Monday, January 26, 2015

A Forest of Writers


As a participant in Julie Hedlund's 12x12 program I had the opportunity to do a guest post on her blog. I wrote about the symbiotic nature of writing as illustrated by the redwood tree. You can see the full article here

With just a few repeats, I've added some things about redwoods, and how they apply to writers, that I didn't add to the original: 

  • Redwood tree roots grow relatively shallow, but they are able to withstand extreme conditions and reach remarkable heights because they intertwine their roots. Writers grow best when intertwined with each other. Be it critique groups, agents, editors, etc., we need each other to reach those impossible heights. 
  • Redwood seeds are about the size of a tomato seed. A lot of people try to break into writing without any background in a writing-related study, but successful writers come from various backgrounds. Even a tiny seed of desire can burst into a towering tree with the right effort and nourishment. And when a beginning writer busting with desire plants his or her roots into the soil, it gives life to the whole forest. 
  • Redwoods can sprout new trees out of fallen ones. Think of all those lousy first drafts that ended up in the bin. Consider them fertilizer for better ideas. No writing, no matter how bad, is wasted. Even bad writing can sprout something monumental, you just have to keep trying.
  • Redwoods contain a lot of tannin in their bark. This allows them to be largely fire, insect and fungal resistant. As a writer you need "tann-acity" (cue the drum roll) to withstand the fires of rejections, bugs of self-doubt and the fungus of bad reviews.
  • Redwoods don't produce resin or pitch, which aids in their fire resistance. Try not to produce pitch, the weepy sap of discouragement or negativity that will make those fires of discouragement burn hotter and longer. And don't throw pitch at others. It just guarantees that you'll get scorched in the process. But if you have been scorched, know that trees survive and even thrive when some of that dross is burned away.
  • Strong redwoods make every redwood strong. One writer's success does not weaken another writer, rather it strengthens the whole system. J.K. Rowling's success created thousands of new opportunities for writers. When we encourage and support growth in others, we strengthen the system that our own roots draw nourishment from. A tall tree isn't competition, it's an arrow showing us the direction our own tree can grow.
Thank you all for strengthening my roots. 



Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Great New Resource for Writers: KidLit411

http://www.kidlit411.com/p/about.html


I'm sneaking in a post about KidLit 411, partly because they're having excellent giveaways, like a bypass-slush-pile submission to Lori Kilkelly of Rodeen Literary (and I get an extra entry for blogging about them), but also because it's a great resource I should have blogged about earlier.

The nutshell version: KidLit 411 is run by Elaine Kiely Kearns and Sylvia Liu with help from lots of other writers as well. It really is the one-stop shop it claims to be. They have resources for every genre of kid lit, a manuscript swap option through their Facebook group, and this week they are running some fabulous articles with incredible giveaways. 

Check them out: http://www.kidlit411.com



Tuesday, January 6, 2015

A New Start

Writing is hard. When I seriously started writing children's books I had no idea how far out of my comfort zone I'd be required reach. 

I'm still not where I want to be. I don't think I ever will be. I will play a level of Candy Crush over and over again until I get three stars. Of course I only play Candy Crush when I'm all done with everything on my to-do list.
https://openclipart.org/detail/30277/tango-face-grin-by-warszawianka
Anyway, the video above is brilliant advice from author, Kristen Lamb. Couldn't wait to share it. 

Have a great week.