(1) Something like nine/ten years or so (I should look at that email) -- I sought help from a #kidlit agent turned editor with a manuscript (agree it was horrible but at that time, I didn't know any better).
The manuscript came back with full of condescending comments.

(2) It was heart shattering. One of the comments said something like -- "If you have to try to write #kidlit, then at least learn to be good at it..."
That's probably where my journey began.

(3) I started writing 1000 words everyday. Just for myself. Then wrote stories for every kid in the family.
Make picture books for my kids' birthdays, print them in walgreens, give them away.
Then ask for feedback.
I read every single children's novel I could lay my hands on.

(4) Then I started getting better.
The thing is I was not part of any writing or critique groups. Everything was solo. People in my circle were not writers (mostly engineers).
But I started learning how to read my own writing objectively.

(5) I finished a few more manuscripts.
Somehow I was learning to write faster and faster. Finishing things.
I looked for other editors who were NOT like the first one, but really amazing and thoughtful and kind (one of them is @NathanBransford who I absolutely recommend).

(6) What I realized was that I was not writing these to query or publish. I was writing these to get better as a writer.
I ended up not querying with any of these manuscripts that I had sent to editors for a paid feedback.
Learned I was getting feedback the expensive way.

(7) But I was getting confident. To a point, I started to trust my writing. Things started happening.
My heart would beat differently when I read an amazing sentence.
My ears would perk at a well landed verse.
Stuff like that.
My body became my guide.

(8) When I finally finished the manuscript that landed me an agent with @triadaus, it was something I had written with my entire self. I was in a zone when I wrote that book.
It just seemed to flow out of me.

(9) My big takeaways until this point in my journey --
1. Write because you love and because there's a hole if you don't write.
2. Take every feedback seriously but none personally.
3. Write a little bit everyday. Learn to read your writing as if you didn't write it.
(contd)

(10) 4. Read every author to discover who you like. Whose words charge you, make you feel alive. Remember that state.
5. See if you get to the same state when you read your own work. Repeat the process. You will get there.
6. Give back to the world that made you who you are.

(11) Personally, this has been surreal for me. If there is anything I can do to help those who are #amwriting #amquerying, don't hesitate to reach out.
Go for it. I am rooting for you all.
#kidlit