Hoping to be a published author someday? Here are some authors who took the time to answer a few questions about what it takes to be a successful writer. Below are interviews from Jodi Meadows, Jennifer L. Armentrout, Lauren Oliver, Kiera Cass, Laurie Faria Stolarz and Veronica Rossi, who shared their strategies and opinions on what goes into a well written book. (Continued from newspaper)

Jodi Meadows Interview
1. How do you write a successful fantasy novel?
“There’s no secret to writing a successful novel. For me, the main ingredient was persistence. INCARNATE was my seventeenth complete manuscript. Not counting the stories I’d started and stopped after a few (or several) thousand words. It was about learning to write well and getting the right story into the hands of the right agent and the right editor. And, of course, telling that story to the best of my ability.”

2. What are some examples of strategies you think are successful when writing?
“Hands on keyboard. Type words. Revise words. Revise again. And again. And again. You’ll hear as many processes for writing a book as there are writers. The one thing they all have in common is that they write. And they revise. Everyone’s strategy for getting a book out of their brain and onto paper is different, and that’s okay. As long as you end up with a story you’re proud of, you’re doing it right.”

3. How do you decide to begin the book? Do you write the scenes in order or do you just write scenes relevant to the book and them rearrange them?
“The best advice I ever received on beginnings was “start with a change.” Lots of people say to start with action, but action doesn’t necessarily equal change. And action is often difficult to ground the reader into, especially at the very beginning of the book. But change! Change is the day of the Reaping. It’s when Gandolf comes to the Shire. It’s when an owl arrives with a letter. Change is movement and promises of the story to come. Occasionally when I’m writing, I’ll skip around, but typically I write in order.”

4. What process do you go through when writing a book? Do the characters or the plot come first?
“I tend to get Characters with Situations when I get ideas. The original idea for INCARNATE really was “the only new girl in a world where everyone else is perpetually reincarnated.” I get characters in hiding, or in exile. I get characters trying to reclaim something they lost, or avenge wrongful deaths.”

5. Do you write based from experience? Where do you get your ideas?
“None of my stories come directly from my own experiences, though my experiences certainly do inform my writing. Ana’s frustration with music is based on my experience as a new flutist, needing to be good at it. My ideas come from fallen leaves. We used to have this tree in our back yard, and every autumn I’d go out and pick up all the idea leaves. You could tell they had ideas because they were especially red or golden. (That answer might be a lie.)”

6.How do you keep track of all your ideas? Do you keep a journal?
“I don’t keep a journal, exactly, but I do keep files of ideas on my computer. I make sure I write down as much of the idea that I can, that way I don’t lose anything important. I note not only the plot I know about, but the mood and tone of the story, if I know that.”

7. How did you go about getting published?
“I took the long way. I started writing full time in 2003. Nine manuscripts later, I got an agent in 2007. Unfortunately the relationship didn’t work out, so we parted ways without making a sale. Two years later, I was on manuscript number sixteen. I’d queried everyone there was to query, and been rejected by everyone who could possibly reject me. I was in a very low point. I was ready to quit trying to be published.”
“But I knew I couldn’t quit writing. I started working on notes for a project I’d had the idea for three years before, but hadn’t had the courage to write. Because it sounded hard. I spent a month putting together notes and world building and synopses. Then I wrote the first draft of INCARNATE. Of course, I was so excited about it; I totally ignored my decision not to even try getting it published. And I’m glad. Three weeks after I sent the first batch of queries, I had multiple offers from agents. And four months after that, I had multiple offers from editors.”

8. What age were you when your first book came out?
“The other day, someone said, “I thought you were nineteen!!” So if anyone asks, I’m totally nineteen.”

9. What other advice do you have for aspiring authors?
“Don’t give up. You’ll hear lots of stories about people who get their first books published, or six- and seven-figure deals. When they’re twelve years old or something. Ignore those. You hear about those because they’re exceptions. Most of us don’t get our first books published. Or even our second. Most of us don’t get huge deals. And most of us are a bit (a lot) older than twelve when our books come out.”
“The very best thing you can do is to read a lot, write a lot, and never give up. The authors who succeed are authors who didn’t give up. That is the truth.”

10. Anything else important you think young writers should know?
“Grammar is important. Live it. Love it.”

Jennifer L. Armentrout Interview
1. How do you write a successful fantasy novel?
“I think the key to writing any novel, especially fantasy, is creating a world that is believable and true to the characters. If you can do that, then readers will believe in a world where aliens are living in West Virginia or the descents of Greek Gods are running amuck. In the end, fantasy and paranormal worlds need a good dose of reality to make it believable.”

2. What are some examples of strategies you think are successful when writing?
“I started using a timer when being a full-time writer ended up meaning I was spending about eight hours goofing off on the Internet. I think there’s just something about know you have all day to write that makes you, at least me, procrastinate. So I used a 25 minute timer on mytomatoes.com and for those 25 minutes, I do nothing but write. I can do about 6 sessions of 25 minutes and write around 4000 words a day.”

3. How do you decide to begin the book? Do you write the scenes in order or do you just write scenes relevant to the book and them rearrange them?
“When I start a book, I always start with Chapter 1. That’s the hardest part, knowing where to start to the story, because you have only chance to engage your agent. Usually when I get about 60% done, I start jumping around in scenes.”

4. What process do you go through when writing a book? Do the characters or the plot come first?
“Basic plot comes first–like what the book is about, but mostly it’s the characters and they end up telling the story.”

5. Do you write based from experience? Where do you get your ideas?
“Luckily, I haven’t had any experience with aliens or Greek gods. Most of my ideas just come out of boredom or while I’m working out, I tend to come up with things.”

6.How do you keep track of all your ideas? Do you keep a journal?
“If I get a bright, shiny new idea, I write it down and stole it away.”

7. How did you go about getting published?
“My process to publication wasn’t typical. I wrote my first book (Half-Blood) in 2007. It wasn’t ready for querying until 2009 and I queried dozens of agents. While I waited on responses I wrote my first adult novel and Cursed. Half-Blood got a lot of request, but no offer of representation. I ended up submitting the query to a small press that didn’t require representation. Most of the big publishers require an agent, but the smaller press accepted Half-Blood. Then I sold Obsidian (Lux Series) and that’s when I got an agent. After that, I sold two books to Disney/Hyperion and a few more to Entangled Teen and SHP. So there’s many different ways to getting ‘there’ and it’s not just one way.”

8. What age were you when your first book came out?
“I was 31, but it sold when I turned 30.”

9. What other advice do you have for aspiring authors?
“To keep writing. Practice does make perfect when it comes to writing. And write what you want. Do not write to trends. By the time you have the book finished, an agent accepts you and readies it for submission to pubs, that trend is long gone.”

10. Anything else important you think young writers should know?
“Getting into the publishing world isn’t easy. It takes a lot of determination and patience, but if you love writing and stick with it, it will happen.”

Lauren Oliver Interview
1. How do you write a successful fantasy novel?
“The same way you write any novel! By writing every day and being open to revising and editing!”

2. What are some examples of strategies you think are successful when writing?
“Always keep in mind the character’s wants and needs. The story will fall flat if they act without motivation!”

3. What process do you go through when writing a book? Do the characters or the plot come first?
“Depends on the book! When I was writing “Before I Fall” the character Sam came first, and with “Delirium” the plot did!”

4. Do you write based from experience? Where do you get your ideas?
“I get my ideas from all around me! A lot of “Before I Fall” was based on my own experiences, but my new book “The Spindlers” was inspired by books I loved when I was young, and some of my favorite illustrators.”

5. What other advice do you have for aspiring authors?
“The best advice I ever got was to write every day , and read as much as I could to try to follow it as best as I can!”

Kiera Cass Interview
1. How do you keep track of all your ideas? Do you keep a journal?
All of my ideas have a notebook where they wait until I get to them. All my ideas start on paper.

2. How did you go about getting published?
I got my start in being a published author by finding an agent. You have to have one! I’d suggest starting at agentquery.com.

3. What other advice do you have for aspiring authors?
My advice to any young writer is to read everything! Master the basics of grammar! Get a thick skin!

Laurie Faria Stolarz Interview
1. What are some examples of strategies you think are successful when writing? I think being disciplined is definitely key. I give myself weekly deadlines of ten pages per week. This keeps me on schedule, so my book will be ready when it needs to be. I also think knowing what your character needs is so important. What does he need, why does he need it, and what does he need to learn in order to get it?

2. How do you decide to begin the book? Do you write the scenes in order or do you just write scenes relevant to the book and them rearrange them?
I definitely write in order. I may go in and add scenes in later or take scenes out, but when creating that first draft, I like to write from beginning to end.

3. What process do you go through when writing a book? Do the characters or the plot come first?
I draft an outline before I begin writing a novel. My outline encompasses the entire story arc from the initial conflict to the climax, and includes all the elements of character. I like to know ahead of time what my character wants or needs (and why), and what he or she has to learn in order to get it. I still may end up changing things along the way, coming up with new ideas, getting deeper inside my character’s head to further understand his or her motivations. But I find that having an outline gives me a home base and, if I ever do want to stray from it, it forces me to justify my rationale for doing so.

4. Do you write based from experience? Where do you get your ideas?
I don’t base anything directly on my own personal background. Though, I do steal character quirks from others (or sometimes myself). For example, in the Blue is for Nightmares series, Amber carries around a pair of chopsticks for whenever she’s eating out. I once knew someone who did that. I get my ideas from everywhere – from stories I hear, news reports and articles I read, subjects that interest me.

5. How do you keep track of all your ideas? Do you keep a journal? Yes, I definitely keep a journal with me at all times and jot down questions I have, things I want to change, ideas as they come to me, etc., etc.

6. What other advice do you have for aspiring authors?
My biggest advice is to persevere. There are many talented writers who give up after 5, 10, or even 50 rejection letters. Be open to learning and to getting better in your craft. If more than one person criticizes the same point in your work – i.e. your main character whines too much – chances are you need to look at that point again. Never pay reading fees while trying to get published – ever. Do your homework. Know to whom you’re sending your query letter, who that person’s clients are, what that person’s track record is (i.e. the details of his or her most recent acquisitions), and what that person is looking for. Every letter should be personalized and reflect that you’ve done your research. And, lastly, consider joining a writers group. There’s nothing better than being in a group of like-minded writers who can help inspire and cheer you on, and who can provide constructive feedback that can help to strengthen your work.

Veronica Rossi Interview
1. Do you write based from experience? Where do you get your ideas?
“I get my ideas from everywhere. From my experiences, things I see or hear from friends and even strangers.”

2. How do you keep track of all your ideas? Do you keep a journal?
“I keep a journal, but lately I’ve been typing things into my phone. My phone is great because I’m always taking photos with it–and those are very inspiring to me.”

3. What process do you go through when writing a book? Do the characters or the plot come first?
“With the UNDER THE NEVER SKY series, the world came first. I knew I wanted to look at contrasts. Male/Female. Technology/Primitivism. Safety/Danger. It started from there. But with the new series I’m developing, the characters are coming first. So I suppose the real answer is: it’s different every time.”