Vonda Skelton, keynote speaker for "Write at the StART" Conference
Pam Zollman: What was the inspiration or motivation behind your becoming a writer? Was it a book, a person, an event or incident…or a combination?
Vonda Skelton: I’ve always had an active imagination and did well in writing while I was in high school and college. But I’ll never forget the day my 9th grade English teacher, Mrs. Rabb, announced to the class that she wanted to read a story written by one of her students. Of all the stories submitted for the project, Mrs. Rabb said one stood above the rest as an example of good writing. Without introduction, she began reading my short story, “Requiem.” It was the validation I needed. I was a writer! I went on to take high school journalism classes, work on the newspaper staff, and become the editor of the literary journal. While I was in college majoring in nursing, I decided that one day I would write a book. The next thing I knew, I was 40 years old. My life was half over and I had never written a thing!
Pam: What was your favorite book as a child? What is your favorite children’s book today?
Vonda: Sadly, books were not part of my home life as a child. But when I was 10 or 12 years old, my cousin gave me her collection of Trixie Belden Mysteries and I was hooked! As far as my favorite children’s book today, it’d be hard to say. I love the book, Love You Forever by Robert Munsch. What a message of family legacy!
Pam: I see a lot you in the Bitsy books. How did your childhood shape those books?
Vonda: Yep. Bitsy is me. Or I am Bitsy. Not sure which, but either way, I’ll just say that my childhood provided enough material that I’ll never run out of ideas or scenes or story lines! In each book, I can point to many based-on-fact elements. Daddy’s creation of TanTone Suntan lotion and the trip to Tybee Island to test it? Real. Bitsy’s jewelry business at age 12? Real. Bully Ernie getting his head caught in the porch rail and Bitsy freeing him with mayonnaise and butter smeared all over him? Yep, I did that (to my brother). Singing in talent shows, wanting to be a movie star, being the only girl on an all-boys’ baseball team…all real.
Pam: You write magazine articles, as well as books. Do you think writing for magazines is a stepping stone for writing books, or do you view it as just another way to write and be published? Which type of writing do you prefer and why?
Vonda: I much prefer fiction writing, but reality is, it’s much easier to get published with magazine articles than with books (fiction or non)—and the process is much quicker, too. When I sold my first magazine article, I had a check within a couple of weeks. But from the day I learned my first Bitsy book was going to be published until it actually came out was close to 18 months! I love to teach writing for magazines because it’s such an encouragement to writers to see a finished product become a published one. And even though each area of writing has its own craft techniques to learn, we benefit as writers any time we write.
Pam: Seeing Through the Lies: Unmasking the Myths Women Believe is both humorous and practical. What inspired you to write it?
Vonda: My dad had a great sense of humor…and I’m thankful he passed some of those funny genes on to me! I had a difficult childhood in many ways—we were poor, my parents’ marriage was troubled, they didn’t see eye-to-eye on discipline (which we kids used to our benefit and their dismay—giving me lots of great material), and Daddy was a dreamer who always saw a pot of gold just over the next hill. But in the midst of all the chaos and upheaval, there was always lots of laughter. It was the glue that held us together in the midst of the conflict and confusion. Consequently, I love telling stories that make people laugh, whether onstage or on paper.
But even more satisfying is knowing I can use those stories to grab the reader’s or listener’s attention and then teach them with the truth I want to share. It doesn’t matter whether the truth is a lesson on writing or a message of inspiration, it’s often better received and remembered when it’s delivered through the vehicle of humor. During the conference, I’ll be teaching a class called Laughter is Serious Business. In it, we’ll look at our pasts to find stories that will entertain and educate. I have a feeling most everyone will find they have a funny-bone covered in the DNA of laughter!
Pam: Rejection is always hard, whether or not you’re published. A friend of mine deals with rejection by devouring a bag of Cheetoes. Her orange-stained fingers tell the story. I prefer chocolate. How do you deal with rejection?
Vonda: I just stay busy. When things don’t work out as I had hoped, I find if I’m busy, I don’t have time to really worry about it because I have so many other projects and ideas I’m working on. I also try not to put too much emphasis on any one project. That way, if something is rejected, it doesn’t hurt as bad because I’m on to submitting it somewhere else or working on something new. But I have to admit, in the early years when I was in the process of collecting my 63 rejections without a single publication, I just convinced myself the editors weren’t smart enough to see what a masterpiece they had just rejected. Of course, after I started going to writer’s conferences and studying the craft, I realized how bad it was!
Pam: It’s hard to face the blank screen every day, that blinking cursor staring you in the face. Do you ever get writer’s block? If so, how do you deal with it? If you don’t, what do you do to prevent it?
Vonda: When I face that blank page and nothing’s coming, it usually means one of two things, either 1)I’m trying to write without enough preparatory information for my story and have no idea where to go next or 2)I need to get away and get quiet so I can see the story unfold. Anytime I’m starting a large project (after I’ve done the initial research, of course), I begin the writing process with several days of isolation. No TV, no email, no internet, no friends. I’m an extremely social person, so this is really hard! But—being the social person I am—it’s too easy for me to get distracted if I don’t get away. It’s a time to withdraw and immerse myself in this new world I’m creating. I don’t mean a fantasy world, but my fictional world of characters and conflicts and settings. Once I have an idea of how the story will go, I’ll write a narrative outline. I find I work better with free-flowing narrative, rather than the restrictions of an outline. I’ll simply write “They’ll find the bandana and then they’ll go to the park. I don’t know how or why they’ll get there, but they need to be at the park fairly quickly because they have to see the park ranger go into the main office before dark.” See, I don’t have all the details of how or why things happen, but I have an overview of the high points along the way. Then, when I’m sitting at the computer, I know where I need to go, so it’s fun to figure out how to get there.
Pam: Success changes your life, in both good ways (WooHoo! Your name’s in print and you have a check, providing extra money!) and in bad (what could be bad about success? Well, a busier schedule, others expecting more from you, you wondering if your next work will live up to expectations, perhaps less time with the family). How do you deal with success?
Vonda: I’m glad you clarified what success is. When I speak in schools, kids are sometimes disappointed to hear I’m not rich or famous, even though I’m a published writer! But I truly don’t think of myself as being “successful.” Yes, my name’s in print and I occasionally get a check, but the more I do, the more I realize how much more there is out there to experience. Writing is a big world with lots of variety, and I want to do it all! Sure, I’ve heard the experts who say we should concentrate on one area and create our brand, but I only have so many years left on this earth and I want to experience as much of the good stuff as I can. And I’m not talking about “the good life” as the world defines it. I’m talking about all the good stuff we can write about and all the ways we can write it or speak it or act it or sing it.
Pam: What do you know now that you wished you’d known before you started writing (or perhaps in the early stages of your writing career)?
Vonda: I wish I had known that I didn’t know beans about writing. I didn’t go to writer’s conferences or take classes on writing for publication or read books on editing. After all, that would take time, and every hour that I spent taking a class or studying the market meant another hour my masterpiece would be withheld from the reading public! And since I didn’t have time to do those things, I dashed to publication in a mere seven years! I thought that because my teachers said I was a good writer and my mother (the teacher) said I was a good writer, that I knew all I needed to know. The truth is, I didn’t know beans about writing.
Pam: Any words of advice or inspiration for aspiring or struggling writers?
Vonda: As I mentioned earlier, I received 63 rejections before I ever had anything published. I read one time that the average want-to-be writer gets 5-10 rejections and quits, thinking he or she has tried and just didn’t have what it takes. But writing is like any other career—you have to be trained how to do it. I had a tendency toward nursing before I became a nurse. I liked people, was compassionate, and wanted to help those who needed it. But just because I had those tendencies, it didn’t mean I was ready to be a nurse. I had to invest my time and money in school and train to become a medical professional. It’s the same way with writing. We can have a natural tendency toward literary things. We may be able to write well and create stories or poems that impress our friends and families. But if we really want to be writers, we have to invest our time and money in training to be a professional. I once heard T. Davis Bunn say that those who want to be concert pianists or artists would never sit down to the piano the first time or paint their first work of art and expect to be paid for it. But writers are notorious for thinking they’ll create their first piece of writing and someone will pay them for it.
There are no shortcuts. It’s going to take time, possibly years. I know it’s a cliché, but decide now that this journey is a marathon, not a sprint. But with perseverance, a teachable spirit, and application of the principles, you, too, can be a writer.
What if I had never sent the 64th submission?
Pam: Thank you, Vonda! You are always an inspiration!
At the first General Session, Vonda’s presentation will be on “The Writer’s Brain,” and her Session 1 workshop is “Laughter is Serious Business.”
If you’d like to learn more about the “Write at the StART” conference for writers and illustrators, please click
here. If you’d like to register early to hold your place for the August 15th conference and pick your sessions, please click
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