Mar
27
Confession #1 - I aspire to be a children’s book author.
Confession #2 - I’m a terrible writer.
Sad, but true. These aren’t a good combination. I love to tell stories but I hate to write them down. That’s why most of my blog entries use pictures and minimal text to tell stories. But if I want to be a super famous children’s book author, I’m going to have to suck it up and start writing.
I’ve been plotting out a nine book series for the past few months. You know, because nine book book deals are totally easy to come by. I’ve been plotting and planning nine books carefully from start to end. When to introduce characters. When to begin and end story arcs. Names of characters. Names of places. And everything in between.
But you know, it’s getting a bit ridiculous. Lately I’ve just been shuffling around the same things over and over again. I need to start writing the damn thing. I wrote the first two pages months ago (which you can read here) but it came to a complete halt.
To remind and inspire me, I’ve added a page count in the sidebar of this blog. Your job, dear readers, is to keep an eye on this page count. And if too much time goes by and the number doesn’t increase, you need to send me an e-mail and give me a kick in the pants. Think you can do that? Great.
March 27th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
From one old, geeky, children’s literature loving Mom to your young geeky self: KEEP WRITING! You do not want to be 44 and wondering why you never wrote the damned thing. I am adding a reminder on my iCal to come over here every 30 days and kick your ass. Think of me as your blog Mom.
I love your blog (found through Avitable) and have sent the link to my Star Wars collecting, EU reading son. His name is Kraig. If you peruse my Flickr link, you can see part of his $10,000+ Star Wars collection.
March 28th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
I just read your first two pages and I say - Keep going!! I liked the style and chattiness.
I’ll try to come and kiss ass once in a while too - I loved Harry Potter and need a good replacement now that it is finished.
March 29th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
It’s hard for me to read without seeing any pictures…
XD
March 30th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
I once eavesdropped on a young guy (early 20s maybe?) pitching his planned 17 book (I’m not kidding) fantasy series to an editor of sci-fi books. The guy was very enthusiastic, explaining the very complex story arc and how mysterious events in book 5 would pay off later in book 12 and how all the characters shared relations that they didn’t know about and how all would be revealed in an epic struggle.
The editor listened very politely, nodded when appropriate, then waited for the guy to take a breath before he said, “Maybe you should start by writing the first book.”
The guy, without missing a beat, said, “Uh huh. So, anyway, in book 15, what happens is…”
The editor only spoke twice more in the conversation and each time he merely said, “Maybe you should start by writing the first book.”
Remember this story if you feel you’re behind on pages. This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t do planning. Planning can be a good thing. But it’s meaningless unless you write something. Promise yourself for every five pages of note taking you do, you’ll write one page of the first book.
And remember: you’re allowed to write crap. Don’t get disparaged if what you’re writing isn’t where you want it to be. That’s why we revise. Nothing is good on the first draft. NOTHING.