Hi Dallas, thanks for hanging out at Today’s Teen Writer today! At what age did you start writing?

Thank you so much for having me! For as long as I can remember I have loved to read, and I just naturally began making up my own stories as well. I was in kindergarten when I wrote my first story, “The Cat and the Dog,” about a cat and a dog who are best friends but then are prevented from sitting on the bus together because one is a cat and the other is a dog. They eventually triumph over adversity – I remember asking my dad for a word that meant “done away with,” like for a law, and he told me “abolished.” So I have this story in a kindergartner’s language, with “abolished” thrown in at the end.

You self-published your first book, There’s a Pimple on my Nose, when you were a kid. What was that like? What (or who) was it that encouraged you to do that?

My dad is also a sportswriter and author, so I grew up with writing as a normal part of life. Like many parents, mine would read bedtime stories to me at night, and then I would wake up in the morning and see my dad at work, writing at his desk. One of my fondest memories is when he would finish his column for the day and let me type out my stories on his computer. What a treat!

Probably in part because my dad has a career as a writer, I always had the idea that you don’t just write for yourself, but for other people to read and enjoy as well. Also, when I was in the first and second grade I was lucky to have an amazing teacher, Diane Sather, who encouraged my love for writing. I remember she had me read one of my stories to the class. I got such a burst of joy from sharing what I had written with others, and I strive to experience that joy again and again each time I write something new.

There’s a Huge Pimple on My Nose is proof that with a lot of hard work, a lot of perseverance – and, yes, a lot of support, too – a small idea can snowball into something bigger than you ever dreamed. My snowball began as a snowflake when I applied for and received a $50 grant from my elementary school to write, publish and sell a collection of my short stories and poems. But I think here’s what set my proposal apart: I would use the profits to repay my grant, so the school could offer an extra one the following year. My first printing, done at a Kinkos copy shop, was modest: twenty-five staple-bound forty-page books. Actually, they were more like thick pamphlets, but no matter – to me, they were books, my books, the most beautiful books I had ever laid eyes upon. J.K. Rowling wasn’t more proud of her first Harry Potter hardcover edition.

My fellow students and teachers, bless them, acted as if Pimple was at the top of the New York Times Best-Seller List. The first twenty-five copies promptly sold in a couple of days. Can you imagine what a turbo-boost this was to a fifth-grader’s self-esteem? I was pursuing my dream, but I wasn’t pursuing it alone – my family and friends and teachers were right there with me. So I went back to Kinkos, ordered twenty-five more books – and soon sold all those as well. After three more trips to Kinkos, where the workers now knew me by name, I searched out a publishing business and ordered 700 glossy-covered, glue-bound, professional-looking Pimples. My little forty-page dream evolved from a snowball into a blizzard, with reviews in the national magazines CosmoGIRL! and Girls’ Life; booksignings, radio interviews; even a “Dallas Woodburn Day” at the Santa Barbara Book Fair. I still have to pinch myself, but Pimple eventually sold more than 900 copies – to me, it seemed like 900,000! – and I repaid two school grants.

I published my second book, 3 a.m., with iUniverse the summer after my senior year of high school. I had done of a lot in the writing world since Pimple debuted — I wrote the play my high school produced and broke out into the freelance magazine world — but I was itching to share another collection of fiction. In addition, I feel my growth and development as a person can be traced through the growth and development of my writing: from Pimple‘s childhood poems about peanut butter sandwiches and magical stuffed animals coming to life; to 3 a.m.’s more complex themes dealing with love, grief, self-discovery and internal awakening. I was interviewed on the nationally syndicated PBS book talk show “Between the Lines” about my experiences writing 3 a.m. — at nineteen, I am the youngest guest to ever be featured on the show.

As a young writer, what were some of the obstacles you had to overcome? What do you wish you knew then that you know now?

Actually, for me, it’s kind of the other way around – when I first got into writing, I didn’t realize how many obstacles there were, so I wasn’t scared of them. I wasn’t afraid of writer’s block, or bad reviews, or rejection – I just wrote for the joy of it, and shared my stories for the joy of it. There is a saying that “ignorance is bliss,” and looking back, one of the perks to publishing a book at such a young age is I plunged into the publishing world with excitement instead of fear. I still try to channel that naivete now. For example, when I scored a review in my local paper, I didn’t even think to stop there. I boldly sent copies of my book to radio stations, newspapers, and even national magazines.

With my young age working in my favor, I scored reviews in Girl’s Life and CosmoGIRL. A book review in The Los Angeles Times praised: “If you simply want some remarkable writing, it would be hard to find a book more satisfying than Dallas Woodburn’s.” Yes, there were other reviewers who sent back rejection letters, and still others who never bothered to write back at all. But if I had been too daunted by rejection to send out my book to reviewers, I never would have gotten the reviews I did.

Yes, it is scary to submit your work. I know. I’m scared too. But think of your inner third grader – the brave little kid inside you had no doubts you could be whatever you wanted to be when you grew up. Channel that innocent risk-taker. You need to have a tough skin, and a strong belief in yourself and your work. Send it out, cross your fingers and wait! Then submit again. And again. Writing is above all else a game of persistence. I think people generally don’t choose to become writers – they become writers because they can’t imagine a life without writing. That’s the way I am – I can’t imagine being anything else.

What would you say is the most important writing lesson you’ve learned? How did it change you as a writer?

The biggest writing lesson I learned actually came from my high school cross-country running career. My sophomore and junior years, I was forced to sit out most of the season because of leg injuries that eventually required surgery. Running, like writing, is hard – but I learned that, for me, not running is harder.

The same goes with writing. In truth, while writing thrills me, it also terrifies me. I fear I will run out of words, or spend weeks on a story that does not blossom. Writing is hard – tortuous, tedious, boring, scary. But, for me at least, not writing is harder. The thrills are worth it. I may not always enjoy the sometimes-tedious, sometimes-dull, sometimes-terrifying process of writing – but I love the sweet satisfaction of having written.

What advice would you give to other young writers?

When my dad was in college, he wrote to legendary Los Angeles Times sports columnist Jim Murray for advice. Murray wrote him back a handwritten letter with these words: “If you were meant to be a writer, you will be. Not even Hitler could stop a writer from writing. Good luck.” Murray’s words really hit home with me, too. Every day you or I get to write is a blessing, and we should take full advantage of it. I think Barbara Kingsolver also said it well: “There is no perfect time to write. There’s only now.” I have that quotation taped on the wall above my computer, to inspire me when I am feeling sluggish or blocked. Just get some words out – any words – and see where they take you. Something is always better than nothing. You can work with something.

I guess when you get down to it, as easy as this sounds, the most important thing is to write. Write as much as you can and more. I hope you don’t mind if I include one more quote: this one is from Ray Bradbury. I got to meet him at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference, and he told me: “Write with passion! Write with love!” I can think of no better way to write – or, for that matter, to live your life – than by those words.

About Dallas: Dallas Woodburn, 22, is the author of two self-published collections of stories (her latest, 3 a.m., is available at Amazon.com.) She has written articles for numerous national publications including Writer’s Digest, The Writer, Family Circle, Cicada, Justine, CO-ED, and Listen, and her stories have appeared in four Chicken Soup for the Soul Books and the anthology So, You Wanna Be a Writer?

A junior at the University of Southern California, Dallas recently was honored as a national Jim Murray Memorial Scholar for her work for the USC student newspaper The Daily Trojan. She created her “Write On!” nonprofit foundation in 2000 to encourage kids to discover joy, confidence, a means of self-expression and connection with others through reading and writing.

Check out her website www.zest.net/writeon for book reviews, writing contests, author interviews, and how you can be involved in Write On’s annual Holiday Book Drive. You can also contact Dallas through her blog.