The Giants did it again! 2012 |
The San Francisco Giants' 2010 World Series win inspired my
son to play baseball for the first time at the age of 9. By today's standards, age 9 is going into the
sport late- a sport in which many kids started playing by age 4 or 5.
This fact didn't discourage my son. He was determined to catch up to his
peers. He signed up for baseball
clinics, watched instructional videos, and practiced batting and throwing everyday
with his dad.
In just a year of playing little league, he was invited to
play in an all-star team. He has since moved
to playing in a travel tournament team. If he had never stepped to the plate to play ball, we would
have never known his potential.
I have a few friends who have told me they are interested in
writing a book, but I've never seen any one of them follow through in their
intent. It's one thing to be interested
in writing, it's another to do something about it. You'll never know what you are capable of until you take action.
"In baseball, you only get 3 swings and you're out. In (re)writing, you get as many swings as you want and you know, sooner or later, you'll hit the ball." ~Neil Simon
The San Francisco Giants won 2 World Series in my child's lifetime. Who knows how many more they can accomplish. The Giants' have inspired me to keep writing. For those who have thought about writing, I challenge you to step up to the plate. If you want to make it to the all-star team, you need to
attend writer's conferences and read books on writing and publishing to learn
something about the industry. Most importantly, keep swinging that bat and write, write, write. I'll be rooting for you to hit a home run!
Here are a few helpful resources for the aspiring writer to get started:
What sets apart a writer and someone who writes?
www.scbwi.org The first step is to sign-up as a SCBWI member. The site includes information on conferences, awards and grants, and
helpful resources.
Here you get to network with other writers and and receive online support. Read the best in the
industry including editors, agents, authors, and illustrators.
www.institutechildrenslit.com The closest you'll get to a formal education on writing for children in an online course, complete with a comprehensive manual and resource books. This will give you the foundation to write a good, compelling story. If you've never taken a course on basic writing, I recommend starting here.
www.verlakay.com Verla Kay has a great message board to bounce off
questions off other writers regarding writing technique, publishing, submissions, etc.
www.asuen.com
A fabulous intensive picture book workshop. It's a 12-lesson e-mail course divided into 2
parts. You'll learn the basic elements
of a picture book and put it into practice with weekly assignments.
www.picturebookacademy.com/
A wonderful five-week interactive course
by Dr. Mira Rosenberg. Get technical & theoretical
information, videos, expert interviews, tips on writing, critiques from your
built-in small groups, and a one-on-one critique with Dr. Rosenberg. This is an academy that brings together a
community of writers.
www.cbiclubhouse.com Great website for beginning writers. They provide a children’s writing course, a
library of instructional articles, videos, podcasts, ebooks & more. For $4.49 a month, you will also receive
monthly issues of the famous Children's Book Insider, packed with market news, hot tips
and expert advice
~ Happy Writing!
Love the very first quote! :)
ReplyDeleteBaseball and writing. Gotta love it!
DeleteGoing to my first SCBWI event Saturday! So excited!
ReplyDeleteYay! You will love it!
Deleteawesome inspirational post! thanks for sharing. I'm going to share, ok? miss you!
ReplyDelete