4) What do you like least about writing?

The self-doubt that comes as you wait for weeks and months — or longer — for a response to a manuscript submission. Publishing rarely happens like it’s portrayed in the movies or on TV.

3) What do you most enjoy about writing?

I love everything — everything — about the writing process. I’m not a grammarian. I’m like a person who has taught herself to play the piano by ear rather than reading notes. I consider myself a self-taught writer. I’ve had a few college classes, but most of my progress has come by trial and error, by falling off the horse and getting back on again.

For example, I love formal, metric poetry, like sonnets, pantoums, villainelles, etc. I love how the structure forces you to refine your words until you have created something that’s a pure thought set to an elegant, subtle rhythm. The problem is, I suck at it. Still, I believe like E.B. White, who said that he wanted to be a poet. Poets, he said, are “the great ones.”

Whether children’s writing or journalism, it always means a lot to me when someone takes the time to tell me I’ve written something that’s touched them or caused them to think differently, to see a situation in a new light or to understand a topic better. I love getting letters from kids who have read my books, when they tell me how much they like the characters or that they can relate to the stories.

Another installment from the Q&A exchange I recently had with a reader. Again, my answer is divided in two parts, because of the two types of writing I do:

2) What is the pay like?

Writing for children — Don’t quit your day job. Do it because you love it, because you love to create stories. love the process of writing and love to engage readers. I’ve met many published writers. Many have day jobs.

Journalism — The pay is not great, compared to other careers. The “career journalists” I know do it because they love to write and feel compelled to tell the story of their community, warts and all. They understand the important role newspapers hold in keeping city and county governments accountable to the people. They also understand that with each day’s edition, you are writing history. There are some stories that, when you write them, you know 10, 20, 30 years from now someone will dig through the newspaper archives and use that story as part of their research, as an historical record of some event or person. It’s interesting to think about that.

Had a recent request from a Facebook friend to answer some questions about the writing life. After I read them, I thought they might make a good series of blog posts.

Thanks, Mindy!

1) What things made it challenging for you to be a journalist and a writer?

I split my writing life into two identities, so I will have to answer this in two different ways:

Writing for children — The most challenging thing is to stick with it and not give up. It is VERY difficult to get published. I will not pay to publish my own work and I never have. If I can’t get an editor interested, then I need to polish my work or keep writing stories until I DO write something that will make an editor sit up and take notice. I’ve been fortunate to do that four times. I thought that getting accepted once would mean no more fears. Yet I found the second book was just as gut-wrenching as the first, and so on. The problem is then, “What if I fail? What if I’m out of ideas? What if it’s a fluke that I even got published in the first place?” I’d say that’s the hardest thing, always second-guessing your abilities.

Journalism — Lots of things were hard for me at first, like learning to be bold and ask questions, understanding how open records laws work, adapting to situations I’d never been placed in before (from flying in a four-seater airplane over a brush fire to being at the scene of a car wreck to covering volatile city council meetings). The writing was easy. It was dealing with people and situations I wasn’t familiar with that was the most difficult.

I’ve organized our SCBWI region’s booth at the Southern Festival of Books, which is held outdoors on Nashville’s War Memorial Plaza, for four of the past five years. This year, the weather was not very cooperative.

We tried to set up Friday morning, and the wind was blowing so hard we thought it would blow the booth over. When we finally got our equipment together and started setting out our display materials, we were told to pack up and go to the basement of the Legislative building. There was a severe storm headed our way! My friends and I sat on the basement floor and ate chocolate chip cookies while we waited for the storm to pass.

Once we were able to go back outside, we set up again and opened the booth. A few minutes later, a monsoon hit. The crowd dwindled to zero.

I spent the rest of the evening chatting with my friend, SCBWI-Midsouth Regional Advisor Genetta Adair, in a cozy booth at a Panera Bread. Then, to reward ourselves for surviving such a taxing day, we bought a bag of dark chocolate truffles to eat while we checked our e-mail back at the hotel.

Ah, the exciting life of writers!

On Saturday, we didn’t have rain, just heavy cloud cover, cold winds, and high humidity. Got to hear Kate DiCamillo speak. She talked a bit about the path she traveled to become a published writer, then said she believes it takes more tenacity than talent for a writer’s dream to come true. I got three copies of The Magician’s Elephant signed. She was gracious, even to those of us who were in the back of the line that snaked around the inner court of the Legislative building.

Sunday was a perfect autumn day, sunny and cool.

I’ve decided to relinquish my post as volunteer booth coordinator so that someone with fresh ideas can take over. I may attend the festival next year just as a spectator, so I can hear more author presentations and check out some of the booths I’ve missed.

I have to admit, though, that the best part of the festival has always been hanging out with my SCBWI friends, like Genetta, Tracy Barrett, Shellie Braeuner, Linda Ragsdale, Cheryl Mendenhall, Alison Lyne, Donna Getzinger and Kristin Tubb.

I even got to meet Elizabeth Dulemba  this year, and learn more about her amazing talents.

This event is just one of the many opportunities I’ve been able to enjoy because of my membership in SCBWI. The Southern Festival is for everyone, of course, but being a part of the world of children’s writers and illustrators has made it a much richer experience for me. The chance to meet and learn from others who share your interests is priceless.

SCBWI-Midsouth will have a booth at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville this weekend.

This is our fifth year to participate in the festival. It’s a wonderful weekend! There are author presentations, panel discussions, book signings, musicians, food, children’s activities and more.

And, of course, there are lots of books for sale.

If you’re around the area, stop by our booth and say hi!