PRINCETON — What does it take to be a published author? Imagination that knows no bounds? An easy way with words? An outstanding grasp of grammar?

Becoming a successful author probably requires all of those attributes, but as a group of Mercer County’s most talented young writers dedicated part of their summer to finding out for sure, they also learned a lesson summed up in an essay by Sandra M. Ulbrich.

“I think the most important things a writer needs are symbolized by the stone lions guarding the entrance to the New York Public Library — Patience and Fortitude,” Ulbrich wrote, emphasizing the time, commitment and impervious reaction to rejection that all authors must either possess or establish during the creative process.

Though Ulbrich didn’t visit the 45-50 Mercer County authors-in-waiting, they heard very similar words of advice from two West Virginia writers who stopped in to share their expertise during the 2010 Young Writers Summer Workshop. Anna Smucker and Sarah Sullivan, who specialize in picture books dedicated to young readers, made the trip to Princeton to inspire the young authors to continue cultivating the “write” stuff.

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The writing workshop, under the direction of Mercer County teachers Pam Bowling, Anita Campbell and Wilma Sexton, began July 6 and will run through July 19.

The goal is to encourage young authors to expand their talents and experience as much of their preferred art as possible. Funded through the West Virginia Humanities Council, the project is entirely voluntary, and no grades are given for the duration of the classes hosted at Princeton Senior High School.

“I think it’s just amazing that the Humanities Council, our state and our county invest in young writers,” Bowling said, as the students prepared to enter a workshop and put pen to paper.

In addition to the writing and brainstorming sessions, the workshop participants were slated to attend a show of “Annie” at Abingdon, Va.’s historic Barter Theatre, and they were charged with creating the artistic cover for a compilation of work produced by students throughout the program.

This year’s theme was inspired by “Annie” and one of her unique exclamations. It was titled: “Leapin’ Lizards: It’s a Write Hard Life.”

As with most projects in school or life, some of the students looked to be pros already, while others took a while to loosen up and get to the heart of their writing matter.

“The older students, or the ones who have been here before are feeling comfortable, and they’re ready to write,” Sexton said. “Some of the younger students are sort of holding back a bit. But, you’ve got to start somewhere.”

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That was a fact the two published authors who visited knew well and shared freely.

Smucker grew up in Weirton, with the idea that “authors probably had to live in places like New York, Hawaii and exotic places like that.”

As an adult, she found a job as a children’s librarian in Bridgeport, where her passion for reading and writing thrived.

“I was surrounded by so many wonderful books, but it dawned on me that there were no books describing the way I grew up — in a factory town or a steel town,” she recalled.

As Smucker pondered the possibility of writing a story of her own childhood, she also talked with a family member who was quickly losing his memories to age and illness, and she was propelled to record her unique past to keep the recollections from getting lost.

“Those memories turned into my first book — ‘No Star Nights,’” Smucker told the Mercer County students. “I called it ‘No Star Nights’ because we couldn’t see the stars because of the smoke from the steel mill and its bright glow at night.”

Although completing the book was no easy task, its worth was clear when “No Star Nights”  won the International Reading Associ-ation’s Children’s Book Award.

And, Smucker kept writing, completing “Outside the Window,” “A History of West Virginia,” “To Keep the South Manitou Light,” “The Life of Saint Brigid,” and her newest work, “Golden Delicious: A Cinderella Apple Story.”

Illustrated by Kathleen Kemby, “Golden Delicious” traces the tale of Anderson Mullins’ delightful discovery of Clay County’s “Queen of the Apple World.”

The true story of one of West Virginia’s tastiest natural resources served as inspiration for Smucker when she read the tale in a Goldenseal magazine and filed the story away in her idea file, an invaluable asset she encouraged each young writer to create.

Smucker’s work wasn’t instantly accepted by a publishing company, but she advised the students to get used to getting turned down.

“If you want to get published by a major publisher, you have to get a really thick skin about rejection,” she said.

Even Dr. Seuss was denied publication 27 times on his first story, she said, also citing the 30 rejections “A Wrinkle in Time” received.

Because “Golden Delicious” traced a true story, Smucker said she paid particular attention to the facts behind her story.

Research is always an integral part of writing, so learning that skill early will benefit the students.

“It does involve a lot of reading, a lot of research, but I love that,” Smucker said.

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Sarah Sullivan was born in Fairmont, but she grew up all over the place, part of a family that moved a lot with her father’s job. As an adult, she attended law school and later began practicing law in the Charleston area.

Her career as an attorney didn’t dampen her passion for writing, though, and in the 1990s, she quit law completely and turned to writing full-time. She even attended Vermont College to become a better writer and completed a master of fine arts in writing for children and young adults.

After a few years of submitting manuscripts and receiving only rejection letters, Sullivan sold her first book. The next year, she sold her second, and her new career took off. Today, she has three books published: “Once Upon a Baby Brother,” “Root Beer and Banana,” and “Dear Baby: Letters From Your Big Brother.” “Passing the Music Down,” the tale of how Jake Krack learned to play old-time fiddle tunes, is due out soon.

Sullivan shared where she believes stories come from and some techniques to catch them when they land. She said a good writer listens, remembers, keeps a notebook, brainstorms and makes lists.

“Always listen. I eavesdrop. I’m a terrible eavesdropper,” she told the students.

A story idea could be around any corner.

Memories are always a good place to start when reaching for a writing topic.

Notebooks, e-mail and even text message files can also hold ways to spur an idea into a plot.

Brainstorming “gets all the ideas flurrying around in your head so you can see what comes out on paper,” Sullivan said.

And, making lists of the people, places and things important in your life put story possibilities at the tips of your fingers.

Trips to a small store to by popsicles with her grandfather served as the inspiration for what would eventually become Sullivan’s first book. She recorded the experience in a poem titled “Popsicles and Mister Mac,” but the publishers who reviewed the poem told her she didn’t really have a story yet.

A few years later, the rest of the story came to Sullivan when she heard a voice announcing, “My name’s Miracle on account of the doctor said Mama couldn’t have any more after my brothers, but I came anyway.”

Once she put Miracle into Mister Mac’s grocery store, the rest of the tale fell into place, and it became “Root Beer and Banana.”

“It’s part memory. It’s part my imagination. It’s in my head, my heart and my gut, all coming together to tell a story,” Sullivan said.

Like Smucker, she reminded students not to get discouraged by rejection. Every author must experience that at some time, and she reminded them that each draft of a story or book will ultimately make it better.

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While the half-day workshops claimed part of their summer vacations, the students who took part said they wouldn’t trade the experiences for anything.

“We love writing and reading,” Shiloh Parrish said, visiting from Maryland this summer. “It’s really, really interesting to hear from the authors’ point of view.”

“You also get credit in high school,” Makayla Bruno, of PikeView High School, said.

Like many of the students who attended the sessions, Princeton’s Kristen Bane is a workshop veteran.

“I’ve pretty much been coming every year. It’s a lot of fun and a really good experience,” she said.

Persistence, patience and fortitude were among the assets some students vowed to take home after the writing classes ended.

“It’s very interesting, hearing people from our state who have made it big in the writing industry,” Bluefield High School’s Dakota Stevenson said. “I think we’ve all learned that rejection doesn’t mean you’ll never make it big.”