Writing is a solitary and lonely career. It’s up to you to find the ideas for a story, compose your draft, edit, edit, edit, then polish, polish, polish. Then you can ask someone to read it for you, give you some feedback. But up until then, you’re mostly on your own.

So we as writers, in our attempts to find inspiration and support, can spend hours and hours at our computers reading ezines on writing, researching sites on how-to’s, and downloading eBooks on unlocking the secret to getting published. In doing so, we don’t actually write, because we’re too busy reading and studying.

I’ve been down this track and wasted oodles of time. But now I’m much wiser. I’ve culled the number of ezines I subscribe to, and stick to the websites that give me the information I need. Why search for more when you’ve already found it? Yes, it’s a great way of avoiding the dreaded blank screen with an expectantly blinking cursor, waiting for your first eye-catching sentence.

Where Do I Go For Writing Tips and Useful Advice?

I’ve narrowed my websites down to the following. Have a look and see what you think. They’re not all just for childrens’ writers, as you’ll see.

writing4success.com This is one of Marg McAlister’s sites on writing in general. What I love about Marg’s site is that she has many tipsheets on all aspects of writing that are easy to digest. Her explanations of techniques are always accompanied by examples of “good” and “bad” writing. This makes it so much easier to understand concepts such as “show, don’t tell” and point of view slips. Marg offers these tipsheets in free downloadable eBooks.

Jill McDougall is a wonderful children’s author. You’ll see straight away from her site that she knows how to write for kids. Her language is snappy, full of life (you can almost see her bouncing around), and captivating. What Jill has taught me is to perk up your writing. Don’t be boring. She has a great eBook on how to write for kids, which is one of the best ones I’ve come across.

Sally Odgers is another prolific children’s author. She offers a very affordable manuscript assessment service that is invaluable to all childrens’ writers. Her response time is amazingly quick, the cost incredibly cheap and her feedback so helpful. Because she is Australian, she is well aware of the market here, which is helpful when it comes to approaching publishers. She also knows the US and the UK markets, and where your story might fit.

How Could I Forget?

I mentioned ezines, so I can’t leave out the one I find the most useful. There are heaps, but this one gives me what I need.

Pass It On is Jackie Hosking’s weekly ezine for childrens’ writers. It includes general industry and publishing news, competitions and markets, great articles and a chance for writers to ask questions of the group. It’s not too long, so I don’t spend hours reading it, but I always get something out of it.

So there you go, my top sites and ezine. Now, back to the writing!

How to catch an editor’s eye is something writers battle with constantly. The many likes and dislikes that editors reveal in an attempt to lower their slush piles are pounced on by those desperate to get published, and followed to the letter. Things like:

• Watch out for typos and spelling errors;
• Always stick to the submissions guidelines on the publisher’s website;
• Study the publisher’s catalogue before submitting your work to make sure it fits; and
• Polish your work thoroughly before sending it, or suffer the consequences!

On top of all this, writers know how vital it is to have a strong plot, show not tell, use appropriate dialogue, and have believable characters.

This last point – make sure your characters are believable – is something my writing teacher has drummed into me. And I understand why. I don’t like reading a book where the character seems false, or does something unpredictable because it is convenient for the author, not because the character would have done it. So I usually don’t stray far from this critical writing skill.

Except…except when it might mean I sell a story to a magazine.

A while back, I came up with a cheeky idea for a story which involved a ten-year-old kid unwittingly helping a burglar steal items from his home. Once I’d done the draft, I sent it to my writing teacher for feedback. She immediately sent it back with heaps of comments such as, “this would never happen”, and “this isn’t believable” etc. Now I was offended, because I really liked the story and the character I’d created. It was a funny story and I thought it would appeal to kids.

So I followed my gut and continued working on the story. One thing that kept me going was occasional comments I’d come across in writers’ newsletters from authors about the best way to catch an editor’s eye. Suggestions ranged from sending stories that didn’t quite fit their guidelines, but were close enough, to giving them the more quirky stories.

My interest is to write for children, and the school magazines are a great media in which to get work published, yet very difficult to break into when you’re new. I bundled up three of my short stories and sent them off to one of the school mags, just to test the waters. One was a story about bullying, another was a mystery story, and the third was my humourous non-believable story. Lo and behold, last week a letter arrived from the school mag informing me they had accepted my non-believable piece!

So I’ve learned something very important. When trying to break into the market, as well as finding ideas and stories that kids want to read, you need to be inventive, approach an old theme from a different angle. Editors like originality and a fresh voice. Sometimes, being a bit different pays off, as it has for me.

Try it yourself and see if it makes a difference. It can’t hurt.