A Word from the Author:
Top tips for writting
My birthday falls in January,
just a few days after New Year’s Day. This
January, I received an incredible gift from my publisher, Sourcebooks
Fire. My young adult novel, While He Was Away, is being released
nation-wide into Walmart with a brand new cover!
When my editor at
Sourcebooks, Leah Hultenschmidt, graciously asked if I’d be open to this
possibility last fall, I blinked, breathed deep, confirmed I wasn’t dreaming,
and said, “Yes!” I held on to the
possibility until it became a reality.
Then, and only then, did I celebrate.
I won’t speak for all
writers, but for me, writing is an act of faith. I love the work deeply, or I wouldn’t do
it. I’ve generated a lot of pages that
have never seen the light of day, written multiple novels that I’ve relegated
to folders on my laptop. Keeping the
faith in anything, especially writing, can be hard.
The fact that Sourcebooks
believed enough in While He Was Away
to bring it to life the first time felt like a much-needed confirmation of
years of hard work. The fact that they
are standing behind my book again in this way . . . well, it feels like a
miracle. I’m truly grateful.
Without further ado, here are my Top Writing Tips
(they’ve help me a lot; I hope they help you in some way):
1.
Read a lot. Read
voraciously. Read like a writer. Read some more. Read people who write in your
genre or in a style that is similar to yours and take note of how they do what
they do. Read people who write in a
completely different way to keep your head clear and give you new ideas. Just. Keep.
Reading.
2.
Develop a ritual
for your writing. I wouldn’t think of
telling you what to do. You need to find
what works for you, and sometimes that changes with your circumstances. This year, I’ve been working at an ad agency
in the city. My ritual is to hunker down
in the quiet car on the train and GET A LOT DONE. Previously I’ve written in the very same
quiet corner of my local library. In
basements. On couches. In bed.
By candlelight. I’ve found that
consistency and ritual can trigger my creativity. Ring the bell and I’ll salivate. Kind of like that.
3.
Don’t be afraid
to be messy in your work. Don’t be
afraid to push forward even though it isn’t perfect. Nothing is perfect! Embrace that reality, and be kind to
yourself. And forgiving of the words on
the page.
4.
Fall in love with
revision. “I’m not a writer,” I once
heard a writer say. “I am a
re-writer.” I LOVE that. I love the word revision. Re-vision.
Seeing again, anew, as if for the first time. Revision gives great perspective. And I think it’s where the real work gets
done.
5.
Never give
up. Keep the faith. Years may pass. But the more you write, the more the very act
of writing becomes rewarding. Writing is
soul-work; it lends meaning to life.
That’s what I believe, and that’s what sees me through. Publication—well, that a wonderful
thing. But the writing—that’s where it’s
at.
About the Author:
Karen Halvorsen Schreck’s new Young Adult novel, While He Was Away, will be published by Sourcebooks in 2012. She’s also the author of Dream Journal (Hyperion), which was a 2006 Young Adult BookSense Pick, and the award-winning children’s book Lucy’s Family Tree (Tilbury
House). Her short stories and articles have appeared in Literal Latté,
Other Voices, Image, as well as other literary journals and magazines,
and have received various awards, including a Pushcart Prize, an
Illinois State Arts Council Grant, and in 2008, first prize awards for
memoir and devotional magazine writing from the Evangelical Press
Association. Karen received her doctorate in English and Creative from
the University of Illinois at Chicago. She works as a freelance writer
and editor, teaches writing and literature, and lives with her husband,
the photographer Greg Halvorsen Schreck, and their two children in
Wheaton, Illinois.
