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Hi, I'm Bethany! I’m the author of two, soon to be three books, and the trilogy I’m currently working on is probably the biggest blast I’ve had writing in a while. I have never laughed so hard with characters or shaken my head so often over their antics. I mean, come on, putting a whole river in a bag? You’re kidding! So let’s talk about having fun with stories because I definitely want to have this much fun again. We’re supposed to enjoy writing, right? We like it, so we keep at it. But struggles happen, they just do. I know that even with this trilogy, I’ve had(and probably still will have)plenty of times when the writing became stressful and not enjoyable. So how do we get to having fun in the first place, and if we lose it, how do we get it back? The answers to both are the same, and the bottom line is this: aim to please yourself with the story. Write it for yourself. From the very beginning, set out to create something you genuinely enjoy. When I brainstormed for Robbing Centaurs and Other Bad Ideas, I had a single goal in mind: write a book I would want to read. Of course, everything I write is something that I want to read(and a good thing too since they always need many rounds of edits and readthroughs), but with this one, I wanted only to create a crazy story that I would be eager to write and read. If other people enjoyed it, fantastic! But they weren’t the audience I had in mind. That leads me to my next point: Don’t take the story too seriously. Do that and you’re bound to end up in a rut. Let yourself write silly ideas, even draft whole scenes that you never plan to incorporate into the main story. I like to write lists of ideas including even the crazy ones that would never work, and spoiler alert– sometimes those ideas are worth something after all. The opening chapters of Robbing Centaurs would never have involved fireworks if it weren’t for these lists. I wrote the idea with the fireworks as an overly extravagant one I could never use, and what do you know, it made it into the final draft. It’s also important to hunt down ideas that make you excited. Look around for ideas that make you want to write. For example, for years now I’ve loved the idea of winged rabbits. Bunnies with wings make for such a striking image, and can you imagine flocks of them crossing the sky? Compile your story from ideas that make you excited and Frankenstein them in there any way you can. Maybe your winged rabbits are even an important part of the plot! You’ll never know until you explore the possibilities. And don’t be shy about humor, either! Make yourself laugh. Write in lots of jokes, or even just make memes and jokes about the story itself. I’m part-time a meme account, but you don’t have to do all that. You can do as little as to find an incorrect quotes generator and put your characters names into it. It does all the work for you, and the quotes are good both for your own personal enjoyment or to share with your followers! Long story short, don’t think about it too much. Aim to entertain yourself and produce something you’ll enjoy. In the end you’ll get a world of fun out of it, and as an added bonus you might even find other people who enjoy it too. ___ About me! I’m Bethany Meyer, and my writer career began in the typical fashion, as a kid writing fantasy stories. Fantasy never lost its sparkle, so I never stopped. In my spare time, I like to make memes(that I usually post on my Instagram) or painting while I watch anime on the TV. I like to stay busy :) My trilogy’s second book, World Saving and Other Disasters, releases at the end of the year! Here are my links so we can stay in touch: Instagram: @scribbledfiction Twitter: @ScribbldFiction Website: https://mebethanydanni.wixsite.com/bethanymeyer-1 Buy Robbing Centaurs and Other Bad Ideas! https://rb.gy/ge9l0t

To celebrate the Trials, over the course of this month we will be publishing guest posts and interviews from writers in the community! Q: Who are you? / Introduce yourself! A: Hello! I’m Millie Florence, a teen author, YouTuber, and adventurer. I’m homeschooled and I’ve loved telling stories for as long as I can remember. I published my first book, Honey Butter when I was thirteen years old, and I haven’t stopped since. I live with my parents and four siblings in a blue house in the woods, where I spend a lot of time baking, hiking, and of course, writing. Q: What are your books about? A: I write middle-grade fiction, so books for kids ages 10-14. Honey Butter, my debut novel, is the story of seven-year-old Jamie Johnson, who is obsessed with collecting paint cards. It’s a sweet summer contemporary about friendship, family, and everyday joy. You can read Honey Butter for free when you sign up for my email newsletter! Lydia Green of Mulberry Glen, which I published when I was fifteen, is a whimsical fantasy about a girl named Lydia Green who confronts a mysterious force known as the Darkness, which can creep into people’s minds. You can find out more about it here. My third book, The Balter of Ashton Harper, will be coming out in the summer of 2023 with Bandersnatch books. Balter means “To dance artlessly, without particular grace or skill but usually with enjoyment.”. It’s a historical fantasy novel about three siblings living in Regency-era England who discover remnants of old magic when they’re separated on a journey. Q: What was it like publishing a book at 13? Do you have any regrets? A: It was an amazing experience! However, I do regret the amount of pressure I put on myself. I was dead set on publishing a book before I was a ‘grown up’, which at the time, I defined as anything older than thirteen. I’m glad I pushed myself to write Honey Butter and make it the best it could be, and I’m very glad I published it because it made a huge impact on both my life and the lives of many of its readers. But I do wish I hadn’t staked my happiness on whether or not I published a book by a certain date, even if I did succeed to meet my own somewhat unreasonable expectations. I’ve learned since then that it doesn’t matter when you publish, what matters is what you publish. I hope I inspire young writers to chase their dreams, but I would never want them to feel a sense of rush or obligation. Write because you love it! The rest will follow. Q: What are some of the most important lessons about writing you’ve learned so far? A: I’ve learned so many important lessons which all build on each other, each of which I could write an essay on. But for now, I’ll summarise. You don’t wait for inspiration to strike you, you have to go looking for it. “Either write something worth reading, or do something worth writing.” - Ben Franklin Readers don’t connect emotionally with magic systems or geography or cool descriptions. They connect emotionally with people. With characters. Focus on characters above all else. Character emotions don’t need to be complicated to be interesting. Start simple. Nuance comes with time. Bad writing is not a waste of time because it teaches you what you need to know to write the next thing. Don’t give up. Q: What is your favorite book/author and why? A: My favorite book is The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. It’s everything I love in a book! Quirky, whimsical, a super strong and impactful theme, unique three-dimensional characters, an old-fashioned writing style, heartwarming, battle of the wits, clever puzzles, and satisfying reveals. It’s the sort of book I wish I could write! If you haven’t already, go read it! What are you waiting for? Q: Where do you get your inspiration from? / Why do you write? A: Once, at a conference talk I attended, the speaker asked the room a question I will never forget. “Would you rather,” he asked “sell your book to millions of people who would forget about it as soon as they finished it? Or would you rather sell your book to only one person, but a person whose life would be changed forever by it?” The room lapsed into half thoughtful, half stubborn silence. “Which do you pick?” He asked. “The first option or the second option?” There were scattered mummers of “Second option.” Around the room. “Right.” He nodded and smiled. “We all say that we’d pick the second option. But what if that one person… Was you?” I write because I want to change the world for the better, but I also write because I want to change myself for the better. There’s nothing more life-changing than creating something with your whole heart. Q: What does your writing process look like? A: My writing process has changed slightly with every book. It’s always growing and evolving. I used to write my first drafts without an outline because I felt as though they held me back and made my writing feel more unnatural. However more recently I’ve discovered an outlining method that works really well for me! I outlined the entire story of my current work in progress before I wrote a word of it, and it went very well! Usually, I write four to five drafts in total. I always send my book to beta readers at some point. With Honey Butter, I sent my betas the third draft. With Lydia Green, I sent them the second draft, and then did a second round of beta readers later with the third draft. With The Balter of Ashton Harper, I did the same as Lydia Green. With the project I’m working on now I sent my betas the first draft! In summary, I alternate between writing and getting feedback until I feel that the book is the best it can be! Q: How do you stay motivated to write? A: Ultimately, the vision I have for the book. When you have an idea you love, there's nothing more rewarding than seeing it through to completion. At the same time, there are some days when I don't feel motivated at all, and I have to write anyway. Everyone has to do that sometimes. You shouldn't stop writing because you don't have the motivation - often the act of writing is what sparks the motivation itself. Q: What advice would you give/what would you say to a young aspiring author? A: I have a lot of advice for aspiring authors, and if you want to go more in-depth, you should check out my YouTube channel. My main tip would be “quantity over quality”. When you’re just starting out, often you’ll outgrow your current project, skill-wise, before you have time to finish it. Write lots of short stories, poems, freewrites, and writing exercises. There’s nothing wrong with attempting that novel you’ve been dreaming of, but I noticed a major improvement in my own writing when I started incorporating more short writing “challenges” into my day-to-day routine, which helped me a lot with those longer projects. Tell a story in five words, write a page describing your garage using all five senses, create a poem where every line must begin with the letter C. Just like athletes have warm-up exercises to make their physical muscles stronger, as writers, we should give our creative muscles (our brain) some warm-ups too. Q: Do you have any advice for someone who is trying to get their book published? A: Research, research, research! Whether you want to self-publish to traditionally publish, you need to do some major research. Google and YouTube are your best friends. There is so much incredible information about publishing out on the internet, and nearly all of it is free! I learned how to write a query letter from the YouTube channel Alexa Donne. I learned the differences between different distributors from reading endless blog posts. Learn how to research on the internet and you can learn pretty much anything. Q: What are you working on now, and where can we find you? A: I’m currently going through the final edits for The Balter of Ashton Harper with my publisher, and I just finished drafting the first book in a fantasy trilogy! This is both my first time working with a traditional publisher, and my first time writing a series, so lots of exciting adventures are to come! If you want to follow along with my adventurers you can find me at… Instagram: instagram.com/millieflorenceauthor Facebook: facebook.com/authormillieflorence YouTube: youtube.com/millieflorenceauthor Website: millieflorence.com