Alane Adams's Blog

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If you’re an author, there is nothing more exciting, or daunting, than starting a draft of a new book. It’s like stepping onto the deck of a ship and heading out to sea for an undetermined amount of time. Months, maybe even years will pass by before you reach your destination called The End. You step on board, prepared to invest your heart and soul into the characters you will meet, and assume the heavy burden of determining their fates. You make a commitment on that first day that you will see the journey through. That you will not dive overboard when writer’s block strikes and leaves you dead in the water. You take an oath you will not give up the ship when all seems lost and there is no publisher in sight. You silently swear you will not abandon those characters you have given life to until you have seen them through their arduous passages to their safe harbor. That is the writer’s promise.

But what is the best way to go about it? Some authors create an outline, a roadmap to their story before they ever put pen to paper. These no doubt wise novelists exhaustively research their story, blocking out every character and plot point chapter by chapter until the complete skeleton of the book is completed.

Oh, how I envy those writers! I wish I had their discipline, but I can’t help myself. Once I get an idea and sprinkle in a few characters, it’s like I have to dive in headfirst and go! I’m in love, and I want to spend every second voraciously discovering the story first hand. Who is this amazing hero with all his or her warts and flaws? What is this enticing world I want to immerse myself in?

But those other writers, the ones who have a strong outline, they’re probably far ahead of writers like me. They know where they’re going before they dive in. They can confidently find their way chapter by chapter with steely precision, knowing up front that their story makes sense, and the big moments are there, character arcs complete (Insert envious sigh). For those of us undisciplined writers, we have no roadmap, just a keen sense of story, and a precious kernel to plant and carefully nurture into life. For me, that means I start on page one and write in a linear fashion from the beginning all the way to the end figuring it out as I go along. Of course, I still do my research, and am always thinking about every twisting turn and back road I will take, but I don’t sit down and make a plan. It also means on occasion I have to go back and take out a plot point or two that doesn’t pay off, or weave in a thread that I later discover I need.

So which method is better?

I have no doubt that being organized and investing time up front in developing the character arcs, backstories, and setting is a much better way to do it, especially if you are world building. So why don’t I? It’s not because I lack discipline or structure or knowledge. No. I think it’s because even when I’m writing, I’m also a bit of a reader, not wanting to know the road ahead. I want to discover it as if I were reading it as I am writing it, to keep the mystery and magic of the story intact. I remember writing a scene in Kalifus Rising about a character who I had envisioned dying in a later scene but suddenly, as we were crossing an open field, arrows flew, his body contorted, and he literally died in front of my eyes as my fingers flew over the keyboard. No one was more shocked than I. No! I cried. You die much later. But there it was, his body lay still and cold riddled with arrows. And there was no way I would change it because it was just…right. And that’s why I love being a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants author. I get to discover the story as I’m writing it.

Still, I have learned that if you are going to create a multi-book series, it is important to take the time to visualize the overarching conflict that will wed the series in a way that makes every new revelation a moment of aha for those assiduously following along, providing that rising action that hooks readers into following you through book after book. It wasn’t until I finished the drafts of my Legends of Orkney series that I was able to visualize the entire premise that made the series stick together. So in a way, the rough drafts were my road map to finding my way through, and led me to a deeper understanding of the writing process that has carried me through successive series.

But however you do it, above all, keep the writer’s promise. Deliver your characters to a satisfying ending no matter the doubts you face or the roadblocks that prevent you from writing.

The post The Writer’s Promise appeared first on Alane Adams.

It seems like everyone has written a book these days. Becoming an author used to be an exclusive club only a lucky few could enter if they were deemed worthy by a highly picky and difficult to reach agent, who then had to convince an even pickier, loftier publisher. But once inside the hallowed walls of a publishing house, signed contract in hand, the dream life of being an author could begin for the lucky 1% who ran the gauntlet. I wish I could say that was all gone now, barriers smashed with the advent and ease of self-publishing, but in many ways, nothing has changed. While it is easy to get your book published, it is much harder to get someone to read it. Every day on social media, an author begs me to read their latest book, to follow them, to friend them, to just NOTICE them.

There are always those lucky few lottery winners who walk away with commercial success, indy authors like Amanda Hocking or E.L. James, but for most independently published authors, it is a long, slow climb up a crowded slope. And without a national book deal, it is still very hard to get your book noticed. Barnes and Noble will rarely make a significant buy. Finding shelf space in indy bookstores, or getting into venues like airports or department stores, is next to impossible. Even with hundreds of book bloggers flogging title after title, making yours stand out in the crowd is a challenge. The second your book is released, another hundred come out and push yours down the line, like an Instagram post in a popular feed.

Having been a non-traditionally published author for several years, I am frequently asked by fellow authors if they should go ahead and self-publish their book. My answer most often is a flat-out no. Given the number of books I’ve written and the moderate success I’ve had with them, this usually generates a surprised reaction. So why do I advise them not to forge ahead? Here’s a few of the reasons:

Many new authors finish their first manuscript and they are so impatient to have the world read it, convinced that it is the next “big thing” that they overlook the many steps of revising and editing that have to be completed before their book is ready to be seen. They rush to self-publish hoping lightning will strike and will often then spend months or years trying to figure out what went wrong as the copies they printed languish in their garage.If you want your book to be read by a lot of people, traditional publishing is still the best way to go. Having your book handled by a team of well-trained savvy individuals whose job is to bring your book to market can leave the author to focus on the next book. Although publishing is changing a lot, and there are more marketing duties left to the author today, your book has a much higher chance of being sold in major stores through a traditional publishing house.True self-publishing where a person literally publishes under their own name almost always guarantees there will be little to no audience for your book. You are solely responsible for marketing, book design, cover design, finding an editor, printing copies, storing them, and getting your book up on Amazon in the hopes it will be discovered for the gem it is. While of course it can happen, it is time-consuming, requires a personal time-commitment toward marketing and building your brand, and with a crowded market, your chances of success are fairly low.Hybrid publishing where the author works with an independent publisher who has a marketing and sales team that can get your book into major stores is a route much more likely to garner success, but is likely to be more expensive. The author is expected to cover the publishing fees which can be several thousand dollars, the printing costs of the books, and book marketing fees such as paid reviews and giveaways. The upside is the author has a lot of control over their work-product while having a professional team in place to help market the book. The downside is it is still difficult to have your book placed where readers will find it and the indy market continues to be flooded with new books coming out.

So what can an up and coming author do?

It’s always about the writing. Take yours to a higher level. Enroll in classes, have your manuscript critiqued by solid editors, and never stop working on craft. There is no replacement for good storytelling.Understand the genre you’re writing in and whether it is more friendly to independent authors. Certain adult genres like horror and romance have voracious readers who consumer a large number of books each month, making it friendly to e-books which are much easier to market and avoid printing costs. Many independent authors find success and a strong following this way.Be patient. Don’t rush into publishing your book before you’ve really tested the waters of traditional publishing. If your manuscript is being rejected, consider why that is and if there is more work to be done. If nothing it else, it will ensure that your self-published book is the best it can be.Create unique characters that stand out. I recently DNF’d a very popular YA book after reading a few chapters because I felt like the main character was a rehash of other strong female characters. The echo was so loud, I went online to see if others felt the same way, and sadly, there were many. It’s a good reminder that even successfully published books have their flaws.Find something new to add to the genre you write in. Every popular genre has a long list of books that vie to be noticed. There are only so many dystopian worlds that can be rehashed before the reader grows weary of teenagers fighting oppressive battles against totalitarian regimes. If you write in a popular genre, make your book stand out by turning the genre on its head. Give your characters unique problems, or find a different perspective to tell the story from. I like how in The Maze Runner, the author set the story in a very unique dystopian world that the reader doesn’t really discover much about until the end.

Most importantly, whatever path you choose, remember it is your path so embrace it and enjoy the ride. There is no greater feeling than having someone read your book and tell you they loved it, regardless of who published it.

The post The Patient Writer appeared first on Alane Adams.

If ever there was a year that could claim the title “Worse Year Ever!” 2020 is in the running! But as this year slowly crawls to a miserable end with no hopes of Christmas gatherings in sight, now more than ever it’s exciting to look forward to a brand-new year filled with possibilities and, with the very real promise of a vaccine, a chance to resume normal life in the near future. This could also be the year your writing career really takes off. If you’re looking for some realistic writing goals for 2021, here’s a guide to get you started.

#1. Resolve to THINK of yourself as a writer.

One of the hardest parts of becoming a writer is that when you’re still trying to break into the field, you often don’t feel like a bona fide writer until you’ve been published. But that’s not true! Being a writer isn’t defined by having an agent or publisher. It’s defined by when you consider yourself a writer and commit to a professional approach to your writing. One of the best ways to achieve that is highlighted in our next resolution:

#2 Resolve to WRITE on a regular basis, daily if possible.

Writers write. Books don’t happen overnight. It takes days, weeks, sometimes months slogging out the words to get a finished manuscript. The key is to not get paralyzed with fear as to whether the writing is good enough, or if anyone will like it when it’s finished. You must keep moving forward and develop as a writer through a lot of trial and error. This only happens when you show up on a regular basis and write. Remember—unless you’re George RR Martin, your novel isn’t going to be 500 pages. Set out with an end-goal in mind, knowing the market you’re writing for and set realistic daily writing goals. It won’t feel so daunting if you know where you’re headed.

#3 Resolve to FINISH a major work this year.

So often I hear of writers who spend years working on the same book. No doubt there are great works of literature that demand that, but if you’re hoping for a more commercial book then consider what’s stopping you from finishing it. Set a deadline. Force yourself to show up at the computer. Put out words even when it’s hard, when it feels like you have no inspiration. Sometimes that’s when the greatest inspiration strikes. And if you’re holding on to a manuscript that you’ve  been reworking for years, consider moving on and starting something fresh. The first book might have been your best, it also might have been an exercise in Can I Do This? The answer is yes, now send it out to get edited by a professional while you write the next book.. Don’t wait around hoping lightning is going to strike. It probably won’t. But if you start the next book while the first one is in the hopper getting edited, then pretty soon you’ll have two books, and when that happens, your confidence will increase and with proper feedback, your writing will begin to improve.

#4 Resolve to learn more about your CRAFT.

Writing is an evolving process. Like any sport or profession, you cannot get better at it unless you both practice it and get great coaching. Practice comes in many forms. Writing. Studying other writers. Reading books in your genre. Coaching can be found in the form of the many great editors who work on a fee-for-service basis, or by joining an on-line writing group that can offer feedback by peers. Here are some of my tried and trued tips to polishing my manuscripts:

Beware of overuse of dialogue tags. If it’s clear who’s speaking, consider taking them out and minimize -ly adverbs like said gruffly or loudly or softly unless absolutely necessary. If the dialogue is clear, the reader will know how the words are spoken.Check for repetitive phrases. Overuse of identical words shows a limited range of skill in detailing events in your story. There are programs that will do this for you fast and easily, so invest in one and make your manuscript start to zing!Eliminate any glaring typos. Trust me they’re there. Find them and eliminate them, including bad punctuation and missing periods.Try not to overuse passive words like heard, saw, felt, realized, seemed, had been. Use the word search function and count the number of times you use each of the listed words. You will be shocked at how much you overuse this method of describing your character’s actions. Replace as many as you can with active descriptions. I heard a shot fired, is more exciting when it’s written as a shot zinged over my head. I felt a bolt of fear can be better stated as fear ripped through me like a bolt of ice.Avoid overuse of backstory and flashbacks. Eliminate them whenever possible. Stories are best told in the present tense. Flashbacks and prologues are a bit like cheating. Find a way to weave the backstory into the present and your editors won’t get annoyed with you.Don’t make the mistake of buying into the family and friends bandwagon who claim your novel is the best they’ve ever read. They are biased, even when they say they’re not. They can’t see the forest for the dangling participles. Find a good editor who doesn’t see you on Thanksgiving and pay for as much criticism as you can take. The only way you will grow as a writer is to hear feedback which is impartial and informed.#5 Resolve to SUBMIT your work.

As scary as it is to face rejection, having a manuscript gathering dust in your drawer won’t advance your dream of being a writer. Better to be rejected and take the lumps and be part of the group of rejected writers than the group that never tried. Don’t waste time wallowing in self-pity if and when your manuscript gets rejected. This business is very subjective. Your manuscript might be great, it might be average. Doesn’t matter. The only way anyone will ever read it is if you make it worth reading. Work harder at learning the craft and develop a thick skin Having a query letter that begins with “All my friends think this is the best book they ever read!” Or even worse, “This book is the next (fill in blank) Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Twilight” will only send an agent running for the hills. Tell the agent what is unique about your story. Convince them you have a twist that hasn’t been done yet and they might ask for a few pages. DON’T send your entire manuscript with the query. Be careful to read their submission guidelines and follow them. They write them for a reason and get very annoyed when an author ignores them.

#6 Resolve to IGNORE that voice in your head.

If you’re a writer, you know what voice I’m speaking of. The voice that whispers It’s too hard. I’m not good enough. Why bother? It is so easy to shoot ourselves down. There are plenty of people out in the world who will do that when you do get published, so resolve to be more supportive of your dream. Think positively when you’re writing. Remember writers have the greatest job in the world. They get to create magic. Transcend reality. Suspend belief. Create anything they can imagine without limits. So be nicer to yourself. You can be a good writer if you work at it. If you’re lucky and have both the talent and the craft, you can be great.

#7 Resolve to try something DIFFERENT.

As writers develop their voice, they can sometimes get stuck in a rut. Their voice grows stale, repetitive, an echo of every other voice they have heard. Resolve to break out of your rut this year. Write in a fresh voice. Expand your idea of what is possible. Inject some new life into your characters. Challenge them to rise to new heights and they will take you with them.

#8 Resolve to EXPAND your network of writer friends.

Some of my best friends are fictional. Writers tend to be loners and the past year has driven most of us even further away from any new networking opportunities. This year resolve to build your network of writer friends. Make time to have coffee with them even if it’s on a Zoom call, and talk shop and writing progress. Keep track of writer’s conferences and plan on attending one when it’s safe. Your resolve as a writer will grow and your connection to writing will be strengthened by your friendships with kindred spirits.

#9 Resolve to READ.

The surest path to being a great writer is to read books by great writers. Read every book you can get your hands on. Don’t be afraid to scribble on them, circle metaphors you like, underline moving passages, highlight a turn of phrase that made you choke up. As you dig into other writer’s secrets, you develop a knowledge that will help you in your own writing.

#10 Resolve to NEVER give up on your dream.

Developing a career as an author takes time, patience, and resilience. When things don’t happen exactly the way we want, it’s easy to get discouraged. As we set off for 2021 my hope is that your writing dreams will come true. Remember, keep an iron jaw, and always keep writing!

The post Writer’s New Year’s Resolutions appeared first on Alane Adams.

Welcome back to another month of The Iron Jaw, a monthly column on writing tips and finding inspiration. This month we are talking about writing series. As the author of four different children’s series, I can attest to my fondness for writing multiple installments of a story! Some of my all-time favorite books were part of a series. There’s something magical about being able to connect with a cast of characters over time, becoming more and more invested in them as the story unfolds. It’s all the more heartbreaking to say goodbye when the story finally wraps up—but those characters tend to stay with us for a long time after we turn the final page.

The advantages of writing a series is you always know what you’re going to write about next! Your cast of characters is primed and ready to be put to work, and the hard work of world-building has been largely established. If the author does a good job with the first book, readers will fall in love with their characters and be hungry for the next volume. The first book can be the most important—setting your hooks into the reader—until the next book—which has to be just as good if not better to keep them hooked!

The difficulty of writing a series is first and foremost making sure your characters are up to the task of carrying a reader’s interest over a long story line. That puts a lot of pressure on your main character to be someone your reader is going to be willing to invest time with page after page, which means they have to be likeable on many levels. At the same time, the character has to be growing and changing so there is room in their character arc for the series to continue to blossom and evolve.

If you’re contemplating writing a series, here are some things to consider:

Decide What Kind Of Series You’re Writing

Some series are open-ended and follow a set of characters on different adventures with no through-line plot. The Magic Treehouse series is a good example of that—Jack and Annie go on countless similar but charming adventures—28 volumes worth! Each novel follows a similar pattern but has a unique problem the characters have to solve.

Other series have a plot line that underpins the entire series, driving to an inevitable conflict resolution in the final installment. Harry Potter epitomizes this, with each novel containing a subplot that drives the storyline closer to the resolution of the main conflict—Voldemort’s unquenchable thirst for power—leaving Harry and Voldemort to face off in the climax of the last book, effectively ending the series.

Think Ahead

Before you write that first book in a series, you need to give some thought to how the series is going to end. If it’s an open-ended series, it’s important to think through how many volumes you anticipate. Are the characters going to age? How fast? Jack and Annie in Magic Treehouse series barely age over the 28 books of the series whereas Harry Potter advances a year in each book.

If there’s a through-line plot point to the end—it is imperative that the author fully explore where it’s headed up front to make sure the conflict doesn’t wrap up too early, or the story fizzles out. To that end, the through-line conflict must be BIG and MESSY and nearly impossible to solve.

Leave Readers Hooked

I admit, one of my favorite parts of writing series is wrapping up the main conflict in the story, only to find out on nearly the last page, that some new, even bigger problem has been triggered as a result of the characters actions. For a brief moment, our reader felt relief that things were back to normal, only to have the rug pulled out from under their feet as this startling new development is revealed, and then nothing. The End. Cue the reader cursing you silently in their head as they stare at the page, wondering how soon you’re going to write that next story.

Committing to The End

Starting a series takes commitment. Imagine you’re in the midst of your favorite series and the author decides not to finish it—or worse—like a certain popular author of a series about fire and ice, take years and years to deliver the next installment! Don’t start a series if you don’t intend to see it through leaving loyal readers hanging.

This month the third book in my Witches of Orkney series, Witch Wars, arrives on shelves! This prequel series is meant for younger middle grade readers, ideally 3rd grade to 6th grade. The story follows Abigail, a nine-year-old witchling at the Tarkana Witch Academy as she struggles to determine exactly what kind of witch she’s going to become. With traces of Norse mythology, Witch Wars sees Abigail trying to defeat a powerful alchemist named Vertulious. Enjoy this excerpt!

EXCERPT

“Abigail, I hear you have met an Omera before. Even tamed one. Come, share with the class.” He beckoned her forward.

Abigail stood, knowing if she didn’t, he would simply force her feet to move. On her way to the front, she passed Endera, who trembled with rage.

“Tell the class what you know about these magnificent creatures.” Vertulious had a calculating look in his eyes. He was up to something, but she couldn’t decipher what it was.

“They’re not all bad,” she ventured. “I met some that were kind of nice.”

Vertulious laughed. “Nice? An Omera can rip a man to shreds with just its talons. Did you know the Omera were created centuries ago by a Volgrim witch to fight at our side? It has been eons since this coven had the power to control them. It is time we showed them who they work for.”

“They’re wild animals, not pets,” Abigail said. “We can’t control them or own them.” The very thought was appalling.

“The Omera have forgotten who they belong to,” Vertulious replied icily. “We created them. We rule over them. We just need to remind them of that and bring them to heel.”

Abigail stared at the cruelty in his eyes, thinking of Big Mama and her little babes. They weren’t meant to be tamed, but before she could argue, he clamped a hand on her shoulder.

“Come, let’s do the metamorphis spell together, shall we?”

A sudden suspicion made the hair on the back of her neck rise. He was pulling strings like a puppeteer, getting her in front of the class like this—but why? Then the answer was obvious. He must not be able to do it by himself, or he would have done so. Abigail shrugged free and took a step back. “No. I’m not going to help you.”

His eyes hardened into steel points. “This class is an important part of your placement here at the Tarkana Witch Academy. I would hate for you to be expelled.”

Abigail gasped. He would nev`er . . . but she read the coldness in his stare. He didn’t really care. Right now, he needed her to help him with this metamorphis spell, and nothing else mattered.

Vertulious unscrewed the lid on a jar. Abigail recognized the ingredient, gallillium, the same one Portia had mentioned.

He opened the cage door—ignoring the spitting, hissing shreek—and snapped his fingers. The shreek froze on its perch. He pried open its beak, sprinkling some of the gallillium powder down its throat.

“Now, class, the gallillium will make the shreek bigger, but to create metamorphis, we need something from an Omera to spark the change.” He reached into his robes and pulled out a pointed tooth. “Like this fang I found walking in the swamps one day.” He waved his left hand, causing the air in front of the shreek to swirl. The creature’s eyes moved wildly from side to side as a hole in its chest grew larger.

Was that its tiny heart beating away?

Vertulious slipped the fang into its chest and then waggled his finger.

The hole sealed up, and the shreek shook itself, hissing at them.

“Now say the words with me,” Vertulious said. “Cabela ello morpheus.”

Abigail remained mute. This was wrong. If she was expelled, so be it.

The alchemist leaned in and spoke in her ear. “Do it now, or your little Balfin friend might have a terrible accident.”

Abigail’s heart clenched.

“Don’t be shy,” Vertulious said loudly. “Everyone is waiting.”

The whole class had gone silent. Even Endera raised her eyes to see what would happen next.

Abigail took a deep breath, hating herself but knowing she didn’t have a choice. “Cabela ello morpheus.”

“Now a source of power.” Vertulious raised his hand and unleashed a blaze of green witchfire that circled the cage and made the shreek freeze. “Join me,” he commanded.

Reluctantly, she raised her hands and released her own blast of witchfire. Oddly, he didn’t ask her to remove her sea emerald, so her witchfire was as green as his.

The class oohed as their twin blasts of witchfire joined, turning the cage into a glowing orb that lifted off the table, then simply disappeared. The shreek remained trapped in the center of the ball of light.

“Repeat the words again,” he said.

Abigail wanted to resist, but Hugo’s face flashed in front of her.

“Cabela ello morpheus.”

The shreek began to spin in the air, twirling faster and faster until it was a blur. A ball of mist grew larger and larger around it, shrouding it from sight.

Finally, Vertulious held a hand up, and Abigail dropped her hands, gasping with fatigue.

The mist cleared, unveiling a hulking black winged creature perched on the table. The shreek continued to grow, swelling and expanding as a spiked tail emerged and its snout lengthened, adding a row of sharp pointed teeth. One leg extended toward the floor; the other kicked the table away, sending it crashing into the wall.

The creature opened one eye, revealing a red stare that was pure evil.

Vertulious stepped closer and reached out a tentative hand to touch the snout. Abigail half hoped the shreek-Omera would leap on the alchemist and do away with him, but it simply butted its snout against his hand. Vertulious smiled, then turned to face the class. “Job well done, Abigail.” He clapped, and the class joined in—all except for Endera, who just glared at her.

Cold dread penetrated her bones.

What had she done?

The post On Writing Series appeared first on Alane Adams.

Every time I step into an Uber, the drivers invariably ask me what I do. When I say I am a writer, an excited look will come into their eyes, flicking back and forth from the mirror to the road, as if I am a magical creature they have snared. Next, in a somewhat hushed voice, they will confess that they, too, have a great idea for a book. Generally this idea is the most amazing and unique idea in the history of ideas but they really can’t talk about it much because, you know, they don’t want me to steal it, no offense.

None taken.

I am sure this happens to writers on a daily basis. And what is the most head-scratching part is the notion that the idea is the hard part, and the whole writing it into a book is the easy part. But those of us on the other side know that the idea is the simple part. The thing that makes an idea special is called execution.

Here’s an idea that in itself sounds silly: make a Broadway musical about cats. Who would predict it would become one of the longest running shows ever and earn seven Tony awards. Now, take the same musical and turn it into a movie filled with A-list stars and watch it earn six Razzie awards.

Execution is everything.

So how do authors execute ideas into best-selling novels? In place of execution, we use the word “craft.” There are entire novels written just about the art of craft. It seems like there should be a simple playbook to follow, a set of rules that, once made clear, would guarantee success but unfortunately that’s not how it works. As Somerset Maugham once said, “There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.”

So what is this EPHEMERAL INVISIBLE THING we call craft?

Craft is the ability to create a novel that quite simply the reader is unable to put down, whose life is forever changed or touched by it, or is simply swept away by the words on the page. Craft is invisible, seamless, the thing which is not there. It works in the background, helping the writer elevate their story to that plane of effortless reading. Craft is the discipline that comes after the first draft is finished and the author wakes up to the sobering reality that the hard work of editing is about to begin.

On First Sentences

Craft begins with the first sentence. Undoubtedly, an author will spend more time on the first sentence than any other sentence in the book. It must set the tone for the entire novel in a few short words. It must capture the readers interest so that they continue reading past the end of the sentence. Some authors will rewrite their first sentence hundreds of times. It’s like trying to craft the perfect pickup line-you want the person you’re crushing on to be immediately captivated by you. Probably the most famous of all is from Melville’s Moby Dick:

Call me Ishmael.

How is it these three little words can carry so much power? He could have said, “My name is Ishmael,” or “They call me Ishmael.” Why these words? I think the most powerful reason is that it immediately establishes a first-person relationship with the reader. It’s an invitation to be closer. Like a hand has been extended in greeting. Here’s another favorite of mine from Tolkien’s The Hobbit:

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.

These words came to Tolkien while marking school certificate papers in his role as Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford in the early 1930s. He was hit by sudden inspiration and wrote them down on a blank sheet of paper. The first thing I think is: what on earth is a hobbit and why does it live in a hole in the ground! By 1932 when the story was finished, Middle Earth was introduced to the public to such acclaim, a sequel was requested which became the famed Lord of the Rings trilogy. Now here’s one from my book Kalifus Rising:

The red sun hung on the horizon like a blister.

I love the visual picture painted by this! Blisters are painful, swollen, red. It immediately evokes a sense of pain and foreboding in the world we are entering.

On Creating Memorable Characters

There are some literary characters we can never forget. Harry Potter. Katniss Everdeen. Atticus Finch. What makes these characters so memorable is the fact that the reader is able  to connect with them on a deep level. In spite of the fact the characters appear to be entirely different than the typical reader, in reality we share a common bond.

Take Harry Potter. On the surface he is completely different than the average kid. He has a magic wand, goes to wizarding school, and he’s got this powerful enemy out to kill him. Nothing like us, right? But the truth is, Harry is every  kid I meet. He endures what every kid endures. Bullying, trouble with teachers, making and keeping friends, learning to believe in himself. He’s vulnerable, abandoned, and we immediately feel sorry for his situation and root for him.

Katniss is another surprisingly relatable character, in spite of her prowess with a bow. In a past interview, Suzanne Collins talked about writing The Hunger Games and creating a main character that was relatable to her reader. With a young adult audience in mind, she wanted her readers, teens struggling with fitting in and acceptance, to instantly connect with her main character. To do this, on the very first page of The Hunger Games, Katniss is introduced to us as a hard-working girl who hunts for her family and takes care of them after her father dies. Quite heroic. But she absolutely, completely, and totally hates her sister’s cat Buttercup. So on page one, Collins allows us to peek inside the mind of Katniss as she wakes up and sees the cat watching her.

He hates me. Or at least distrusts me. Even though it was years ago, I think he still remembers how I tried to drown him in a bucket when Prim brought him home.

Yikes! Our beloved heroine tried to drown the family cat in front of her little sister. I don’t know about you, but my heroes don’t go around drowning cats. Collins purposely did this so that her readers would connect with her character from the start, to realize she’s entirely human in spite of her heroic deeds. The ability to know your audience and what it is they want to see in a character, what they want to feel when they read about that character on the page, is an essential part of crafting a memorable story that will leave an indelible mark.

On Creating Conflict

“Houston, we have a problem.”

Who can forget these words (paraphrased here) spoken by astronaut Jack Swigert from the Apollo 13 mission. They capture in a nutshell the heart of what it takes to craft a great story. Conflict drives the characters into action. No conflict, no action, no story. Would we remember the crew of Apollo 13 if they hadn’t had to heroically restore their spacecraft  to working order or die? Maybe as a footnote in history but not with any great detail. It’s somewhat surprising to realize that books are nothing more than a container that holds a story about a character that has a problem and has to solve it. Character. Problem. Solution. The bigger the problem, the better the story. You can have compelling characters but if they aren’t given a problem to solve, the reader will quickly fall into a coma.

Crafting conflict that is relevant to the story and drives the main character into action and captures the interest of your reader is the most important task the writer undertakes. It is the backbone of the story, the frame that holds it upright, and the reason for the story to exist.

On Less is More

Writing is like trying to escape quicksand. The harder you try the faster you sink. It feels effortless when the author’s mind is left to speak freely. As you’re drafting that manuscript, use the power of less. There’s no need to overdescribe your characters or scenery. Choose your words carefully and let the reader use their imagination. Cut out unnecessary words. Strip your sentences down to bare bones. Search for that signature line that will make the reader’s hair on the back of their neck stand up. Avoid using an adjective to describe dialogue. “Let the dialogue speak for itself!” she said angrily. Sprinkle the flowery stuff in here and there and it will be a welcome relief, a treat for the reader, instead of a gluttony of words written to fatten your manuscript. If you are sparing in your descriptions, your character’s actions will be the muscle that drives your story.

The post The Craft of Writing appeared first on Alane Adams.

Have you ever stood in a bookstore with some other writer’s book clutched in your palm, seething with irritation that their book is sitting on the shelf while yours sits idle in some drawer or is buried deep in a slush pile, never to see the light of day? Worse, when you skim through the first few chapters, you see nothing different between the pages in the book you’re holding and the unappreciated gem in your drawer. When is it my turn? you ask.

You’re not a writer until you’ve been rejected. The only way to know if you have what it takes is to submit your work to an agent or editor and then wait to see what happens. When the inevitable rejections come, you have to bite back bitter tears at the all-too-familiar remarks. “I’m sorry to say, it isn’t for me.” But that’s my baby you’re talking about! “We will not be requesting any more material at this time.” But I have three hundred more pages ready! Or my favorite, “I didn’t fall in love with these pages.” Well, maybe it wasn’t love at first sight but give it time!

The truth is, when you send out your manuscript there is about a 99% chance you will fail. Yikes! What kind of person takes those odds? You’d have better luck playing the lottery. But here’s the thing—you can’t win the lottery unless you buy a ticket—and you can’t become a published author unless you’re willing to submit your work. Even the greatest writers of our time had to deal with repeated rejection. Stephen King nailed his rejection letters to a wall, commenting, “By the time I was fourteen the nail in my wall would no longer support the weight of the rejection slips impaled upon it. I replaced the nail with a spike and went on writing.” John Grisham’s first novel A Time To Kill was rejected dozens of times, and even when he did find representation, no publisher wanted to buy it. Louisa May Alcott was told to “stick to teaching.” JK Rowling was famously rejected multiple times, and even after selling the first book in the Harry Potter series, her editor suggested she get a teaching job, since she was unlikely to earn a living from her writing career.

These well-known success stories can turn aspiring authors green with envy—but they also light that indefatigable hope that if it happened to them it could happen to me! And so the author digs in, determinedly searching for someone new to query, never giving up hope that this time, the answer will change from no to yes. Yes to more pages. Yes to representation. Yes to getting that story published. Unfortunately, the process of querying is a slog that can completely kill the joy you once had at discovering you wanted to be a writer. Crafting individualized queries is time-consuming and responses can vary wildly from no response at all, to form letters, to cruel and sometimes snide remarks that can pierce an author’s confidence. I once sent pages to an established agent that dealt with a famous New York city location and was told in quite a supercilious tone that there was no bus stop on that particular street—like latching on to that obscure fact proved I had failed some test even though it had no relevance to the overall story! I’ve received so many rejections in my time as a writer that I’ve come to expect them—and for a long time I let it affect my enjoyment of writing. My acceptance as a writer into the traditional publishing world was determining my self-worth as a writer and enjoyment of the writing process. It took a long time for me to learn that agents, like book bloggers and reviewers, have opinions that are based on their own personal agendas and experiences and are not a reflection of your worth. As Ray Bradbury, who received a “blizzard” number of rejections, once said, “You have to know how to accept rejection, and reject acceptance.” I think what he meant by that was write for yourself, from that place inside you that cherishes your creative spirit. Write because you love writing and separate out the outside criticism from the internal joy you get from writing.

At the same time, querying your manuscript is the barometer in which we can gauge whether or not our writing is meeting a specific target. It’s not enough to just write something and expect the world to fall in love with it—authors have to work to find the right home for their story. Snaring the fickle and fleeting interest of an agent requires an impeccable query letter and more than a little luck. Your manuscript may be well-written but the market may be saturated for stories like it. It may have great potential, only you didn’t capture it well in the query letter. You can gauge the quality of your submission against the quality of your rejections. The more kernels of feedback you get, the more interest you likely generated. Ask yourself, is my query getting me a second look? If not, then consider what you need to do to spice it up. Is there useful feedback in the rejection you can incorporate into your writing? If multiple agents are giving you similar feedback, it’s important to consider what changes need to be made, or if you’re willing to stand your ground on the writing. Querying is like piloting a sailboat across the bay with a stiff headwind. You have to make constant adjustments to stay on course and eventually arrive at your destination: representation and eventual sale.

If you’re looking to improve the odds on turning a no to a yes, here are some tips to follow when querying:Be sure to research an agent in your specific genre. There’s no point in sending a sci-fi story to an agent who only handles romance novels or thrillers.Make sure their list is open to new authors.Look for someone who is up and coming and looking to build their client list.Be sure you have done the proper editing and polishing! For tips read last month’s column on Edit, Revise, Repeat!Learn how to write a strong query letter and be sure to have your query letter critiqued. There is a proper format to be followed with specific details agents are looking to check off  before they proceed.Attend writing conferences and take down names and email addresses. Most participating agents and editors will allow you to submit to them for up to ninety days after a conference they speak at.Most importantly, start writing the next book while you’re shopping the first. You need to live and think as a writer. Writer’s write.And to deal with those feelings of rejections, here are some additional tips:Don’t compare yourself to other writers. Keep your eyes on your own work, not the success of others.Focus on your accomplishments. Meeting writing goals. Completing pages. Sending in submissions. Give yourself small rewards, virtual pats on the back whenever you cross a threshold.For every rejection, send out three more submissions, then figure out how to strengthen your craft.Don’t try to be the next big anything. Try to be you. If you are any good, you will become the next big thing because you were authentic.When you finish a manuscript, don’t stand back in awe of it. Sure you did it, very cool, now the hard work begins. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you’re better than you are. Stay humble. Hire a damn good editor. Take the criticism to heart. Work hard at revising your perfectly awful first pass. Take more criticism. Evolve. Get stronger and better.Accept rejection and use it to motivate yourself to become a better writer. The reason other people succeeded is because they didn’t give up, didn’t skimp on craft, and didn’t stop sending out queries until they achieved their goals.

The post How to Deal with Rejection appeared first on Alane Adams.

Welcome back to The Iron Jaw, a monthly column on the writing life. This month we’re talking about the editing and revision process. If you’re an author, you know that feeling you get when you type these final two words into your manuscript—The End. A sort of tingling joy runs through you, a sense of euphoria that the mountain of doubts and fear have been conquered. You want to dance around the room and shout out your victory at having wrested the plot into a coherent tale from the tangled web of thoughts that bounced around your head. And then comes a compulsive need to have someone read it—to share it with a best friend, spouse, or parent, and it’s with great excitement you wait for the accolades to roll in. It’s amazing, they say. Your mother thinks you’re remarkable. Friends who have never written a fictional sentence in their life (besides their dating profiles) think you’re a wizard. I am author hear me roar

If you’re new to writing—you might actually believe these early readers which can lead to an ego-jarring let down when you send it out to agents. Don’t get me wrong, their sincerity is not in question—it’s their ability to be impartial and have a critical eye. In her Happiness Lab lecture series, Yale professor Lori Santos claims “knowing is not half the battle”, meaning we may know something to be true but still not accept it. To illustrate her point, she shares a familiar image of two parallel lines identical in length, but one has angles pointing inward at the tips, the other pointing outward. Our puny human brain will swear the outward pointing line is longer—and it doesn’t matter if we measure it and prove they are the same, our brain sees what it sees. So accepting that you’re not impartial, but then assuming you can make yourself impartial, is most likely false. If writers could just write and write and write, we would be the happiest people on earth. But the cold hard truth is that first draft you’ve worked so hard on is probably terrible in every sense. Sure it has potential, but like a diamond in the rough, unless the author undertakes the very hard next steps to polish and refine it, they will find themselves in a state of confusion when it is rejected out of hand over and over again.

So what should you do when you finish a manuscript?

Forget it exists.

Huh?

What I mean is, when you complete a draft of your story, close the file and walk away from it. You’ve just spent months, if not years, forging characters, plot lines, sub-plots, conflict, tension and twists out of the dark recesses of your mind. It’s exhausting and draining. Take long walks. Binge-watch all the shows you’ve missed. If you occasionally think of something you forgot to do, make a note of it in passing then get back to relaxing. The last thing you want to do is try to shift gears too fast. Imagine you’re driving seventy-five mph down the freeway and decide to throw the car into reverse. Watch your transmission drop onto the freeway! It’s the same for your brain. Creating the story is one speed, but when you shift into the editing stage, watch out—stuffs about to get real!

After you’ve let your manuscript sit idle—two weeks even up to a month—you’re ready to start the next step—the hardest part of all in my opinion. Now every word, every comma, every nuance must be taken out and examined in the harsh light of a critical eye and this can be both exhausting and demoralizing when you begin to understand how much work is still to be done.

When you dust off your file,  have a clean notepad at hand and a strong cup of coffee. It’s time to read what you wrote. It will feel strange reading your words fresh, almost as if another person had written them. You can make small changes as you read through it, but my advice is to mostly take notes as you go and let the story flow and just see how it feels. By the time you get to the end, you’ll begin to have a sense of the structural problems, timeline errors, slow moving parts and plot holes that raise a red flag. Now you’re ready to roll your sleeves up and really begin to grind.

I frequently read and reread a manuscript thirty, fifty, even eighty times before I’m happy with the flow. Each time I go through it I eliminate problem areas, smooth gaps, add tension, and sprinkle in more details. Its tedious and time-consuming but you will only really see what’s wrong if you take the story completely apart and then put it back together piece by piece. You may have your own method of doing this but it mostly involves critically examining the work with the goal of elevating the story to its highest form.

When you’ve worked through it until your eyes bleed and you literally cannot imagine reading it again, start on the nit-picky items. Learn your bad habits—all authors have them. Mine is starting sentences with phrases like “began to” “tried to” or “started to” For example, I might write, “He began to run,” because as I’m writing the story it’s happening in real time in my mind. But it’s much more active to just say, “He ran.” Be sure to find your bad habits and take note of them, they will reoccur often in future novels.

Another powerful way to weed out weak writing is to listen to your book read out loud to you. No, you don’t need to pay someone to do a voice-over or beg your spouse to run through the lines. There are many great text-to-voice programs available today that are inexpensive and synthesize the human voice very cleanly. You can even pick the accent and sex of the voice. Some stories sound better with a gravelly male voice while others might be more suited to a smooth female pitch with a British accent. You can choose the speed the words are read and pause anytime to make corrections as you follow along with your laptop. The benefit of hearing your words is that your ear can pick up things that your eye can’t. Repetitive phrases and descriptions will jump out at you. Dialogue that doesn’t make sense will jar the ear. Plus it forces you to listen to every word—sometimes when we’re reading we skip over parts, especially if we’re familiar with that part of the story. You will be amazed at how many things you never noticed sticking out like a sore thumb. Another benefit is the ability to listen to your story in the car while you’re driving, turning idle time into productive writing time.

Writers often hear the words “show don’t tell” but it really should be followed up with, “and whatever you do, don’t show AND tell.” If you’re not clear what show don’t tell means, it’s like this: you can write “John was nervous”—that’s telling the reader what John is feeling. It can feel flat and uninteresting as compared to this: “John’s fingers tapped on the desk. Sweat pooled down his back and his collar felt too tight to breathe.” That’s showing the reader that John is nervous without ever saying it. The reader gets to imagine it based on the signals given. What’s worse than telling? When the author considers the reader too dumb to pick up on the clues and so feeds the answer like this: “John was nervous. His fingers tapped on the desk.” It gets annoying to the reader to be told and then shown what is happening. Search out sensory words like feel and felt, hear and heard, see and saw, and try to change as many as you can into more active and dynamic verse.

At this stage, your manuscript is getting tighter and tighter. It’s time to do some repetitive word search and eliminate clichés. There are lots of programs that search out repetitive phrases and they are incredibly helpful at varying the descriptions. It’s always amazing to me that even after reading my manuscript so many times I don’t always see glaring repetitions. A reviewer of my book The Red Sun once pointed out that in spite of five different editors going through the manuscript and countless proofreads, I used “like a lamb led to slaughter” not once but twice in the space of a few pages! Obviously, it was a mistake, but I should have caught it and worse, it was with an overused cliché! With all that said, in the midst of trying to make your manuscript grammatically perfect, with active voice, and properly placed commas, remember to retain your unique voice and writing style. In the end, there are no rules we must follow. We can convey sahcasm with a properly misspelled word. We can make up words if you grok what I’m saying. What matters is the story on the page is the absolute best it can be before we send it out into the world.

I’ve Done All These Steps But My Book Is Still Being Rejected

You’ve put the time in and done the work but no one, besides your mom, is excited about your story. It’s easy to think the world just doesn’t appreciate your talent, but the truth might be:

It’s as good as you say it is but your query isn’t getting you a first look. Queries continue to be the key to opening a door to an agent’s interest, and there are no firm guidelines to follow to know whether your query is connectingIt’s as good as you say it is but they don’t think they can sell it—if an agent doesn’t think they can sell a book because its been done too many times or dominated by one author, they won’t take it on no matter how good it is.It’s not as good as you say it is. That one’s hard to accept but it could be time to hire a professional editor who can give you a comprehensive overview of what’s wrong with the story if you’re willing to invest in their expertise.

Remember even the best authors make mistakes every day and it’s only for the grace of their fabulous editors that they aren’t published for the whole world to see!

The post From First Draft to Final Draft appeared first on Alane Adams.

Welcome back to The Iron Jaw, a monthly column on the writing life. This month we will be talking about writer’s block. Let me preface by saying: there is no such thing as writer’s block. That’s right—it isn’t real. Writer’s block is an excuse, a convenient crutch, a way of explaining why you’re not writing. Why you’re not putting the time in. Why you stare at the computer and come up empty. Hey, I’ve got writers block. Jeez, that’s tough. Yeah, I wish I was writing but there it is, a case of writer’s block, like you’ve got a disease you have to recover from. Writing is the only activity for which we claim to have a legitimate excuse to not do it just because at times it is frustrating and requires us to work harder than we’d like.

Don’t believe me? Let’s use the example of cooking dinner. It’s your turn to cook only when you get into the kitchen you freeze up. You can’t think of a single thing to make. Your spouse comes in and asks what’s for dinner and you say, “Sorry, honey, I have cooking block.” He or she, immediately grasping how serious this is, leads you to the couch, pours you a glass of wine, and pats your hand until you recover. Sounds ridiculous right? Or how about a soccer player who shows up to practice and says, “Coach, I can’t kick the ball today, sorry, I have soccer block.” The coach would look at you like you’d lost your mind, then tell you to get out on the field and stop being ridiculous.

So if writer’s block isn’t real, what is it? What’s going on? Why aren’t you able to write?

What most writers call writer’s block I call fear. Paralyzing fear of writing something that might  not be any good. Fear that what you wrote last time was the only great thing you had. Fear that people will laugh. Fear that you will be told writing is not your thing. Fear that you will fail. Worst of all, fear your writing will viewed as mediocre. Fear paralyzes writers into a state of inaction, into believing they have lost their touch, their desire, their spark, leaving them to wonder why on earth they every wanted to write in the first place. It’s like being locked away in a room with four white walls with no exit, no sounds, no colors, no life. The brain is frozen, choked into a coma by a deep-seated belief that the author has nothing original to say.

This is a lie.

Writers are born with an endless imagination and infinite story possibilities exist. Sure, everything’s been done a hundred zillion times, but authors find new ways to write about the same old stuff. Lord of the Flies becomes Hunger Games. Dracula becomes a glittering Edward Cullen. The only thing stopping you from writing is the inner critic who shouts so loud it’s all you can hear. Don’t write, it might be bad! Stay away from the computer, you might be laughed at! Don’t even look at what you’ve done, it’s all terrible! This is the voice the paralyzed writer hears inside their head every single day

So how do you break down the blank walls trapping your mind?

By facing your fears. By standing up to your inner critic. By accepting that the words you write today might not be great. Yet. But until you let the story out, you’ll never know what it can become. Writing requires fearless joy, like the kind of feeling you get when the top’s down on the convertible and you’re exceeding the speed limit, wind in your face. Words don’t fall onto the page as polished gems. Most of the time they’re stuttering and choppy because the creative process is chaotic and raw, but it is the engine that shapes and forms the story. If you can face your fear of being less than, of being not good enough, then you can stop trying to be so important and just have fun. Write from your gut. Laugh at yourself. Let your character sing off key in the shower. Bust it out with joyful abandon as you seek out the heart of your character and let him or her roar with life. Newly formed writing is plastic to be molded and shaped. If you just let the words out without judging them, with disciplined editing you can turn your choppy words into something beautifully polished and moving.

So if you feel you are suffering from writer’s block, take heart. There is a cure. It involves doing the very thing you believe you can’t: writing. You must write the most painful words, the most awful sentences, the most poorly constructed paragraphs you have ever written! Now that that’s over, do it again, write the next page, and the next, and each page you write will be less painful than the one before until writer’s block is a thing of the past. Write through the pain, write through the fear, and one day, the story you were born to tell will exist within the pages of your finished novel.

If you’ve read this far and you’re still stuck, here are some tips on things you can do and things you should avoid:

Try skipping over the part where you’re stuck and put a placeholder like TBD, then move on to another scene. Sometimes seeing what comes after helps bridge the gap.Write a draft of the ending. Even if you don’t end up using it, wrapping up the story can help fill in missing pieces.Relook at your two key characters—the protagonist and antagonist—and the conflict they are struggling to solve. It could be the conflict isn’t big enough, the antagonist isn’t “antagonizing” enough, or the solution is too easy.Avoid spending your time revising and editing pages during the first draft. Editing skills utilize the critical part of the brain and can interfere with the creative process and your mind’s ability to imagine freely. Keep focused on nurturing your creative brain and box the critic out until the story is complete.

A note of caution: don’t confuse writer’s block with burnout. If you’ve just finished a novel, you absolutely must recharge your batteries and let your creativity rest in between books. You cannot write every day and never take the time to fertilize the ground and let your brain be fallow. Take time to get outdoors, read other author’s books, refresh your energy and then come back for the next one.

The post Breaking Up with Writer’s Block appeared first on Alane Adams.

Welcome to The Iron Jaw—a monthly column on the writing life brought to you by me, Alane Adams. As a children’s author with ten books out in the world, I confess I’ve spent most of my life avoiding the one thing I wanted to do most—write stories. If you are an aspiring writer—this column is for you. If you’ve dreamed of making that book in your head a reality—stick around. If you’ve been writing for years but are stuck—read on because every word will resonate.

The meaning behind the name of the column is simple—if you’re going to be a writer you have to have an iron jaw. Agents will reject you. Editors will snub you. Reviewers will scourge you. Bloggers—don’t get me started. You have to be able to take a lot of hits and keep standing which means you must develop a thick skin and an iron jaw so you can keep going even when the world wants to knock you down.

Like most writers, I knew from a young age I wanted to write stories. Writing isn’t a career you thumb through in a catalogue and select—it chooses you. Maybe you think, “Not true! I decided to major in English on a whim and now write perfectly proper prose reporting on recipes or lifestyle or lord knows what, for which I get paid a healthy salary.” Good for you. Read a different column. This is for those writers who would kill to become published. Who would sell their next of kin to have an agent return their phone call. Who would weep at the sight of an encouraging letter from an editor.

Writing is the curse you wish you weren’t born with, the burning desire you would trade for an interest in knitting any day. Consider the lunacy behind it—it takes countless hours, if not years, to write, edit and submit a manuscript, all the while knowing rejection rates are sky-high. It’s an irrational decision at best, an embarrassing hobby at worst. We know it’s an uphill battle, but we push the boulder up the hill, sweating, praying, agonizing, and hoping when we reach the top, what we do will be valued.

Why do writers strive so hard for a near impossible dream? Why do we stare down the odds and write anyway? Because we are possessed by a singular idea—a desire to share our story—to have characters that have lived so beautifully in our  mind exist in the outside world entertaining readers, making them be seen, heard, loved, hated, cried over, and laughed with. We want our stories to come to life. In some ways it’s like bringing a child into the world and setting it free.

Many unpublished writers think unless they have sold a book, gotten an agent, or received some type of formal recognition, that they can’t call themselves writers. Not true. The truth is writing is a way of life, the skin you were born with, like it or not. You can spend years, even decades, pursuing other interests and have successful careers, but being a writer means deep down you long for, ache for, yearn for, nothing more than a keyboard and a blank page.

You know you’re a writer if beginning a new story is like starting a new relationship. That flush of excitement of getting to know the other person (in this case your characters), feeling that tingling chemistry, getting excited at the thought of spending time with them. Writing is like falling in drunk love until that moment you hit a wall and wake up, suddenly seized by doubts of  What was I thinking? I am terrible at this. I can’t begin to compete with other great writers. My story is packed with clichés and misplaced modifiers. And the dream gets shelved, only to eat away at your soul, niggle at the edges of your thoughts as you longingly hold books in your hands other authors have published and wonder: How did they do it? What makes them different than me?

I know the secret to how they did it. The singular difference between them and you can be summed up by one word. It’s not talent—if you were born with a writer’s heart, you were probably given raw talent. It’s not craft, though craft is incredibly important. It’s not who you know, although if your uncle is an agent, send him a very nice Christmas present with a copy of your manuscript tucked inside. It’s not quality. It’s not originality. It’s not editing. It’s not timing. It’s not any of this. So what is it?

Persistence.

The writers who ultimately publish their novels are people just like you who made a conscious decision to pursue their writing dreams no matter what. You think they didn’t run into roadblocks? Gone With The Windwas rejected by almost forty publishers before becoming a success.  Harry Potter author JK Rowling was rejected multiple times and said, “I wasn’t going to give up until every single publisher turned me down, but I often feared that would happen.” It’s hard to imagine a world without Harry Potter, a series that ignited a renewed interest and passion in reading for an entire generation. Imagine she had given up and not sent out that synopsis—One. More Time.

Some successful writers had longtime careers doing other things and made the switch later in life. Some figured it out in college and never swerved. But they all faced rejection, writers block, discouragement, self-loathing, and an indescribable sense of failure wrapped up in joy. And the one thing they all shared was this persistent commitment to marching forward in spite of everything. They committed themselves to writing even when it was hard. They accepted the rejections that piled up and didn’t let them bury them. They committed the time to not only write but master their craft by learning to edit and revise. And when they had a complete manuscript they took the hardest step of all: they tirelessly sent it out into the world to be rejected again and again and again without ever giving up on their dream.

So if you’re not writing, but have a writer’s heart, what’s your excuse? Too old? So what, tomorrow you’ll just be a day older and no closer. Write the story anyway. Too young? No one will take you seriously until you take yourself seriously. Too hard? Welcome to writing! No one in their right mind becomes a writer because it’s fun. It’s hard work with a very, very, very low chance of success.

If you persist, I can’t lie to you, it will be a hard road. You will doubt yourself. Doubt your talent. Doubt your commitment. Doubt the universe will ever give you a break. But don’t quit just because it’s hard. Don’t give up because you hit a bump. Don’t curl into a ball because you get a bad review. Don’t wallow in self-pity when an agent tells you your work is not original. You’re made of sterner stuff than that.

In other words, don’t give up.

You have value as a writer. Your words matter. With hard work, you can create a unique voice that an audience will want to connect with. You have to first find the voice and second find the audience. So when you’re sitting there alone in front of the computer trying to find the courage to write, don’t let fear and doubt eat away at you. When you feel like giving up, reread this column and then write another paragraph. When you feel like the world is against you, stop fighting and let it pass. When you feel like you will never make a dent, never be heard, never be noticed, then grit your teeth, and write some more. Writers write. They persist. They develop their craft. They push forward. But most importantly, they never give up.

Be a writer.

The post Be A Writer appeared first on Alane Adams.