I'm excited to have author Caroline T. Patti guest post today, sharing advice from her path to publication. Her newest novel, INTO THE DARK, is out now. Make sure to enter for a chance to win a copy at the end of the post!
Guest Post: Advice for writers from author Caroline T. Patti
My advice to aspiring writers is: write. Write every day.
Every word that touches the page doesn’t have to brilliant; that comes later.
It’s also important to read. Get to know your market. Read the good stuff, read
the bad stuff, read everything in between. Become familiar with what’s on the
shelves, what holes need to be filled, and how you can make a contribution.
Write because you love it, and you feel compelled to tell a story, not because
you think you’re going to be rich and famous. Socialize as much as you can with
other writers. Build a network. Con someone into reading your work, someone you
trust will tell you if it sucks, but will say it with love and affection. Make
sure you thank that person in your acknowledgements. Lastly, don’t give up. Every
no is just one person’s opinion. Eventually, someone might say yes.
So many, many lessons are learned on the way to publishing.
The biggest lesson for me is that there is a huge difference between being able
to tell a story and crafting a novel. I knew how to tell a story. I had no idea
how to craft a novel. I had to learn about perspective, pacing, tension, how to
deliver information, how to make sure what was on the page matched what was in
my head. I had to learn that in order for a character to sip a drink, they have
to pick it up first.
Very often publishing can feel like trying to crack into a
secret society. Sometimes it even feels like high school. There are the popular
kids, the geniuses and the geeks. I wish I’d known not to worry about all that.
If I never meet John Green or sit on a panel with Sarah Dessen, that doesn’t
mean I’m not an author. When I first started I felt intimidated by all the
greats out there, and I often worried that I would never be as good as them.
Now I realize, that’s okay. Every journey is different. Different doesn’t mean
less than.
My general process goes a little something like this: First,
I meet a character. They introduce themselves to me in snapshots and snippets.
Sometimes, I feel like I walk in mid conversation, and I struggle to keep up. I
don’t always know everyone’s name, or how they’re all connected. Some
characters are shyer than others. Much like in my Italian family, those who are
loudest are heard, and those are the characters whose stories I write. Basically
this makes me a crazy person with lots of voices in my head. When a character
introduces himself/herself to me I start writing things down in a notebook.
Once I have enough notes, I start fleshing out scenes. First novels in a series
rarely get written in order. In fact, I usually get the ending relatively
quickly. No promises that the story always ends up where I imagined, but I’m
usually pretty close. When I’m writing I have complete tunnel vision so I can
do it pretty much anywhere. For the revision and editing process, I like a
quiet place and will usually lock myself away, put on some music and try to
remember to eat. Luckily, I have my husband to rescue me from the editing cave.
Twitter changed my life. If not for the connections I’ve
made through Twitter I would not be where I am today. It is through Twitter
that I first met Georgia McBride, owner of Month9Books. It is also how I met my
editors and cover designers for my self-published work. Writing is solitary,
but publishing takes a village.
ABOUT INTO THE DARK:
A girl’s sweet sixteen party is supposed to be among the most memorable events of her life. But on the night of hers, Mercy Clare wakes in the waiting room of a hospital with no memory of how she got there. To make matters worse, she’s wearing something she’d never be caught dead in: her best friend Lyla’s clothes.
Mercy’s nightmare is just beginning. The doctor arrives to tell her that it’s she who lies in the hospital bed waiting to die. A trip to the bathroom confirms Mercy’s fears, as Lyla’s face stares back at her and Lyla’s curvy figure pokes through her tight clothes.
But finding out what’s really going on won’t be easy. Because if Mercy wants her body back, it might just cost her Lyla’s life.
ABOUT CAROLINE T. PATTI:
Caroline T Patti is the author of The World Spins Madly On and Too Late To Apologize. When she’s not writing,she’s a school librarian, mother of two, wife, avid reader and Green Bay Packer fan. You can chat with her on Twitter:@carepatti or find her onFacebook.
Giveaway Information: Five (5) winners will receive a digital copy of Into the Dark by Caroline T. Patti (INT)
Everyone yearns for that day when they type the last word of their manuscript and then stamp it with a big THE END! But sadly, we know the last word is usually the start of an even harder process.. REVISION!
It doesn't matter if you're fifteen or fifty, revision is an important part of the writing process. The blog Two Teachers Writing does a great job of providing an outline of the importance of revision and how to entice kids to go through the process in their own writing. It's an article that I think is still relevant for those of us well beyond the high school years. 
