Vote for Miss Snark's First Victim!

There's a Top Writing Blogs Award going on, and now's the time to vote for the blogs you think are best! Authoress, the fantastic founder of Write On!, is on that list! Let's show our love and give her blog, Miss Snark's First Victim, as many votes as it deserves.

CLICK HERE*

*Link doesn't work? Copy & paste url: http://blog.ecollegefinder.org/writing-blog-award/

Register for next week's AGENT CHAT!

The dates and details are HERE! Want to spend an hour chatting with a real LITERARY AGENT? Have questions you want answered? Looking for ways to learn as much as possible about the publishing industry? Here's your chance!

Next week, we're hosting an hour long chat with guest agent Danielle Chiotti! Grab a seat, because it's going to rock.

WHEN: Thursday January 26th beginning at 7PM EST sharp
WHERE: In a separate chatroom, available only by registration! (We email you the link.)
HOW TO REGISTER: CLICK HERE*

Please remember this is ONLY for teenagers, ages 13-19, so if you don't fit into that age range, please step the other way!

Tweet, Facebook and email the word! Your teen aspiring author friends will thank you.

*Link doesn't work? Copy & paste: http://writeon.forumotion.com/t503-agent-chat-with-danielle-chiotti-thursday-january-26#5350

FROM THE TRENCHES -- MAD

*If this doesn't make sense, I'm on very little sleep right now. I blame that.

With 2012 already here, it's got me thinking a lot about resolutions, and goals both practical and lofty.

For me, my resolutions for this year are to make more time for my writing and art, take at least 2 aikido tests, get an agent, and sleep more. Notice how every goal is dependent upon my effort output except for getting an agent. That is out of my control simply because it's subjective.

That's what I'd like to talk about today: lofty goals.

Personally, I think we all need a  few lofty goals as writers, to keep us going when things get tough--which they will, no doubt. Getting an agent or becoming a bestselling author are great goals, but they're also not entirely in out control, so that's where the practical ones come in to keep us sane, like higher word counts and less purple prose. BUT, the lofty goals, while we achieve our practical ones along the way, help to keep us striving for better things.

All goals make us better, I think, lofty or not.

SO.

Tell me. What are YOUR goals, lofty and otherwise, writerly or not?

From The Trenches -- Maggie: Should teens be published?

I know this topic has been chewed to the bone in the blogging/writing world, but I want to add my voice to the crowd, and what better place than Write On!? I'll just dive right in.

The question is: Should teen writers be published?

This stands back to back with the question "Can teen writers be published?", which, in my opinion, has only one answer. And that's yes. Obviously. It's been proven and done. There are teen authors out there (way to go, guys!). That's not the question I'm tackling in this post. This brings our attention back to the "should" in my first question.

Should they be published?

I don't think there is one, solid answer, to tell you the truth. It is completely dependent on that writer, both as a person and as-- well, a writer. The way I see it, the deciding factors of whether or not you (as a teen writer) "should" be published are as follows:

1. Your maturity. Can you handle a book deal? Can you handle a professional relationship with your agent, publisher, and editor? Are you prepared for the life of an author (book signings, tours, readings, etc.)? Are you prepared for both success and no success? All those questions should have a very confident "yes", with agreement from the older, wiser people in your life (peers, too) before you consider taking the road of publishing. If they don't, one of them might come back to slap you in the face, later.
2. Your work itself. Is it well-written? Has it been read/honestly critiqued by your critique partners /writing peers? Is it at least a third draft? (I'm sorry, but you have to be extremely lucky and/or incredibly talented to have a presentable draft that's anything earlier than a third.) Is it properly punctuated, edited, and clean of all grammar mistakes? And (possibly most importantly) do you love it? If you pass all those tests, and you have something that's tight, squeaky-clean and that you're head over heels in love with, then you're totally ready to start asking the questions in #1.
3. Your readiness and willingness not to give up. This is a hard one because it's so easy to become discouraged. Ask any author who's queried (well, not counting those amazing ones that land deals on their second try) and they will tell you that it's quite a ride. It's not going to be easy, and you're definitely not going to be offered a rainbow bridge or a flying unicorn to the Land of Published Authors. (Unless, of course, you are one of those amazing second-try deal-landers.) It's good to be prepared for rejection, to remind yourself often your vision for that novel (a.k.a why you wanted to publish it in the first place), and to be able to separate the opinions of agents from fact about you and your writing. That goes hand in hand with humbleness and being ready to back down and admit -- after the eleventh agent that says something -- that maybe your main character really isn't likeable.

While all the above is totally my opinion (do keep that in mind!), there is truth to it. I know this, having followed more than one writer in their journey toward publication. Some have succeeded, some are still trying. And what separates those (mostly adult) writers from us teens?

Nothing but a few years.

So my overall, summed-up answer to "Should teen writers be published?" is why not? If you are ready in all aspects mentioned above, and then some, then what should stand between you and success? Age is but a number. If you're ready, your novel is amazing, and you're surrounded in loving and supportive writer friends (hey, even if you're not!) GO FOR IT. And I wish you all the best.

Just my two cents. 

For the comments, I'd love to hear your opinion! Do you agree or disagree with what I've said? Are you a teen author with a goal of publication? What are the things YOU think should be deciding factors of whether or not teen writers should query, and ultimately, aim for publication?

Until next month!

More teen shout-outs!

Two more teen, end-of-2011 blog posts, both including shout-outs to Write On!, and the teens that make it  awesome.

Kaye shouts out to the Write On! teens.

Maggie thanks the Write On! teens for being there when she needed them most.

If YOU have a blog post where you mention how we impacted you last year (or any time!) send it to us.

Happy New Year!

A very Happy New Year to you, from Write On! Here's to hoping the coming year is your best yet; full of surprises, challenges, changes, growth, dreams come true, and plenty more writing! (And reading.)

For the comments, what's your New Years resolution? What are your plans for 2012? And in a word, how would you sum 2011 up?