Advice to Young Writers from two finalists in this year's New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards for Children and Young Adults
Advice to Young Writers from Des
Hunt
 |
| Shortlisted for Junior Fiction Section |
I believe that you must have something that you want to say in your writing;
something that you feel passionate about. Unless you have a strong reason for
wanting to write, then it will be too easy to give up when things start going
wrong, which, from my experience, is very likely to happen. My passion was (and
still is) New Zealand’s fascinating native wildlife, how they became so unique,
and the problems they have surviving in a modern world. I wanted to include
them in stories so that readers got to know them in a way that was not possible
from a nonfiction book. I then wrote stories. Lots of them. More than a million
words. Only one was ever offered to a publisher, and that was rejected. But
many of those stories became the starter for the novels that have since been
published.
From: Too Good to Miss (More New Zealand Writers and
Illustrators for Children and Young Adults Volume 2 May 2011. Edited by Barbara
Murison
 |
| Shortlisted for Junior Fiction Section |
Advice to Young Writers from Melinda Szymanik
First – read. The best way to learn how to write a good sentence and a good story is by reading a good book. Second – practice. A wise person once said it takes 10,000 hours of practice to get good at something. And third - one of the most important steps I took in my writing career was to make friends with other writers. They are the best people to share your dilemmas, your triumphs, and your writing with.
From: Too Good to Miss
(More New Zealand Writers and Illustrators for Children and Young Adults Volume
2 May 2011. Edited by Barbara MurisonFirst – read. The best way to learn how to write a good sentence and a good story is by reading a good book. Second – practice. A wise person once said it takes 10,000 hours of practice to get good at something. And third - one of the most important steps I took in my writing career was to make friends with other writers. They are the best people to share your dilemmas, your triumphs, and your writing with.
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