Friday, February 10, 2012

Aspiring Advice: Start Now, Not Later


Remember earlier this week, when I said there would be no post today? Well. Guess what? I fibbered! However, time is short, as the weekend is just getting started and LTUE has only begun. For now, I want to break from the norm and share something that's worth a shout-out.

Our inkPageant team is giving live critiques throughout the symposium (Psst - you'll likely find us in the dealer's room). Some have taken the plunge already, and I was impressed by all the fresh ideas and how well those who shared them accepted a little constructive criticism.

And then there were these two:


These guys floored me with their awesomeness. These two teenaged writers have matched the quality of unpublished drafts I've read from folks who are twice their age (in my humble opinion). When I started this writing business at fifteen, my writing was nowhere near their quality. It made me think. Why is that?

Inborn talent? Prodigies? Better education? ... Nah!

Here's the trick: they've written for a while now. Years! They want to be writers. They've disciplined themselves and went for it. For those of you reading, who want to be writers but haven't started, you may want to start now. It doesn't get any easier when you're older. Or, rather, time is not as easy an asset to come by later.

Since our inkPageant table is busier than we expected (a good thing), I'm forced to summarize the rest of this LTUE experience in a single post in the near future. Stay tuned for more and have yourself a great weekend!

I'm David, and guess who came to dinner?

31 comments:

  1. My mantra, that I keep banging on about, is 'there is no 'right' time, there is only now' :-)

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  2. Enjoy your weekend. Practice is so important. You need to continue to gain experience and knowledge with writing.

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  3. That is fantastic! It's so encouraging to see such great talent at a young age. Hopefully we can right this ship and get more young people reading and writing - especially BOYS.

    Looking forward to a recap of your event.

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  4. If you haven't started writing by now...
    Enjoy the conference!

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  5. I'm going to steal Dory's mantra from Finding Nemo and tweak it... "Just keep writing. Just keep writing." Hope you have a great time at the conference!

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  6. Such a great post, and yeah, start now!!!

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  7. Inspiring post, David. I'm glad you're having a good time. Share more tidbits of inspiration from this weekend soon!

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  8. I like the mantra "keep writing". The more we write, the better we get at our craft.

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  9. Soooo jealous I'm not at the conference! Boo...

    But anyway, I wish I had found writing earlier... I have those thoughts of where I'd be now if I had... but I can't think like that. I'm grateful for all the time I spent experiencing other things because I feel like it all prepared me *to* write. But now that I have the bug, I've embraced it and am now running with it... :D

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  10. You really can't get better advice. A long time ago a painter friend of mine said, 'I'm a painter, so I paint. You are a writer, so write'.

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  11. Aw good for them. Sounds like me (although I'm not sure I would call myself a writing prodigy), but I've loved writing since I can remember (I started writing short stories at the age of 7). So, I'm writing a novel now, and I just pray that it is good enough to be recognized by someone to get published. Good for them!

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  12. Love that these guys are so motivated, that the inkPageant table has been *too* busy and that the conference is going well. Can't wait to hear everyone's wrap-ups!

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  13. Coming from Utah, writers have an advantage. If you start late in life, the politics in the area will turn back time to the 1800s.

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  14. Now is the time. I started writing my first chapter book when I was eight. It didn't turn out well and instead of learning where I went wrong I stopped writing novels. I didn't write more than a short story until after college.

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  15. I wish I was there! These guys sound awesome :)

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  16. Great blog, I love these shows/movies you posted here. Dropping in from the campaign group. Thanks for checking my blog out, and now I'm tagging you! Come on over to get your 11 random fun fact questions. :)

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  17. You're so right, you have to have discipline. (I'm not saying I have the best at any means)

    p.s. I saw you were a zombie fan...if so, are you ready for more Walking Dead Sunday? lol

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    1. More than ready. We have the party fixings and everything! :)

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  18. Awesome post! Start now and not later should apply to my daily writing. . . uh, I'll start working on it. Now, of course. :)

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  19. Hi David,

    I've nominated you for a "Versatile Blogger Award". I'm using the award as an opportunity to meet some of my newer followers (like you - and thanks!) You can accept or decline as you'd like - but the details are up on my site right now.

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  20. I hope one day, if I just keep writing I'll make it to published stage. Those boys are certainly giving me hope. I just keep thinking that there's never enough time to write, which on some days filled with music lessons, there isn't. But I'm trying, and I'm going to keep on trying to 'Just keep writing!'

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  21. That is so great that they've been writing for a long time. I wish I would have started earlier. Speaking of which, I should go write :)

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  22. Good luck with the project David.

    .......dhole

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  23. Hi David, stopping by from the Campaign!

    Those two teenagers are an amazing inspiration! I agree, though - there is never too early a time to start writing. I wish I'd started taking it seriously when I was their age, realizing that what I wanted to do with my life was sitting right in front of me the whole time!

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  24. Wasn't it an awesome conference. So nice to see you again. I was amazed at a number of very young, very talented writers. Go them for starting so early.

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  25. Someone at LTUE (I think it was someone in the Geography panel?) was saying, "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is right now."

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  26. Just found your blog....I'm a MG writer in Utah as well. I wish I'd been able to make it to LTUE. I've been wanting to go to that for years....but the stars never seem to align just right.

    I'm a new follower and looking forward to reading your posts.

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  27. My local group isn't having a convention this year. I guess I should look up LTUE. One day, I'm moving back to Utah. I visited both those teen blogs after I came here for the Platform campaign. I hope you'll also offer an opinion on my short new book intro before I proceed.

    Besides switching to first person,I added previews of things to come that the third person version lacked in hopes of preparing adults for the craziness. It didn't seem to bother a class of 12-14 year old students but a couple of adult beta-readers thought it was too much. I'm deciding how much to reveal sooner vs. later and what to dump entirely. I want as many opinions as I can get before I type my fingers to the bone... again. http://sherahart.blogspot.com Thanks!

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