Writing Process Blog Tour

Today I’m blogging about my writing process. This is pretty amazing! Not my writing process, but rather, the fact that I’m blogging. I average one post a year, if I’m lucky. I guess that doesn’t say too much for my writing process already… At any rate, I’m here and you’re here so let’s begin. To start off, I want to thank Maureen Lynas for kindly tagging me on the blog tour. I play email tag with Maureen a lot—pestering her with questions about local SCBWI events and The funEverse (except she’s too kind to call it pestering, which is one of the many reasons I adore her), so when she asked if I wanted to be tagged in the blog tour, I wrote back with a resounding ‘yes’. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t the least bit excited about blogging, but I knew if I joined the blog tour, I’d at least have an acceptable excuse to pester Maureen with a few questions this month.

Maureen Lynas

Question 1: What am I working on?
Now that is a good question! In December, I made the decision to take a few months off work to launch my first book and write. I’ve been off work for 3 ½ months so far and have done very little writing until today. But not for want of trying—it’s just that I’m discovering how all-consuming the job of marketing a book can be. Having said that, I did find time to research and write the first draft of a non-fiction picture book. This is a departure from my usual writing. I normally write fiction picture books. You wouldn’t think the two books would be that different. The well-written ones aren’t, but sadly, I haven’t produced a well-written non-fiction picture book yet. Hopefully, I’ll figure it out before I have to go back to work. Other than that, I’m working on a sequel to a book that hasn’t sold yet. That’s a big no-no in the industry—writing sequels if you haven’t been asked to–so please don’t tell my lovely agent.

Question 2: How does my work differ from others of its genre?
I don’t know if my work is all that different from what’s out there, but I’m drawn to both the funny and the mysterious sides of life. So what you tend to get with me are one or both of these elements in a story, like in my next book IT’S RAINING BATS AND FROGS. It’s a book about a witch parade in which the main character’s spells backfire, resulting in humorous consequences.

Question 3: Why do I write what I do?
There are lots of reasons why I write picture books. Firstly, because I’m a five year old trapped inside a 45 year old woman’s body. Secondly, because I love picture books, and if I didn’t write them, my husband wouldn’t tolerate my on-going picture book purchases. And thirdly, because I’ve never been a person of many words. When speaking, I often say less than I think I have—leaving gaps in the conversation because I’ve either filled in the unsaid words in my head, or have expected the listener to do so. This works well when writing picture books. You can leave part of the story untold, so to speak, allowing the illustrator to fill in some of the gaps. It doesn’t, however, work in everyday conversation. Which is why this interview is on a blog. Don’t even think about trying to interview me in person unless you’re a psychic. You’ll be days making any sense out of what I said—or what I didn’t say.

Question 4: How does your writing process work?
My process involves a lot of kicking and screaming and hair pulling. And then once the kids are finally quiet, I sit down to write. Just kidding, of course! I’d never pull my children’s hair—especially when threatening to take away their Kindle Fire works so much better.

I do spend a lot of time sitting around and staring at a white piece of paper. I started this bad habit as a teenager, with the false belief that I could channel a talented, deceased writer to do all the hard work for me. So far the channelling and automatic writing isn’t working for me, so instead, I often come up with a catchy title and plan a book around the title. Occasionally, the idea for a story comes first. And even more rarely, I work a book around a character. But more often than not, I come up with a title I love and play around with it until I create a story idea that fits the title.

I don’t recommend this process, as I don’t think it’s the most efficient and straightforward way to write, but it works for me. In part, it works because I’m so enthused about my title, that I find any way possible to make it work. I believe it also works for me because I allow myself plenty of time to ruminate on that title. I don’t push myself to write too quickly. I sit and day dream. This is not a luxury I allowed myself when I first started writing. I felt all writing time had to be spent doing just that—writing, and getting words down on the page. But with time, I’ve realized the wisdom of ample thinking time in advance of writing. And the thinking time really does pay off!

You can’t mention the writing process without discussing the revision process, as the two are inextricably intertwined. My revision process never starts without feedback from my awesome critique partners, the Picture Bookies. They are a group of eight highly-talented picture book writers spread across the US and UK. I go through all their comments and address those that resonate with me. What’s particularly invaluable about their comments is they don’t just say, “Hey, that doesn’t work! Fix it!” They generally offer a suggestion or two on how I might go about fixing it. This is just what I need, as it gives me that “in” into the revision process that I need. Otherwise, I tend to stare at my manuscript for weeks mumbling to myself and changing one word, and then a day later changing that same word back again. I may not always use their suggestions but I find the suggestions help me to think outside the box and come up with something different that will work. So what I’m trying to say is, the revision process can only start for me once I have helpful and meaningful comments about my manuscript in its current state. Otherwise, I have blinders on and believe everything I write is either gold dust or manure. There’s no in-between with me. Regardless, I need direction. I’m too close to the masterpiece or dung pile that I’ve created to move forward.

Okay, that’s it for me for now—and given the length of this post, you probably won’t hear from me again on my blog for at least another two years.

Next up are three wonderful ladies who are all writers to watch (and in one case, an illustrator also)!

Penny Parker Klostermann
Penny writes picture books and poetry for children, and as her critique partner, I can attest to her brilliant writing skills! In 2012, she was named runner-up for the SCBWI Barbara Karlin grant. She is represented by Tricia Lawrence of the Erin Murphy Literary Agency. Penny’s first book, THERE WAS AN OLD DRAGON, will be published by Random House in 2015. You can learn more about Penny here.

Betsy Devany
Betsy writes for all ages of children: picture books, middle grade books, as well as novels for young adults. Her numerous writing awards could fill a book by themselves, but suffice it to say, she’s got talent in spades! She is represented by Emily van Beek of Folio Literary Management. Her first picture book, SMELLY BABY, will be out with Christy Ottaviano Books in 2016. Read more about Betsy at her website and blog.

Katherine Lynas
Katherine is an illustrator and writer with a passion for picture books. She also writes fantastic children’s poetry at the FunEverse and runs writing and drawing workshops for children and adults. She’s the illustrator for the book series, FLORENCE AND THE MEANIES, which was written by Maureen Lynas. The first title, CUPCAKE CONUNUMDRUM, is now out. For more info about Katherine, click on this link.

Take it away gals!