Becoming a Writer of the Future: Lisa Silverthorne

The road to writing a winning story, “Summer of Thirty Years,” for the Writers of the Future Contest and getting published in L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 40 was a long and winding one for me. The journey started with believing in my work. And the spark of an idea that came from the heart. A story I was passionate about. A dark fantasy with paranormal elements. One of the most intimate stories I had ever written. My story was a story that moved me enough to commit the words to paper, a story I had to muster the courage to share with someone else.

My Heart-breaking Inspiration

I wrote “Summer of Thirty Years” two months after my father passed away after a long battle with Parkinson’s and vascular dementia. It was brutal watching him wither away. I took care of him for nearly a decade before the end stages, so it had been a mixed blessing when he died. He was finally free of his pain and suffering, but I missed him terribly. He wasn’t a reader, but he supported my writing the best way he knew how. By cheering me on and showing his pride every time I shared my writing successes with him.

Dad and Me

The act of burying him in the ground was traumatic. It left me feeling conflicted and uncomfortable. Something I struggled with for a long time. I had taken this man who I looked up to, my childhood hero and my protector, and buried him. In the ground. I remembered how cold he always got, so I made sure they covered him in a blanket I bought for him. So he wouldn’t be cold. For a long time, the act of burying my dad bothered me. I thought about him out in the snow and the rain. Sigh. Irrational thoughts, but at the time, I couldn’t shake them.

My swell of emotions and discomfort over my father’s burial became my story inspiration when I sat down and wrote “Summer of Thirty Years.” In that story, I explored the pain I felt. And I remembered the love I felt for my father and wanted to honor that love. So, I wrote from the heart.

Writing Tip #1: Write from the Heart

One of the best writing tips I can offer an aspiring or emerging writer is write from your heart. Write what moves you. Write what frightens you. Write what makes you angry. Because those strong emotions will swirl through your story and affect your readers. Write about places you love. Places you despise. Places that fascinate you. Places you yearn to visit—if they existed.

As I wrote my story, I knew it had to be set on the Oregon Coast. Oregon and Washington State have always been magical places for me. Misty. Magical. And a little melancholy. Places that touched my soul in ways that I will carry with me forever. I knew that if magic was real—if paranormal fantasy existed—I would find it along these rocky evergreen coasts, dramatic windswept beaches, and muted watercolor skies. So, I set my story along these rainy, misty shores to set the tone and the atmosphere of my dark fantasy story. Places so vivid in my mind. Places I knew well.

In many ways, the Oregon Coast was as much a character in my story as Mimi, Mark, and Brandon. So, I knew that I had to introduce the readers of my story to the Oregon Coast. I knew I had to immerse my readers in this world. I needed my readers to feel like they were standing right there on that worn driftwood deck, feeling the cold rain against their faces as the tide whispered and foamed along the rocky sand. I needed my readers to stand right there beside my characters and feel what they felt.

“Summer of Thirty Years” Illustration by Gigi Hooper

Writing Tip #2: Immerse Your Readers in the Worlds You Create

Immerse your readers in the worlds you create. That’s my advice. Share the world’s details throughout the story, in the action, in the narrative until it all feels like a vivid painting. Lush, thick, rich details that make your readers feel like they are in your world. In every scene. In every moment.

Show all of these places and problems through the eyes of the story’s characters. That story will change with each character and so will the descriptions of the world because they are filtered through the lens of that character’s hopes and fears and biases.

Choosing Whose Story I Was Telling

Deciding whose story I was telling in “Summer of Thirty Years” was crucial. So, I told the story through the eyes of the character that had the most to lose. The character in the most pain. The character with the hardest decisions to make. I focused my story through Mimi’s eyes.

But in order to make my story work, I knew I needed to make my readers feel the characters’ pain and the weight of their impossible choices. As well as the love they felt for each other. And I had to get my readers to root for Mimi and Mark to succeed. Then the reader’s journey through the story would feel worthwhile.

Creating the Magic and Its Rules

The magic in my story was delicate and dark. With rules that I couldn’t break. So, I had to make the magic and its rules clear in the story. When I write about magic (or tech) in a story, I must understand the magic/tech and its rules. And make it clear to my readers.

Writing Tip #3: Finish It and Send It to Editors

My next piece of advice is—once you have told a well-paced story with lush, rich world details, characters facing impossible choices, and ended it with a satisfying resolution to the story’s problem—send that story to the Writers of the Future Contest. Don’t stick it in a drawer. Don’t rewrite it to death. Don’t let a writer’s group tear the heart out of your story. MAIL IT. And keep mailing it until an editor wants to publish it.

The hardest part about being a writer is believing in your work—especially in the face of rejection.

Rejections are part of being a writer. It simply means that your story didn’t meet that editor’s need at that time. Send that story back out. Again. And again. If your story doesn’t place in the first quarter of the Contest, send it out to another market and write another story for the second quarter. Rinse and repeat. Some winners of the Contest submit dozens of stories before winning. Some writers win with their first submission. I won with my ninth submission … spread out over thirty years. Most likely, your path will be somewhere in between.

Lisa at Writers of the Future Workshop

Writing Tip #4: Read L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future

In order to know the judges’ and first readers’ tastes, read stories that won. Pick up a copy of L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 40. Read last year’s volume and the year before. Read the winners’ stories. Read the judges’ stories included in the book. Take the Writers of the Future online course. Get a sense of the types of stories that won. Get a feel for the judges’ tastes. Read a lot. Reading is just as important as writing.

Writing Tip #5: You Can Do This!

I want to leave you with a final piece of advice. Don’t give up on yourself or your dream. You can do this.

No one knows what your path will be as a writer. You could have a meteoric rise or a slow amble to become a professional writer. Regardless, to get there, you must read, practice your craft, be persistent, and write from the heart.

One of my favorite writer quotes is by Richard Bach, author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull and other works. “A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.” I framed a paraphrased version of that quote (written from memory before I could search the internet for it, as I just did) and it sat right beside my monitor for decades.

My Writing Plaque

Every time I sold a story, I wrote the story title, the publication name, and the date on that paper with the quote. And when I felt down and wanted to give up on my writing, I looked at that page and saw my first sale and my second and my third. And it made me get up off the floor and back into my writing chair. That first or second or third sale will happen for you, too, if you keep learning and submitting.

Read! Write from your heart. Keep submitting your stories. Answer a rejection with another story. Believe in yourself and your work. And someday soon, you will get that amazing phone call like I did. The one telling you that you have won the Writers of the Future Contest and your story will be in the annual anthology! Best of luck. You can do it.