One of my joys in
life is to share the many things that have helped me along
my journey. I hope you'll find them encouraging. I pray
that what you find here will help you pursue your own
God given talent and "fire" to write.
Most writers find it startling
when they learn I’ve sold everything I’ve ever submitted for
publication. But it really isn’t as mysterious and unbelievable
as it sounds. You see, I didn’t just write articles, poems, and
books and then try submitting them. I had a very specific
approach. And it worked!
I started by getting an
education. I bought reference books on the subject of writing
and studied them. Below is a list of some great books that you
will want to own as you continue your writing journey.
After learning enough to
begin my novel, I set up specific writing time. Since I had a
fulltime job as a real estate broker, that meant from 4 a.m. to
11 a.m., and then again at night with whatever time was left at
the end of the day. Writing a salable novel takes this kind of
discipline and dedication. Even if you are only able to set
aside one hour before work and one hour after, at the end of the
week you will be fourteen hours closer to your goal.
When I had a completed first
draft of 50,000 words, I hired a professional story structure
editor to teach me how to bring my novel to the next level. A
book that would be salable. I worked on my rewrites for ten
months.
When these revisions were
completed I signed with an agent and had two multiple book
offers within a few weeks. I accepted the contract that resulted
in the Regalo Grande series.
Your journey to publication
won’t happen by accident. It will be the result of God calling
you to write and then providing the opportunities to answer
that call. If you have been called to write, embrace God’s gift
and commit to doing your part. God will prosper what He ordains.
As a result of my own
journey, I have formed a company, Writing With Fire, and now
teach commercial story structure to serious authors who are
writing to publish. My area of expertise is Inspirational
fiction with dramatic issues. For more information on these
services contact me at:
Nikki@nikkiarana.com.
GREAT BOOKS FOR A HOME REFERENCE
LIBRARY
The path to publication can be
a long and winding one. I was extremely lucky on my journey
to meet many wonderful authors who were willing to help.
Some became my mentors, most all became my friends. I
created this page in hopes of helping other emerging writers
along the way. I hope you find encouragement and some
practical advice too.
First I’d like to begin with a
few words about rejection. Take what there is to be learned
from it, each time you face it, and forget the rest. There
have been many examples of authors being rejected time
after time, and then when the timing was perfect, meeting
success. Enjoy!
I am
sorry, Mr. Kipling, but you just do not know how to use
the English language.
—San Francisco Examiner, rejection letter to Kipling
(1889)
Shakespeare's
name, you may depend on it, will go down. He has no invention
as to stories, none whatever.
—Lord Byron (1814)
Ralph
Waldo Emerson [is] a hoary-headed and toothless baboon.
—Thomas Carlyle, Collected Works (1871)
A
huge dose of hyperbolical slang, maudlin sentimentalism
and tragic-comic bubble and squeak.
—William Harrison Ainsworth, New Monthly Magazine,
review of Moby Dick by Herman Melville (1851)
A
gross trifling with every fine word.
—Springfield Republican, review of Huckleberry Finn
(1884)
We
fancy that any child might be more puzzled than enchanted
by this stiff, silly, overwrought story.
—Children's Books' review of Alice In Wonderland by
Lewis Carrol (1865)
The
girl doesn’t, it seems to me, have a special perception
or feeling which would lift that book above the “curiosity”
level.
—The
Diary of Anne Frank
It
is impossible to sell animal stories in the USA
—Animal
Farm by George Orwell
The next
time you receive a rejection letter, come to this web page
and remind yourself of what good company you’re in.
WORDS OF WISDOM
Many writers work
in isolation. Have you ever wished you could
ask an established writer what they wished
they had known when they started writing?
Well, here’s what they would tell
you.
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Nikki Arana
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I wish
I'd known that each book becomes harder to write.
The more you know about fiction, the less you
realize you know.
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I wish I'd known
that the most glorious time I've spent writing occurred
before I was published. Then I could write because I
wanted to. When things got tough, I could kick a cabinet
and quit. (And I quit many times.) But when you're heavily
contracted, you HAVE to create. Regardless of your health
or your personal life or you totally lack an idea, or
whatever. Writing truly becomes a job, and therefore
no option.
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Despite point
2, I wish I'd known how wonderful it is to be used by
God, writing for God. When I first began writing fiction,
it was all for me. God had to knock me down, drag me
around a little. I'm so glad He did.
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I wish I'd known
that agents are NOT created equal. It's wonderful to
have a wonderful agent. It's merely okay to have a mediocre
agent. It can be career killing to have a bad agent.
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I wish
I'd known that family has to come first. And the more
contracts you have, the harder this becomes. Only God
can give you wisdom for a good balance.
Angela
Hunt:
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Integrity counts.
You should insist on it from yourself and also from
your publishers. Among other things, that translates
into this: if you write a book, your name should be
on the cover. Period.
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Find your voice
and your vision and write your books. Never try to write
in someone else's style, with their quirks, or on "their"
topics. If you ask, the Lord will lead you to unique
story ideas that are yours for the telling. This is
where your passion will lie. Write those stories.
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Craft counts.
Never put second best to paper and trust that your editor
will "fix it." Trust me, there are enough things for
the editor to fix without your deliberately leaving
in less-than-perfect prose or punctuation. Study your
craft and apply it.
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Story counts most.
You can have the most beautifully crafted book in the
world, but if the story lacks passion, no one but your
mother will want to read it. Does it make you cry and/or
rejoice? If not, work at the story until it does.
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Don't write what
you know--write what you NEED to know! Don't offer up
Sunday school lessons you learned ages ago. Write about
your struggles, the things the Spirit is teaching you
NOW . . . because you will learn through your characters
and your reader will learn with you. To do this, of
course, you'll have to wait for the Spirit's teaching,
and you'll have to do the painful part of learning.
But the end result will be worth it.
Deb
Raney:
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How much I didn't
know about writing.
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How
to gracefully "just say no" when an editor tries to
talk me into writing something that I know isn't me.
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That
it wouldn't always be the high that writing the first
book was, but that the hard work is all worthwhile when
a reader says "your book healed my marriage, changed
my life, brought me closer to the Lord."
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The
publisher/author relationship is not a marriage. Don't
take it personally when a publisher "breaks up" with
you.
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I wish
I'd known that my writing would eventually "buy" me
a Schwan man, a cleaning lady, and a husband who now
does laundry. Sweet rewards.
Liz
Curtis Higgs:
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The first novel
is the easiest, and each one after it gets harder. As
your skills inch up, so do your standards.
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It
is a solitary life. Unless you're careful, you will
find yourself choosing time with your fictional characters
over time with family and friends.
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Your writing improves
as your reading improves. Read your peers to encourage
them; read literary classics, old and new, to encourage
you.
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Reader
and reviewer comments are a double-edged sword, lifting
your spirits one moment, then dashing them the next.
Listen for God's "well done, good and faithful servant"
above all else.
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Never write in
a genre you would not read and do not love. Write from
the deepest places of your heart. Write as if it will
be your last book.
Nikki
Arana:
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wished I’d known that my writing journey was really a
faith journey.
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That the right agent is truly a gift.
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That above all, I must write my passion and God’s truth
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That if you will trust God, just the person you need as
a resource will appear just when you need them.
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That there is line which editors should not cross and
writers have the right to say “no.” But always keeping
in mind that most editors are trying to help you reach
your goals.
Sharon Dunn:
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It ain't about you, honey. Writing
cannot be about me trying to cure my insecurities with
publication it has to be about meeting the reader's
needs.
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Just cause you
got a book published doesn't mean you get out of cleaning
the toilet and scrubbing the floor.My identity cannot
come from my next failure or success as a writer because
that fluctuates by the minute.
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My identity comes
from knowing I am loved by the creator of the world
and the savior of the universe--that should be enough.
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The things that
I value most is being alone in a room creating walking,
talking people on paper.
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Only other writers
will really understand you. I have had friends (kind
friends) say off handed things about my books, not because
they were cruel but because they don't understand the
hundreds of painful hours that went into creating the
book. I have found only encouragement from other writers
because they too had to open veins and bleed on paper.
Just like no one understands an alcoholic like another
alcoholic, no one understands a writer like another
writer
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