TeenPit: mentoring, editing, support, and being taken seriously as a writer

Guest Post by Lyric Shard 

You know that feeling of having butterflies in your stomach? The first one flapped its wings when I saw my manuscript title by a mentor’s name, the second when I met my fellow mentees, the third when I received an email from my mentor where she said she loved my pages. Then it was continuous flapping, hundreds of butterflies all at once. I still can’t count how many are left flapping their wings in my stomach, because my TeenPit experience did not only last for the one month promised--it’s stretched until today and hopefully will remain forever.

TeenPit is a writing contest designed for high school writers, where the participants submit their first 250 words and a short pitch for a chance to be paired with a mentor. You can go here to read about all the details for TeenPit 2018. And hurry up, the very brief submission window opens on March 17th.

I first noticed a tweet from K. Hopkins, a PitchWars mentor, in early April about a contest for teens. It’s always hard to be taken seriously when you’re sixteen trying to find your way into the publishing industry. TeenPit sounded like the perfect chance where I could hear something more than "your writing is good for your age." I could get feedback about my writing as a writer, not as a kid, and go from there to improve.

I immediately checked it out, drafted my submission email (almost a month before the submission window opened since only first 200 entries were accepted). Then one month passed fast, and the submission day came.

Thanks to living on the west coast, the window opened at five in the morning, and more thanks to the flat tire in the middle of the road the night before, I’d just come home, meaning my brain was perfectly functioning. I was able to send the email… well, with one very embarrassing mistake which ate me up the entire time I waited for the results. I wasn’t going to be picked. I couldn’t be. I sent an email in Comic Sans. They would delete it before they read it. 

The mentor teasers started a few hours before the results were posted. My impostor syndrome, for those few hours, seemed weaker than my high hopes. However, my hopes were right. My manuscript title was there, in the list of those that made it to the mentor round.

A few rounds of screaming contest (to relieve the excitement) with my chickens later, I sat down to relax and take time to believe my eyes. Only then was I able to open the email from my mentor, Kristen Lepionka, author of the Roxane Weary mystery series. It was greetings, introductions, "I love your voice" and gifs. That was all that was needed, to know that the first two chapters of my manuscript and I were in good hands. The next thing I needed was to listen, understand, and be open to making changes in my manuscript.

That’s what I did. In between school, senior activities and tons of essays, I knew to give my manuscript some time to edit it. I read her notes and edited. And edited. Scenes, characters, lines—everything. It was sending those twenty pages back and forth, more polished each time until we both looked at it and thought, "That looks about perfect."

The final edits were sent in, and now it was time to wait again. The top picks were announced, they were going to go straight to PitchWars, where they’d work with mentors for two months before their entries went up for agent showcase.

I wasn’t one of them.

That was okay.

In that one month, and all the months afterwards, I’ve become friends with the mentees from TeenPit Class of '17, a group of talented teen writers who are still there for each other. In between edits and gifs, I realized Kristen was more than a mentor. Can I call her my fairy godmother? She’s there to help get me through--from her amazing feedback and edits, to fighting impostor syndrome, or whatever is in the way.

TeenPit is so much more than the contest itself. It is a community, filled with love and support that doesn’t go away when the contest is over.

Note from Dallas: I hope you enter TeenPit 2018! Here are all the details.

Interview with Young Author E.K. Baer

Today I am thrilled to introduce you to my dear friend and fabulous poet E.K. Baer, who has recently released her first collection of poetry! It was one of my favorite books of 2017 and one that I think will delight and inspire all readers, young and old. E.K. was kind enough to stop by the blog today to answer a few questions about her writing process, how she finds inspiration, and the steps she took to get published. Enjoy!

What would you like readers to know about you as an introduction? 

My name is E.K, I am 10-years old and I am from Atlanta, Georgia. My best friend is my cuddly dog Coco who inspires me to do silly stuff. I has been writing poems ever since I can remember. Besides writing, I love to sing, play the violin and the piano. Music gives me the tempo and inspiration for my poems and helps transport me to the places that I write about.

Take us through your writing process when you were creating A Collection of Poems. 

A Collection of Poems started as just a bunch of random poems that came to mind. Writing has always helped me with whatever problems I encountered in my life. When I was writing these poems, it was not with the intent to publish a book. The idea of making it a book formed over the course of several months. It wasn’t until I met Ms. Dallas Woodburn that the possibility of making my poems into a book became a reality. Ms. Woodburn has been such a wonderful mentor! She assisted me in editing all my poems and formatting the book. This collection took me a couple of years to write, edit and publish. I am now thrilled to share it and I hope you enjoy my poems.

What do you like most about writing? 

What I like most about writing is how it is a way to organize your thoughts, to put your life and dreams into a legible form, to spread your creations with the world. Writing is a freeing experience – the satisfaction after your mind races around with inspiration is tranquilizing.

What surprised you the most about the publishing process? 

What I found quite surprising was the amount of work and time that went into publishing just when I thought I was done. ☺ I learned a lot through the whole process. It takes a lot of thought and consideration to figure out the right order of poems, an interesting cover and – hopefully – a good title!

Do you have any advice for other writers, or for other young people going after their dreams? 

Wow, this is difficult because I myself could use some good advice! I feel like some of my best work comes from the times when I do not worry about what other people think or do and when I simply focus on what I am currently writing. I find that it helps me when I can let go of the outside world. I would like to hope that I write some of my best poems when I am ready to describe all my feelings and experiences with pure honesty. I hope that it makes my poems into stories that other people can relate to. I once received a helpful advice about entering my work into contests. The suggestion was to try and put it out of my mind as soon as I click “submit” and try to forget about it. That way I can go on and focus on new work. It is not easy, though, because we are putting ourselves out there every time we share our work. I am still working on it myself.

Can you share a few of your favorite books or authors? 

Some of my favorite authors and books by them are:
• 3 a.m., There’s a Huge Pimple on my Nose – Dallas Woodburn
• Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
• Jane Eyre – Charlotte Brontë
• A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court – Mark Twain
• The Giver – Lois Lowry
• The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers – Alexander Dumas
• Blue Horses, A Thousand Mornings – Mary Oliver
• To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

What inspires you? 

I am inspired by my favorite authors, as listed above, by the sounds and movement of nature, by my Mom, things people say in the booth next to us at dinner, my dog, Coco, the song of the birds, the whistle of the wind, and a cloud of thoughts. Inspiration never stops rushing to mind. Sometimes it seems as if inspiration is everywhere, floating around in little bubbles, ready to be used for stories or poems, but first you must catch it. ☺

What are you working on now? What’s next for you? 

Currently, I am working on poems for my next book, which I hope to publish very soon! I also continue to submit my poems and short stories to various competitions.

Anything else you’d like to add? 

Thank you for your interest in my new book. I wish everyone the best of luck. Always follow your dreams and never give up!

Links:

• Order your own copy of A Collection of Poems on Amazon.
• Visit E.K.'s website!