Penning an entire novel—without succumbing to writer’s block or some other form of disenchantment—has always been an unrealized goal of mine, requiring an extraordinary amount of grit, creativity, and, more than anything, those “two most powerful warriors,” to quote Tolstoy, that seem to be in perpetually short supply: time and patience.
For most of my school career, juggling my academics with my extracurriculars has consumed the majority of my ability to time manage. Now, writing a novel? That was out of the question.
But this strain of hopeless thinking came before reading “Dear Ally: How Do You Write a Book?” by Ally Carter, and quarantine, of course. My impressionistic ideas of one day magically becoming an accomplished author and having a completed novel have been systematically demystified by Carter in her freshly informative and sweeping guide, peppered with her charismatic humor and wit readers will recall from most of her previous young adult novels. Chapter by chapter, Carter unveils the feasibility of novel writing with digestible and entertaining sections featuring concrete advice from other notable YA authors, as well as agents and editors, informed by her decades of experience as a publishing mogul who abandoned her day job for writing full-time and now is one of the most beloved authors of her genre.
Even with her illustrious career, however, Carter’s journey has been fraught with mental and emotional hurdles that are illuminated throughout “Dear Ally.” She emphasizes that writing a book is no cup of tea, and publishing is certainly not meant for everyone. First and foremost, writing should be for pleasure, and only later, after considerable trial and error, should prospective authors consider entering the rabbit hole of editing and consulting agents. Ultimately, a note of inspiration and humility provides the running theme throughout “Dear Ally,” serving as a source for perseverance and guidance. Carter even dedicates her book “To all the kids who think someone like them can’t do it, from someone who used to think that, too, but did it anyway.”
Given that “Dear Ally” is aimed at teenage audiences—one of the few novel writing guides to do so—Carter emphasizes countless times that there is no need to rush the writing process, and that there is always plenty of time later in life to publish a book. As such, she encourages that now is the time to experiment and develop a distinct and unique literary voice. And what better time to start your writing journey than during quarantine?
Image courtesy of Scholastic
