Writing tips from award winning authors
Lately I've been attending a bunch of author talks at bookstores. Here's what I've gleaned from seeing these authors:
Handling Rejection from Newbery Award winning author Shannon Hale (seen at Porter Square Books in Cambridge promoting her new book Forest Born):
Shannon Hale received a lot of rejection letters before getting her first book (Goose Girl) published. She actually laminated them all end-to-end (note: not all of them are for Goose Girl, some were for her short stories) and brought the whole roll of rejection letters to her visit (see my friend Peta's blog for more discussion about this)! The length of that roll was really impressive!
You can't avoid rejection, but she advised doing a lot of writing (she advised writing 100 stories before really being serious!) and revising before submitting your work. That way, you can be more confident that it is a matter of taste causing rejections rather than your writing abilities. (image from squeetus.com)
Juggling several projects at once from Newbery Award winner Kathryn Lasky (also seen @ PSB, promoting her new book Hannah):
Take a look at Kathryn Lasky's list of books and you'll see she is no stranger to writing more than one book at a time! She says she lets ideas simmer before writing them down, and that she basically works on one book for one week, another the next week, and so on. Before even starting to write the book, she writes a story proposal including beginning, middle, and end for her publisher so she really knows what the book is going to be about before starting out. (image from Macmillan.com)
Getting ideas from National Book Award winner Sherman Alexie (seen at the Brattle Theatre with Harvard Book Store promoting his new adult book War Dances):
Sherman Alexie's talk was more standup comedy than author talk. I was too busy laughing to take mental notes and anyway, he didn't talk specifically about his writing method except when an audience member asked him about it. Basically his advice was: don't wait for inspiration, just write. Keep a diary/journal and write about your day. Get inspiration from the strange things that happen in your day. (image from seattle municipal archives)
Resonating with readers by (not an award-winner but famous nonetheless) author John Hodgman (seen at the Boston Book Festival this past weekend):
Not many people know that John Hodgman was an aspiring writer and an literary agent before he became an internet sensation and a famous TV personality. He even had a short story published in the Paris Review! But he quickly realized that writing short stories wasn't his forte and eventually tapped in on his natural talents as a comedian. His advice about writing? Be honest with yourself and with your audience. Even though his books are all fake trivia and nonsense, he believes there is an underlying truth to them that he believes makes them appeal to readers. (image from Dan Coulter)
Going to author talks is fun and a good source of writing tips. Hope to see you at one soon!
Handling Rejection from Newbery Award winning author Shannon Hale (seen at Porter Square Books in Cambridge promoting her new book Forest Born):
Shannon Hale received a lot of rejection letters before getting her first book (Goose Girl) published. She actually laminated them all end-to-end (note: not all of them are for Goose Girl, some were for her short stories) and brought the whole roll of rejection letters to her visit (see my friend Peta's blog for more discussion about this)! The length of that roll was really impressive!
You can't avoid rejection, but she advised doing a lot of writing (she advised writing 100 stories before really being serious!) and revising before submitting your work. That way, you can be more confident that it is a matter of taste causing rejections rather than your writing abilities. (image from squeetus.com)
Juggling several projects at once from Newbery Award winner Kathryn Lasky (also seen @ PSB, promoting her new book Hannah):
Take a look at Kathryn Lasky's list of books and you'll see she is no stranger to writing more than one book at a time! She says she lets ideas simmer before writing them down, and that she basically works on one book for one week, another the next week, and so on. Before even starting to write the book, she writes a story proposal including beginning, middle, and end for her publisher so she really knows what the book is going to be about before starting out. (image from Macmillan.com)
Getting ideas from National Book Award winner Sherman Alexie (seen at the Brattle Theatre with Harvard Book Store promoting his new adult book War Dances):
Sherman Alexie's talk was more standup comedy than author talk. I was too busy laughing to take mental notes and anyway, he didn't talk specifically about his writing method except when an audience member asked him about it. Basically his advice was: don't wait for inspiration, just write. Keep a diary/journal and write about your day. Get inspiration from the strange things that happen in your day. (image from seattle municipal archives)
Resonating with readers by (not an award-winner but famous nonetheless) author John Hodgman (seen at the Boston Book Festival this past weekend):
Not many people know that John Hodgman was an aspiring writer and an literary agent before he became an internet sensation and a famous TV personality. He even had a short story published in the Paris Review! But he quickly realized that writing short stories wasn't his forte and eventually tapped in on his natural talents as a comedian. His advice about writing? Be honest with yourself and with your audience. Even though his books are all fake trivia and nonsense, he believes there is an underlying truth to them that he believes makes them appeal to readers. (image from Dan Coulter)
Going to author talks is fun and a good source of writing tips. Hope to see you at one soon!