Tweet I haven’t blogged here in awhile. Mostly because I’ve been working on my crazy ambitious goal of publishing essays, picture books, a middle grade novel and adult novel (saved for someday). So far, I haven’t been that successful. But I thought I’d document my process here. What I have been successful at is learning about the process. For example, part of my work includes reading books like The Creative Curve: How to Develop the Right Idea at the Right Time by Allen Gannett. While reading it, I recognized a few surprising truths that make picture books successful and can help…
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Tweet All the rejections from articles, essays, and poems lay in a heavy heap over my heart. They are evidence of one thing that I have to keep learning repeatedly. Success doesn’t come from replicating successful writers. This I have to tell myself after yet another agent/teacher recommends I read a bestselling book in hopes their innovative ideas, voice or style rubs off on me. This after my insecurity makes me succumb to Oprah’s often told lesson of trying to imitate Barbara Walters. But she learned, “I can be a better Oprah Winfrey than a pretend Barbara Walters.” But no matter how…
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Tweet I’ve been struggling with the editing process for awhile. A part of that is psychological. I would rather pretend that my piece looks good enough instead of deal with the agonizing reality that it’s far from perfection. But if you want to be a successful writer, this won’t bode well for a long-term career. That’s why I’ve developed a quick system to insure I won’t make a fool out of myself by submitting less than par prose. It’s easy as 1-2-3. After you’ve worked on the final draft of your latest endeavor take a breather. In a day or…