My Writing Process Blog Tour

Alison Stegert

Alison Stegert, a writer of Middle Grade and Young Adult fiction put me on to this blog tour. Check out Alison’s blog and her writing process. I have come to know Alison over the last year through my writing group, called Write Links Children’s Writers Group in Brisbane.

I wish I had notebooks like these, but my handwriting is much messier.

1. What am I working on?

My greatest love is writing picture books. I have quite a few on the go and I go back to writing or editing these. I start many new ones too. I have a massive ideas file of ones waiting to be developed.

I have also started to write short stories and enjoy submitting these in competitions. I have been fortunate to win a commended certificate and have one published on Kids’ Book Review.

I have also started writing two junior fiction chapter books. These are in the very early stages.

I spend a lot of time drinking tea when I write.

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?

My perspective with picture books is I try to find a balance between humour and heartfelt. I want to leave a lasting impression on a young child to read a book again and again and I hope my work encourages them to pick up another book.

A beautiful sight

3. Why do I write what I do?

I write for children because I love how absorbed they can get in a book they are really interested in. I struggled to learn to read and I want children to connect with books from an early age. Reading opens so many doors and I want children to love what they read.

Lots of edits from my critique buddies

4. How does your writing process work?

I keep a lot of ideas filed away. I work on what takes my interest at the time. When there are deadlines for competitions or assessments, I focus on editing those manuscripts first. I will often come back to manuscripts that have been tucked away for months when I feel ready to look at it again and have some fresh ideas.

Once I’ve gotten to an impasse with my manuscript I will send it to one of my critique groups for comments. These critiques help me to edit and rewrite manuscripts. I often go through at least two rounds of critique on each manuscript, sometimes months apart to ensure the manuscript is ready for submission. It is reassuring to get validation from other writing friends who believe when your manuscript is ready and have seen it transform over time. I trust their opinion because they would tell me if it wasn’t. You need to find honest, constructive, but encouraging critique partners who can be your sounding board and you can be the same for them.