writing process – Page 22 – Laurie Halse Anderson

March 11, 2008

Writing questions & paperback date

It’s hard to believe that a year ago that I was getting ready for the TWISTED book tour, and was a nervous mess waiting for people to read the book. It’s kind of weird because this week – seemingly out of the blue – I have gotten many letters and emails from teen readers about the book. Posting snippets of the letters would probably push me from blatant self-promotion into self-absorbed obnoxiousness, so I won’t. But trust me, they’re really nice.

I found out yesterday from my editor Sharyn that TWISTED just won some lovely recognition, but I don’t think I can go public with it for another week. I’m just going to sit here and glow quietly.

TEACHERS, FYI! In the middle of May, TWISTED will be released in paperback, which makes it a perfect book for your summer reading list.

More writing questions: Do you always write chapter by chapter when you draft? Or do you ever end up with gaps in the initial draft that you have to go back and fill?

No, I don’t write chapter by chapter. I generally start at what I think is the beginning and aim for what I think is the end, but those are guidelines, not rules. I always wind up with holes. Going back and figuring out what belongs in the holes is fun. The trick is to play out one of the story threads naturally, not to cram in a scene just so have something in Chapter 7. If it doesn’t fit, throw it out.

How did you know it [the manuscript/book] was ready then? How did that work? …and a related one… how long do you wait to regain objectivity before revising the first time and do you have any tricks for increasing objectivity?

I feel like I’ve already answered this, but I can’t find the post, so I’ll do it again, because it’s a good question. Finding objectivity is one of the hardest things we do. I don’t think any writer can ever become fully objective about her work. Putting it away for a month and not looking at it helps. Then – before you read it – give it to three trusted readers; people who read a lot for fun and respect you enough to be honest. (DO NOT give it to relatives or lovers!) Ask them to read it and write down the three aspects of the story that are working the best, and the three that are the most confusing.

Next: take a copy of your story to a new location; NOT where you wrote it. Go to an independent bookstore, a coffee shop, a park, a nice hotel lobby. Read their comments first, then read the manuscript. If you can’t find anything you want to change, you’re done.

Another reason why I love my Honda Fit & husband

Saturday night’s storm knocked out our electricity and there was so much snow, we couldn’t get out the driveway. Normally this wouldn’t have been a big deal, but I promised an editor a bunch of stuff would be delivered this morning and the battery on my laptop was drained dry. Big problem, frantic author.

Beloved Husband to the rescue! Scot is an old school Yankee tinkerer, a slightly-aged Boy Scout who loves improvising, and he saved the day.

He turned my little red car into an office.

First he cracked open the doors of the garage so I wouldn’t asphyxiate. Turned on my lovely car (it often gets 40 miles per gallon, btw) and cranked the heat. Plugged the inverter into the 12-volt jack (the thing we used to call a cigarette lighter). Plugged my laptop into the inverter. Carried down all of my research books and stacked them on the passenger seat. Fired up the laptop.

I worked out there all morning, enjoyed the tea that Scot brought out at 10:30am. When the power came back on at lunchtime, I moved into the house and kept working without missing a beat. Wrote until dinner and a little bit after that and accomplished my goal.

As promised, this week I’ll answer some of the writing process questions. that you guys have sent in. Today’s questions come from who writes: Do you ever have to adjust the overall pacing of the story, and if so how do you approach that?

Once the stinky first draft is done, I do a lot of tinkering with the pacing. It takes a little time to get the perspective that allows me to see the entire story, but once I can, I examine each thread of the story to make sure the events that pull it forward unfold in a way that makes sense, both for that thread and for the larger story. I make a time line of events on a huge sheet of paper. Once I see things on the time line, I usually make changes; speeding up some sections, slowing down others.

How do you think through making a character change over the course of a novel?

To be honest, I don’t give that part much thought. I focus on creating situations that force the character out of her/his comfort zone, raising the emotional stakes as I go along. If I’ve developed conflicts that are organic and in keeping with the character’s world, her/his response to the conflicts will naturally lead to internal growth.

More tomorrow. Right now I have more writing to do, and a long run later if I’m a very good girl. It’s ten degrees outside… I’ll be running on a treadmill.

February 27, 2008

in the middle of the night…

I woke up at 3:30 this morning thinking about the chapter I’m revising. I took this as A Sign. When the Muse kicks you in the rear end in the middle of the night, you might as well get out of bed. I’m glad I did because this is turning out to be a scribblecious day.

I am fascinated by the excellent questions that poured into the Comments section yesterday. I will answer them when I know this draft is going to make it in under the wire, aka next week.

What other writing process questions do you want me to answer?

Finally, because I made such a fuss about the terribly written demand for help from a student in November, I think it’s only fair to post an email that came in last night. This one is a wonderful example of how you can get an author to write back with the information you need. Teachers, feel free to share this!

S., who is my favorite 8th grader in the world because of this letter, wrote:
Dear Mrs. Anderson,
I am an eighth grade student and am doing a 30 page report about you
and three of your books( Speak, Catalyst, Prom). I have gathered
information from numerous sources but I seem to be needing more,
thats at least what my teacher said. In your interviews with
teenreads and St. Petersburg, I managed to acquire some weird
information, aka what clique you were in in high school. If you know
of a good website or have any information that might not be out
there )like what kind of writing you do, and what you are working on
now…..) that would be greatly appreciated. I think your books are
amazing and so touching. My favorite one is Speak, when i read the
book, i felt her pain. thank you so much for being such an amazing
author!

THAT is how it’s done, my friends. (For the record, I wrote her back and suggested she use the Tags on my LiveJournal as an index. It’s the fastest way to come up to speed on what I’m doing.)

A round of applause, please, for S!

February 26, 2008

continuing the conversation

A thread about writing popped up in the Comments yesterday. Since some people don’t read the Comments, I figured it would be more useful if I responded here.

The first question was: Because of the crushing deadlines you (and many other authors) encounter, have you ever thought of an additional scene that you might have wanted to add to any of your stories after the book was finalized and sent to the printer?

No, I never think of additional scenes after the book comes out. Despite the deadline pressure, the book doesn’t go out until it is ready. I’ve never had to ask a publisher to move a publication date, but if it came to that, I would. The integrity of the book is the most important thing.

But I have thought about putting some of the “cutting room floor” scenes on my website, after the books have been out for a while, so that fans could read them. I’m sure they would lead to interesting discussions.

The only problem is that my webmaster is already overwhelmed with work and I’m afraid if I ask for anything extra at this point, he’ll move to a desert island.

Follow up question! Do you always write chapter by chapter when you draft? Or do you ever end up with gaps in the initial draft that you have to go back and fill?

I start at the beginning and stumble forward, though I usually have several later scenes in mind before I ever set down the first word. In early drafts, there are chapters that are fully fleshed out with narrative, dialog, action, and story momentum. But there are also chapters that contain only a few lines that say something like “Main Character does something profoundly stupid that sets up the consequences in Chapter 30. Also, the sub-plot with the mermaid needs to be brought up. Add imagery of seashells?”

As I move through draft after draft, I figure out if, in fact, I need the chapter in question. If I do, the scenes that carry the proper load of the storytelling kind of show up in my brain. That’s the magic part. I cannot explain how that happens. It just does.

Another unveiling

Busy weekend writing. Busy week ahead…. you guessed it, writing. My cold is gone but it woke up the asthma dragon who sleeps in the deepest lobe of my lungs, and we’ve been wrestling a lot. I tend to lose these battles. I’ve been getting my running in, but veeeeery sloooooowly because of the hacking and sputtering. I am trying to convince myself that running with a reduced flow of oxygen is a cool new conditioning technique. And I am off to the doc today to see if he can prescribe a nostrum that will put the dragon back to sleep.

I hates lung dragons. (Does anyone remember the Yosemite Sam quote?)

In much happier news, I can share the cover of my fall book with you!!

The story follows the adventure of a slave trapped in New York City in 1776 while the city is torn back and forth between Patriot and British occupations. It doesn’t come out until the fall, so more details later. (Thanks to perfykt for the nudge.)

Last week mousesnovel asked in response to my announcement that I left a character on the cutting room floor: Was it difficult to eliminate the character? I’m not sure how much you can tell me, if it will give spoilers, but I know I get very attached to mine.

The different parts of the writing process feel like different countries to me. The etiquette and customs of one country is extremely different from the next. In the early drafts, I include everything that falls into my head and I love it all. I could never cut out a character at that stage. When I get to later drafts, that changes. The only thing that matters is what works best for the story. if I fall in love a character and she doesn’t work in the story, she’s gets cut. I can always send her flowers, take her to the movies, or go out for coffee with her. But if she isn’t a vital thread in the fabric of the story, out she goes.