Far back in the mists of time (2007, when I was fifteen) I was absolutely convinced that I was a creative genius and the most naturally gifted writer that didn’t need to do redrafts. (Here I am now, chuckling wryly in the background).
Though I should have been concentrating on doing coursework and revising for my GCSEs, writing still held most of my attention. Whenever I could get away with writing — if I’d finished the work early in lessons, or the teacher was absent or not looking — I was busy scribbling a “book” about an orphan boy kidnapped and cursed by a disgusting wizard who lived in a sewer. I hadn’t done any research into the minimum word-length required for a novel, or any research into how to submit things to people or what Standard Manuscript Format was. I wrote down what happened in the story from my head, typed it up, bunged it in a brown envelope and posted it to the children’s division of HarperCollins publishers.
Then I waited, 99% confident that they’d think it was the next Harry Potter and that I was now set for life, financially.
Ho, ho, ho.
Miraculously, they replied (to reject the story, politely) and the letter was fairly long, with sage advice in it. I present it to you here:
(Excuse Mr. Thumb photobombing)
The gist of this post is: enjoy your writing and take your time. There’s no need to rush into sending something off. Let your first or second or nth draft rest for a while somewhere dark, like a barrel of old grape juice turning into wine, then have a look at it again in a few weeks. Change whatever it is about it that then makes you cringe, and put it away again while you work on something else or have a rest. Repeat ad infinitum until the draft barely makes you cringe at all, then send it to a place that IS accepting unsolicited submissions (such places are still difficult to come by) after researching which publications might suit the work you’ve created.
(For young writers or other interested parties, Young Writers Magazine is no longer in circulation as Kate Jones departed from the world in 2010. However, you can find an archive of interviews the kids carried out with their favourite authors, including Quentin Blake, Philip Pullman, and Terry Pratchett here.
The BBC Blast site is no longer updated with new stuff, but it is still there with articles and audio, text and video snippets of different kids’ stories and poetry.
So yes… if your writing is starting to feel like work and you’re racing yourself to the finish line, try to slow down and enjoy yourself with it. Because if you are enjoying it, your readers will pick up on this and like it even more, like when you smile as you talk to someone on the phone and the smile becomes infectious, even though they can’t see you.
Seems like I am now channeling my inner Bob Ross, which is a sign that I need to go to sleep.
Nightwalks 