ent to see James Dashner, author of The Maze Runner, speak at Weber State University. I was surprised at how many younger kids were there, but then again, he is a YA writer, so maybe that shouldn’t have surprised me. Apparently, junior high students were bused into campus to listen to him talk. The university students were clearly outnumbered. Dashner had some interesting things to say, and he did a fantastic job of keeping the younger—and older—crowd entertained.
I’m kicking myself for forgetting to snap a photo, so I took a picture of one of the advertisements that I found still up after my night class.
Anyway, Dashner had lots of good information for aspiring writers, and I wanted to share a few of my notes and thoughts.
1. Getting your book published can be difficult. Don’t give up!
Dashner said that just because your book gets rejected by one agent doesn’t mean that your book sucks. There could be many reasons why your manuscript wasn’t accepted, so don’t take a rejection letter to mean that you totally stink as a writer.
2. Find a good agent so you can focus on your writing.
I don’t have many thoughts on this because I’ve never had an agent, but I think it’s probably good advice.
3. Many aspiring writers don’t actually write because of FEAR.
The amount of pages needed to write a book can be daunting, and this discourages many writers from even attempting to try. Dashner suggested that you start small. Write a scene, then a chapter, then another, and another until you have written an entire book. This reminds me of the saying: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
There is also a fear that no one will like what you write. This was what really hit home with me. One of my lifetime goals is to become a published author, and I can really relate to the fear involved with writing. I was so glad to hear Dashner address this. Too often writers psych themselves out. We ask ourselves things like: Am I writing the way I’m supposed to? Are my characters interesting? Is someone going to read this and call it crap? I can never write like so-and-so. Why even try?
I think that addressing the fear is key. Once you realize what is holding you back, then you can fight it, work with it, divorce it, or move on and hope it doesn’t follow you around.
Anyway, it was a great day. Thank you, Mr. Dashner for your wonderful advice. And another thank you to Lyn at BardingWell for sitting with me. Good company is always appreciated.
Now, off to fight the fear and get some actual writing done.
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Great post Sharla. Thanks for sharing Mr Dashner’s advice. Agree with you one hundred per cent. Once we address the fear and give it the flick, that’s half the challenge met. One bite at a time. I know you’ll get there soon. Cheers!
As a writer, the best way to banish the fear of writing something others will reject, is to write the story in your heart. That’s the one that will ring true in a listener’s ear and finds a sympathetic cord in a reader’s heart.
Thanks so much Karen & Lynda!
Sounds like a fantastic author event. It’s nice to know kids were in attendance!
I had a great time. Thanks for inviting me! You are great to write it up. I hope you don’t mind if I link to this. You’ve addressed the bits that were valuable to me, especially the part about fear.
Thanks Kathy! It really was a lot of fun.
Lyn: I don’t mind at all. Link away. That’s funny that we liked some of the same things.