Last Friday would have been Young Authors Day at our school. Because of COVID-19 it had to be cancelled.
When I do my author interviews, I often ask for advice for young authors – here is some of the advice that authors have shared over the past year.
L A Kefalos
Oh, this is an easy question. I would tell them, yes, it is very important to understand their craft, to study composition and storytelling. Taking classes will certainly improve their writing skills. But I think the most important advice that I was given is don’t wait for anyone’s permission to write, just start writing. The best way to learn how to do something is by doing it. You will learn along the way.
Pamela Poole
I would encourage a child who wants to become a writer to write for themselves, not to please an audience. Performance and acceptance should not be their goal. Writing for pure pleasure will build the skills they will need someday for an assignment or a broader audience, but the best stories are the ones you are free to write for yourself.
Heidi McCahon
My best advice for writers of any age is to become a voracious reader because reading teaches us how to structure our own stories and develop our own characters and settings. Also, get in the habit of exercising your creativity: if you feel stuck or frustrated with your writing, try drawing, painting, sewing, gardening, etc. It’s amazing how another form of creativity will fill up your well and inspire you.
Donna Smith
Read. Read. Read. Read a lot of different genres. Read biographies of successful people.
Study the craft of writing. Write for the school newspaper. Journal. More than a “Five-Year Diary” type of thing, write a paragraph every day. Or more. When you grow up, never give up. Keep at it. It will take some time to become published, but always keep learning and continue to write.
Lisa Renee
As you read novel after novel, you’ll subconsciously learn how to write. When you become serious about a career in writing, you can give yourself to learning the craft by studying “how-to” books, and fine tune your style to a professional level. The first draft will require plenty of polishing, so be patient. You can do it if you set your mind to the task and don’t give up.
Ralene Burke
Read. A lot. When you’re younger, that’s the time to really discover the vast array of books and stories out there. Read in lots of genres, read modern and classics, read fiction and nonfiction, discover new authors. You’ll develop a radar for good writing and good storytelling.
Jen Johnson
I would say if anyone has a desire to write that they should. Every author I’ve ever met shares this one thing in common. They want to write. A surprising amount of people don’t want to write. So if you do, write! Write all the time. Carry a notebook. Journal about your day. Write about fun characters. Don’t worry whether or not someone else would like it. Write for yourself first. It will become something beautiful.
Heather Smith
Just tell the stories you want to read.
David Rawlings
Just write. Even if you don’t show anyone, it’s a chance for you to practice your expression and develop your skills. Back when I was six, I just wrote. And it started a passion that’s with me now, given me a career in corporate writing and now a career in fiction.
And read. The best writers are fans of the written word as well.
Melissa Ferguson
My advice would be to go to a writer’s conference as a teen. It may be overwhelming but you definitely will learn a lot and stand out by your youth!
Laurel Blount
First: Read all you can. Seek out the best authors, the ones that really pull you into their stories—and study how they do that. Second: Write. Write all the time, every day if you can. Third: Believe in yourself. You have stories to tell that are uniquely yours, given to you by God. Tell them with all your heart, and don’t let anyone discourage you!
Kellyn Roth
I feel like most of the best writing advice is easy to learn, so I’ll just give a helpful piece of information: writing is a viable and valuable skill that can easily make a viable and valuable career. The market has changed since your grandparents’ days, and changed again since your parents’ days, and now it is a market where writers of all shapes and sizes can succeed if they have the know-how and the will-power to do so. If that’s your dream, it’s a good one!
Rebecca Waters
Write. If you want to be a writer you have to practice writing. But beyond that, I would tell them to never take your own writing so seriously that you aren’t willing to revise what you’ve written and make changes for the better when someone suggests them.
Melony Teague
I’d say get into the habit of writing and stick to it. Form a habit and practice writing as often as you can. Enjoy the process as much as the goal.
Cynthia Hilston
Read a lot! Start writing stories, even if they seem silly or are based on someone else’s characters. Writing fan fiction for me (and lots of others) from a young age inspired me to write original stories.
Sara Davison
The biggest piece of advice that I always offer new writers is this: If you have a story to tell, and you believe in that story, never, ever give up on it until you get it into the right hands at the right time and it gets published and out into the world. It’s a tough business, but if you persevere until you reach your goals, it will be worth all the effort it took to get there.
Lauren Reeves
If you feel that desire to write, start cultivating that gift now! I have written so many pieces of poetry and pages of books that will never be shared to the public. Writing is something that takes practice to be really good. I’m still not there, but I know that every year I take time to practice writing blogs, devotionals, poetry, and journals, I get better. If someone were to go through my personal writings, I am convinced they could lay them out very close to the order they were written in. Making your thoughts get on paper like you feel them or think them can certainly be a special gift but even gifts have to be polished. The more creative writing you do now that is meaningful to you, the better you will be quicker. If you have a desire to write, don’t ignore it. Writing is a powerful tool that can be used in so many different ways. It’s exciting to me when I hear of kids who want to write! I love that!
Patricia Beal
Quality is almost always better than quantity.
Don’t quit.
Michelle De Bruin
For a child who wants to be a writer, I would tell them to keep a diary or a journal so that they can pay attention to what makes them laugh, notice what brings them confidence and makes them feel strong, learn to tell the truth, and master helpful and uplifting speech. Then they can put that all together as their own unique voice to share with the world in whatever form they choose.
Lilian Penner
Write what you think about.
Lin Stepp
When I talk for school groups, I always tell them that most every successful author says that the most shaping factor in helping them become a good writer was in being an avid reader from the time they were small. I absorbed what makes good books and how to write well by reading. Zadie Smith wrote: “Learning how to be a good reader is what makes you a good writer.” As a professor, grading thousands of papers over twenty years of college teaching, I could always tell the students who read a lot because their papers were always the best. A great line for kids is one by Dr. Seuss: “The more that you read, the more things you will know; the more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
Andy Andrews
Become an expert at noticing the details of a scene you are creating.
Alexis Goring
What a wonderful thing to do for the kids! My advice: Never give up! If writing is a dream that God has placed on your heart then pursue it and overcome all of the hurdles – because there will be hurdles – in your way!
Cher Gatto
Look for the magic every day. Life is made up of the things we write. Grab them as you go along. They can pop up anywhere. A funny thought. An odd person. A new smell. A crazy dialogue. Capture them. Write them down. Don’t worry about “how” you write it, just write it. It’s those things that fall outside of the box that are worth holding onto.