A friend of mine quoted Woody Allen to me recently: “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” And I think it’s a perfect quote to inspire writers. There’s another statistic that only a small percentage of the writers who start writing a novel finish it, and even fewer revise it, and even fewer polish it…
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Revision update: On chapter 22 of 30. I’m taking a pause in my Houston SCBWI conference coverage for a little Olympics wisdom. Check back in tomorrow for National Geographic Children’s Books editor-in-chief Nancy Feresten. We all know the Olympics are great for that ‘WOW! People can do that?’ factor. I must admit, I tear up…
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Revision update: On chapter 14 out of 30. I still think I can make my end of February goal. In my first post about the Houston SCBWI conference, I’m featuring some tips from Balzer & Bray editor Ruta Rimas. Energetic, knowledgeable and obviously passionate about books, Ruta advised authors to read books by the authors…
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Revision update: Working on a change to chapter 2 after my 10-page critique at the Houston SCBWI conference, then back to chapter 12. Still on track to be finished by the end of the month. I’m holding off my coverage of the Houston SCBWI conference til tomorrow because I was doing some blog surfing yesterday…
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Revision update: Moving along smoothly. Having been at it for a couple days now, I’m enjoying being back in the story with the characters. On chapter 8 out of 29. Doing this revision, I’m going through the stacks of notes from critique group sessions and my own notes on the print out of the entire…
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Revision update: I buckled down yesterday and jumped in. More today. I’m a computer hound. I have a laptop, and it’s like my good and trusty friend. It’s always with me. If I go on a trip, the computer is packed. When I went to the Austin SCBWI conference a few weeks ago, I stayed…
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Manuscript update: Today I’m starting my next revision of my current novel, and I’m excited and nervous. It has been three weeks since I’ve written, and the longer it gets, the more antsy I get. It’s funny, but when I’m writing, everything else in my life goes so much more smoothly. I don’t know if…
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Angela Ackerman (a.k.a. The Bookshelf Muse) has finished her collection of posts about her seven deadly sins of novel writing, and they’re good to read for writers at all stages of a manuscript. On Monday, I’ll be beginning what I think — hope — will be my last revision of my current novel, and as…
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Today, I’m pleased to host Laura Cross, author of many ghostwritten books as well as her new Complete Guide to Hiring a Literary Agent: Everything You Need to Know to Become Successfully Published. In January, you posted great questions about ghostwriting (Thanks everyone!), and Laura has some eye-opening answers. Before we get to them, though,…
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If there was a theme in what the many published writers said at the Austin SCBWI conference a couple weeks ago, it was that perseverance is an important part of their success. Three of this year’s ALA winners were there — Jacqueline Kelly (The Evolution of Capurnia Tate), Marla Frazee and Liz Garton Scanlon (All…
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