6 Writing Questions from a High School Honors English Class

I had the pleasure of speaking to a 9th/10th grade Honors English class last week. The topic was the exciting world of indie publishing for their generation. The kids were excited, smart, and engaged. My time didn't allow for all of their questions to be answered so their teacher sent me a list of follow-up questions. I decided to post them here so I could include website links and because they asked such great questions!


Do you feel it's worth it spending time writing material that you later decide to throw out?

1) It is absolutely worth writing material you never use! Writers have to practice just like painters and singers and athletes. No word we write is wasted! Every word we write improves us. The key is to write daily (if possible). I used to think I would run out of creativity, or that I only had one story to tell. Wrong! The flow of creativity is endless and the more you use it, the more you'll have. So enjoy your writing sessions!

How do you get over writer's block?

2) I write something every day so I never have true writer's block. If I can't continue my story at the moment, then I write something else. Usually a block means my story has gone off track. When I'm off track, I tell my mind to fix the issue while I sleep. Usually I wake up with the answer the next morning. It's not always that simple. I do two other things to help prevent writers block. First I pray for inspiration before I write each day. Second, I tell myself to "Be brave". Writing can be a battlefield of the mind--I have to kick my doubts to the curb and write my story even when I think I'm not capable, even when I'm confused, even when my brain hurts. Not writing will make the block worse. I use the revision process to clean up my prose. The key for me is to shut down the critical part of my brain, be brave, and write through it!

I can't write a character with any flaws!  How do you keep a character from being too perfect?

3)Writing flaws into characters and creating conflicts for them also requires bravery. You might be thinking too much about your character and not enough about your reader. As you know, perfect characters are boring. You are a story teller--not  God. Your character isn't real--so have some fun! Think about the kind of characters you like to read about--are they flawed? How? If you must write about a perfect character then think to yourself--what is the worst thing that can happen to them? Then make that happen! How they deal with it will reveal their flaws and new strengths. It could be as simple as a perfect athlete getting injured or a perfect babysitter losing track of an extra naughty toddler, or a perfect teen who discovers her parents kidnapped her as a child--now you have conflict and tension and your character will have to dig deep to resolve it!

You spoke about pacing.  Can a story move too quickly?  How do you know when the pacing is right?

4) Yes, a story can move too quickly! You want to draw your reader into your world and show it to them. Adding the right amount of details will help slow your story down. Building tension also requires time (in a novel). How do you know when a story is just right? This is where reading a lot of books comes in handy. The more you read (and the more you write) the more you will develop a feel for pacing. Writers can't be objective about their own work so it's helpful to also develop a set of trusted readers. They can help you with your pacing, your characters, your storyline--everything!

In my Winged Herds series, I use a lot of action and dialogue to move the story forward. In between the action, I use "breather" passages or chapters where the intensity lightens. But I don't give my readers (or my characters) too long of a break before the action begins again. It's a fine balance to race to the end of a book slowly! Having said that, it's more common for authors to go too slow than too fast. As a young author, the most important thing is to write your first draft to completion. Then seek readers to help you with the pace. If they think it's going too fast, ask them what details they feel are missing. Editing is a huge part of writing, so be ready to add words to your story, but take heart! Adding words is generally more fun than cutting words!  

I have trouble moving from a character's internal thoughts to external descriptions.  How do you make this transition?

5)There are several methods that work well to switch from internal thoughts to external descriptions. One is to startle the character out of their thoughts. Something in the external world can happen which draws them back i.e. another character begins speaking to them, a movement occurs, or something happens to remind the character of their physical situation (a grumbling tummy, sudden rainfall, an uncooperative horse--things that must be dealt with now). Any distraction, big or small, can bring the character smoothly out of their thoughts and back into the story. A character's reflection can also be a nice way to end a chapter. The character reflects on recent events as the chapter closes. The next chapter can begin fresh and in the external.

How do I publish my story in hard-copy form rather than e-book?

6) If you would like to see your book in print, there are a number of free services available. The top two that I know about are Createspace and Lulu. They offer paid services if you need help formatting and designing your book, or you can format it yourself for free. If you put in the time to learn, you can do a great job yourself. You don't need to pay anything.

Having said that, your chances of success are low if you rush to print and don't edit your work and make a nice looking cover. I suggest hiring a freelance editor to proofread your story. You can make your own cover in photoshop and other programs. You can purchase a professional photo from websites like Dreamstime or Shutterstock and then just add your title and your name in an attractive font. If you go through all this trouble, you might as well publish your book as an ebook too. It's also free. You can use Smashwords or Kindle Direct Publishing to accomplish this.

I hope you enjoyed these questions from the high school class. Young authors are the future!

by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez