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| Leslie Gould |
~ Dawn
A
Short Log (I promise!) of My Long
Journey to Publication
+
Some Quick Advice to Those on the Road
by
Leslie Gould
The very first word I ever wrote was “sky.” At four, I
viewed the experience as absolutely magical. Around that time, I also made up
stories about the alphabet. Each letter was a character with its own
personality. There was conflict between some of them, especially those next in
“line” to each other, which was most likely based on my own experience as the
youngest of four, all born in less than five years.
By junior high and high school I was keeping a journal (oh,
the drama!) and writing short stories (pretty bad stuff) and poetry (really bad
stuff). The point is, I loved words and images and making up stories from the
moment my abilities allowed it.
As much as I loved it, I was terrified of actually doing
it—afraid of failing and losing my dream of publishing novels some day. After
college I had writing-related jobs—PR work, curating a museum in Ashland,
Oregon, working for the Port of Portland, and later editing a bridal magazine.
I enjoyed the nonfiction writing that I did in all of those jobs, but I still
longed to write fiction. I’d write scenes and character sketches and had ideas
for novels, but it wasn’t until my husband’s Army Reserve unit was deployed to
Germany, while I stayed home with our little ones, that I finally gained the
courage to take a fiction writing class. Soon I was finishing short stories and
working on novels.
One thing led to another…ha! Not really. One year of writing
fiction led to another year of writing fiction, and although I had some short
stories published and I placed in a couple of competitions, it was ten years
from the time I took my first fiction writing class until I sold my first
novel, which was published in 2003. Since then I’ve written twelve more novels
and co-written another four. Believe me, I am still on this writing journey,
praying I still have miles to go (and not just because I have three kids in
college and another soon on her way).
My advice to writers just starting out is to:
- Join a critique group that will also allow you to brainstorm your plots and characters out loud
- Attend writers’ conferences, starting with ones in your area and then national ones
- Read and connect with readers; if you don’t belong to a book group join one and find out what readers want
- Write, write, write! Outline your story and then get the first draft done without second guessing yourself; rewrite, rewrite, rewrite and edit, edit, edit on your second, third, fourth, and fifth drafts
- Talk to God about your story—everyday
And have fun! Yes, it’s hard work but on the days I have
hours to write, I feel a wonderful sense of harmony that sustains me.
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Leslie Gould is the award-winning author of fifteen novels,
including the #1 bestseller and Christy Award winner The Amish Midwife, co-written with Mindy Starns Clark. Leslie’s
novel Beyond the Blue was the winner
of the Romantic Times Book Club Magazine’s Reviewer’s Choice Award for
Best Inspirational Novel in 2006. Her latest release, Courting
Cate (inspired by The Taming of
the Shrew), made the ECPA bestseller list for December 2012. Leslie lives
in Oregon, along with her husband and four children.
To learn more, please visit :
Website: www.lesliegould.com
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/lesliejeangould
/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lesliegouldauthor
