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Annabelle Healy & Mason Hagner: Young Writers Who are Making a Difference · The Daily Writer

• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the weekend edition of the Daily Rider.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Each weekday, we bring you a short lesson that helps you live out the four practices of a great writer: creativity, consistency, courage, and connection.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: Here on the weekend edition, we take a deeper dive into those topics through conversations with writers, as well as teaching that helps us apply what we're learning.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: For more, you can visit us at dailywriterlife.com.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: On today's episode, I am thrilled and honored to be joined by two young writers, Annelle Healy and Mason Hagner.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: I thought it would be a blast to feature a couple of young writers who have gotten off to a great start as authors.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I believe strongly that people of all ages should be writing, including kids and teens, which makes this episode so much fun.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: So my first guest is Annabelle Healy, who recently published her novel Far Below Human Eyes with Morgan James Publishing.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: Her novels have received multiple awards, including a gold medal from the National Scholastic Art and Writing Competition, placing her beside award alumni such as Stephen King and Truman Capote.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: She lives in Colorado with her parents and five little siblings.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: My second guest is Mason Hagner.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: At 10 years old, he was a youth athlete who was working hard but not getting the results that he wanted.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: His dad had taught him to never give up and to keep working at it.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: So he decided to write a children's book about his experience of seeing things through, even when they're difficult.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: His children's book is titled Never Give Up No Matter What.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: Now I recorded these conversations separately, but both Annabelle and Mason talk about the process of writing, who encouraged them and how they got it done.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: And these conversations were really a blast.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I encourage you to grab both of their books, and you can find links to those in the show notes.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: Let's begin with my conversation with Annabelle Healy.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Anna, welcome to the Daily Writer Podcast.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so thrilled that you have uh taken some time to be on the show.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: You are officially our youngest guest ever.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: So congrats.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_02: Well, thank you so much.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_02: I'm really excited.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you for having me.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: So you have written a book called Far Below Human Eyes, and I want to explore that a little bit.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: My first question is: how did you know that you wanted to be a writer?
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so I actually have been telling stories my entire life.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um, my parents tell me stories of how I would tell stories in the third person while I was like potty training.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_02: So I've kind of just always been telling stories.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_02: I started writing them down when I was seven, and then actually wrote my first formal novel when I was 11.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_02: So I don't really think there was ever a moment I decided to be a writer or decided that I wanted to be one.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_02: It just kind of happened to me.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um so I guess you could say writing found me, so you say, but um, yeah.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: So what happened to the book that you wrote when you were 11?
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_02: That one is a disaster and by anyone.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: So will we will that ever see the light of day in any form?
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_02: Probably not, no.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_02: Honest, I mean, I might end up rewriting it at some point, just the idea.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but it's pretty short, and it was definitely just like a a rough draft kind of way to get into the writing world.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_02: So it was a stepping stone.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you gotta start somewhere, and I think anybody who's who's written books or any content for that matter, you have stuff that you've written that is just in a drawer somewhere or it's on your hard drive somewhere, and it's just sitting there and you're like, I don't know what to do with this, it's probably not gonna go anywhere.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: So you're not alone in that for sure.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: So it sounds like that your parents were really an instrumental force in in encouraging you to be a writer.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: Would you say that's the case?
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, absolutely.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'd say uh for sure my dad, I mean both of my parents, but especially my dad, he's a copywriter, so he's already in the writing world.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_02: So he would encourage me when I was younger to write down what I all my stories and what I had to say.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and he will edit my stuff and read it for me.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_02: You know, and I've also had teachers and friends who have encouraged me and just been really awesome in the whole process.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_02: So I've had some really cool influences.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: So has that been strange among your peer group?
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: Because I imagine with your friends, you know, who are a little bit older or even a little younger than you, you're probably the only one who has a published book.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: Was that is that pretty accurate?
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, that is accurate.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: So does that feel weird, or do your friends kind look at that and go, like, what is that all about?
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: Because that's really unusual for somebody your age to have a published book.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, I it depends on who I'm with.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, my super close friends, I talk about it all the time, but um, it is definitely a topic that I try to be careful about because I don't want to talk about it too much and and seem like I'm bragging or anything like that.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I honestly don't bring it up a lot around my friends because it's easier to relate to them through like you know normal high schooler things.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_02: So it's not a huge thing in my friend groups, but um with my close friends, they they like to ask about it and we talk about it a lot.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_02: So it's fun.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: So walk us through some of the storylines, walk us through the storyline or the themes that are in your novel.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so far below humanize is about Harold, who's 14, and he lives in this world where people are two inches tall and they live in this pond.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_02: And so Harold is at the school, and every student at the school in their first year has to catch a dragonfly, uh, because that's what they use to ride, to race in that town.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_02: And Harold ends up failing, and that's how the story kind of kicks off.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_02: But that kind of catalyst sparks this whole sequence of events that helps him to learn more about his parents they didn't know about before, um, to discover some secrets in his school, and to discover some creatures or monsters lurking in the classrooms.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_02: So um, it kind of tells the story of a student who just really wants to fit in but can't.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so it's very relatable if you've ever been in that position like me.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: Always, I still am in that position.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I think I think all of us feel that way sometimes.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my goodness, yeah.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: So, would you categorize this as a young adult fantasy novel?
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_02: I would, yeah.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: Who would you say some of your biggest influences are in terms of uh writers who have impacted your writing style, the kind of things that you really love to read, and so forth?
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, I'm a huge Harry Potter fan, just shamelessly.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_02: I love Harry Potter so much.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_02: And that's okay.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and I I am very inspired by J.K.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_02: Rowling, you know, super inspired by C.S.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_02: Lewis.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_02: He's like my icon.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I mean, Brandon Sanderson, all of them, just really big names in the fantasy world.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_02: I've been really inspired just reading their books.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and I've learned a ton from just reading what they've written.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: So is is your first novel the do you think you may do some sequels to this, or is this really more of a standalone book?
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'm actually planning on making it a five-book series, and all five books are already written.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_02: So those are all going to be published hopefully every nine months to 12 months.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but yeah, it'll be five books.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: So you've already written all like okay, you just have completely blown me away.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: So, how long have you been been working on this?
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: Like the series?
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_02: Well, so this first book, Far Below Humanize, I actually wrote when I was 12.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_02: And it was the second book that I wrote after the first one.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_02: That was a disaster.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so that's been written for years and years, and I just finished the fifth one uh last December.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_02: So it's been in the works for about six years.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so now we're just in the publishing process, getting all those books out slowly.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but the writing for that series is completely dead.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: That's amazing.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: That is super impressive.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: That's really, really cool.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: So you're gonna do like uh almost like an annual kind of release.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, hopefully.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: So they will all have, I assume, like matching covers and the whole deal.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: So you can have like an eventual box set and the whole thing.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_02: I'm super excited.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: That's really, really cool.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: So walk us through your decision to use a traditional publisher instead of self-publishing.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: This is something in the writing world, of course, as you know, is a matter of big debate.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, writers could all like sports fans duke it out over.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: So I live in St.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: Louis, so it's like the Cardinals versus the the Cubs and you know, the the Mets versus whoever the Mets are against.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not I'm not really big into sports, so I don't know who the Mets are like our rivals with.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: But anyway, you know, this is this is legit a big area of debate within the the publishing world.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: So why go with the publisher as opposed to self-publishing?
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: Walk us through your decision process with that.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, um I just love Morgan James because in my eyes it's kind of like a hybrid.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I didn't want to go in the self-publishing route because when I was looking in for a publisher two years ago, I was 16.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_02: I was not a professional in any stretch of the imagination.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't really know what I was doing.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_02: So I did want that professional help when it comes to distribution, marketing, uh just all the whole part of all the different parts that go into getting a book to the public.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I could do the writing part, but I didn't know the whole business side of it.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_02: So I didn't want to go with a self-publishing route, but at the same time, I didn't want to go with a huge traditional publishing house because I wanted to be hands-on in the whole process and I wanted to learn a lot about the industry.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_02: So Morgan James was just like a perfect fit for me because I can work on the marketing and I'm super involved in the whole process, but at the same time, they handle the really technical work that I don't have the training for or I'm I'm not you know equipped to deal with.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_02: So it's really nice balance and it's worked really well.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_02: And I I love it as like a very like a first step into the publishing world.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's good.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I confess I'm a little biased because I'm a literary scout for Morgan James.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: So I kind of teed you up for that one.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: I and you said exactly what I was hoping you'd say.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they are an awesome publishing partner, and they're different than a what they would call a New York Big Five publisher.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: They do things a little differently, which I really appreciate.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, of course, David Hancock, you know, the the leader of Morgan James is an awesome guy as well.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_02: It's so cool because they just know you personally and they're super friendly and they care about you as an individual, which I really, really appreciate.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this podcast is called The Daily Writer, and we do talk a lot about habits, processes, uh mindset, and so forth.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: So walk us through, if you can, your process of developing an idea for a novel all the way to completion.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: Like how long does it take you?
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: Do you have some kind of a daily structure or daily routine?
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: What are the tools that you use for writing, and so forth?
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, um, so I am a huge plotter.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_02: I get you probably know what I mean, uh the difference between plotter and pantser.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_02: Um huge plotter when it comes to designing a book.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_02: I will sit down for two days before I even start writing a book and plan out chapter by chapter every single thing that's gonna happen in those chapters.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_02: And I do try to leave a little wiggle room for some creative license, but um I find that it helps me to actually get it done when I have a plan.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_02: And then as for the actual writing process, it's super important to be consistent.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_02: And so I try to write every day, or if I can't make that work with school or whatever, I try to do at least every other day.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um and just be really consistent in that.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_02: Because if I don't do that, it just ends up falling apart.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_02: So that's usually my process.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_02: It usually takes between three months and nine months.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um, if I'm not in school and it's like the summer and I don't have anything to do, I can get a book done in three months.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_02: But most of the time it's a little bit longer because I'm running into the school year.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: So so what are your future plans?
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: Like, are you heading off to college somewhere?
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, do you want to try to do writing related things full-time?
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what's what's in your future the next few years?
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so I decided not to go to college next year just because I really want to pursue my career as an author and kind of explore other areas in that world.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so I'm gonna just gonna be saving to move out and just being a full-time author.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: Cool.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: So my final question, actually, two final questions.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: One is do you have any advice for kids or for teens who would like to be a writer?
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, man, there's so much, but I think being a young writer, it's really easy to think that you're not good enough, you're not professional enough, you're too young to pursue your talents in writing.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_02: But um, if you're listening and you're younger and you want to be a writer, just know like you've been gifted these talents on purpose and don't be afraid to use them.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_02: You know, don't be afraid to chase them and use them now.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um don't wait until after you graduate college or after you graduate high school, you know, like pursue them now because you've been blessed with those on purpose.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and just the mere fact that you can write makes you more than qualified, you know, even if you are young.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_02: So don't be afraid of putting yourself out there is what I would say.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: That is fantastic advice.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: And not just for teens, but also for adults as well.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of adults who need to hear that.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: So, final question here is how can people find out more about your book?
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: How can they order it and get a hold of it, and just find out about all the cool things that you're doing?
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, um, so my book is officially in bookstores on April 27th.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_02: So coming up here.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and you guys can find it in Barnes Noble, um, all kinds of bookstores.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_02: You can also find it on Amazon and then my social media.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_02: I have Instagram, which is anabelle.healy.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_02: So connect with me because I love, love, love, love meeting new people and just talking about writing and all kinds of stuff.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Annabelle, you're an inspiration to teens and kids and adults alike.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: So I appreciate the fact that you've been on the show today.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: And more so than that, I appreciate the fact that you're just putting out your creative work into the world.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: That is really important.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: So that is so, so awesome.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: So good job.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: Well done, and keep up with the great work.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much, and thank you for having me.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_02: This is wonderful.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_02: It's really good to talk to you face to face.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: So my pleasure.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that conversation was an absolute blast, and I love hearing about Annabelle's writing success.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's go to my conversation with Mason Heckner.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: Mason, welcome to the Daily Writer Podcast.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: It is good to meet you and good to have you on here.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: So thanks for doing this.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: No problem.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for being uh thanks for letting me be on the show.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: Well, like I like we were saying a second ago, I know you just got out of school, so we're recording this in the afternoon.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: This is like the time of day when I think teenagers feel like feel the least like talking because you've been at school all day.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: So uh really glad to be able to do this.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: So on the table beside you, now our listeners can't see this, of course, but on the table beside you, you've got a copy of your amazing book called Never Give Up, No Matter What.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I want to ask you about this because it's really cool, first of all, that you wrote a book, but second of all, that you're a young person here wrote a book, which is even more extraordinary.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: So let me first ask this how did you know that you wanted to be a writer?
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um I didn't really know.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_01: I just kind of wanted to like when that when I was in third grade, uh like this actually happened, and I so I just wanted to teach kids just to never give up like I did, and good things will happen out of it.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: So you wrote this when you were in third grade, the text of it.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: That's pretty cool.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: That's pretty cool.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: I think I was playing in the dirt when I was in third grade.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: I should have been writing books.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: Who are the people in your life who encouraged you as a writer?
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, well, my dad already wrote a book, so um I think he helped me a lot with it.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um and like we would go to Starbucks and stuff and just write drafts and stuff about it.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: Nice.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: So how long is how long is the book?
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's 32 pages, correct?
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: Something like that.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, something like that.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's like 20-ish.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: So where did this idea for the book come from?
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: Was it something that you were dealing with as at the time as a kid?
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: So it was like when football season ended.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it was so I wasn't getting played in the games and I was working really hard in practices, and I I felt like giving up, and I decided uh I decided not to because I felt like something good was gonna happen out of it.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_00: And what has been the response from putting the book out there?
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, well, it's kind of funny because lot my brother, my younger brother, he went through the same thing because he was doing football this year and kids were messing with him and everything, and he didn't want to go to his last game.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I told him to read my book and think about it, and maybe something good will happen.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_01: And uh he decided to go to his last game because he read my book, and he got to be uh he got to play basically the whole time.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: So that's awesome.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so you were able to encourage your your younger brother with your own book.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_00: That's pretty neat.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm really curious about the illustrations and how all those happened because I noticed that your illustrator was the same person who worked on your dad's children's book, correct?
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: So talk to me about how because I I love the illustrations, they're really, really cool, really well done.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: How did that process work with figuring out what the images were going to be and working with an illustrator?
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I didn't, I wasn't really the one who worked with it.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_01: I gave my dad the ideas and he told uh the illustrator about it.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_01: And um, but I would so the illustrator was good enough to like read it and then illustrate it and just uh draw it out.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_01: And if we liked it, he would uh he would just keep it there.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: So okay.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: So he would send you like pencil, rough pencil drawings of here's what it might look like, and then if you're good with that, then he would complete the the actual drawing.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: With the colorization and and all that stuff.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, I don't know anything about illustration because I'm not using the correct terms, I'm sure, but yeah.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: That's really interesting.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: I really, really I love that whole process where you're collaborating with someone, and I'm sure I'm sure that that gave you some cool ideas for the book.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: Seeing like it made the book come alive when you see the illustrations instead of just words.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: So do you have any advice for for kids or for teenagers who are thinking about writing a book, whether it's a kid's book, a novel, or something else, any advice you'd like to give them?
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um uh one thing I would probably tell them is if you if you're writing a book, um like I would say I don't really know.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um I would probably say like just don't like write it from like what you think would be good, like write it like just from like your heart and like just put stuff on paper and figure it out how it would go.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: Do you feel like that's a problem that a lot of writers struggle with is feeling like it has to be perfect when you write it instead of just kind of putting it out there and then working on it as you go?
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I think that um it's better to just think of it the way you would like it instead of other people, because everybody's different.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_01: Like there'll there'll be like people who would absolutely love the book, and there'll be people who would be like, and that's not really like my type.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_01: So I would just say like write it how you would like to write it, and just like I would say uh just uh make it how you would want it to be.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: That's good advice, not just for kids, but for all of us working on books for sure.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: Mason, thanks so much for taking the time to do this.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um I appreciate it, especially like I said, you're coming in directly from school, so your brain is probably fried from being at school all day.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_00: So congrats on the book.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: I know that it came out a while back, but still congrats.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's an awesome accomplishment.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I appreciate you doing this today.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: I'm glad to be here.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I hope you enjoyed these conversations.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: I had a blast doing them and hearing about Annabelle's writing as well as Mason's, uh, two very different authors with two very different books, but both of them so incredibly inspiring to people of all ages.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're listening to this right now, which of course you are because you're listening to it, as you're listening to this right now, just I hope that you're inspired to take action.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: No matter what age you are, no matter if you feel like you have zero experience or tons of experience, the point of all this is just get in there and do it.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, and if you're an adult, like if you're if you're an adult my age, so I'm 46, you know, we kind of look at our lives and go, hey, if if teenagers and even 10-year-olds can write books, why can't I do it?
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_00: So that's my main takeaway today is we've got to do it.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_00: We've got to not just do it ourselves and set a good example.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_00: We've got to encourage our kids to write as well and to chase after the goals that are important to them.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to challenge and encourage you.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: Who are the kids, who are the teenagers, who are the young adults in your life that you can't encourage to write?
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_00: And are you setting a great example for them of chasing your dreams and chasing your big goals?
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: Many times as adults, we sort of think of it as, well, I'm not gonna do anything significant myself, but I want to encourage young people behind me.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, we've got to encourage young, young people, but we also got to do it ourselves.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: You're never ever too old to write and to chase your dreams.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to give a massive thanks to Mason and Annabelle for inspiring and encouraging me and you as well for listening to this.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thanks so much for listening.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: There will be links to their books in the show notes.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for listening to today's episode.
• 24:29
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• 24:33
  SPEAKER_00: You know, one of the very best ways to develop better habits and impact more people's lives with your writing is to spend time around other successful writers.
• 24:42
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• 24:49
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• 24:56
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• 25:05
  SPEAKER_00: For more info, you can visit dailywriterlife.comslash community.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, and I'll see you tomorrow.