Ask the Author: Lydia V. Simms
Answered Questions (2)
Lydia V. Simms
To all aspiring writers:
"You're amazing and brilliant, and we've all struggled before."
Don't give up because no one is noticing your book.
Not all stories have to be entirely realistic or teach morals. But all good stories have one thing in common, regardless of who the author is, their writing style, or the genre: they all make sure they have the right target audience.
What's a target audience? A target audience is who your book is directed towards. Most books that are labeled as young-adult fiction are targeted toward teenagers and college students, for instance. As a writer, you'll have to understand who you're writing for.
Violence isn't suitable for a book directed toward elementary school-aged students. Profanity and advanced language don't fit that criteria either. Imagine this: I've written a book for preschoolers. Here's the first sentence.
Miss Parker is a solemn woman who seldom likes to greet people. At every event, her face is always scrunched into an awfully solemn frown, as if she's grieving her entire life as she regrets all of the wild decisions she's made over the years. Being a single mother to four boisterous children who have no father figure in their lives to discipline them isn't something easy. Miss Parker should've known what she signed up for.
This would be so much more suitable in a young-adult fiction book, biography, or contemporary fiction novel. Why? The language is advanced and at a much higher level, meaning the students won't understand a word being used in the book and will be asking questions after reading each sentence. The paragraph makes references to situations that aren't appropriate for children who haven't reached the middle school level yet.
Whenever you make a book for a specific audience, you have to ask yourself if the audience is able to comprehend the language and is well-oriented with the writing style used, will be able to understand the main conflict, and is comfortable with the main topic of the book. You'll still have to write a warning if there are any references to drugs, criminal activity, profanity, or anything R-rated so that the book won't be given to underage audiences.
You can always ask me a question on my author page if you have any further questions.
Don't give up because no one is noticing your book.
Not all stories have to be entirely realistic or teach morals. But all good stories have one thing in common, regardless of who the author is, their writing style, or the genre: they all make sure they have the right target audience.
What's a target audience? A target audience is who your book is directed towards. Most books that are labeled as young-adult fiction are targeted toward teenagers and college students, for instance. As a writer, you'll have to understand who you're writing for.
Violence isn't suitable for a book directed toward elementary school-aged students. Profanity and advanced language don't fit that criteria either. Imagine this: I've written a book for preschoolers. Here's the first sentence.
Miss Parker is a solemn woman who seldom likes to greet people. At every event, her face is always scrunched into an awfully solemn frown, as if she's grieving her entire life as she regrets all of the wild decisions she's made over the years. Being a single mother to four boisterous children who have no father figure in their lives to discipline them isn't something easy. Miss Parker should've known what she signed up for.
This would be so much more suitable in a young-adult fiction book, biography, or contemporary fiction novel. Why? The language is advanced and at a much higher level, meaning the students won't understand a word being used in the book and will be asking questions after reading each sentence. The paragraph makes references to situations that aren't appropriate for children who haven't reached the middle school level yet.
Whenever you make a book for a specific audience, you have to ask yourself if the audience is able to comprehend the language and is well-oriented with the writing style used, will be able to understand the main conflict, and is comfortable with the main topic of the book. You'll still have to write a warning if there are any references to drugs, criminal activity, profanity, or anything R-rated so that the book won't be given to underage audiences.
You can always ask me a question on my author page if you have any further questions.
Lydia V. Simms
I can't think of one "best thing" that comes with being an author. However, there is one main health-related advantage I can list.
Being an author allows you to cope with depression and mental health issues through writing them down.
There is so much power in the pen. Taking your pencil and using it to write about your own feelings through another character who's going through the same thing is one of the best ways to cope. Therapists and other mental health professionals recommend journaling to people who face severe clinical depression and other similar conditions. Writing allows people to pour out their hearts. In my personal opinion, it's a form of therapy.
Visit the following site for more information on reasons writing is helpful for depression.
https://www.webmd.com/depression/feat...
Being an author allows you to cope with depression and mental health issues through writing them down.
There is so much power in the pen. Taking your pencil and using it to write about your own feelings through another character who's going through the same thing is one of the best ways to cope. Therapists and other mental health professionals recommend journaling to people who face severe clinical depression and other similar conditions. Writing allows people to pour out their hearts. In my personal opinion, it's a form of therapy.
Visit the following site for more information on reasons writing is helpful for depression.
https://www.webmd.com/depression/feat...
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