Seven Answers to Seven Questions: Christine Harris
I’ve written about 50 books over the last 20 years, so it’s probably easier to follow the following links
Book cover pics: http://www.christineharris.com/Books.aspx
Short biog and list of writing associated activities: http://www.christineharris.com/AboutMe/Info.aspx
FAQs: http://www.christineharris.com/AboutMe/FAQ.aspx
Awards: http://www.christineharris.com/AboutMe/Awards.aspx
2. How long have you been writing for children?
My first book ‘Outer Face’ was published 1992, but of course the writing of it took place for several years before this.
3. How much time do you spend each week writing and/or revising? And how much time on other writing-related tasks such as promotion, researching markets and so on?
I am a full time professional writer – so usual work hours, plus a few sleepless nights and early mornings. And I sometimes wonder if writers are ever truly ‘off duty’. Whatever we see starts thought processes that lead to stories or scenes in books. Most writers, including myself, carry notebooks and jot ideas down on anything that doesn’t move – including serviettes and backs of envelopes.
I try to keep promotions to evenings or weekends, but sometimes I blitz – spend a week or two. When I was revamping my website, I spent a month or more, straight, working on it. A writer must spend some time on promotions if they are serious about being professional. But the balance between promo and writing new material is easily upset. So I think setting limits is important. Each of us works best according to our own personality.
4. How much time do you spend reading children’s books? And what are you reading right now?
Depends. If I am deep into writing a novel or having trouble with a section of it, I won’t read anything that changes my style.
I also blitz read (I sound like a real ‘blitzer’, don’t I?). I go to the library and borrow a bag full and read them all, take notes, if I am after something in particular. I find now, after years of reading young adult and kidlit, that I am often impatient with slow, wordy novels for adults.
Currently, I am reading Stephenie Meyer’s ‘Eclipse’ in the Twilight series. Mostly because kids keep asking me if I have read it or know about it and it helps me to be able to converse with them. While I don’t try to be or act like a child, I work in the world of children, so it does help to be in touch with what they are interested in. But, at the same time I am reading a book for adults by Tony Horwitz about following in the footsteps of Captain Cook, and a book on How to Write Mystery Books. I read all sorts of material. There are books in every room of the house. And I mean EVERY.
5. What advice would you give other would-be children’s writers, or share with other professional children’s writers?
Write.
And this is not as silly as it sounds. We spend so much time planning, thinking and talking about writing that we don’t actually start.
I believe we learn by doing.
6. What is your favourite online resource for children’s writers? Why?
All. Any. Lots.
Seriously. I pick up hints on what to do and what not to do in many places. Read all you can and keep a notebook or computer file of the best tips. I don’t usually seek out children’s writing sites, but I do read a lot of online info about writing. No matter who is the target reader, the skills are pretty much the same.
Jurgen Wolff’s Time to Write blog has pithy, helpful entries http://www.timetowrite.blogs.com/
7. Do you have a website or blog? What else do you do to promote your published works and/or your writing skills?
I have three blogs. The most relevent here is Writers Bitz
http://www.writers-bitz.blogspot.com/
I try to add articles here of things that might interest, entertain or inform writers, and I add material that reflects what I am currently being asked about.
What else do I do to promote my work?
My goodness, that would require a whole essay. And what I am doing this week will be different to what I choose to do next week. What doesn’t work gets dropped and new ideas are added.
My best advice here would be to constantly add to a personal data base of ideas for promotions. We can only make this sort of thing effective when we are doing things that we are comfortable with. Some writers are shy, others are exhibitionist – so always look out for ideas, choose those that you are comfortable with, then write down your plan and slot in time to actually do it. A promotions plan, to me, is fluid, constantly changing, like the sea.
But generally, the areas I think about are”
online/technological; website, blogs, articles, email signatures …
paper handouts, including a professional looking business card, list of published books etc
personal appearances
competitions and giveaways (usually for young writers)…
When I was a kid I used to write lists then add … to infinity …
So, that’s the best way to continue this list
…to infinity…
Guest Article: Start Your Writing Career Today, by Robyn Opie
Start Your Writing Career Today
by Robyn Opie
So you want to write a children’s book. Great! Writing for children is a wonderful hobby or occupation (as in my case).
But where does one start? What does one need to do to become a children’s author? How did I become a published children’s author?
Actually, I decided that I wanted to be a writer before I decided that I wanted to write children’s books. The first thing I did after realising that I wanted to be a writer was join our local writers’ centre. Then I joined a romance writers’ group. Writing romance seemed like a good idea at the time. At a meeting of the romance writers’ group I met several writers who were also writing children’s books.
I hadn’t read a children’s book in quite a few years. And I hadn’t considered writing for children. But the prospect interested me, so off I went to my local library. A visit to my library can take me a good hour (or more) as I study the shelves for books published in the past year or two.
While at the library, I also looked for non-fiction books about writing children’s books. I’ve read every book on writing for children that I could find in the libraries around my city. I’m a member of a lot of different libraries. It’s a joke with me that I collect libraries like some people collect stamps.
Next, I investigated a number of courses about writing children’s books. I settled on an eight-week course run by a local college. It covered everything I needed to know about writing for children (well, almost everything) at a very reasonable rate. Later, I completed a picture book course run by an adult education facility.
I call all of this reading and studying my apprenticeship. A writer has to learn how to write a book just as a pilot has to learn how to fly a plane.
After all this learning and writing I was ready to send my work to a manuscript assessment agency, other writers or my local writers’ centre to gain feedback on my writing. I needed to know what I was doing wrong, as well as what I was doing right. This critical assessment of my work was part of my education.
It’s through the writers’ groups I belong to that I learnt about the publishing opportunities, which lead to most of my books. Therefore I’m a big fan of networking.
I’m also a big fan of knowledge and practice, as my main publisher said to me in his first email: “you’ve obviously done this before”. Another publisher recently noted in an email to me: “someone who understands a lot about picture book structure”.
So, to reiterate, my advice is:
a) Join writers’ groups. Local and/or online writers’ groups. By joining writers’ groups you hope to network, learn about the publishing world,
obtain feedback on your work and make friends with similar interests.
b) Read a lot of recent children’s books. Take notice of what you like and what seems to work. Study the writing. You’re reading for research first, pleasure second.
When I visit the local library I look for recent releases. It’s important to keep up with the market and what’s being published. If you’re writing a book about a comet hurtling towards Earth and a book with a similar storyline has been published in the last year, your story is unlikely to be published, no matter how good it is.
c) Read a lot of books about writing for children. Articles from websites are also a great idea – naturally. You’re reading mine now! It can help to read books about writing in general. But children’s books are a specialised field. For example, you need to know the different types of children’s books for the various age groups – the word lengths, language, style etc.
d) Write the type of children’s books you enjoy the most. Write every day if possible. Practice makes you a better writer. Practice/repetition is how we learn and master tasks.
e) Take courses on writing for children.
I should point out that the writing for children course I did, many years ago, involved weekly writing assignments. I wrote a picture book, easy reader, early chapter book and sections of longer novels, which were all marked by my tutor. Two of my first six published titles were written during this course.
f) Have your manuscripts assessed by a reputable manuscript assessment service. Due to the volume of submissions publishers receive and the quality of some of these submissions, many publishers are now requesting a manuscript assessment accompany every submission.
g) Write down your dreams and goals. Look at them every day. Break them down into small steps if necessary. Your writing activities should
move you towards your writing dreams and goals.
h) Enter competitions. Write articles and short stories. Seek ways of filling your writer’s CV with publishing credits.
Now you’re on your way. From this point on, the secret to becoming a
children’s author is persistence. I’ve read and heard quotes from many
authors who claim that the secret to their success is persistence. They never gave up!
© Copyright Robyn Opie. All Rights Reserved.
Guest Article; Write What You Love, by Robyn Opie
Write What You Love
by Robyn Opie
I recently answered a question from a student on my writing for children course. I’d like to share my advice to her because I think it’s important to all writers.
My student told me that she’d wanted to write a story for a long time. She gave me a brief outline of it, which sounded good.
Her question had to do with her writing experience – or lack of it. So far, she’s written a handful of short, simple stories for children up to eight. She wanted to know if, as a novice, she was out of her depth writing a longer novel for older children on a difficult subject. She wondered if she should forget the idea for the time being and try something less challenging.
There’s only one way to find out, I told her – by writing it.
I was encouraged by my student’s enthusiasm and passion. She wanted to write the story. That was obvious. Therefore, I think she should do it.
As I explained in my response to this student, I believe that passion is most important to a writer, of any genre. I believe that you have to feel passionate about a story to write it.
Writing is hard work. It takes time, dedication and commitment. It means sacrifices. It’s also a lot of fun, if you’re passionate about it.
I write for my own pleasure. I write because I love writing for children. I love doing it more than anything else. I write a children’s book because I want to – have to. I feel passionate about it. I write for my own fun first. Getting it published is a bonus.
I believe that, if I write something for my own enjoyment, then others will enjoy it too. If I laugh, others will laugh too. If I cry, others will cry too.
Not all of my manuscripts are published. Some are rejected. But writing for me in the first instance seems to work most of the time.
I recommended to my student to write her story, do the best job she can with limited experience and have fun.
There are no guarantees that her story will be published. There are simply no guarantees in life. But she’ll have fun writing it and she’ll also gain valuable experience in writing for children.
If you want to be a writer you have to write. The more you write, the better you get. Every story is valuable experience.
Let’s consider the following scenario: you’ve written a story and made many attempts to get it published. Some say that J K Rowling’s first Harry Potter story was rejected about 30 times. If you’ve received 30 rejections for your manuscript then it’s probably time to think about rewriting it. Is there anything you can do to improve it? Or maybe it’s time to call the story a step in your writing career – good practice – and move on. We all need experience. It makes us better at what we do.
I often say that persistence is a key to success. You haven’t given up. You’re still trying. Obviously, you’re in with a chance. The practice of continuing to write improves your skills. And passion keeps you going.
Thousands of stories have been written. Many of these books have the same basic idea. They are different because different personalities wrote them.
The Quest? I can’t imagine how many books contain this underlying theme. Boy meets girl? The number is even greater here, I’m sure. Catching a serial killer? I think you get the point.
Everything has been done. Every idea has been used. Your job as a writer is to make your idea seem new and fresh. You do this with passion. The way you tell the story. Your excitement. Your connection with the characters. You!
Last year, I wrote a story based on a true historical event which intrigued me. To get into the mood – inspire my passion – I read books about the time, place and incident. It wasn’t long before I was so excited that I had to start writing. I couldn’t help it. My research also gave me the plot, as if handed to me on a platter. As I read about the real people and the period, individual words inspired my imagination. Soon, ideas were swirling around in my mind, forming a story.
There are plenty of things you can do to inspire passion when writing for children:
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Read books on a particular subject, time or location. Look for facts that excite you. Think about them and their possibilities.
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Read the latest children’s books. This relaxing activity is work for a children’s author. You’re learning about the market, getting your brain used to thinking about children’s stories and plots, and stirring the imagination.
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Read books on writing for children. Immerse yourself in the subject. You’ll gain valuable knowledge and skills. You’ll also get your brain used to thinking about children’s books and how to write them.
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Take courses and learn everything you can about writing for children. Learning more about a favourite subject (and doing homework) is great inspiration and motivation.
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Join writers’ groups and find other people interested in writing children’s books. Make friends with these writers and talk often, in person, on the phone or via email.
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Act like a writer. People often say that if you want something then pretend that it’s already happened. It’s a form of visualisation. So pretend that you’re a professional writer and act accordingly.
You need the skills of a writer and experience goes a long way, as it does in any profession. But don’t forget passion. Don’t under-estimate it.
© Copyright Robyn Opie. All Rights Reserved.
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