Changing As a Writer

KALI BY GABOR SOMOSKOI FEATURING ZSOFI FENYVESI (SOURCE)

When you get to be a certain-aged adult (which is basically anything over 25), you get this idea in your head that you’re the you you’re always going to be. It’s the idea that growing is for kids and once your body has settled on a shoe size, that’s that. You’re you.

I had this idea about my writing after I wrote my first novel. I drafted that sucker in a month. I felt pretty pleased with myself.

“That’s the kind of writer I am,” I told myself. “I don’t outline. I write fast. I love drafting. And I’m pretty sure revising is of the devil.”

I held onto that version of writer me. I am a pantster, a fast drafter, and a despiser of all things revision.

But by the time I was ready to write the next book, I was … broken. I couldn’t start it.

I became very shouty at myself. The Man sent me these really worried looks, then he put on his noise-cancelling headphones and mumbled something about writers.

“I DON’T OUTLINE!!” I said it over and over again. Except, maybe I do. Because for that second book, I made an outline. And then I could write.

So that was it. I had been mistaken after the first book.

“That’s the kind of writer I am,” I told myself. “I outline. I write fast. I love drafting. And I’m pretty sure revising is of the devil.”

I held onto that version of writer me. I am a plotter, a fast drafter, and a despiser of all things revision.

But by the time I was ready to write the next book, Gray Wolf Island, I was … broken again. Only this time it was worse. I outlined. I started it. And I was slow.

No, that’s a lie. I was SLOW.

“I AM A FAST WRITER!!!” I said it over and over again. I whined about it to friends who were very kind with my fragile writer brain.

No matter what I tried, I stayed broken. I wrote the entire book slowly. Writing each page was like pushing blood up through my pores. It was a disgusting and scary process for someone who still considered herself a fast writer who loved drafting.

When it came time to revise, I steeled myself for the horror.

It wasn’t there.

The revision thing? Way easy.

I had no idea who I was anymore, because the Writer Tracey I knew despised the whole ordeal, but this me? This me was tossing around words like “fun.”

Last week, I turned in a round of edits on Gray Wolf Island and the process was—yes, I’m going to say it again—fun. Unlike drafting my new WIP. Which brings me to a revelation I had: I’ve changed.

I’m not the type of writer I was when I first started. Drafting is full of doubts and fears, while revision is a process I love. And that’s okay.

I think we stuff ourselves into boxes, partially because so many writing articles force us into them: Are you a plotter or pantster? Do you write fast or slow? Do you revise as you go or do you get it all on the page first?

It’s taken me a long time to realize it’s okay to change. It’s okay to vary your process from year to year or book to book. We’re not expected to stay the same version of us from the cusp of adulthood into eternity.

Kind of freeing, isn’t it?

Pain-Free Guide to Slashing Your Word Count

In the before days (several months ago), I had a very specific and painful process for cutting words, sentences, scenes, and chapters from my books:

1. Procure chainsaw.
2. Slice off limbs.

It wasn’t the kind of approach to cutting I wanted to use long term. Mostly because I only have four limbs.

Fact is, cutting a manuscript hurts. After days and weeks and months of writing a story, the last thing you want to do is trash words. It feels wasteful. There are writers in the world starving for words, and there you go throwing yours out.

During my last round of revisions, I had a breakthrough. I’ve actually been holding onto this gem of a tip for months because I kept forgetting to post it I had really important things to do and stuff.

So here it is—four pain-free* steps to cutting your word count:

1. Print your manuscript.

After reading my book so many times on screen, doing a full read on paper is super helpful.

2. As you read, strike out words, sentences, paragraphs, even full scenes and chapters to cut.

Do not freak out. You’re simply scribbling out ink on paper. Your manuscript is still safe and sound—and in its original, lengthy glory—on your computer. Later, you can veto any marks you make, so go wild.

3. When you’re done editing on paper, open your digital file and highlight all of the sections you marked to cut.

Forget about all of your other edits. Simply go page by page through your printed manuscript and, whenever you’ve marked a word or passage to be cut, highlight it in the file.

I use Scrivener, so at this stage I simply highlighted words or chunks of text bright yellow, as noted on my printed page. I didn’t stop to think about whether I wanted to cut that text. It’s a very fast transfer from paper to Scrivener file.

4. Revise.

Now it’s time to revise as you typically would. I should point out that, at this point in my revision, I was completely unaware I was a genius. I feel very humble pointing that out.

Here’s what happened: Whenever I got to a word or section highlighted yellow, I knew I had two choices: cut or keep. Except in my mind, I’d already let those words go—twice. And so cutting wasn’t punch-to-the heart terrible like it was in the past.

It’s sort of like telling your brain to be prepared because some time real soon you’ll be getting rid of words and scenes and it better not put up a fight. And then telling it again. By the time you get around to cutting those words and scenes, your brain will be like YES, THANK YOU, I GET IT—NOW STOP.

Alright, lay it on me: What’s your best writing or revising trick?

*Results may vary.

Writers On Writing

"SMART GIRL" BY SAMANTHA HAHN

Last week Colin D. Smith and Katy Upperman each blogged about their writing processes. You should check out their posts (Colin’s is here, Katy’s is here, and for good measure here’s Rebekah Faubion’s, whose tag I didn’t accept a few weeks ago because I was swamped) because it’s fascinating to learn how other writers approach writing a novel. Both tagged me to answer the same questions about my own writing, so here I go…

WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON?

I’m waiting on a couple more beta notes on my YA sci-fi. I’ve mostly spent the month of April away from it while it was in the hands of beta readers and while my hands (okay, my wrists) took some time to stop aching. Once I compile those notes, I’ll do a final revision before I begin querying.

While I’ve been taking a carpal tunnel syndrome–prompted writing vacation, I’ve been brainstorming a YA fantasy that won’t leave me alone. I blogged about my worries with that (mostly about doing an adequate job world-building), but the more I research and brainstorm, the more I think this will be the next story I write—not the YA sci-fi I had in mind.

I’m also writing a YA contemporary that I mostly work on when I need to write something light and fun and unlike anything else I tend to write. I’ve been writing it for a long time, adding to it here and there when I get the bug. Maybe it’ll never be done, but it’s a fun break from the more serious tone my other writing takes.

HOW DOES YOUR WORK DIFFER FROM OTHERS?

Katy mentioned this in her blog post, and I have to agree that my writing voice is probably what most sets my work apart from others like it. I’ve been told I have a very distinctive voice. I’ve also been told that about my singing voice, by the way, but in those cases I think “distinctive” is a synonym for “terrifying.”

I also find myself writing about a lot of medical conditions or health science stuff (probably because I’m a health journalist), whether that means giving my main character an illness or basing future tech off brain function.

WHY DO YOU WRITE WHAT YOU DO?

This is hard to say because I imagine I’d write anything if the story was something I’d personally want to read—young adult sci-fi, fantasy, contemporary, paranormal, and so on. But really the one thing I always seem to be writing is young adult fiction. I have no better reason than that I enjoy reading teen books. I love all of the doubts and complications that teens face, and most of all I love all of the first: first kiss, first time you lose a friend, first driving lesson, and so on. Regardless of whether you’re writing about an alien teen, a teen from the twelfth century, or a modern teen, your character is going to experience some things for the first time—and that’s incredibly fun to write.

WHAT’S YOUR WRITING PROCESS LIKE?

If you had asked me this a few years ago, I would have had an entirely different answer, but ever since I bought Scrivener my planning and writing process is much more efficient. I usually start by simply thinking about an idea. I’ll let myself daydream about it, let scenes play out while listening to music. Once I have a basic idea for a story, I start collecting information—photo inspiration, research, possible plot threads, character ideas, and so on. I keep a Pinterest board for inspiration, add web research links to my Scrivener document, and keep about a million pages full of different half-baked ideas. (What if her boyfriend kills her father with a turkey baster? Maybe there’s no such thing as money!)*

Once I have the basic idea of the plot, an opening scene, and ending, I begin to plan. I do a lot of world-building beforehand, especially for sci-fi or fantasy novels, then make a rough outline. Once that’s done, I get to writing.

I read somewhere (wouldn’t it be nice if I could remember where and point you to the exact article?) that to write faster you should have an idea of what you’re going to write before you begin. This is pretty brilliant, so I start a writing session knowing what I want to happen in a scene or chapter—even something as basic as “MC gets angry at someone”—then go from there. The next day, I read over the last chapter I wrote to get back into things.

And while I can’t listen to music with lyrics while I write, I like to listen to movie scores with the same tone as the book or scene I’m writing. Knowing the tone I want to evoke in each scene makes it much easier for me to determine how I want to write the scene.

After the first draft, I pretend I’ve written a masterpiece and spend at least a week believing that before diving into the pile o’ crap for many rounds of revisions.

And now I’m going to tag Alison Miller and Alice (aka Krispy) check out their blogs next Monday to read their answers to these questions.

Hit the comments to answer one of these questions about your writing process!

*These are, thankfully, not actual ideas I’ve considered.

Starting A New Story

BY AXIOO (SOURCE)

In case you’re curious as to how I work, I am revealing my previously unknown process for starting a story. This is an actual transcript from an actual writing session.

Me: It’s time to write the amazing story that I’ve been thinking about nonstop.

Brain: You should cast your characters because then you’ll be able to really see them and your descriptions will be so much better.

Me: I see them in my head.

Brain: But maybe someone posted a better example of your character to Pinterest and if you don’t look now you’ll miss it forever. Then, when you’re a published author and people are asking whom you’d cast in the just-optioned movie of your book, you will have no one to show. NO ONE.

Me: Er, that’s not really the most important thing right now.

Brain: Then what about Tumblr? You haven’t browsed it in four hours and you never know what interesting photos may have popped up.

Me: No.

Brain: No? No what? No you will not expand your imagination with photos that could very well inspire a scene in the book you want to write?

Me: Stop trying to trick me.

Brain: Fine, go ahead and write, but you should know that all of your friends are on Twitter having fun without you.

Me: I don’t have time for that!

Brain: Well, make time.

Me: But I really need to start this story.

Brain: How do you know you’re even ready to start the story? Have you considered spending more time googling hypnotherapy?

Me: I’ve spent a lot of time doing that.

Brain: What if there’s new research that just came out today? You might want to re-read every site you’ve ever used for research.

Me: That will take forever.

Brain: It’s research, so it’s okay.

Me: Now I’m going to write and you can’t stop me.

Brain: Go ahead. Be my guest. So what if there’s a one-day sale at J.Crew. It’s not like you need to look cute or anything.

Me: I do look cute.

Brain: You’re wearing leggings, a T-shirt, and sweatshirt. You look like a hobo.

Me: Who’s going to see me, huh? No one.

Brain: That reminds me of that book… You know the one. You’ve been dying to read it forever. Oh hey, doesn’t it come out today?

Me: Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.

Brain: What? Don’t they say the best way to improve your writing is to be well read?

Me: Well, yeah…

Brain: And the book’s getting great reviews. I’m only trying to help you here. I want to see your publishing dreams come true as much as you do.

Me: Maybe one chapter.

THREE HOURS LATER…

Brain: Wasn’t that better?

Me: It was good. But no more. Time to write.

Brain: I suppose I can whip up a paragraph for you.

Me: Aim higher.

Brain: I’m tired!

Me: Whose fault is that?

Brain: Tomorrow can we browse YouTube?

Anyone have a similar process?

RTW: The Writing Road Trip

Road Trip Wednesday is a blog carnival, where YA Highway’s contributors and readers post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s take on the topic.

This week’s prompt was: What has your writing road trip looked like so far?

So I grew up in Massachusetts, and ever since I graduated college I’ve sort of migrated further and further south. (Incidentally, this usually happens in the winter. I’m not sure what that says about me and my connection to birds, but I’ll say one thing: I’m not blessed with the gift of flight.)

Anyhow, as you can probably imagine, a significant portion of my life has been spent on I-95 between Massachusetts and Philly, Maryland, and now Virginia. And most of that time is spent in Jersey. That’s for two reasons: a) New Jersey is the longest state between Virginia and Massachusetts, and b) even if that last statement isn’t factually correct, it’s the longest state when you count the amount of traffic you’re 100 percent guaranteed to get into.

The Jersey Turnpike is a little slice of hell where life slows to a grinding halt and somehow you have to pee directly after passing a rest stop, but you can’t turn around and the next exit is 7 miles away, which on the Jersey Turnpike is about two hours.

Well, for the longest time my fiction writing life was stuck on the Jersey Turnpike. I had started the trip fine, even making it through dreaded D.C. traffic. I was a professional writer, my dream, and so what if I also dreamed of writing a novel. Wasn’t being a full-time writer enough? So I sat there on the Turnpike, drinking Diet Coke and eating stale Oreos from the last rest stop, sitting in 500 different positions just to have something to do while the traffic inched along. All the while, this idea for a book nagged me and I told it, “Shush in there. Can’t you see I’m happily on my way? There’s no exit for miles. And it’s rush hour. What do you expect me to do?”

Then one day, when the idea wouldn’t let me go, I inched my way to the slow lane and exited. I had no idea where I was going or even if I was still headed north, but I was speeding along now, 55 in a 30. (Which, by the way, isn’t really that fast. I’m a strong believer that 30 miles per hour is a joke, because who on earth has the patience to go that slow when they’re obviously in a car to GET TO WHERE THEY’RE GOING?? Ahem. I might live in Virginia, but I’m a Masshole driver at heart.)

Right, so I’m currently taking the back roads to where I’m going. It’s taking longer than expected but at least I’m doing something other than memorizing the license plate of the car in front of me—for the twentieth time. I’ve stopped along the way to pick up hitchhikers—you lovely road trippers and other writer friends—so my journey isn’t in isolation. We tell each other stories and sing songs that are not “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall.”

I know sometime in the near future I’ll be stopping at one of those Cracker Barrels that dot the land between the north and south East Coast, and there I’ll try to woo an agent into hopping into the passenger’s seat and taking the journey with me. And one day, we’ll go road tripping to find the perfect editor to travel cross country with.

So that’s where I am. Somewhere between here and there, maybe in an iHop or at a gas station, speeding my way to my goal.

What has your writing road trip been like?