Author talks with young aspiring writers
Vancouver author Shelley Hrdlitschka speaks to a group of young aspiring writers at the Vancouver Island Regional Library in Lake Cowichan.
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Updated: October 26, 2009 10:35 PM
An author of books for children and teenagers says the greatest trait to being a successful writer is perseverance.
Shelley Hrdlitschka of Vancouver told a group of young aspiring writers last week at the Vancouver Island Regional Library in Lake Cowichan that she probably received about 150 rejection letters before she first got published.
“I got so used to reading rejection letters that I just scanned them for the word ‘unfortunately,’” said Hrdlitschka. “Then I realized that I was being a bit unrealistic to think I could get published because they receive so many transcripts.”
Her most disappointing rejection letter came after she had been asked to send the first three chapters of a novel she had written. If the publisher likes those chapters, he will ask for the entire novel.
“So that was a very disappointing rejection letter because I’d been so optimistic, but I’m a very stubborn person.”
Hrdlitschka said another disappointing thing about rejection letters is there’s no feedback, they are just form letters. She said it’s also important to write about what you know, so with three daughters the subjects of her books were often closely linked to what happened to them.
Hrdlitschka also urged the students to read all the time. “To be a writer, you have to be a reader,” she said. “Enter contests and use The Writers’ Market. Form a writing circle with friends who also like writing. That’s the hardest thing, to sit down and write.”
Hrdlitschka said she didn’t always know she wanted to be a writer. That came much later, when she was on maternity leave.
“When I was 10 I knew I’d be a teacher and I became one,” she said. “I read novels to the students and I had a rule to read for only 10 minutes, but then I’d become so wrapped up in the story that I kept reading. That’s when I discovered how much I enjoyed writing.”
Hrdlitschka has written eight novels, her most recent titled Sister Wife. It’s a story based on three peoples’ views about living in Unity, which is similar to Bountiful, B.C., where polygamy reigns supreme. She admitted that at first she thought, what’s the big deal, they aren’t hurting anyone. Then she read Keep Sweet: Children Of Polygamy, by Debbie Palmer and Dave Perrin, and she realized it wasn’t as simple as that.
The novel has been nominated for a Governor General’s Literacy Award.
Hrdlitschka praised libraries. “I’m a total library believer,” she said. “That’s where I get my books.”
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