Why I Look Up to a Kid
I have found my next personal hero. She’s a writer with two published novels and a companion guide. And she did it before she was thirteen.
I ran across Nara Duffie’s TEDx Kids talk on YouTube. She finished her first novel just before she turned eleven. She finished the sequel before she was thirteen. You may remember that I was also a kid with something to say. But publishing two books before the age of thirteen? This girl should be wearing a cape.
Here, have a listen.
You know what I don’t hear when I listen to her talk about writing a book?
Fear.
Anxiety.
Excuses.
Here’s her formula.
- Love. Love your story, love your characters. If you don’t, you won’t make it through the work required to get your book published.
- Get Help. Find a mentor. You’ll need support, encouragement, and editing.
- Make Plan A. Make a rough outline. At a minimum, write down how the story starts, what happens in the middle, and the ending. Note, your story is going to change along the way so don’t spend too much time here.
- Write Fast. This is where you write your first draft. Do it as fast as you can. No rewriting allowed. Celebrate when your first draft is done.
- Make Plan B. Read your first draft and make a detailed outline. Does it make sense? Does the ending work? Are your characters believable?
- Rewrite. This is where you shape your story by chapter, scene, sentence. This is where you fix dialog, character, and pacing.
- Proofread. When you have a final draft, ask friends or family to read for mistakes. Fix those and send the whole thing to a professional copy editor.
So is that it? Is that all you need to do? It certainly worked for Nara; she has the awards (and books) to prove it. I suspect that my piles and stacks of writing books imply otherwise but for now, I’m wowed by a girl who made it happen for herself.
What writers do you look up to and why?