every day. Even if it’s only a note to remind you to write something better tomorrow.
  • Go to author visits. Invariably, you’ll hear the ordeal that published author went through to get their first book deal.
  • Read. Read. Read. It’s the next best thing to writing. You’ll be surprised how much you absorb on craft, especially when reading a variety of genres.
  • Watch TV series in your genre. It’s a great way to study story and character development.
  • Read author blogs that inspire you.
  • Read books on craft that help polish your writing weaknesses. We all have them. Most of us, more than one.
  • Remember what got you excited about writing. Revisit whatever it was that sparked the creative fire that set you on your writing journey.
  • Believe you’ll make it across the publishing bridge after the tornadoes pass. Because you will. As long as you don’t give up.

Rainbow Bridge


 

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