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For Writers
A Few Helpful Articles (written by me, of course!)
Click on the headlines below to read...
Writer Sites
Who's your favorite author? No doubt he or she has a website, or maybe many. Start by bookmarking his or her site. You'll probably find lots of tips for your own writing. And I bet tips from your fav writer will "speak" to you better than mine, or anyone else's.
What's that you say? Don't have a favorite author? Find one. Fast. Before you write, you gotta have a beloved author or two, or twenty. Or a hundred. Go to the library or a bookstore and just start reading. Before you know it, you'll be have a few authors who you'll want to spend every waking moment with, and who will probably have to get a restraining order against you. Seriously.
Or you can
to see my own personal list of authors whose books I could not live without.
Not one of them has a restraining order against me.
That I know of.
Author sites
Here are some other great children's author sites chock full of resources for writers. Visiting them is a great way to kill some time when you don't feel like writing, but want to feel like you're "working."
Writer Organizations
One of the best resources I know, the Catholic Writers Conference Online is absolutely free.
If you want to write children's books, THE place to start is SCBWI. Most kids' writers got their start with this organization. And if they didn't, they did it the hard way.
Another great resource is SmartWriters hosted by Roxyanne Young. Love this site and all of its resources.
Harold Underdown is an editor whose site, the Purple Crayon, is really helpful for writers. Check it out, too.
One more site to check out
Publishing and Book Organizations
Online Writer Publications
There are a ton of these. I've only listed a few here to get you started.
There are no easy methods of learning difficult things;
the method is to close your door, give out that you are not at home, and work.
-Joseph de Maistre
Man stands for long time with mouth open before roast duck flies in.
-Chinese Saying
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So you wanna write?
People
always tell me they want to write books. Or they've written one but
don't have the foggiest idea how to get it published. This page offers
some resources to help.
But remember, the best resource isn't a website, or the latest how-to-write a-book book. It's right there in your own brain. Seriously, you've already got everything you need to write a great book. Your
experiences, your fascinating point of view, the characters you've
dreamed up--everything you need is right there, reading this page.
The best parts, and the worst, too
Developing
your talent takes practice, but you really can do it. Sending your
manuscript to publishers and agents may return rejections--and believe
me, I speak from experience here. But the rejections are all part of
the learning experience.
Once you embrace writing as a career,
I can guarantee that there will be fun involved--going to conferences,
meeting other writers, making friends, and don't forget that
unbelievable moment when someone says, "I read your book and I LOVE
IT!" And he's actually talking to YOU! It's your book he loves! Now who
could walk away from a career like that?
Of course, there's
the other side. I like to call it writer's heartache, or the Horrible
Rs: Rewrites, Rejections, and Ranting Reviews. But when you roll it all
up into one giant gumball of a career, it will be one of the most
satisfying things you'll ever do.
Where to Begin?
If you're wondering how to get
started, just write one sentence at a time. One page at a time. One
chapter at a time. Before you know it, you'll have a first draft. And a
first draft is better than an empty computer screen any day. For more
about getting started, read my article about, well, getting started,
below.
But if you really can't force yourself to write at the
moment, there are resources here that can help you. (Since I write
children's books, my resources are going to be a little slanted toward
the kid market.)
I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.
-Thomas Jefferson
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