The important goal for a writer is to actually sit down to write new material at a regular pace. If you don’t take your commitment to write seriously, you won’t get serious results. If you don’t treat your writing as a career, you are, in essence, supporting a hobby.

A writing career is a job. Treat it as such. If you want a part-time job, schedule part-time hours for writing on your weekly calendar. A part-time job means you probably won’t be writing every day. If you want a full-time job, however, actually mark down forty hours each week on your calendar dedicated to writing. This means you’ll probably be writing eight hours a day, five days a week. Post your upcoming schedule each week, just as employers do in the workplace. Rearrange your other commitments around your writing schedule, just as people do who drive to work. Show up at your writing workspace on time each day according to schedule. Sit down at your computer. And write.

The life of a writer today is vastly different than the life of a writer in yesteryears. Stories abound of writers from long ago who retired each day to a solitary spot, curled up in a blanket with a pot of coffee nearby, and wrote uninterrupted from sunup to sundown.

Today’s writers have editors’ e-mails to answer, blogs to maintain or read, and writers’ chatrooms to visit. Even though these tasks are part of our writer’s day, they must not take the place of writing new material at a regular pace.

If you find yourself spending time each day in front of your computer but not actually typing new pages of publishable material, it’s time to reassess your priorities. Prioritize the hours you type new content each day before you tend to the other tasks.

It’s also important to write with purpose. A writer’s goal is to get published regularly and earn a steady income. Develop a cycle of studying target publishers and writing queries for potential contracts until you land that next manuscript assignment. Don’t spend all your time just submitting old manuscripts, however. In the extremely competitive world of children’s publishing today, randomly submitting even a well-written manuscript is like trying to win the lottery. Career writers know most manuscripts that reach publication are written AFTER the contract is landed or the assignment is given. Whether writing fiction or nonfiction, make it your goal to type out a brand new query each week or so for a new potential project not yet written. If an editor responds and is interested in your query, you can then prepare a formal proposal to submit.

Perhaps you already have a contract with a scheduled deadline. Is it important that you write and work on that manuscript every single day? Explore your project until you discover the schedule you need to work at to best complete your task. Print out a weekly or monthly calendar to follow until you reach your deadline. Type out a sample page or chapter to determine a realistic measure of the amount of time it will take you to physically sit down and type your manuscript.

Perhaps you can devote the first four weeks to research, creating outlines, and organizing material, then spend the last two weeks typing. Or, you may feel more confident breaking up those tasks into smaller bites so you see actual progress each day with a steady progression of completed manuscript pages. While working on a recent nonfiction book project for kids, I developed a cycle of daily research, note-taking, and writing that gave me confidence to work toward my deadline.

For each deadline, take time to discover a schedule that works best for you. Whether it’s actually sitting down to type new material each day, or blocking out chunks of time to type after your preliminary writing activities are finished, stick to a schedule that will help you accomplish your goals.

Bio: Nancy I. Sanders is an instructor for the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club and the author of over 75 books including Anyone Can Get Published—You Can, Too! A Practical Strategy for the Christian Who Writes. Visit her website www.nancyisanders.com to find out more.

The Market for Rhyming Picture Books

by Nancy I. Sanders

If you’ve attended a writing conference, you’ve probably heard the mantra of many children’s book editors: “No submissions in rhyme!” Yet if you visit the book table, you might be surprised to find their newest release—a rhyming picture book. What’s going on?

Editors say, “Never submit rhyming text” because they receive so many manuscripts filled with poorly written verse. Critique groups abound with wannabe writers who pour out stories in rhyme, yet are offended and confused when the member who teaches English points out their poem lacks rhythm, contains forced rhyme, and isn’t properly formatted. If you don’t know the rules for writing in verse, resist the temptation to write a manuscript in rhyme.

The three R’s of successful children’s books, however, are rhyme, rhythm, and repetition. If you’re still smitten by the “rhyming bug,” take the time to learn how to write in rhyme—and how to write well. Editors welcome submissions of well-written rhyming picture books if it fits into their specific product line—but your manuscript must feature poetry that sings.

Sign up for a class in writing poetry. Read books to learn the rules. Dissect current successful children’s books written in verse until you know which rules the authors followed and which ones they broke—and understand why. Don’t just read about writing rhyming picture book text. Write a children’s book in rhyme. Then another. And another. Examine your manuscripts with a fine-toothed comb. Don’t take your manuscript to your local critique group, however, if none of the members have had success publishing in rhyme, especially if they mostly write for older audiences. They’ll only succeed in butchering your manuscript if they don’t know the rules themselves. Try to find another author who has published at least one children’s manuscript in rhyme. Offer to trade manuscripts.

There is something truly magical about a children’s book that is written in rhyme. Yet how do you know if your story would do better written in non-rhyming text or in verse? Here are several key points to consider.
Will your book be part of a series? If so, you should follow the format already established. When I wrote one of my newest picture books, D is for Drinking Gourd: An African American Alphabet, the publisher already produced a series of books with rhyming verse in large type at the center of the page and nonfiction expository text along the sides. I wrote my sample text to follow their format, submitted it as a proposal, and got a contract—even though that publisher’s website said it was not taking any submissions at that time.

If your manuscript will be a stand-alone project, try writing a section of your story in plain text. Now try writing the same section in rhyming verse. Which vehicle transports your message to your target audience the best?
Study the product line of the publisher you plan to target. Are they currently publishing rhyming text? If so, determine in which genre or format—beginning reader? Board book? Alphabet or counting book? Write your manuscript—whether in rhyme or non-rhyming text—so it fits in with the publisher’s unique style and product line.

Bio: Nancy I. Sanders is an instructor for the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club and the author of over 75 books and has been published by such houses as Scholastic, Reader’s Digest, Tyndale, and Sleeping Bear Press. Visit her website at www.nancyisanders.com to find out more.

Tags: Nancy I. Sanders, picture books in rhyme, writing rhyming picture books