The Divining Wand

Knowledge, wisdom even savviness comes through learning and living life experiences, whether personal or professional. And, while we all go through this process, writers who become authors usually do so through the school of hard knocks. With this in mind, The Divining Wand asked its authors: If you knew then, what you know now about writing as an art and a business, what might you have done differently?

Here are some of their responses and musings:

Eve Brown-Waite (First Comes Love, Then Comes Malaria: How A Peace Corps Poster Boy Won My Heart and A Third World Adventure Changed My Life):

“I’m actually so glad I did NOT know much about the writing business while I was pushing so hard to write and get my book published. If I did, I might have just given up. An awful lot is expected of the authors in terms of book promotion after the book is published. And more often than not, authors do it on their own with little support from their publishing house and they pay for most of it themselves! Of course, you can choose NOT to do it, but that just diminishes your chances of success on the first book and the chances of getting a good deal on your next book. So writers often feel stuck doing what they don’t like to do or may not even be good at. And they’re pretty much in it on their own. Of course, I’d heard all this, but didn’t totally “get it” until it happened to me.”

Eileen Cook (Unpredictable, What Would Emma Do? YA and Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood YA, coming January 5, 2010):

“Ah hindsight…. I’m not sure I would do anything different. Everything that has happened so far, both good and bad, has been a part of the journey. If I could go back in time and tell my pre-published self to relax a little I would. This is what I wanted for so long that I spent a lot of time worrying about every step of the process instead of always enjoying it. I’ve been very fortunate to have met and been supported by so many great writers. For example, Kristy Kiernan invited me to be a founding member of The Debutante Ball. This was such a great experience and connected me with so many other writers including Meg Cabot who gave me a blurb for my second book. Kristy is a great example of how by giving, you gain so much more.”

Therese Fowler (Souvenir, Reunion):

“I don’t know that I’d do anything differently. I’ve had a few hard knocks because of enthusiasm and/or naivete, but the outcome has been so positive that I consider even those knocks as a necessary and maybe even desirable part of the process.”

Emily Winslow (The Whole World coming May 25, 2010):

“I would have started using PLOT years ago. Vivid settings, interesting characters and insightful themes are all well and good, but they really need to DO stuff….”

Announcement: The winners of Tish Cohen’s Little Black Lies are RKCharron and Jane. Please email: diviningwand (at) gmail (dot) com with your mailing address and your copy will be sent out. Congratulations!