Frequently Asked Questions…
about writing
How did you become an author/when or how did you decide to start writing?
I was always interested in pursuing the arts in some form, but it took me a long time to try my hand at writing. I've always loved storytelling in all of its forms, but writing books felt a lot like homework. And honestly, I never felt smart enough to write a whole book.
Not until my senior year of college did I start to think that maybe this was something I could do. Turns out you don't need to be a genius to be an author. You just have to study people and obsessively experience as many things as you can--big and small.
What's your advice for writers?
I have three pieces of writing advice that I swear by.
1. If you want writing to be your job, treat writing like a job. Even if you can only dedicate twenty minutes a week, give yourself those twenty minutes like you’re clocking in and out of a job. I think this goes for any progression: no one will treat you like a professional unless you act like one.
2. Read as much as you can. Find out what you like and what you don’t. Find out why the things you like work. Find out what you don’t like about the things you don’t like. (Side note: Keep a running list of everything that inspires you. It doesn’t have to be organized.) Everything you need to know about writing is in a library. You can take classes and go to workshops, but nothing will make you a better writer like reading will.
3. Writing advice isn’t one size fits all and if something doesn’t work for you, it’s okay to completely ignore. The best part about writing is that it doesn’t matter what your process looks like. Only the finished product.
Do you plot or pants your books?
I do a little bit of both! I like having a loose outline but I also like having the freedom to change things up.
Will you give me feedback on my book/will you blurb my book/how do I get an agent?
For lots of reasons (some of them legal and some of them having to do with my limited free time), I cannot provide feedback on manuscripts, but there are lots of great resources about writing, finding agents, and publishing out there.
While the YA HIghway website is no longer active, I've always loved their publishing roadmap and think it is still a great place to start.
As far as how I got my agent, I nabbed my agent via a good old fashioned query letter. I think writing conferences can be great, but I don't think they're necessary to find an agent.
And speaking of agents, if you're hoping to ask me to blurb your book, you can reach out to my agent, John Cusick, at john@foliolit.com.'