interview – Page 4

You’re A Writer, It’s What You Do – An Interview With Author James Scott Bell

This week we have an exclusive interview at StoryADay.org with James Scott Bell, the #1 bestselling author of the writing book Plot & Structure, and thrillers like Deceived, Try Dying, Watch Your Back, One More Lie and many more.

He stopped by StoryADay.org to talk about the importance of writing routines and practice — a topic dear to our hearts, and the subject of his book Writing Fiction for All You’re Worth: Strategies and Techniques for Taking Your Fiction to the Next Level.

StADa: Do you consider it important for aspiring writers to have a regular writing routine?

JSB: Boy, do I. In fact, that is the single most important piece of advice I ever got, and I’m glad I got it at the beginning. I do a weekly quota of words and break that down into 6 days (I usually take Sunday off from writing, to recharge my batteries). I keep track of all the new words I write and usually work on two projects or more during any given day. If I happen to miss my daily count I know I can make it up on other days.

The really nice thing is that, at some point, you look up and you have a completed book. It’s done. You did it. It’s a tremendous feeling. Then you have something to edit. And you just keep doing that, over and over again.

StADa: One look online tells you that there is a lot of competition out there. How can a writer keep his/her motivation up, without becoming discouraged by or envious of other writers who seem to be doing ‘better’?

JSB: There are lots of ways for writers to make themselves miserable. Comparison is one surefire method. Because there is ALWAYS someone else doing better than you are. Always. You don’t even realize that there are lots of people not doing as well as you, either. But either view is wrong. It doesn’t help you to compare with someone selling more, and it doesn’t help you to feel superior to someone who isn’t.

Enough writers, like Ann Lamott and Elizabeth Berg, have written about envy and the like to know that it can sneak up on a writer. If it does you should immediately get lost in your own project. Get to the keyboard. Write your heart out. Soon enough you’ll be into that and the other stuff fades away.

Also, remember this is just one aspect of life. There is a lot more to living well than selling books. First, figure out how to live well. Then write.

StADa: It’s easy to ‘publish’ a work quickly today. What advice would you give the StoryADay community about what to do with the 31 first drafts they’re going to end up with on June 1?

JSB: Congratulations! A first draft is wonderful thing to have. It means a completed work, and that’s always a good thing. Robert A. Heinlein, the famous science fiction writer, once said there are two rules for writing:

1. You must write
2. You must finish what you write

Also, don’t think that a finished draft is ready to go out without a strong revision strategy. I wrote a whole book, Revision & Self-Editing, to help writers think that through in a systematic way. It’s important to know what you’re doing at every stage.

I’d also add, be working on your next book. And thinking up ideas for the one after that. And keep this up as long as you live.

You’re a writer, after all. It’s what you do.

000OOOooo

Thanks, Jim!

James Scott Bell has been called a writer of “heart-whamming” fiction (Publisher’s Weekly) “a master of suspense” (Library Journal) and a fresh voice in the “territory of Hammett and Chandler.” (Booklist).A former trial lawyer, Jim now writes and speaks full time. He lives in Los Angeles. He blogs every Sunday at The Kill Zone.

[Interview] – Writing A Story A Day with Vanessa Matthews

if you want to stretch yourself and grow as a writer then go for it! It has been one of the most valuable learning experiences I could have had to develop my writing …it’s really infectious, once you start immersing yourself in writing, the words just keep flowing and flowing.

Today I’m interviewing Vanessa Matthews who has just wrapped up her own Story A Day challenge. Vanessa went one better and not only wrote a story a day but submitted one to a contest every day!

If you’ve ever wondered what you might get out of attempting to write a story a day read on!

WHAT’S THE MOST SURPRISING THING YOU LEARNED THROUGH THIS CHALLENGE?

Oh, to pick just one! There have been so many learnings!! One of the biggest lessons I have learnt is not to write about anything you don’t feel passionate about. It might sound obvious but during my marketing career I have written with ease about things I liked, and things I didn’t like so much, so I hadn’t anticipated any problem with tackling whatever was thrown at me. However writing for business and writing for pleasure are very different things! If you don’t feel compelled to reach the end of your story, drop it and move on to something else.

As for surprises, I have uncovered a passion for writing poetry that I never knew I had, and based on the feedback i’ve been getting from some very talented published poets, i’m even more surprised to find that I might be quite good at it.

WHAT MADE YOU START THIS CHALLENGE?

I had heard about a local writing competition taking place for the Daphne du Maurier Festival, which happens in Cornwall every year, and I decided to give it a go. On further research I realised that there were an enormous number of writing competitions going on and the thought just sparked from there. I had been plugging away at the beginnings of a novel and had found myself lacking in motivation to keep going with it. As a busy mom of four I just couldn’t seem to find a way to prioritise my writing so this also seemed to be a good way to try and make a habit of writing a little every day. Although ‘a little’ has so far turned out to be more than 60 pieces of writing… and that excludes my blog posts!

HAVE YOU WRITTEN AND SUBMITTED TO A CONTEST EVERY DAY?

Yes, with one very tiny exception… my sci-fi story competition! sci-fi became my nemesis and despite sitting at my computer for hours trying to build a plot, I found that I just didn’t care about it enough to see it through. I did write about 500 words and had a basic story map but I just found myself detaching from it the more I tried to write it. I realised at that point that I was not only wasting my own time, but I was also wasting the time of the competition judges if I submitted a thoughtless piece. I didn’t want my challenge to end up making a mockery of the art of writing by throwing together any old rubbish just so I could tick the box to say I had done it. That would have felt disrespectful to me and all of the other writers who had entered with heart. I plan to post a list of the competitions I have entered on my blog when the challenge is complete. Once the competition deadlines and judging periods have passed I will also post each of my entries so that you can see what I have been up to.

DO YOU RECOMMEND SUBMITTING STORIES QUICKLY?

In this instance I do yes. by submitting things quickly I have forced myself to focus, choose my words carefully and get straight to the heart of what my gut instinct tells me to write. Once finished it is very easy to overanalyse and become too self-critical but there just hasn’t been the time. I can already look back and see how I could have done better on some of the entries, but it doesn’t matter. I did my best on the day, and win or lose, each entry has taught me something new. However, I would recommend taking more time if I were submitting a novel to a publisher, as you only get one chance to impress and if your story is riddled with repetition, disjointed content and grammatical errors then you won’t stand a chance. When you are so close to your story, often its only by reading it through several times over several days that those kind of errors emerge.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU HAVE FOR SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO FOLLOW YOUR LEAD?

That depends on your motivation. If you only want to be in it to win it, then forget it, but if you want to stretch yourself and grow as a writer then go for it! It has been one of the most valuable learning experiences I could have had to develop my writing and I have felt so creative and inspired by it. it’s really infectious, once you start immersing yourself in writing, the words just keep flowing and flowing. I have actually turned into a bit of an insomniac at times because I haven’t been able to quiet my imagination long enough to go to sleep.

DID YOU HAVE MUCH SUPPORT? DID IT MATTER?

I have been very lucky to have the support of my husband and family and made sure I had their buy-in before I started. Having a large family with young children, their support did matter, as I knew there would be times when the housework would get neglected, or I would be unavailable because I was at the computer. But I was only asking for 30 days, and I needed to do something for myself. Whatever your family circumstances, a challenge like this inevitably takes you through lots of highs and lows so I think it helps to at least have a cheerleader who can keep you motivated on the bad days and maybe even critique your work if you trust them to be fair and honest. The feedback I get on my blog has also been an incredible boost, people have been so kind and have made really encouraging comments on my work which has kept me going, particularly on the days when writers block and creative insecurities crept in!

WHAT’S NEXT?

I didn’t think about that at all when I started, and some of that will depend if anything comes from the competitions I have entered. Regardless of results though, I do now have a plan that I could never have anticipated. I am writing a collection of poetry! I have written about 20 pieces so far with another 50 or so sketched out as titles – and yes, they are all brand new poems that I have written in addition to my competition entries! I hope to submit the collection to publishers over the next few months.

Thanks, Vanessa! Inspiring stuff! I’m ready for May now!!

Vanessa has worked as a freelance copy writer, food writer, and marketing consultant for approximately 15 years. If you want to read along through the highs and lows of one author writing a story a day, check out the blog posts as they happened. You can read more about her writing journey at her blog: http://ordinarylifelessordinary.wordpress.com/

Reading A Story A Day…For A Year – An Interview

…Reading these short stories has made me realize that it’s a place I can go, a place I should go in my own fiction. …

Today I’m posting an interview with Jami, who blogs about her adventures reading a story a day in 2012 at Worth The Effort.

You’ll be seeing some of her posts here over the next few months, in the regular Tuesday Reading Room series. I highly recommend you visit/bookmark/subscribe to her blog. It’s a great resource and a fascinating look at the benefits of immersing yourself in the literature while continuing to write.

1. Why did you decide to read a story a day?

I wanted a goal, a realistic goal. Last year I committed myself to reading a novel a week but by year’s end I’d only read 41 novels [“only”?! – Ed.]. So, I wanted to do something different and my brother, who is a fantastic writer of short stories actually, encouraged me to read more short stories. Then it occurred to me that I really hadn’t balanced my reading and that shorter fiction would be a good change for me. That’s how it happened. I decided to set a goal, a short story a day for the entire year, blogging short reviews along the way.

2. How many have you read so far?

I’ve read 102 stories at this point as I’ve managed to keep up with my goal. I’ve read a short story a day for the entire year thus far.

3. Are you discovering a style you love?

Not really, or at least not as it relates to style. I do find that stories rich in tiny and interesting details keep my attention and make me want to read more. Other than that, I’m reading almost exclusively what might be categorized as literary fiction. Though I have a science fiction week planned for the month of June so we’ll see how my answer might change after that.

4. Are you trying to read outside that style anyway?

Yes, I’m always looking for new styles. Sometimes, the story I’m reading is heavy in dialogue. Other times, there is little to no dialogue but plenty of voice in the first person narrative. I like them all so long as the story itself is worth the read.

5. What patterns are emerging, as you read?

I’ve come across a lot of stories that deal with family and I find that interesting, particularly because in my own writing I’ve always shied away from those types of stories. Reading these short stories has made me realize that it’s a place I can go, a place I should go in my own fiction. And, it helps that the authors I’m reading do this very well. Judy Troy is a good example of this type of writer. I could read her stories as long as she writes them. She doesn’t bore me and I never find her writing flat. There are some though in this first 100 days that I was disappointed in and those stories consistently failed to draw me in from the start. A beginning is crucial.

6. Would you recommend other people try this? Why?

Absolutely. Reading a short story by a particular author is like getting to taste test a dish at a fine dining restaurant. Why spend the money on a pricey entree if the appetizer isn’t worth the cash you drop on it. A short story is a good foray into any writer’s longer fiction. Besides, short stories are easy to digest in quick bursts. A reader can make decisions for future reading based on these short stories. For me, that is a huge bonus.

7. What are your plans for the future?

I plan on continuing with reading a short story a day for the year 2012. I also plan to continue writing fiction daily, focusing my attention on developing and staying true to my own voice even if I am reading a different one every day. There’s also novel length fiction and I’m still reading my fair share of that as well. That won’t stop. I still plan on hitting around 25 novels this year. That’s the plan at least.

Thanks, Jami!

Check back in next Tuesday to read her first guest-post in the Reading Room.

Are you reading enough? Do you read short stories? Are you reading them more as you prepare for StoryADay May?

The Do-It-Yourself MFA – An Interview With Gabriela Pereira

Gabriela Pereira is a former StoryADay participant and has spent the past month launching her DIY MFA 2.0, an intensive writing program, all online.

She took some time to tell me about the course and give some great advice for writers about to embark on a big writing jag (know anyone like that?)

She is also hosting a write-in on Sunday May 1. I highly recommend checking out her DIY-MFA site and Facebook page and following her on Twitter.

Tell me about DIY MFA 2.0
The idea behind DIY MFA is to simulate the experience of a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing without actually going to school. DIY MFA has 4 main components: Reading, Writing, Workshops and Community. The original DIY MFA (which took place in September 2010) covered these four topics at length.

DIY MFA 2.0 takes a different approach, focusing mostly on the “writing” part of the equation. The idea in DIY MFA 2.0 is to spark new ideas and create a stash of ideas that writers can go to when they hit the wall or feel a creative drought coming on. There are 4 ways that DIY MFA can help generate new ideas and those are through: character, story, mood and words. Each week in April we focused on one of these areas and explored different writing exercises and techniques with that theme. Ultimately, the goal is to develop methods and tools for generating ideas so that when you need lots of new ideas in a short period of time (like when you’re writing a Story A Day) you have a bunch of concepts already ready and waiting.

How do you make time for writing?
I don’t make time for writing. I steal it. I’m always on the lookout for hidden pockets of time when I can read or write because if I sit around waiting for a huge block of time to land in my lap, I know it will never happen. I live in a city, so for me subways and buses are great places to sneak in some writing. I love my Kindle because I can put a copy of my WIP on it and can edit on the go. I also carry small notebook with me everywhere so that if I’m stuck waiting for an elevator or waiting on a subway platform, I can break out my notebook and jot down a few sentences.

Even with all this time-theft going on, I also try to carve out a few small chunks of time when I do writing “sprints.” In DIY MFA, I’ve asked participants to do at least one sprint per week on Saturdays, but for me these sprints happen whenever I manage to steal a chunk of time long enough that I can call it honest-to-goodness solid writing time. During these precious moments, I’ll practice some stealth writing, where I run to a coffee shop and hide out while I write. Not only am I more efficient if I know I only have a short span of time to write, but the stealth aspect also makes it more exciting (like I’m doing something I shouldn’t… something naughty).

And don’t underestimate the power of the Pomodoro. That adorable little tomato timer app that sits on my desktop has worked wonders for me. If I know I only have 25 minutes to write, I won’t stop to check email or twitter or anything else, I’ll just write. After I’ve finished a couple of rounds of Pomodoro, I’ll treat myself to a short spurt of internet fiddling.

What’s your best advice for someone who’s trying to make writing a priority (again)?
I’m a huge believer in baby steps and I’m not a fan of huge, unmanageable goals because they set writers up to fail. Missing a goal can lead to feelings of “I can’t do this” or “I’m not good enough” which only leads to paralysis, writer’s block and loss of motivation. Of course, lower motivation means the next set of goals becomes even more unmanageable so the cycle just continues. The trick is to break the cycle of negativity and find ways of sparking the motivation when it starts slipping away.

For me, writing isn’t about success vs. failure; it’s about doing. If a writing challenge helps a writer motivate themselves and stay on track, fantastic! But the important thing in my mind is that writers do the work, whether it means meeting a goal within a certain time frame or not. That’s where I think Story-A-Day gets it right: because it’s not just about writing a story every day, it’s about bouncing back on the days when you can’t actually get a story done. It’s about getting ideas down quickly, without judging. It’s about writing it and moving on, leaving the tweaks and edits for some later point.

Ultimately, I think StADa and DIY MFA have similar goals: to help writers rekindle their love of writing and help them develop a sustainable, enriching writing life.

Thanks, Gabriela!

How It Feels To Be Published

StoryADay alumnus Mart Pelrine-Bacon shares her submission success story: how she worked on the story, how she found the market and how it feels to be published.

StoryADay May alumnus Marta Pelrine-Bacon shared some fabulous news yesterday: one of her StoryADay stories has been accepted for the May 2011 issue of Cabinet Des Fees, a journal of Fairy Tales (and a paying market, at that).

I got in touch to ask Marta to tell us about how she worked on the story, how she found the market and how it feels to have a submission accepted — hint: there was a lot of ‘all-caps’ on Twitter yesterday 😉

What is the story & when did you write it?

The story is titled The Fear of Apples and I wrote it fairly early during Story-A-Day May.

Have you written others like it?

I thought writing a story a day would be easier if I had a overall idea–in this case, fairy tales. Every story that month was a modern fairy tale.

Did you do much revision after StoryaDay?

That particular story I went over about three times–though I did not make any major changes. Most of my edits were attempts to fix an awkward sentence or add (or delete!) a detail for the plot.

Hw did you find the market?

I found the market when I friend told me about Duotrope. I’ve always been intimidated by figuring out the marketplace, and duotrope made the process seem manageable.

How did you feel when you heard?

Shocked–because I’d gotten so many rejections for other stories. And I almost cried I was so happy, and then I danced into work and told everybody. I am not a cool character.

Are you submitting more stories now?

I will be. This has certainly spurred me to realize publication can happen and not to give up.

Thanks for sharing Marta!

Have you had success submitting any stories the past year? Drop me a line: julie at storyaday dot org or leave a link to your ‘bragging page’ in the comments. Everybody loves to hear how other writers ‘just like us’ are making things happen!

If this has inspired you to write more, or maybe sign up for Story A Day May, take a look at my free, downloadable workbook The Creative Writing Challenge Handbook – 31 Days to A Writer’s Life. It’ll help prepare you for this year’s challenge.

Write1Sub1 – A New Short Story Writing Challenge for 2011

This week I’m bringing you news of a great new short story writing challenge from StoryADay member, Simon Kewin.

Next year Simon and his friends Milo James Fowler and Stephen V. Ramey have pledged to Write1Sub1 – that’s Write One Story and Submit One Story every week of the year (actually, Simon’s taking Christmas off, but still…). You can submit to magazines, websites, or short story contests – anywhere that takes writing seriously.

And they’re not keeping this challenge to themselves: they’re inviting everyone to kick their writing career up a notch by joining in. At the end of this year of intensive writing, you certainly should have figured out how to write a short story, don’t you think?

Here’s an interview with Simon to tell you more. Links to more short story writer’s information are at the end.

What were your inspiration and your personal motivation for this challenge?

Ray Bradbury was our original inspiration. He is supposed to have completed and submitted a short story every week for a year while establishing himself.

The idea for Write1Sub1 materialised during a comment discussion on Milo’s blog and it took off from there. The point is obviously to help our own writing : to provide a focus and an incentive, a sense of community. We’re all keen short story writers and this seemed like a great way to motivate us to write more.

What are the ‘rules’?

The idea is to write a story and submit a story every week for 2011. It doesn’t have to be the same story as obviously it can take more than a week to polish a piece! Those taking part can define “story” as they like : it could be as short as a flash or nano piece for example. It could even be a poem. Whatever works for you.

Some people like the idea but have decided to Write1Sub1 on a monthly rather than a weekly basis, which is fine. Hopefully the challenge will still be a help to them.

How do people join in?

There’s the Write1Sub1 blog to follow and there’s also a Linky there to “sign up”. We plan to do a weekly check in post on a Sunday for everyone to share their experiences of the week. We’ll do a monthly one too for those doing it that way. There is also a Twitter hashtag people can follow – #Write1Sub1 – and there are banners on the blog folks can download.

Where will you submit?

Good question! The people who’ve signed up write a wide variety of different things, so I suppose we’ll all have our own target markets. But we’re putting together a page of useful resources on the blog for tracking down markets, and obviously, sharing our experiences on the blog should be a great help.

How will you stay motivated (esp when the inevitable rejections come in) ?

Hopefully being part of the Write1Sub1 community will be a big help here. It’s definitely a help to know others are going through the same experiences! And of course, the thought of receiving the end-of-year “winner” banner will be a huge incentive!

Thanks, Simon!

There are so many articles in the world already about ‘how to write a short story’, but I’m a firm member of the ‘learn to write by writing’ school or thought. (And reading, of course!). This is one project I’m not going to be able to resist, although I’ll be signing up for the monthly version (there are banners for that too, at theWrite1Sub1 site).

It should ensure that I don’t get lazy and forget how to write a short story between now and May, when StoryADay starts up again!

Useful Links and Writers’ Markets

Write1Sub1 Rules

About the guys behind Write1Sub1

Market Listings from Write1Sub1

2010 Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market from Writer’s Digest (aff)

Writer’s Market listings from Writer’s Digest (subscription required. Free email newsletter)

Writers Weekly Market Listings (mostly non-fiction, but occasional fiction listings)