Everyone's a Writer

When I tell women, specifically women with children, that I write for children, I often get a knowing look. They nod and tell me that they, also, have written children's books. They wrote stories for their own small children, once upon a time.

What happened to the stories, I always want to know. And what are they working on right now? Have their book characters aged along with their children or are they still doing picture books because they love spare writing or fun language or silly rhymes?

It's there that I lose them. Most of these women have their manuscripts tucked away in a drawer somewhere. Some submitted their work and were surprised when the publishers didn't snap their books up. Then their kids got older and there was no more snuggle time at night. No more making up stories to lull the little ones to sleep.


Most Never Reach "The End"

Well, this site isn't for those women. They have moved on to other interests. They are going to soccer games and piano lessons—whatever their kids are into. Now that the children are out of picture books, the mothers are out of them too. That's fine for them.

But this site falls under the category of Writing, which falls under the category of Careers.

Careers.

That doesn’t mean everyone who comes here has to write fulltime. It does mean that I'm assuming that you're reading here because you want to write for publication. I'm assuming you don't want your manuscripts to rest in peace in your dark, coffin-like bottom desk drawer.

And that means that you are willing to do what it takes to write a publishable manuscript. You're willing to take the tough critiques. You're willing to buy the books, both the "how to" books and the best books in the genre you are writing. You're willing to take the online courses and go to the conferences. You're willing to get up early to write and to skip Lost and American Idol or whatever TV shows you love.

Others may think that writing for children is a fun hobby. They may think it's easy to spit out a picture book. But you and I know that writing a short story or a book is not easy. It costs. We have to invest our money and our time if we want to write anything worth reading.


Invest in Your Writing

So lesson number one in my "How to Write Great Children's Books" series is this: Take your writing seriously and commit to putting in the time and money it will take. You cannot spit out a picture book in an afternoon while the rug-rats nap.

Not a good one, anyway. So this week I want to start at the beginning and lay some groundwork for writing well.

If you'd like to come along on the journey, then start with two things this week. Two steps toward publication:

1. Print up a writing calendar and make dates with yourself to work on your writing. The greatest difference between my unpublished writer friends and my published friends is that the first group talks about writing while the second actually does the deed.
   
   
2. Read in your genre. If you are working on a picture book, go to the library and check out five great picture books—concept books if that's what you are writing, story books if you're working on one of those, and if you're rhyming, check out rhyming books. If you're working on an early reader check out three. If you're doing novels, check out one great one—maybe one you've already read before that kept you turning pages and gave you a character you adored. Don't turn these back into the library right away because we're going to work with them a little more in coming weeks.