Ask the Author: Hester Velmans
Answered Questions (4)
Hester Velmans
My daughter, around 8 or 10 at the time, was often frustrated that people didn't take her seriously just because she was little. I thought, what would it be like for her to suddenly find herself the largest, most powerful animal in the world? My first idea was to make it about elephants, but then I remembered my own childhood fascination with cetaceans, those fascinating and elegant creatures of the deep, and of course whales are the largest animals in the world, far bigger than elephants.
Hester Velmans
It was easy to find an agent for my first children's book, Isabel of the Whales.I worked off a list of names of agents representing authors I admired; the agent who took me on said it was because his young daughter had read the MS and came to him crying, saying he'd better get it published. But it took him nearly seven years to find a publisher. I'd almost given up on it when he called out of the blue to say Delacorte wanted to publish it. So yes, it's important to find an agent first, but getting an agent is just the first part of what can be a long and arduous process. My best advice: believe in yourself, and don't give up.
Hester Velmans
The best advice I can give is to muscle your way through the hard part--the start of the novel of story. You'll find that if you persist, the story will eventually take on a life of its own, and take you on a thrilling rollercoaster ride to the inexorable ending. I'd also say that although you're always told to "write what you know", it doesn't mean you shouldn't use your imagination. Sometimes it's necessary to throw away what you know, and indulge in the most outrageous flights of fancy. It's fiction, after all, and fiction gives you the license to invent!
Hester Velmans
When I become frustrated with my own stories, I turn to translating, which is also a form of creative writing but does not require me to come up with original ideas. The act of sitting down at the computer and working with language is usually enough to kick-start my own writing.
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Nov 28, 2020 10:27PM · flag