How I wrote my creative writing book(let), Part 2

In Part 1 of these posts, I explained why I wrote Polish and Publish and how I did the research for it. In this post, I’ll cover how I decided what to include and what to leave out.

The most challenging question revolved around whether or not to suggest resources for specific types of writing, such as children’s lit, horror, and fantasy—three astonishingly popular genres for writers. (If you don’t believe me, just check out the writers in the Writers Digest community.)

Although I discuss those with my creative writing students, in the interest of keeping Polish and Publish short (under 60 pages of large type), I decided to leave them out.

The way I wrote the book followed my own journey to become a professional writer—the questions I asked myself, the challenges I faced, and the strategies and resources I discovered. One of the best pieces of knowledge I found was places where beginning writers can get their work published.

I want other writers to have the tools they need to overcome their writing frustrations—whether those stem from writer’s block, receiving rejection after rejection from publishers, or simply not knowing the direction(s) to take because the options—as well as the risks—are legion.

So, when the book’s published, I hope you’ll get a copy and let me know how it helps you in your writing journey.

Till then, I’ll be posting tips here and on Twitter @lynettebenton.