It takes a certain kind of person to slave over something very personal for a long time and then hurl it out the door for every aspiring critic in the universe to have a shot at.
You trust your editor, your spouse, and your friends to give you helpful advice, but in the end the buck stops right there in the middle of your keyboard, and the courage to continue lies nowhere but in your own heart.
What’s the biggest emotional challenge of writing? Writing. Planting a piece of yourself on a cold, white page.
It has helped that I didn’t come to writing primarily for self-expression but out of necessity as a music teacher/librarian who couldn’t find quality cross-cultural musical plays for my elementary students.
It was not until I had taught for many years and written and produced many plays that I decided to go back to school and study writing systematically.
It Was a Shock to Realize Everyone Else in the Class Had Written a Book
I took a 2-year leave from my teaching job to complete an MFA in Creative Writing for Children and Young Adults. It was quite a shock to attend my first class and realize most everyone there had already written at least one book, published or not.
These were my first formal writing classes. My thesis became my first novel, Bristol Bay Summer (Alaska Northwest Books, 2014). It was a big help to have a goal and a time-line, a new chapter due each week.
There’s nothing like the mastery of new skills and the completion of a goal to gain self-confidence.
After graduation, I returned to teaching for a few more years before retiring to devote more time to this new career….pursuit….obsession…………………….disorder.
And now there’s a second book, Fighter in Velvet Gloves, Alaska Civil Rights Hero Elizabeth Peratrovich (University of Alaska Press, 2019), but I can’t say the process has gotten any easier.
Writing Really Isn’t Very Good for You
One thing I’ve struggled with is that writing really isn’t very good for you.
I’ve found regular running, swimming, skiing and other workouts to be necessary antidotes to long periods at a desk and the looming shadow of the refrigerator.
Running also helps with mental clarity, as does transcendental meditation, which I began decades ago when I was pregnant with my second child. I’m also a pianist and find practicing brings a different kind of peace that helps keep me grounded.
In spite of all that, or perhaps because of it, writing sometimes makes me lose track of time to the point of missing appointments. Fortunately, my husband is a former chef, so I seldom forget to eat dinner.
To Spark Creativity, I Think About Things from a Child’s Perspective
Creativity, that illusive thing that happens when you least expect it, has been a constant throughout my life working with kids. Their spontaneity, originality and energy were fiercely motivating.
No longer in classrooms every day, I remain inspired when I try to think about things from a child’s perspective and to emulate that skill they all have in such abundance, to be truly lost in the moment. That’s the real payoff, those golden hours when I am completely immersed.
But I’m also driven to give back to children some of what I’ve learned. I’ve been blessed to have a few skills that are useful in that regard. Music, storytelling, and—as my husband might attest but I am not afraid to admit— the ability to act like a 6-year-old without feeling too self-conscious about it.
Like Many Writers, I Hate Marketing
Colleen asked me to talk about marketing. Otherwise I wouldn’t because, like many writers, I hate it.
All I can say is that, until you sell a hundred thousand copies or so, no one is going to do it for you. You have to have the basics, a place (typically a website) where people can find you and find out about you.
I have the usual social media platforms, Facebook, Twitter, website, blog. Marketing is important, but I try to minimize the time I invest.
The Structure of a Full-Time Job Helped Me Be Productive
Fortunately, with the exception of a few piano students, an intense exercise schedule, and a growing pack of grandchildren, I am in charge of my time.
For more than 40 years I was teaching, writing and producing musical plays while raising four children. Today’s flexibility is a luxury to which I am still adapting.
Years of grumbling notwithstanding, I have to admit the structure of full-time teaching helped me be productive. I learned every minute was important. I suppose that’s even more true today, but there seem to be so many more possibilities for each of those minutes.
Advice for a Young Writer: Don’t Pay Too Much Attention to Anyone’s Advice
To aspiring writers young and old, my first advice is not to pay much attention to anyone’s advice.
But I would also repeat the old adage that writers write. Write, write, and write some more.
As a runner, I can say with assurance that meeting other runners is fun and can be enlightening, but it doesn’t get you any closer to the finish line.
* * *
Annie Boochever grew up in Juneau when Alaska was still a territory. Following a career teaching music and library, she earned an MFA in creative writing for children and young adults.
Annie’s books, Bristol Bay Summer (Alaska Northwest Books, 2014), and Fighter in Velvet Gloves: Alaska Civil Rights Hero Elizabeth Peratrovich (University of Alaska Press, 2019) have won numerous awards. Both were selected as Notable Social Studies Trade Books and Alaska State Battle of the Books. Fighter in Velvet Gloves made the 2019 American Indian in Children’s Literature list of best non-fiction books for young adults.
For more information on Annie and her work, please see her website, and connect with her on Twitter and Facebook.
Bristol Bay Summer: “I’m not going!” 12-year-old Zoey Morley frowned at the raggedy airplane that would take her farther away, to Bristol Bay, Alaska, where she would somehow have to make peace with 10 million salmon, her mom’s bush-pilot boyfriend, a boy she doesn’t understand, and the only family she has left.
The ancient practice of setnet fishing for salmon in Alaska’s Bristol Bay is the setting for Zoey‘s struggle to accept the unraveling of her family and a wilderness so huge and strange only her artist’s heart can find its meaning.
Along with its stunning beauty, Bristol Bay spits out one challenge after another, including stalking grizzlies, a Japanese typhoon, and a plane crash that threatens to end everything. Will Zoey find the strength to save the one person she wished would go away? Or will they both end up like the pieces of airplane fuselage she saw embedded in a cliffside on her first flight into the huge wilderness beyond Anchorage?
Available at Amazon.
Fighter in Velvet Gloves: “No Natives or Dogs Allowed,” blared the storefront sign at Elizabeth Peratrovich, then a young Alaska Native Tlingit. The sting of those words would stay with her all her life. Years later, after becoming a seasoned fighter for equality, she would deliver her own powerful message: one that helped change Alaska and the nation forever.
In 1945, Peratrovich stood before the Alaska Territorial Legislative Session and gave a powerful speech about her childhood and her experiences being treated as a second-class citizen. Her heartfelt testimony led to the passing of the landmark Alaska Anti-Discrimination Act, America’s first civil rights legislation. Today, Alaska celebrates Elizabeth Peratrovich Day every February 16, and she will be honored on the gold one-dollar coin in 2020.
Annie Boochever worked with Elizabeth’s eldest son, Roy Peratrovich Jr., to bring Elizabeth’s story to life in the first book written for young teens on this remarkable Alaska Native woman.
Available at Amazon.