Published on the first of each month
August 15, 2017
August 1, 2017
Invaluable Advice
Children's Writer's World warmly welcomes a guest post by writer and blogger Jennifer Prevost.
I love it when my friends politely ask, “so how’s that
whole writing thing going?” It means a lot that they check, even though I know
they don’t ‘get it.’ They wouldn’t
understand, but I think you will, even though I don’t have a whole lot to show
for it... it’s going great!
Let me start from the beginning. One hot summer afternoon a story was born
about a little boy named Nathan. It was
one of those moments of pure, energizing inspiration, and the official start to
my kid lit journey.
For the first eight months, his story was written in rhyme. In fact, all my early stories were. Rhyme was the only option I gave myself. My mantra was “I love rhyme; I can rhyme; I will rhyme,” despite all the signs pointing to the contrary and by signs, I mean, everything I read and two freelance editors advising against it.
For the first eight months, his story was written in rhyme. In fact, all my early stories were. Rhyme was the only option I gave myself. My mantra was “I love rhyme; I can rhyme; I will rhyme,” despite all the signs pointing to the contrary and by signs, I mean, everything I read and two freelance editors advising against it.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a better than average rhymer, but I
was in over my head and I didn’t even know it.
Those months are by no means a waste, because I learned a tremendous
amount, but I was stubborn. Finally, on April 20, sometime after I was lucky
enough to cross paths with Randi, I found the courage to ask for her
input. Guess what she said? Drop the
rhyme. The difference was, I heard
it. I consider that day to be a game
changer for me. I did it, I dropped the
rhyme, and forced myself headfirst into my scariest writing adventure to
date... writing in prose.
Since then, my writing has improved dramatically and I’ll
be forever grateful for the nudge in the right direction. Here’s the kicker, the real lesson in it
wasn’t that I needed to write in prose.
The real lesson was that I needed to get away from what felt safe and
familiar. I needed the leap of faith
that came with making that decision. I
hadn’t ever written in prose, and I didn’t even know if I could. It was uncomfortable, awkward and
difficult.
Between the versions in rhyme, and my many drafts in prose,
I’ve made every text book mistake that novice writers make. I’ve earned myself rejection letters and a
fair amount of creative conflict. The
good news? I can speak the language now.
I have a critique group and critique partners who are quickly becoming
dear friends. I have a few manuscripts
that are (nearly) submission-ready. When
I started out, I didn’t have any experience or knowledge on writing picture
books. I do now. One of the favorite parts of my writing
adventure: being a member of the book launch team for Maggie and the Summer Vacation Show-and-Tell. It’s a wonderful thing, getting to return the
favor and celebrate Randi’s success.
The moral of my story: If you feel yourself stuck in a
writing rut, or find yourself hearing advice that feels repetitive, do yourself
a favor and try something different.
Take a written leap of faith! There’s a good chance that a different
path will hold opportunities you couldn’t have imagined for yourself. You deserve that chance, and your story does,
too.
Jennifer Prevost is a wife, mom and picture book author of
the pre-published variety. For her entire life, she dreamed of seeing her words
in print. Like so many others, picture
books are where she first fell in love with the reading. These days she dreams
of creating stories that will help children discover the magic that exists
within the pages of a book. Her blog, Magnolias & Manuscripts https://magnoliasandmanuscripts.wordpress.com/ provides an outlet for the
energy and anticipation that come with chasing a dream and chronicles her
journey (hopefully) all the way to published.
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