- How much of your real-life experiences go into your writing?
This one is really hard to answer well. One day I may come up with a satisfactory answer to this question.
Consciously, none of my personal life goes into my writing. Subconsciously, I am certain that every single character I create has some aspect of me in them. It's a hard line to draw, but I know that when I try to purposefully create fiction that is true to my life, it either ends up flat or boring. I've given up on truly using my life as a guide for my fiction.
Other authors will tell you the exact opposite--that everything they do is ruled by the things they have experienced. It depends on the type of writer you are.
However, I have been forced to acknowledge that I share some very important characteristics with my main character, Sam, including self-esteem issues and problems at school with other students. Even so, we're very different people. So, even using your own experiences to help you relate to your characters doesn't make them you. - Do the ideas for your characters just come to you, or do you have to work to get them created?
People who don't write think I'm crazy when I try to explain this. Keep in mind that I have yet to be institutionalized. ;)
I have a city of people in my head, each one based either in whole or in part off of someone I have met, read about, dreamed up, etc. There are sections of this city for different kinds of creatures (humans, animal, alien, etc.) and when I need a certain type of person for a story or book, someone shows up. Not necessarily right when I need them to, but they show up eventually.
This isn't to say that I know everything there is to know about the character right off the bat, but I have a pretty good idea of what they would and wouldn't say, what they look like, major mannerisms, etc.
Writing, especially a book, is a process of discovery for the writer AND the characters. They're figuring things out about themselves they didn't know because you're throwing them in strange situations and you learn even more because you're the one (mostly) controlling it.
Characters are, honestly, my favorite part of writing and reading. I am a sucker for a good, character driven novel. It makes me happy. :D - In order to retain all the information that you gather and observe about your characters, do you have to be born with good memory , or is there some way to improve really poor ones?
Hahahahaha!!! Me? Good memory? Hahahaha!!!!
No. Not so much. ;)
For every character I create for a novel (every single one, no matter how minor they are) I also create a word document with the following information:
Name:
Age:
Height:
Hair:
Eyes:
Skin:
Weight:
Build:
Date of Birth:
Place of Birth:
Currently Lives:
History:
Now, this doesn't necessarily get filled out in intricate detail for each character, but I put enough in so that I can go back and remind myself if I decided so-and-so had brown or red hair, who is related to whom, which characters are the shrimps, etc. It seems blasphemous that an author would ever forget anything about their characters, but it happens. At least, it does to me. :) - How did you find time to write a novel?
I made it happen. While writing Fallen, I was a full time college student and working approximately twenty hours a week. Free time was usually devoted to keeping up with class assignments, but somehow I squeezed writing time in there too. The truth of the matter is that if it matters enough to you, you'll find the time. - What's your favorite genre to read?
Growing up, I would almost exclusively read fantasy novels. Those big long ones most kids wouldn't touch. I tore through them as if they were disappearing from the earth. However, in the past five years or so, I started branching out more into mainstream and literary fiction and then backtracking into teen fiction (YA books). I'm also now trying to catch up on a lot of "classics" that were never assigned in school. I'm reading some of Jane Austen's work that I hadn't previously read as well as books like Little Women, Dracula (I was never really a fan of vampire books before Twilight), Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, etc. - Why did you used to not read much vampire fiction?
I could handle horror movies and books, but I was never really a fan of them. I didn't see the appeal in reading to be scared. I wanted to be entertained. I wanted authors and characters to make me laugh or make me cry, but fear wasn't something I looked for in a book. So I naturally shied away from vampire books. - What's your favorite genre to write?
I've recently made it my goal to attempt to write a book for every genre. So I will one day attempt a fantasy or sci-fi epic. One day I will write a literary/mainstream fiction novel. One day I will write a tragic romance. And then a novel geared toward children that adults could also find interesting. I have ideas for all of these, but not the time to work on them. One series at a time. ;)
It's not the genre you should worry about, though. It's the story. Is the story you're writing one you would want to read over and over again? Do you, when going back over your writing, get drawn in by your own characters? If you do, then you know you've got something amazing on your hands. - How have other authors/books inspired your own writing?
The two authors whose work I can say I have read and re-read and hold a very dear place in my heart are Tamora Pierce (whom I have been reading since elementary school) and Stephenie Meyer.
Tamora's work (I can be almost certain... it was a long time ago) inspired my first desire to be a writer. I wanted to create characters as real as hers and tell stories the way she told them. They were wonderful and I devoured every book she wrote. In fact, I still do. An entire row of my bookshelf is dedicated to her.
Stephenie has been a more recent inspiration. I stopped writing for fun after high school, mainly because I didn't have the time anymore. When I first read Twilight I was so excited about the characters and the story I didn't know what to do with myself. I realized that I hadn't felt that in a long time and decided to take writing more seriously. A little over a year (and a couple of failed projects) later, I was finished with Fallen.
This is not to say that there aren't other authors who have influenced my work, but I think my style most reflects the influence of these two authors. I just hope that comparison does them justice. - How has reading/writing changed your life?
Well, I guess the best way to explain that is to explain what I was doing before writing.
When I started college, I had no idea what I wanted to do. Ideas like historian, cultural anthropologist, teacher, writer, and psychologist were all floating around my head, but I didn't really know what a career in those fields would be like. So, through my liberal arts classes, I slowly narrowed down my options. I realized pretty quickly that I didn't want to be a cultural anthropologist and that historian wasn't for me. After that I decided to major in Psychology and English and see where life took me. For a short time I thought I wanted to be an elementary school teacher (my own elementary school teachers had a huge and wonderful impact on my life) but the more I learned about the school system, the more I wanted to stay away from it. So I turned to Psychology and decided that, if I couldn't teach, I would teach teachers how to teach by conducting classroom applicable research. I stayed on that path for about a year and a half until my younger sister Haley forced me to read Twilight. After the jolt that book gave to my creative mind, I started writing again and I haven't stopped since.
Writing, therefore, has given me a direction and a goal in life. I was nearing the end of my college career with no clear idea where to go next. Now, no matter where life takes me geographically, I'll be able to write. I can travel and work or hide away in a cabin in the mountains and it won't change a thing. Writing has given me a sense of freedom I hadn't had before.
As far as reading goes, I honestly can't remember a time when reading wasn't a huge part of my life. Even when we went on family vacations, I would beg my parents to stop at a bookstore because I had read my way through all of the books I had brought. So reading hasn't changed me as much as it shaped who I am. In fact, how much I read growing up is probably a huge factor in how shy I still am today. - What do you feel is the hardest thing about writing? (Or, more specifically, about the writing process -- i.e., the story-making, etc.)
"Hardest" is a relative term. What is hardest for me one day may not be hard at all another. For example, I recently had a lot of trouble with two of my characters trying to figure out how they would react to each other in certain situation. I was stuck on this chapter for over a week writing and then deleting chunks of text that just didn't work. I kept going, "No, he wouldn't say that" or "But why would she even think to go there?" or something like that. Eventually I finished the chapter and it all worked out, but it was hard for a while. Other days, however, and in other sections, this is no problem at all for me to figure out.
But, I guess that because of this, the hardest thing about writing is not letting yourself say, "Oh, screw it! I give up." - What do you think of your own writing?
I think my style reflects that of Pierce and Meyer. It is dialogue and character driven. It definitely has it's weak points (I always have to go back and add in more description, or I did for Fallen. I'm getting better at it, I think), but overall I think--and have been told--that I write very well.
Having confidence in your own work is crucial if you're going to make it past simply writing a book. What are you going to do when you start getting rejection letters? Will you know that taste is subjective and that you just haven't found the right place for your story yet or will you curl up into a ball and swear to never touch pen to paper again (or fingers to keyboard as the case may be). You just have to be careful to steer clear of egotism and the belief that you can do no wrong. If all you're getting is rejection letters, it may be time to start taking another look at your manuscript. - How influential has family/friends/others close to you been in the writing process?
My mom and sisters are wonderful. They're all perfectly and wonderfully supportive, but, at the same time, they're not afraid to tell me when something isn't working. They have been and probably will always be among my first readers. :)
As far as friends go, they have been supremely influential in Fallen. One of my friends is actually IN the book as Sam's best friend, and another friend of mine has helped me along the way, filling in plot holes and character details and always asking the right kinds of questions--the kind that made my characters more 3-dimensional than I ever could have made them on my own. - Do you ever dream about where you want/hope your writing will take you?
Oh, sure! Wouldn't you? I would love to be invited to writers conferences and workshops, to teach guest classes at universities, and all that, but I'm a quiet kind of person and I usually keep to myself. I am definitely hoping to be able to support myself writing (I can't for the life of me think of anything else I would rather do), but what kind of fame or role that brings with it is completely unclear. - What do you think about fanfiction (as an author, though you are not yet published)?
Ah, fanfiction. This is a big debate and I don't think anyone argument is right, but here is my opinion:
Fanfiction is a good starting point. Not only do you have characters already created for you, you have a whole world with its own rules, pitfalls, and villains. This makes it a lot easier for amateur writers to practice, honing their skills and tightening their writing. After a while, however, fanfiction becomes pointless. It is not anything that you can publish and, in some cases, it's simply copyright infringement--which is bad, by the way.
Some writers never make it out of fanfiction because they either don't have the desire or the mindset to create original stories, but for those of you who have it in your head to pursue a career in writing, get out of fanfiction. Use it as a diving board and then spring into your own work. Carry with you the lessons all that writing practice taught, but leave the characters that someone else created behind. You have your own waiting for you somewhere. - Do things such as religion and world events play into the development and symbolism of your writing?
I can't say that I am completely unaffected by them, but I don't consciously pull plot points or symbolic references from world events. At least, not for Fallen. In fact, I made a real effort to keep current pop-culture references out of the story to keep it from "dating" the book. What if I mention that Sam likes 10 Years and then, when the book is actually published, that band is so old and out of style that people wonder why in the world I would reference something like that. Or worse, no one knows who I'm talking about. I also steered clear of referencing world events for the same reason, although it was also because they played no real part in the plot of the story.
As far as religion goes, I do not subscribe to any set of doctrine. I do not now, nor have I ever, considered myself religious. But I do recognize that many people do, including some of my characters. Religion does play a role in the Fallen series. I'm not going to detail what kind of a role, but it is at least mentioned. - What is the greatest compliment you have ever received about your writing (in general/directed towards your novel)?
I've been told numerous times that I work very well with dialogue, that it's one of the strong points of my writing. But I think that the best, most giddy moment I have ever had (so far) wasn't even a direct compliment.
During my Sophomore of college year I took a Junior level writing workshop. The teacher even warned me away from the class, but I stayed in it. Near the end of the semester we each submitted a short story for the class to read and critique. Most people's workshop sessions consisted of people telling them how to rewrite their story, how to fix major syntax and grammar problems, or why something in their story didn't work. When my turn came around, I was braced for the worst and prepared to write down as many of their comments as I could so I could rewrite the story later. But that wasn't what happened. Instead of a critique of my story, the entire class spent twenty minutes discussing the motivations of my characters. What was the meaning behind this particular line of dialogue? What did it imply when she hid behind her hair? Why did he leave? It was an absolutely amazing feeling hearing people ask the same questions I had hoped people would have when they read the story. I've yet to have a writing experience to match that. - Have you ever received any negative feedback (on anything)? (If you have, what was it and how did you react to it?)
When I was young (elementary school age) I had an incredibly hard time taking constructive criticism. I hated feeling as though I wasn't good enough and it killed me to hear people tell me that I was doing something wrong (I was a bit of a perfectionist). I would burst into tears at the mear hint of criticism. Eventually, though, I learned that most people are not trying to hurt you, but help you. People, especially those close to you, want to help you become the best you can be. I'm not saying this is universally applicable--although it should be--but in most cases it holds true, even if it doesn't come off right at first.
I didn't start writing other than school work until middle school (our assignment was to create and illustrate a ten page children's book. I wrote a thirty page crime thriller) so it wasn't until after I'd learned how to take constructive criticism that I started getting any feedback on my writing. I'm not saying that every comment I've ever gotten has been positive (I have stacks of edits from classmates to prove that's not the case), but none of the comments were what I would call negative. I have never had someone tell me that they flat out hated what I wrote. I've never had someone tell me that I did something wrong without the intention of helping me correct it. So, in my mind, I've never had negative feedback.
The trick is to make yourself see everything someone tells you about your work in the right light. How did they read it? Did they understand what you were trying to say? Whose fault was it that they didn't understand--theirs or yours? Even the most well intentioned comment can seem negative if you let it become so. - What is the hardest thing you have ever had to do for your writing/novel?
I have an intense fear of getting things wrong. Not plot points or things like that, but places and descriptions of things I've never seen. Fallen, for example, is set in L.A., a city I have visited once in my post-toddler days. I don't remember the city well enough to know how things work there, but that was the place that worked for my story. So I researched. A lot. I looked up real estate and restaurants and schools and malls and stores and people and weather and anything else I could think of. I scoured the web for pictures and links and anything helpful. I think that this is one of the hardest parts of the process once you have your story idea set. - How would you describe your overall, past to present, educational experience (having to do with writing and otherwise)?
How would I describe it? Long and often tedious.
The only formal training in writing that I've gotten (the creative kind, not the analytical kind) was during college. Education before that was a mix of classes I was interested in and classes I had to take because the governor said so. But, at the same time, I think my experience in school has had a huge impact on who I am today.
For example, I had six amazing elementary school teachers. They were all incredibly helpful and supportive and there are at least two of them whom I can still go back and visit without having to reintroduce myself. They helped inspire confidence in my intellectual abilities, even when I wasn't doing as well as I should have been, and made it obvious that they cared about my future. In fact, I have been extremely lucky with teachers throughout my school career. I've always had at least a single teacher each year who would go out of their way to help me out. While none of them taught me much about the craft of writing, they all had an impact on my life which, I think, lasts a lot longer. - What is the thing you least like about writing/the writing process?
Research. Can't I just know everything already? Geez. ;) - What are you most embarrassed about (when it comes to your writing)?
Embarrassed? Actually, nothing. Writing is one of the few things I don't really get embarrassed about. I think that's one of the secrets of finding something you can spend your life doing--you're completely comfortable with it. - How does your dialogue come to you/how do you write it? How much do you struggle with it? Do you have any tips for those of us inferior writers who struggle with it?
I have always been more of a listener than a talker (probably hard to believe considering how long some of these answers are, huh?). I think that, because of this, I learned naturally how people talk. What kind of phrases they use and where they pause, what words they would say and what no one ever says. This might be why I've always been able to hear my characters talking in my head and how I know when something sounds unnatural coming from them.
Each person and each character has a distinct voice, the trick is learning what makes one person's voice different from someone else's. For example, if someone who sounded exactly like someone you see every day and pretended to be that person, how long do you think it would take to figure out that it wasn't them? What would clue you in? Is your best friend the only person you've ever heard use the word "splendiferous"? Does your mom have a habit of starting sentences with "Nevertheless"? Do you know someone who pauses between every third or fourth word?
Pay attention to these little habits people have. Sometimes they can be telling character traits. You could even start keeping a dialogue diary. Buy a small notebook (palm or pocket sized) and start writing down interesting things you hear people say. Sometimes eavesdropping on other people's conversations in public places can be quite inspiring. ;)
Besides the notebook, I highly suggest reading what you write out loud. When you read silently, you automatically skip over words. You may not even realize you are doing it, but your eye fills in spaces with what it thinks should be there instead of what actually is there. When you read something out loud, you read every word and it is far easier to find awkward phrases and misplaced or misspelled words (this has little to do with dialogue, but I once read a story where a girl had written giggly for jiggly and gifted her character with "giggly thighs". I burst out laughing in the middle of class when I caught that).
As far as how much I struggle with it... It depends on the scene. Sometimes the characters are really reluctant to tell me anything. When this happens I try to figure out why this is. Most of the time it has more to do with not understanding their motivations than not knowing what they're going to say. - How fun is it to talk to fictional characters inside your head?
It's is immensely fun to have people to talk to in my head. I love it, really. But it can cause headaches when things start getting out of control. For example, there was a period of time in 2006 when I was working on FIVE different novels. There were over 100 characters clamoring for my attention but, not only that, they were beginning to talk to each other without my permission. Characters from different books who shouldn't even know the other existed began having in depth conversation before I realized that I had to focus on one book at a time, if only for my own sanity. - You mentioned before that you are getting better when it comes to description. What about it was so hard for you before? How did you overcome these obstacles and improve?
What was hardest for me was figuring out where to add in a character's physical description. I hate it when books break out of narrative to give you a full run down of a character's appearance. I think that, unless it's added in a little at a time in a more natural way, it draws the reader out of the story too much. So, in trying to avoid that, my first draft of Fallen was practically devoid of any character description. One of the first major edits I did on the book was going back through and adding it in. Having to do that was, in itself, one of the best ways to improve. As I went back through and added the descriptions, I saw why they fit where I was putting them and how much more vivid and real the story was with those additions. The adage "Practice makes perfect" is actually pretty accurate. :) - Do you get writer's block/too lazy to write?
Yes and no. I realized the usefulness of outlines after my disastrous novel attempts in high school (they never went anywhere because I had no idea what I was doing). So, when I was writing Fallen, outlined what I wanted to happen as the story progressed. This outline, of course, changed as the story developed, but I always knew where I was going.
Now, this doesn't mean that I didn't struggle through some sections. Some chapters flew onto the page so fast I had a hard time keeping up with my thoughts, and other chapters took days or even a week or so to write. But this depends on a lot of things. When you have a lot going on in your life it's sometimes harder to put yourself in writing mode and harder to really listen to what your characters are telling you. As long as you know where you're story needs to go, you'll get there. The only real form of writer's block I believe in is not being able to come up with a story idea at all. But that's another question.
One thing my teacher always told me was that you can't be afraid of a shitty first draft. The point is that you have a first draft at all. In fact, there are few (and I mean very few... probably like five) writers who manage to produce good first drafts. And we all hate them for that talent.;) For everyone else (all us normal people) writing is a process of revision. Some people revise by adding in missing information while others find themselves cutting their books in half because they threw in so much unnecessary information. Go with what works for you and don't give up just because you hit a road block. There's always a detour to get you around it. - What do you do when you can't come up with a story idea at all?
Mine reality for fodder. Sometimes the smallest things can give you an idea, but only if you're listening. For example, you overhear someone say this, "But then it didn't matter what she'd said. His leg was already gone." There is an entire story behind those sentences! What is it? Most people would consider it rude for you to butt into a conversation you weren't a part of and say, "Excuse me, but how exactly did she cause him to lose his leg?," but who says you have to ask them for the truth? What you have here could be the middle of a novel or the end of a short story.
Not everything is going to be that dramatic. Sometimes it's something small. Like someone turning around and suddenly asking "Where's the baby?" Who is this woman? Whose baby is she looking for? How could she have possibly lost an infant with no motor control of its own? Is this baby an heiress who someone plans to ransom? Did someone passing by think that the baby had been abandoned and automatically took the baby to protect it? Did someone whose mind was twisted by tragedy think that this baby was the baby they'd lost years before and carry it away?
And you can do this with anything, really. Take a line of dialogue from a movie and create an alternate story around it. Look through magazines or sites like Flickr or Photobucket for pictures you didn't take and make up a story for the people in the shot. Read someone else's short story and use a technique they employ. But mostly, just be open to new ideas and always have something to write with and a notebook handy. Inspiration strikes at the weirdest times. - Do you use foreshadowing in your writing?
I try to. - Do you like messing with people's minds/writing in a way to be misleading?
Depends on the story. Sometimes this is fantastic and adds a great deal of tension to the story, but other times it just gets annoying. You have to pick and choose which techniques to use and which don't fit. - What are some books (aside from those by Stephenie Meyer and Tamora Pierce) that you love?
The Elvenbane series by Mercedes Lackey and Andre Norton, classics like Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre, strange fantasy tales like Garth Nix's Sabriel series, and the fantastic works of geniuses Jasper Fforde and Gregory McGuire. For some more ideas see my links page. :) - Do you like to use symbolism?
I adore symbolism when it's done well. I don't always catch it in other's writing, but I think symbolism is more what meaning the reader attaches to an object than the meaning the writer meant for it to have. Because, in the end, the writer has very little to do with the reading of the book. Everyone brings their own background and knowledge and may even add a layer of symbolism that the author never knew was there.
In my own writing I use it when appropriate or when it serves a purpose, but my little hints tend to involve more foreshadowing than symbolism. At least, it's like that in Fallen. - Do you have trouble with grammar or spelling?
Oh my god, yes! My mother used to stare at me in wonder, trying to figure out how it was possible for a child who read books five grades above their reading level to not be able to spell. Although I have gotten immensely better at spelling, it didn't happen until high school. Today I've conquered most of the problem, but there are some words I still have trouble with. Receive, recommend, thorough, and a lot more.
Grammar was never my strong suit either, but I didn't fail at it as spectacularly as I did at spelling (or multiplication). I still don't quite understand all the rules of grammar in the sense that I can't explain them to someone else, but I have a feel for how they are supposed to be used in writing. And, as far as I'm concerned, that's all I need to know. :D - Did you write your novel mainly from start to finish, or do you skip around a bit to tackle the exciting parts first?
Some authors, including Stephenie Meyer, propose writing the "good parts" first, working through your favorite scenes and then going back and filling in everything else. If this works for you, go for it! This is a great technique to keep you from getting bogged down in the little parts and to make sure that the book has the proper pacing between sections. Personally, however, I couldn't do this.
I mostly followed the chronological order of my book when I wrote it, but every so often a scene later in the book (or later in the series) would pop into my head and I would begin working on that. Other times, when I got stuck on a certain spot, it helped to physically see where my characters were going in order to get them there, but the time jump was never really more than a chapter or so ahead of where I was stuck. When I make jumps forward, I have this sense of paranoia about information I don't know yet. What if I add a scene in between that completely changes the details of the scene I jumped to? Of course, that's what editing is for, but I still can't get over that fear. So, what I end up doing is writing the part of the scene that I know won't change (little sections of narration and most of the time a lot of dialogue) and then letting that work itself into the story whenever it fits.
But, sometimes, I get ideas for scenes that are very far forward in the timeline. For example, I have the opening scenes for book 3 and book 4 written, but I've only completed up to chapter 5 of book 2 at the moment. However, because of details that I know have to occur, I don't think those scenes will change too much when I finally do get to them.
So, I guess the moral is to do whatever works for you and not worry if it doesn't seem like the "conventional" way to write a book. As long as it is a technique you can live with and it, in the end, produces a quality piece of writing, stick with it. - Any other tips?
Learn to read like a writer. Mastering this may take some time or it may be a natural extension of your more concentrated focus on writing tips and techniques. Either way, it's something I believe is important to know.
But what does "reading like a writer" mean?
Books take on a different meaning once you've written one. Suddenly they've become competition or sources of inspiration. In either case, dive deeper into the book than just a surface read.
If you like the book and find yourself skipping over words just to get to the next page faster stop. Why are you doing this? What about this book makes you want to devour everything in it? Is it the characters? The narrative? Does the author make new points about old themes in an inventive and original way? Is the world so fully realized that you feel as though you are a character in the book yourself? Whatever it is, figure it out. Know what it is that makes YOU love books and hold onto that--use it in your own writing.
If you don't like a book, what made this happen? Was it the trite descriptions? Were the characters one-dimensional? Did they act out of character just to move the plot along? Does the world seem more like a cardboard cutout movie set than a real place? Are the descriptions terse and unhelpful? Are they over-long and unnecessary? Is it the lack of purpose or drive? Or is all of this very well done and you just find yourself hating every character in the book so much that you can't read it (this has happened to me)? Whatever it is, figure it out. Know what it is that makes YOU hate books and remember that--NEVER use it in your own writing.
You can take your inspiration from things you've read. Does one of your favorite books revolve around a world where magic is real and souls are reincarnated? Take a theme or an aspect of the world and make it your own. I am NOT suggesting that you steal a story from another author and put your name on it (in fact, if you even thought that sounded like a good thing to do, you should probably stop writing now), but borrow things that you love (themes, traits, etc.) and make them your own. What other direction could the idea go in? What other possibilities are there for that character? How different could this world be? Sometimes even single words can spark an idea that you can build a novel on.
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