{"product_id":"hope-in-the-mail-isbn-9781984894694","title":"Hope in the Mail","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eWant to write a novel? This book is the motivation you need! Part writing guide and part memoir, this inspiring book from the author of \u003ci\u003eFlipped\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Running Dream\u003c\/i\u003e is like \u003ci\u003eBird by Bird\u003c\/i\u003e for YA readers and writers.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWendelin Van Draanen didn't grow up wanting to be a writer, but thirty books later, she's convinced that writing saved her life. Or, at least, saved her from a life of bitterness and despair. Writing helped her sort out what she thought and felt and wanted. And digging deep into fictional characters helped her understand the real people in her life better as well.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWendelin shares what she's learned--about writing, life, and what it takes to live the writing life. This book is packed with practical advice on the craft: about how to create characters and plot a story that's exciting to read. But maybe even more helpful is the insight she provides into the persistence, and perseverance, it takes to live a productive, creative life. And she answers the age-old question\u003ci\u003e Where do you get your ideas?\u003c\/i\u003e by revealing how events in her own life became the seeds of her best-loved novels.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eHope in the Mail\u003c\/i\u003e is a wildly inspirational read for anyone with a story to share.\"Van Draanen may not be the first to offer a writing guide for young people, but this book is\u003cb\u003e one of the best\u003c\/b\u003e. \u003cb\u003eWill be of great benefit to newbie writers of any age\u003c\/b\u003e.\" —\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e, Starred Review\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Van Draanen's voice is charmingly no-nonsense, and the themes she explores are sure to benefit aspiring writers of many ages. \u003cb\u003eThoughtful and entertaining\u003c\/b\u003e.\" —\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"Suitable for both teens and adults, her amusingly told path to publication may serve as \u003cb\u003ea beacon of hope\u003c\/b\u003e for some struggling writers, and her creative suggestions may prove useful to those looking to sharpen their writing abilities.\"—\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Van Draanen offers readers and future writers guidance, laughter, and depth in this lighthearted writing guide. Her storytelling abilities \u003cb\u003ewill inspire writers of all ages.\u003c\/b\u003e\" —\u003ci\u003eSchool Library Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"\u003cb\u003eA pure delight!\u003c\/b\u003e Only Wendelin Van Draanen can make the painful, awful, agonizing aspects of writing seem so joyfully manageable. \u003ci\u003eHope in the Mail \u003c\/i\u003eis a toolbox and a source of renewable energy. \u003cb\u003eIf you're a writer, or a teacher of writers, you need this book.\u003c\/b\u003e\" —Andrew Smith, author of \u003ci\u003eWinger \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eGrasshopper Jungle\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Content is the king of writing, and it turns out Wendelin Van Draanen is the queen of finding it. \u003cb\u003eRead her book, set some good writing habits, pick up your pen, and get going\u003c\/b\u003e.\" —Jack Gantos, author of \u003ci\u003eDead End in Norvelt, Hole in My Life,\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eWriting Radar: Using Your Journal to Snoop Out and Craft Great Stories\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Wendelin Van Draanen shares essential truths and very good advice for writers of all genres and levels of skill. This is \u003cb\u003ea must-have for all writers\u003c\/b\u003e.\" —Jonathan Maberry, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eV-Wars\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eBroken Lands\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eWendelin Van Draanen\u003c\/b\u003e spent many years as a classroom teacher and is now a full-time writer. She is the author of many award-winning books, including the Sammy Keyes mysteries, \u003ci\u003eFlipped, The Running Dream, Runaway, Wild Bird, Confessions of a Serial Kisser, The Secret Life of Lincoln Jones, Swear to Howdy,\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eHope in the Mail, Reflections on Writing and Life\u003c\/i\u003e.  Ms. Van Draanen lives with her husband in California. Her hobbies include the “three R’s”: reading, running, and rock ’n’ roll. To read more about Wendelin Van Draanen’s books, please visit WendelinVanDraanen.com.\u003cp\u003e1\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWriters’ Gold\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWrite what you know. It’s a good adage, and a manageable place to start. Many first novels are based on the author’s experiences, so take a look at what treasures are already stored in your vault.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBefore I was published (but after I had finally begun letting on to family that I was trying to be), an uncle of mine asked me how I thought I could possibly be a writer. “You’re too young to be a writer. You need more experiences.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGee, thanks. And yes, seeds of doubt can quickly grow into weeds in your garden of worthiness.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut here’s the reality: No matter how young you are, you have experiences. You have knowledge. You have feelings and observations and thoughts that are worthy of exploration. You can arrive at conclusions that will broaden the thinking of others, or just paint a picture of life from your perspective. It’s often the small stories with universal messages that touch us most deeply. We’re all humans, trying to find a way forward, longing for the place where we feel at home.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMy first published novel, How I Survived Being a Girl, was described as “Seinfeld for kids.” What the reviewer meant was that it was a story about nothing, as the sitcom was famously called “a show about nothing.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHaving your book be considered to be about nothing could be deflating, but I took it as a huge compliment. I loved Seinfeld. And saying that it was a show about nothing was as true as saying that it was a show about everything. Seinfeld was about both. It captured the human experience with humor and heart-zinging authenticity. It was a show about people living small lives in small apartments in a big city. No special effects, no outrageous sets. Just little glimpses into the lives of people muddling along.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAll of us have that--a story about nothing that’s actually about everything. No matter how ordinary your environment may seem to you, if your story can capture the human experience within it, others will relate.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDon’t discount how extraordinary capturing the ordinary can be. And how difficult. You probably haven’t viewed it this way, but if you’re in school--as a student or as an educator--you are surrounded by writers’ gold. How a school works, the voices of the kids and the administrators, the rules and limitations, the curriculum and expectations . . . it’s all second nature to you. It’s workaday stuff, part of the grind.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut let’s turn that around. You have the background and details to write about a school environment naturally. The sights, the sounds, the smells, the mechanics of school life will flow from your fingertips. It’s easy for you! Do you know how many authors--especially kid-lit authors--would love to know what you know? Maybe they were in school once, but that was probably a long time ago. Things in education have changed. To get it right, they have to work at it, and work hard.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLikewise, if you have a job--no matter how boring or ordinary you think it is--the way it works, the conversations in the employees’ lunchroom, how your associates relate to each other and the boss . . . it’s all gold.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf you’re a dog walker, a babysitter, a dishwasher, a law clerk, a trash collector . . . it’s all gold.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd if you’re in a rough situation right now--turbulent home life, a bad neighborhood, even unemployed--turn it around. What you’re going through is hard and dark and frightening, but it’s also writers’ gold. Take notes. Document your experience any way you can. There are seemingly mundane details about your everyday life that will give a natural authenticity to your writing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt’s all gold.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSo pay new attention to the ordinary around you. Find the story inside it. And find the human connection, because the best stories are the ones that touch our hearts. Love, longing, triumph . . . these can be small and personal, yet they’re universal desires. You don’t have to save the world. Just save your character. And at the heart of that character is you.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSo no matter what your situation is or how young you are, you have enough to paint a story with words, to make others hear you, see you, feel you.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTake a closer look at what you already know.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat’s inside your heart?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat’s inside your vault?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt’s a really good place to start.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e2\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOut of the Ashes\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat turns a person into a writer?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSometimes the unexpected. I came to it from a place of anger and pain. Horrible stuff happened to my family when I was in college. An arsonist burned down our business--an industrial facility my immigrant parents had spent twenty years building--and then my father passed away unexpectedly six months later. We were devastated emotionally and financially, and our faith in justice was shaken to the core. I’d jolt awake in the middle of the night relieved to have escaped a nightmare, only to realize, Oh, wait, no. That’s my life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUnable to go back to sleep, I started writing. Scrawling, really, about how unfair the world was, how it was so wrong that such bad things could happen to good people, how small and helpless and lost I felt to be in the middle of this disaster, how the Big Bads--the people who had destroyed the business--were out there, free from any consequence of their actions.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI wouldn’t classify what I did as journaling. It was more slashing at the paper. I was alternately furious and heartbroken, or maybe both at once. I felt raw and deeply wounded, and the facts, my thoughts, my emotions poured out, oozed out, bled out. I wrote and I wrote and I wrote.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd it didn’t change a thing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Big Bads were still at large, no one came back to life, and there was still ash where dreams had once stood.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI started fantasizing about payback. Payback may be a bad idea, but the cornered, wounded animal doesn’t care. The cornered animal is desperate and primed to strike back.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFortunately, the weapon handy during my middle-of-the-night jolts into reality was a pen.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFortunately, I discovered that I could kill off my bad guys on paper.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd unexpectedly, this led me to the world of fiction, where you don’t have to stick to what really happened, where you can change the names of your bad guys a little, change the way things turn out a lot, and dole out payback that would land you behind bars if you tried it in real life. Torture, justice, murder . . . it was all available from the tip of a pen, no jail time required.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSo, no. I didn’t start writing with literary aspirations.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI started writing because I needed to kill off some bad guys.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eClearly, what I really needed was therapy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTurns out, writing is great therapy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e3\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePutting Hope in the Mail\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe first novel I wrote was an epic clash of good and evil. Weighing in at 627 pages, it had thinly concealed names, caricatured players, and a very visible ax to grind.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYes, it was terrible.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut I didn’t know that!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI also didn’t know anything about publishing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWell, other than that most publishing houses were located in New York City.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut now I needed to know! I had a masterpiece to place!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis was before you could query editors or agents or submit samples online. I got some preliminary information about the submission process by reading back issues of Writer’s Digest magazine, then went to the library, checked out a book called Literary Market Place, perused it for friendly-sounding names, and started shopping my manuscript.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCompelling query letter--check!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSelf-addressed stamped envelope--check!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIgnore the no-multiple-submissions rule because who has time for that?--check!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNot a great (or even good) strategy. And (displaying compounded ignorance here) I was also under the common misconception that getting a book published meant becoming an instant millionaire. Consequently, I thought that placing my manuscript would bring an end to my family’s financial troubles. Or, at least, help out considerably.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSo, yeah. Therapy and financial need. These were the forces fueling me. But then a strange thing happened. Each time someone in New York would agree to take a look at my full manuscript, I’d make a copy of it, box (yes, box) it up, and stand in line at the post office. And as I moved forward in the line, my heart would beat a little faster and I would tell myself that this was it. This editor was going to read and love my story. This editor was going to send me a million bucks and my family’s financial troubles would be solved.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd when it was my turn at the counter, I’d give the box a quick kiss for luck, pay the postage, and walk away with a little spring in my step.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOutside, the world felt renewed with possibility.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThings were going to change!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe were not defeated.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHope was in the mail.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e4\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eToday Could Be the Day\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI put hope in the mail for ten years.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eActively and persistently, I sent out manuscripts and queries, and for ten years I was actively and persistently rejected by editors and agents in New York.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe rejection slips were usually generic--some version of We’re sorry. This is not right for us at this time. But please think of us again with your next project.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI shoved the slips inside a drawer.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOver time, they filled the drawer.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI moved them into a box.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOver time, they filled the box.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYou’d think I’d have taken the hint: I didn’t have what it took to be published. So why did I keep trying?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLooking back, I think it had a lot to do with keeping hope in the mail. As my first manuscript was making the rounds in New York, I began working on a second story. Another epic clash of good and evil! This time, though, it was more removed from my own story. Characters were becoming . . . their own entities. Plot was more . . . flexible. There was real freedom in that, and I enjoyed it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI also began reading about the craft of writing. I read everything I could get my hands on because I wanted to finally crack the code. I wanted to get inside structure and dialogue, pacing and theme.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSo when my self-addressed stamped envelopes started coming back to me with rejections for my first novel, I was disappointed, but not crushed. I’d learned more about craft and could see now that, yeah, the first book was more therapy than literature. I got back to work, thinking, You didn’t like that story? Okay, well, wait ’til you read this one!\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHaving overlapping hope in the mail equipped me with the mantra Today could be the day. If I didn’t give up, if I kept submitting, kept learning, kept writing, kept trying, someday someone somewhere would read one of my manuscripts and want to buy it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eToday could be the day.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt’s a nice way to live your life, but it only works if you keep hope in the mail. This phrase doesn’t refer to just physical mail or email. Putting hope in the mail means putting yourself--your work, your wishes--out there however you can. It means actively creating the possibility for good things to happen.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNow, prepare for your hopes to be dashed--because undoubtedly they will be. But when that happens, the only course of action is to pick yourself up, redouble your efforts, and put hope back in the mail. Don’t let rejection or brusque (and occasionally cruel) critiques cause you to close in, close down, or give up. Don’t sit in a dark corner licking your wounds. If you disagree with the opinions of the rejecting party, send your work to someone else. I promise you that over time rejection gets less painful and becomes just part of the process.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the case of literature, it’s not science, and I see now that that’s a good thing. There is nothing more ho-hum than a formulaic book. And what one editor may dismiss, another editor right next door may love. So get back in the ring! And while you’re waiting for a reply, shift your focus to a new project.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDo not wait around.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNothing will reinvigorate you more than pouring your energies into something new.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnother thing that helped me endure ten years of rejection was not knowing it was going to be ten years. For all those years, I had a full-time job, and for many of them I also had two little kids. I got up each morning at five o’clock when my husband left for work, spent the next hour or so writing, then began my real day. I was constantly sleep-deprived. If I had known it would take ten years to get published, I almost certainly wouldn’t have made it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut I didn’t know.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd every day I told myself, Today could be the day.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd then one day it was.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e5\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDefining Moments\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTen years is a lot of rejection for someone to take. And on the long and winding road to the day I finally got a “Yes,” I heard things like “It’s just too hard to get published” and “You have to know somebody in publishing” and “Maybe if you had an MFA, people would pay attention.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThese, uh, consoling and, uh, helpful statements were tempting to buy into during the many phases of feeling discouraged. Maybe there were just too many obstacles, too many reasons I wouldn’t succeed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAny one of them would justify quitting.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSo . . . what, then, made me keep going? Why did I think that, despite the odds, I could do this?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI trace the defining moment back to my first car.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA lot of kids I went to high school with got cars when they turned sixteen. Some got hand-me-downs, some got brand-new, off-the-car-lot, big-bowed beauties.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf I had asked my parents for a car of any kind, they would have laughed me out of the room. That’s just not the way things worked in our family. If I wanted my own car, I was going to have to buy it with my own money.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDesperate for a vehicle, I scoured our small town for one I could afford. Taking out a loan or buying something on credit never even crossed my mind. We didn’t do credit. We were taught to only buy what we could afford, and as a student without steady income, what I could afford would be paid for with money from babysitting, yard work, and summer jobs. This meant that what I could afford wasn’t much, but there were three for-sale-by-owner prospects in town at my price point, and a friend offered to drive me around to check them out.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ember","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46300187230437,"sku":"NP9781984894694","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781984894694.jpg?v=1767729215","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/hope-in-the-mail-isbn-9781984894694","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}