Words From the Wise #2-- Julie Hedlund, Write Up My Life

For this week's edition of Words From the Wise, I have had the honor of interviewing Julie Hedlund.   I hope that you enjoy reading her thoughts as much as I have.  

Recently you have become quite active in the world of children's writing. How are you handling your new found fame?

Well, I certainly don’t consider it “fame,” but I do hope my activity is well received in the kidlit community.  Honestly after more than two years of blogging, attending conferences, participating in Twitter chats, etc., it’s nice to finally feel like I have a sense of the landscape – the “who’s who” of kidlit.  The best part is getting to know so many amazing authors and illustrators, many of whom I’ve met only recently through the 12 x 12 challenge.  And I will admit it’s a thrill when an author I’ve loved for ages “recognizes” my name.  Authors are, and always have been, celebrities to me!

Can you describe your personal writing process, and what is your favorite part?

Hmm.  This question makes me think I should have a better process!

For picture books, I typically write my first draft in one sitting.  I can do this because I mull stories around in my mind for ages before I ever write a word.  I usually think that first draft is SO GOOD. 

Then I let the draft sit for a while and come back to revise.  By then I think the draft is NOT SO GOOD.  It’s usually about 2-3 revisions later before I feel it’s ready to be shared with my critique partners.  After that, it’s anyone’s guess.  I have one PB that I’ve probably revised 100 times and my CPs have seen it at least half a dozen times.  One of my more recent ones only required a couple of critique group go-rounds.  Hopefully that means I’m getting better at drafting!

My favorite part of the process is writing the first draft and then the first couple of revisions.  I love it when the story is still all mine and nobody has seen it yet.  It’s like my little secret. J

You are excellent at marketing yourself. What are some of the key elements for a new writer in getting themselves noticed? How can a newly published author really get the word out about their work?

Well, for full disclosure, I don’t (yet) have a book I’ve marketed, but I have worked hard to build an online presence so that when I do have something to promote, the network will be there.  This strategy worked very well when it came time to promote the 12 x 12 in 2012 challenge, for example.

So, establish a presence as soon as you know you want to be or will be published, because what you are doing is building relationships more than marketing.  If you want those relationships to be authentic, they need to grow organically and that takes some time.

There is so much information available on how to promote well.  Be a sponge and absorb as much as you can before making huge decisions about which promotion activities you are going to take on.  For children’s book authors, Katie Davis recently published an ebook called How to Promote Your Children’s Book: Tips, Tricks and Secrets to Creating a Bestseller.  This is the perfect place to start.

Who are some of your favorite picture book authors, and what draws you to their work?

My all-time favorite picture book author is Jane Yolen.  I love her because she can write anything, and everything she writes is amazing.  I dare you to look at her range of work and not be inspired.  Plus, she uses the most gorgeous language in her picture books and does not “write down” to kids.  Rather, she asks them to “rise up” to meet her stories.   

I won’t even try to list any others because once I start I won’t be able to stop!

What goals have you set for yourself with your writing? Do you have a plan on how to accomplish those goals?

It’s funny you ask that because this is the first year I’ve set concrete, measurable goals for my writing.  Writing at least 12 picture books in 2012 is one of them, but I have also established specific goals for querying and publishing in other venues.  For example, I want to publish magazine articles in both the children and adult market, and I plan to publish a storybook app.  I also have a nonfiction ebook for writers up my sleeve that I plan to publish before June. 

Julie Hedlund is a Picture Book author and Freelance Writer. She is the creator and host of the 12 x 12 in 2012 picture book writing challenge.  You can connect with Julie on her blog, Write Up My Life, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

Thoughts from Ann Whitford Paul

As I have told you all before, I have become a huge fan of Ann Whitford Paul and her book, Writing Picture Books.  I have found her teachings to be very helpful to me in my execution of  my story ideas.  

Recently I asked Ann, "How does an author know when a manuscript is ready to submit?"  Here is what she said:

That’s a very interesting question and one that I’ve been grappling with in regards to a novel I just sent off to my agent. 

Thomas Mann said, “A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than for other people.”  We know that it takes work to structure a story and find the right words.  A lot of work—months, years.  We think of the story constantly—when we take a walk, bake a cake, clean out the closets.  It’s always with us.  We polish, we share it with other writers, we put it away.  We bring it back out.  So when to let go?

I think the problem comes from our insecurity recognizing that a manuscript rarely lives up to the image of the story we have in our head.  We want perfection and there is no such animal.  There is always something more a writer can do with a story.  That’s a given.  I love this quote by the writer Gene Fowler, “A book is never finished.  It’s abandoned.” 

With my latest manuscript, I found I was going over and over and over it again, shifting chapters, revising language, upping the tension, bringing out the characters until I thought I’d go punchy.  Everyone in my writing group told me to send it off, but I couldn’t let go until I realized I could spend the rest of my life revising and still have more to go.  I’d done it all—even reading the 50,000 word manuscript out loud.  Each change sends ripple effects through the manuscript, but at some point one has to stop.

       So what made me stop?  Number one, the basic story flowed.  I had three acts, the drama came at the end and the ending was satisfying but not perfectly wrapped up.  The big issues had been handled to the best of my ability. 

Number two—I had checked and re-checked my research.  Facts I knew in my gut were correct, I still persisted in going back to the research just to be sure—a huge waste of time.

Number three—because my novel was based during the revolutionary war, I made many visits to my trusty Oxford Dictionary (the kind you have to read with a magnifying glass) and verifying words more than once.

And Number four, I realized that I was down to nit-picky revisions . . . working on word choice and punctuation and this was the killer I was changing some words only to return at a latter time and changing the words back to the original. 

In summary, I had gone as far as I could go with the story.  It was time for a fresh eye.  That’s when to send your manuscript out.

Ann Whitford Paul writes picture books, poetry, and early readers.  She was won a large variety of awards for her work including the New York Times Notable Books, and the Carl Sandbug Award for Children's Literature.  In addition to her writing, she teaches workshops and does school visit on both writing and quilting.