Love reading sinfully delicious romance novels? Want to know more about how those novels come to life and wind up in your hands? Each Tuesday, a merry band of romance writers spill the beans on all their trade secrets. To join the fun, simply blog hop from one author to the next. And if that's not enough excitement for you, Romance Weekly has a new website to explore, Twitter feed to follow, Pinterest page, Google+ page, and newsletter to sign up for. We've got exciting stuff going on around here!
Romance Weekly
If you found me by way of Fiona Riplee's fabulous blog, welcome! This week's questions come from Vicki Mixon. Let's jump right in.
Was there a defining moment in your life when you knew you were going to become a writer? If so, what was it?
I don't there was ever one single moment when I knew that I would wind up as a published writer. I've always tinkered around with writing, using it as an outlet for my emotions, but dipping a toe into the publishing world was not initially an ambition I'd aspired to. I've always viewed myself as a teacher first, and a writer in my spare time. Someday that might change.
When you write a story do you see it unfold as one big picture, or do you add layering in subsequent drafts?
Usually the story unfolds for me as I write. I may not always see the entire big picture when I first begin writing the story, but eventually I get small snippets of the storyline, enough to keep me going. Sometimes, the story stalls while I ponder the dilemma my characters find themselves in. That's when I get really good at procrastinating and my house gets uber clean.
How many drafts do you usually write before you send your work to your editor?
Too many to count! Once the first draft is done, I play around with my story, adding more setting details, and tightening up the plot. As I finish up my first draft of Assassin P.I., I've kept a separate document with revision notes to myself. Stuff like, use Jack's hat as a symbol of his vulnerability, or mention his love of comic books again. The document gets pretty long by the time I'm done with the story. The way I see it? I'm still learning how to write novels, so I can forgive myself for writing a lousy first draft, but I can't forgive myself for publishing a subpar novel. Revision and rewrites are a vital part of the process . . . and kinda fun!
No comments:
Post a Comment