I had a wonderful time volunteering at Career Day to meet some Albuquerque 8th Graders! I love how many of the students came up to me to tell me they were writers — or even better, readers! I gave out lots of stickers, bookmarks, and brochures. If you are a teen writer — or know one — here are the tips I shared with the 8th graders.

Things you can do now to get ready for your career as an author:

• Read books you love over and over again. Think about how the author made you fall in love with the story and the characters.
• Get involved in writing workshops. These can be at your school through a creative writing class, at a local public library, or just among your friends. Get used to having an audience look at and critique your stories.
• Finish your terrible novel. We all have an absolutely awful, piece of excrement book in our past. But finishing it even though you know it won’t be a bestseller helps you figure out essential writing strategies you can’t really learn any other way.
• Study whatever you want in college. You don’t need to be an English major to be an author! Any subject you’re passionate about will help make your books unique.
• Submit your short fiction and poetry to literary magazines. Some out there accept work from teens. Otherwise, when you’re 18 you can submit anywhere.