Writer's Quotes - David Lubar

From the guy who writes seriously funny books.
And is a master of puns.  (click on over to his website to see what I mean)
David Lubar

In six words, tell a complete -- no, wait. Better idea. Much better. In six words, or fewer, or more, write an interesting sentence. Write another, related to the first. And another. Keep going until you have a story, an essay, or a novel. Repeat, as needed.

Another link to writing advice

Excellent advice here about how to write a children's book from Tirzah Price, a fellow Vermont College of Fine Arts graduate. 

Ten Steps to help you learn how to write the best children's book you can.

How to Write a Book

Good advice from the multi-published (and multi-award winner) Kate Messner:

She says:

Just got an email from an elementary school student asking how to write a book. I started her off with these two suggestions, which apply to writers of all ages.

1. Read a lot of stories that are similar to the kind of book you want to write. A LOT. Like, sign out a great big pile of books from the library and read them all. Think about which ones you like best, and why. When we read like writers in that way, we learn what makes a good book. 

2. Carry around a notebook. That way, when you have an idea, you can jot it down right away and it won't get lost in your busy brain.

Writer's Quotes - Stephen King

I'm attaching a link to a chart listing 14 pieces of writing advice from Stephen King.
Good for all writers.
Readers will also find this informative.  It might let you know just why that self-published book you bought was so unsatisfying and why traditionally published books, that are revised many times by the writer plus helpfully improved by an editor at a traditional publishing house, are so much better and more satisfying.

Writer's Quotes - George R.R. Martin

These are taken from an article in BuzFeed.  Click on the link to see the whole article.

On his first stories.

“I never finished any of my early stories. They were all beginnings, an endless number of beginnings.” 

“The best writing advice I had was [in] ‘Heinlein’s Rules for Writers’ by (American science fiction author) Robert A. Heinlein. His first rule is that you must write, and I was already doing that, but his second rule is, ‘You must finish what you write,’ and that had a big impact on me.” 

“I had these cheap alien toys and I made up stories for them. They were space pirates. They didn’t have names so I made up names. These were the first stories I wrote. Even as a little kid I was thinking about torture.” – George R.R. Martin

On childhood.

“We never went anywhere because we had no money and we had no car, but I would look out the living room window and see the lights of Staten Island. It was incredibly romantic to me, like Middle Earth. Of course, the danger is you eventually get to Staten Island.” 

“Reading. That was the sport I was good at.” – George R.R. Martin

On his first professional work.

“It was a story called ‘The Hero’ which I sold to Galaxy magazine in 1970, for $94.” 

“I was a journalism major, and I would take creative writing classes as part of that, but I would also look for opportunities to write stories for some of my other classes. So for my course in Scandinavian history, I asked if I could write historical fiction instead of term papers. Sometimes they’d say yes.” – George R.R. Martin

On writing.

“It’s different for every writer. It’s not a career for anyone who needs security. It’s a career for gamblers. It’s a career of ups and downs.” 

“ The main thing is the stories. Ultimately you want to get back to that room, back to your people.” 

“I’ve been very lucky. There were times when I was afraid I would never sell another book, but I never doubted I’d write another book.” 

“It’s being ready to accept rejection. You can work on a book for two years and get it published, and it’s like you may as well have thrown it down a well. It’s not all champagne and doing interviews with The New York Times.” 

“There’s part of me that loves words. But sometimes it feels like you’re trying to drive nails with your shoe.” – George R.R. Martin

On killing characters and torturing readers.

“I could have written a story about a well-adjusted family. Ned Stark comes down to King’s Landing and takes over and solves all their problems. Would that have been as exciting?” 

“The way my books are structured, everyone was together, then they all went their separate ways and the story deltas out like that, and now it’s getting to the point where the story is beginning to delta back in, and the viewpoint characters are occasionally meeting up with each other now and being in the same point at the same time, which gives me a lot more flexibility for killing people.” – George R.R. Martin

On underdogs.

“I’ve always had a soft spot for the outsider, for the underdog. ‘Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things’, as the title of one of the (TV series) episodes goes. The angst that they have in life makes for more conflict, makes for more drama, and there’s something very attractive about that. My Game of Thrones is told by outsiders of both types. None of them fit comfortably into the society into which they’ve been born, and they’re all struggling to find a place for themselves in which they’re valued and loved and respected, despite what their society considers their deficiencies. And out of that, I think, comes good stories.” – George R.R. Martin

Everything you wanted to know about Writing -

But were afraid to ask?

Follow this link to discover the secrets of writing as a profession.
(It's a newspaper column so I don't know how long this link will be valid, but go ahead and try anyway.)

Jane Yolen - On the Writing Life

Another wonderful quote from Jane Yolen, the Hans Christian Anderson of the United States of America:

Today I want to talk about the Everyday-ness of writing. How the extraordinary must become ordinary.

Just as I do my morning exercises to get these old bones moving, I write every day. Every single day. Sometimes it's a chapter, sometimes it's a poem. Sometimes I make lists of things: nouns, verse to revise, ideas for new books, suggestions for stories with my children (in case you haven't been paying attention, they are all writers!).

Even if I am ill, traveling, caring for a sick husband, running around a convention, walking the Royal Mile--even then I will manage to write something. Because being a writer means that kind of commitment. It doesn't have to be something for publication (though what does get published is almost always a surprise.) It i something to get the brain, the heart, the imagination, and the fingers coordinated, working together. Not strangers but a good team.

After my big back operation, part of my recovery was to walk a mile (or more) a day. As the amazing nurse Donna explained it to me: if you walk a mile at a good steady pace (mine is fast) outside, taking in the fresh oxygen, your spinal fluid moves up and down oiling the spine. Well, that's what writing every day does. It keeps the fluid moving about our brain, oiling its parts. Writing needs such fluidity.

Yes, life happens. It interrupts all our careful plans. A person from Porlock, an auto accident, a shooter in the movie theater, or more happily twins born, a friend stopping in for tea, your book winning the Caldecott, your editor calling to say you won the Nebula, your agent messaging that you sold a book, falling in love.

But the bottomest of lines is this: if you are a writer, you write. And you turn all of life's hiccups into poetry or prose.

How lucky are we--accidents, incidents, handicaps, heartbreaks all become research, become prompts. So don't ignore them, but use them. Every day.

Every single glorious, bloody day.

(quoted from a Facebook Post on Monday, August 24, 2015.)

Writing Picture Books?

When you write a picture book, should you "play it safe"with your plot, or should you go wild?

Editor Emma Dryden, who now runs an editorial service,  explains why Playing it safe may be the most dangerous game of all.  Click on over and read and think about how it may apply to your current manuscript.  (The same may be true of your middle grade or young adult manuscript.)

Lots of good information in the comments as well.

What is Talent?

If you're a writer or want to be a writer, you've gotta bookmark author and writing instructor, Marion Dane Bauer's blog.

Today she talks about talent -- what is it? Who has it? Who doesn't? And can it be developed if you work at it?

Ah -- Author Janni Simner also talks about talent on her blog, Desert Dispatches, today.

Showing Emotion in your Writing

Confused about the Objective Correlative?
Huh?

What. i.s she. talking about?

Okay, to put is more simply -- how about discovering a better way to show emotion in your writing -- better than saying, He was sad. Or She was pleased.

Check out this Craft Talk Tuesday article by author, Carol Brendler, on the blog The Writing Barn.

Writing for a living

Without going into whether or not you actually CAN earn a living with your writing, much-pubhished author Marion Dane Bauer has written a blog post (on her blog, Just Thinking) about HOW to organize your life when you write for a living. Click on over.  Words to think about.
wo

Checklist for your Plot

Did I ever tell you how much I admire the editor, Cheryl Klein?
(I did?  sure I did.  Just do a search on my blog and you'll see.)

Well, She realized that her Plot Checklist, which she uses every time she critiques or edits a manuscript, had changed from the original list she had on her website and in her book, Second Sight.
In her Brooklyn Arden blog today she points out the changes in her thinking and what's different about her new Plot Checklist.

Check it out.

What makes a book SELL?

Agent Jill Corcoran talks at Jill Corcoran Books about the book market and how you can write a book to not only sell to an agent, not only sell to an editor, but that the public will buy and enjoy and want more, more, more.

Surviving the Editorial Letter

I'm a firm believer that we children's book writers have a lot in common with writers of Romance Novels. So much so that I belong to the local Maryland chapter and usually attend the Romance Writer's of America convention whenever it is held here in the Washington, DC area. Their workshops have so much information for mid-list writers of all genres.

I also follow the blogs of several Romance Writers' agents. (for the same reason)
For example, Rachelle Gardner has a guest post on her blog from one of her writers, Camille Eide, talking about the Editoral Letter and how writers react to it.
Yup.
I've gone through all of the stages she mentions whenever I get one, myself.
-wendieO

7 Things Editors Wish Writers Knew

Jon Bard, Managing Editor of the Children's Book Insider, the Newsletter for Children's Writers sent this message:

Hey folks,
I've got another another free children's writing video for you. This one's called "7 Things Editors Wish Writers Knew" and it's based on our years of discussions with editors at publishers large and small. There are some good tips here that will help writers really impress an editor.

The video is waiting for you right here.
(you-all know to click on the link when I say 'here' or 'right here,' don't you? -wendieO)