Read and write! That’s the most important thing to do. There’s only one way to get better at writing and that’s to write, but I’ve found reading can help you understand where you have weaknesses as well. Secondly, get help. Don’t assume that what you’ve written is good, just based on your own opinion—Michael Selden, author of The Boy Who Ran.
The best advice I could give to other authors is to write what you love. Do not let anyone dictate what you should be writing. Only you and your muse know what is best for you. No matter how silly or simple or frightening the thoughts are inside your head, trust your muse and write them down. Who knows your break-through novel might come from nothing more than a silly thought—C. L. Collar, author of The McCory Chronicles: Katie McCory and the Dagger of Truth.
My advice is to always have fun writing. The minute that it feels like it is “work” is when an author has to review his/her purpose. Writing is all about expressing oneself and sharing thoughts with the world—Stephanie Dikey, author of The Adventures of Phoenix and Tucson: The Great Rescue.
Follow your dream and share your story with the world! I know writers with great ideas, but they never find their stories are good enough for publishing and keep correcting them, never finalizing. I think that, as an author, there is a point when you should stop and listen to your heart to see if the story really needs more tweaking, or if it is just your ego with its perfectionism trying to talk you out of it—Thereza Howling, author of Rainforest Adventure.
And Now,
On this Hop, Carpinello's Writing Pages interviews
Children's author/illustrator Rebecca Lindsay
and
Young Adult author Maria DeVivo
Also, you are always more than welcome to join us by popping in a post and hopping around to meet some of your fellow Kid Lit bloggers and authors! This week, we are excited to be including a Facebook Linky Party to be held in conjunction with the Kid Lit Blog Hop. These linky parties are designed to give you the opportunity to connect with and grow your network of fellow kid lit bloggers, authors, and parents through your various social media platforms. *** Please note that we will only be hosting 1 Kid Lit Blog Hop during the months of July and August. These will take place on the 3rd Wednesday of each month (July 15 and August 19).
Hostesses:
Mother Daughter Book Reviews
Julie Grasso, Author/ Blogger
Cheryl Carpinello, Author / Blogger
Stacking Books
BeachBoundBooks
Pragmatic Mom
Reading Authors
The Logonauts
A Book Long Enough
Spark and Pook
Happy Hopping everyone and enjoy the Hop!
Kid Lit Blog Hop & Linky Party Rules *Please Read*
1. LINKY PARTY: Add the link to your Facebook fan page in the Facebook Linky Party list below. Be sure to visit at least the two links directly before yours as well as your hosts' Facebook pages. Be sure to follow some folks with similar interests and like & share posts that catch your eye. If you do not have a Facebook profile, you are welcome to link up a different social media profile (Pinterest, Twitter, Goodreads, Instagram, etc.). 2. KID LIT BLOG HOP: Link up any Kid Lit related post in the Kid Lit Blog Hop. This can be a link to a children’s book review, a discussion about children’s literature/literacy, or a post on a recently-read children’s book or one that you love from your childhood.
* Don't link directly to your blog, it must be a specific post.*
* For Authors, we prefer you to link to your blog if you have one. Please link unique posts each time ~ no repeats please. *
* Make sure you include an image relevant to the POST (e.g., book cover), not your blog button or photo of yourself.*
* Feel free to link more than one post.*
3. KID LIT BLOG HOP: Please visit AT LEAST the TWO LINKS from the Kid Lit Blog Hop directly ahead of your own and leave them some love in the form of a comment. We are trying to build a community of bloggers, readers, parents, authors, and others who are as passionate about children’s literature as we are so please CONNECT and follow any or all of the blogs that interest you!
4. If you like, grab the button above and put it somewhere on your blog, preferably the post you're linking up. If you'd prefer, you can just add a text link back to this Hop so that others can find it and check out all these great book links!
5. It would really help us get the word out about the Kid Lit Blog Hop if you would be so kind as to tweet, share, and spread the word about the Hop!
Some great advice, thanks for sharing this, Cheryl. And I'm curious...is there anything you would add to the list?
ReplyDeleteHi Stephanie. Thanks for stopping by. I'm a firm believer in writing what you love, not to try to fill a niche. If you don't enjoy what you're doing, pick another career.
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