Write Every Day!

One of my favorite activities is visiting schools and talking about reading and writing. Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Junipero Serra Elementary School in Ventura, California to talk to all the third and fourth grade students. They were so creative, respectful, energized and, to use one of their favorite words, awesome! :)

Often kids will ask me what advice I have for becoming a writer. My biggest advice is simple: Write every single day. Even if only for fifteen or twenty minutes. Make writing a priority; make it part of your daily routine, as essential as eating dinner or brushing your teeth. Writing a whole book may seem like a daunting endeavor, but if you write just one page every day, at the end of a year you'll have 365 pages!

Recently, my own life has gotten incredibly busy. In between applying for graduate school and international fellowships, doing radio and online interviews, working on articles for magazines and websites, and the endless everyday tasks of daily life, my fiction writing time gradually slipped away. I began to feel drained and overwhelmed. At the end of the day, I would look back at all I had accomplished and still feel like something was missing.

Then I realized: I needed to listen to my own advice! I needed to make my fiction writing -- writing that is dearly important to me -- a priority again. I have set a new goal for myself of writing 1,000 words on my new novel manuscript every single day. It's been almost two weeks, and many days I have gotten on a roll and written 2,000 or 3,000 words at a time! For me, an important thing to remember when working on a first draft is not to censor or edit myself too much, but simply to let my creativity flow. Editing comes later. I often write longhand and then transfer my writing to the computer. I find I am more open-minded and free-flowing when I write by hand.

Since I've been recommitted to writing every single day, I have felt more purposeful, happy, and inspired. And my new novel is coming along great!

Stress-Busting Tips

On this Monday morning, I thought it would be the perfect time to talk about a condition that plagues just about all of us: stress.

Do you fluster through your days always worried about the next thing you need to get done? Do you never seem to have enough time? Do you often feel irritated and cranky, causing you to lash out at loved ones without meaning to?

How much more fulfilling would your life be with less stress?

Thanks to Victoria Moran, author of Living a Charmed Life, for telling me about a great book called The Inner Game of Stress by Tim Gallwey. Gallwey is a sports psychologist who takes what he's learned coaching world-class athletes and applies it to the rest of us as we face stress in our daily lives. Here are three tips from the book that might help you let go of some stress:

· The STOP technique: Step back, Think, Organize, and Proceed with a more conscious choice process.
· The Attitude tool: If you feel resentful, try focusing on gratitude instead.
· The Transpose Exercise: Imagine what the other person thinks, feels, and wants and develop empathy, kindness, and better relationship skills.

I'd love to hear some of your stress-busting techniques!

Interview on DreamList Radio Show

http://www.dreamlistmedia.com/radio/8.aspx

Many thanks to the very inspiring and enthusiastic Melissa Borghorst for having me as a guest on her wonderful radio show! Listen in for our tips and insights on how you can start pursuing your dreams TODAY!

Visit the website www.DreamListRadio.com for additional resources, support and inspiration!

Neat Gift Idea for Kids

I'm always excited about endeavors to get kids excited about books and reading. I recently came across the website for The Lollipop Book Club, a company that describes themselves as "specializing in making the gift of books fun for children of all ages." Each gift arrives in a bright red envelope with a book, a lollipop, and a gift note printed on a sticker for inside the book. The Lollipop Book Club allows customers to build their own book packages, and I was happy to see that they have a wide variety of titles on their site to choose from. Another option is picking a book from one of their themes, such as Caldecott books, Just for Girls, Just for Boys, Happy Holidays, and Baby Books. Their website is http://LollipopBookClub.com

Kids Writing Contest

Here is a great writing contest for kids ages 9-12: Just Us Books Youth Writing Contest.

The prompt is "How will you use education and faith to make a positive difference in the world?"

You can win a $250 cash prize!

Entries must be received by January 31st, 2010.

Visit www.justusbooks.com for more information.

Check out this site

James Patterson is not just a best-selling author; he is also a phenomenal literacy advocate. He has helped found the website www.ReadKiddoRead.com with the goal of inspiring kids to become life-long readers and book lovers.

Here is their mission in Patterson's own words: "The only way to get kids to read [is] to give them great books, cool books, books they [will] absolutely, positively love. I believe we've gathered the creme de la creme of such reading right here. These are very, very special books that kids will gobble up and ask for more. If your kids get a few of these books under their belts they'll be well on their way to becoming readers for life. I promise you."

ReadKiddoRead breaks up book selections into age categories and also subject categories to satisfy every type of young reader. The site also features interviews with authors, quizzes, reading guides, and more. Here's their "12 Tried-and-True Ways to Get Your Kiddos Reading."

Interview with Young Writer Kyle Borland

Kyle "K.G." Borland, age 16, born in Massachusetts and raised in Germany, lives in Alabama with his military family. A high school junior, his interests include writing, reading, history, debating, politics, web design, tennis, fishing, soccer, being active with many community organizations, and serving as a GOODREADS co-moderator for several online groups. One of his favorite genres is writing urban fantasy, but he loves to mix genres.

Kyle is the 3rd place winner of the William Albrecht Young Writing Contest in Davis, California and his winning entry, Banishment, has recently been published in the 4th issue of the Blue Moon Literary & Art Review. Read it here: http://www.bluemoonlitartreview.com

I was delighted to interview Kyle about his life as a writer and advice for other young writers.

Congrats on your recent contest accolade! How did you feel when you learned the good news? What did you do to celebrate?
Thanks Dallas, I felt ecstatic! It’s the first time I’ve been published, naturally I was excited. What didn’t I do to celebrate? I went out to dinner, told everyone who would listen, and went to Disney World. The trip was previously planned but I made it part of my publication celebration!

How and when did you become interested in writing?
In third grade I attended a writing program for elementary school students at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. They compiled our works into one project. It was enormous fun and I loved every minute of it. I’ve been writing ever since.

What is your writing routine like? You sound very busy -- how do you make time to write?
Unfortunately, my writing routine is what some would call chaotic and hit and miss. I am extremely busy with school, work, and extra-curricular activities.When I have a free moment I try to get on my computer to write.

How do you deal with trials of the writing life, such as writer's block and rejection?
When I have writer’s block, I open a blank Word Document, save it, and then write about absolutely anything for as long as I can. Also, I keep lists of plot ideas, descriptions, and words. When I’m suffering a terrible ‘trial’ I select one of the words or one of the summary plots and write about it. Once I get my mind/muse flowing I can transfer my energy to the piece I’m working on. As for rejection, I haven’t been rejected yet. Sending my piece, Banishment, to the Blue Moon Literary & Art Review for the William Albrecht Young Writing Contest was the first time I submitted my writing anywhere. I’m sure I will have my share of rejections as I start submitting more material. I’ll let you know how I learn to cope!

Who are some of your favorite authors?
My favorite authors, wow, that’s a hard question to answer. One of my favorite books of all time is The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald is definitely one of my favorite authors. In contemporary times many authors’ books are a MUST reads for me: Markus Zusak, Richelle Mead, Laurell K Hamilton, and Dan Brown to name a few. I enjoy a range of genres, mainstream books, small press books, and I love to discover a not generally well-known author, for example Maria V. Snyder. Her fantasy novels are amazing! Snyder’s books/series is one I cannot put down.

What is your greatest advice to other young writers?
My advice to young authors is to just write. Write, write, write, and write some more. Even if you are simply writing about an object you see in front of you. Write. Try to write at least once a day. If you have a story in mind, write it down, don’t wait. Just, Write On! (Pun intended.)

What are you working on right now? What's next for Kyle Borland?
Right now I’m working on three stories. That’s just personal projects. I think I will eventually select one of the three and focus on it until it is completed. I am also a writer for a collaborative story hosted by my writing mentor D.B. Pacini. We have six writers and we all met on GOODREADS. Each writer has a turn and must write 2500-3000 words. Then, the next writer continues the story. We cannot kill a character we did not personally create. I’m very excited about the collaborative project. It is interesting and challenging to be part of a writing team.

Is there anything else you would like to add?
I want to thank author D.B. Pacini. She told me about the William Albrecht Young Writing Contest and she encouraged me to enter it. Now she is encouraging me to continue submitting material to literary magazines and journals. She mentored you; you know how insistent she is! Also, I want to thank you for this interview. I appreciate it very much and look forward to learning more about you and about Write On!