Author Tammar Stein Imparts Wisdom to Aspiring Writers

Tammar Stein, a respected author of young adult fiction, brought her extensive knowledge and insight into the world of writing to the Safety Harbor Public Library Tuesday night.

Stein, the author of three successful YA novels who lives off of Bayshore Boulevard, spoke to a group of enthusiasts about the importance of reading, creating good characters, and being self-critical in order to become a good writer.

"The first thing you have to know if you're going to write a great novel is knowing what a great novel is," she said. "And the way you do that is by reading a lot of books."

"There are two personality traits you need to be a writer," she added. "You have to be stubborn, and you can't lie to yourself. If what you wrote sucks, it sucks."

Stein spoke from experience. After completing the first draft of her debut novel, "Light Years," she reread it and decided, well, it sucked. 

So she junked the whole thing, rewrote it, and five years later got a two-book deal from Knopf.

"Hemingway said in order to be a good novelist, you have to 'kill your darlings.' I had to kill my whole family!" she said.

After her brief talk, Stein had the guests participate in an exercise on character development by creating back stories for classic Disney characters, and eventually she gave a homework assignment to create a made-up character.

She then told those in attendance to put the character in a story, and if they send what they come up with to her, she will post the results on her website, tammarstein.com

"I loved the exercise she did," fellow Bayshore Boulevard resident Spencer Briggs said.

"I thought it was very generous of her to offer to post the stories on her website. But generous people give things away."

Eileen Barberi, who won a signed copy of Stein's latest book, "Kindred," was thrilled with the event.

"I loved the workshop she did," the Safety Harbor resident said. "I thought the whole event was wonderful."