Writing and Publishing

How long does it take to write a book?
Short answer: it varies. A lot. I’ve done it as quickly as a couple of months, and I’ve had it take as long as a year and a half.

I’ve realized recently that–when I know what I’m writing–I write about 500 words in 30 minutes. Take a break. Come back. Repeat until book is finished.

The problem is getting to the point where you can crank out those 500 words. Today, for example, wasn’t a writing day. It was a “floor day” where I sat on the floor and stared at my board of post-its that outline the story until I figured some things out.

The floor days matter too. Big time.

Do you ever get writers’ block? How do you handle it if you do?
Are you kidding? I LIVE on writers’ block! (It’s right down the street from “I think my book is terrible” boulevard.)

The first thing people struggling with writers’ block need to do, in my opinion, is figure out what kind of writers’ block they have.

For me, there are two types:

Type 1 is the “I know I SHOULD be writing, but there’s a Gilmore Girls marathon on, so I think I’ll just lie here for the next hour…or two…or seven” block. This is the block of motivation. Maybe you’re not excited about the book. Maybe you’re bored. Maybe you’re getting sick. Maybe you’re book is boring to write (which is an almost certain sign it’ll be boring to read.)

Whatever the case, the only way to get over Type 1 writers’ block is to write THROUGH the block. Duct tape yourself to your chair if you must, but you have to plow through it.

Type 2, however, is trickier and, frankly, scarier.

It’s the kind where you work ALL the time, but no matter what you do the characters seem false or the pacing feels flat or everything just feels…wrong.

I don’t know how it is for other writers, but for me, anything that I have to make an EFFORT to write (in the first draft) is almost always terrible.

My favorite writing quote is by (I think) F. Scott Fitzgerald who said, “Great books write themselves, only bad books have to be written” (Or something like that.)

Again, I don’t know about other writers, but for me that sums it up as well as anything possibly can.

Type 2 writers block isn’t a matter or effort. Type 2 is the type you can’t go through–you have to go AROUND.

Maybe you’re forcing a character to do something she would never do.

Maybe your plot has a hole that you really can’t (and shouldn’t) ignore.

Maybe there just isn’t enough conflict within the story.

Fix it. And that that will fix your block as well.

Do you write on a computer or long-hand or what?
Some of everything. First drafts I usually do on an Alphasmart. Then I transfer everything to a desktop computer without internet access (that’s KEY) and rewrite from there.

When I’m stuck–or when the language needs to be particularly good (like first and last chapters) I tend to do a lot long-hand.

What are the best things kids who want to write can do to prepare?

A: Read everything–and I do mean EVERYTHING–you can. And write!

Don’t worry about getting published–that’s like an athlete worrying about where they’ll hang their Olympic medal when they should be practicing their sport.

I’ve given those pieces of advice before, but I’ll add something to the list:

Get in the habit of writing well. Respect and appreciate language, grammar, spelling–the works. I know you guys spend a lot of time instant messaging and stuff, but if you’re hoping to make your living with words, I’d recommend you get in the habit of using them.

I have a great idea for a book. Can you help me sell it?
Congratulations! Really great ideas are rare, so cherish the ones you get. Also, it’s important to know that you can’t really sell ideas.  You have to actually put them on paper first, so it’s up to you to write the book.   If you don’t know how to write a book, don’t worry.  There’s an old addage that goes “you never really learn how to write a book–you just learn to write the one you’re writing right now.”   So get to writing!

What should my college major be if I want to be a writer?
I really don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer to this question.

I’ve had the privilege of meeting several very successful authors and in talking with them I’ve learned that we all come from a variety of majors.

I have a master’s degree in economics.  I know authors who have day jobs as attorneys and doctors and accountants and everything in between.

Of course, I’ve also met a good many English or literature or fine arts majors, and that’s great too.

Unlike the law or medicine or a number of other vocations, you don’t have to have a specific degree to be a published author.  You just have to have a book worth publishing.

Some people will argue that majoring in literature will help with that, and I won’t say otherwise. There are a lot of times when I’m with a bunch of writers and I feel like an IDIOT because I haven’t read nearly as much as they have. While they were studying the classics I was diagramming the supply and demand of fertilizer.

But there are other times when I’m glad I don’t have a full-blown literature background–when it’s nice not to know what rules I might be breaking.

I’d say find a major that makes you excited to go to class every day.

And no matter what that is…keep writing.

I really want to be a writer, and I already have an idea. Can I:
A) email it to you for you to tell me if it’s any good?
B) tell it to you and have you write it with me?
C) have you write it for me and give me half the money?
Sorry, but the answer to all three is no. If you want to be a writer, the best way to learn how is to start writing.  Don’t worry if it isn’t any good at first (want to know a secret? My first drafts aren’t any good either!) 

How do you figure out the names for your characters? Like when did you decide Cammie should be called Cammie.
I knew the main girl was going to be “the chameleon” and I’m such a sucker for alliteration that I picked the first “C” name I thought of–Cammie–and it was perfect from the get-go. It absolutely stuck.

As for Bex, I heard the name as a nickname for Rebecca once and it stuck with me. Like Cammie, Bex was always Bex. I really like that she has this classic and beautiful name (because she is a classically beautiful girl) and yet she chooses to go by something edgier. That’s Bex in a nutshell.

Liz, I admit, was named after my sister’s neighbor. She too is very, very tiny. And sweet.

Macey….um. No idea where that one came from either. Macey McHenry was always just Macey McHenry.

I don’t make this stuff up, folks. I just write it down. 

Do you outline your stories before you write them? If you do, what sort of outline do you use?
Not really. I’ve tried everything under the sun–outlines, detailed synopses, you name it. But the problem for me is that everything tends to sound good in theory. I won’t know if it’s working or not until I get there.

I do, however, still storyboard. Storyboarding is a screenwriting concept where you write scenes on cards (or in my case big Post-It notes) and line them up in order that they’d happen in the movie. I do this for everything I write. I’ve never stuck with one 100% though. Still, it’s good to get ideas down and stick them on the wall before you forget them. 

What’s the best part of being a writer? The worst?
There is a lot of good, and a lot of not-so-good. The best has to be the feeling of going back and reading something that I wrote a few weeks or months before and thinking, “Wow. This is really good.”

The worst part is probably when I go back and think, “Wow. This is really bad.”

Both things happen to me quite a bit—naturally the latter always precedes the former.

How do you find an agent?
I’ve blogged about this before, but I’ll say again the key is to write a really good book. I mean a really good one. Seriously. It has to be REALLY good. Then put it in a drawer. Write another one. Then pull the first one out and read it again. If you still think it’s good, then it’s time to research agents and follow their submission guidelines. If they ask to read your book, and if they like it, they’ll represent you. Simple as that. No tricks involved. 

How much time should a writer spend promoting his or her book?
It depends. Some authors swear that’s how you should spend the bulk of your time–meeting booksellers; driving to every bookstore within 200 miles to sign copies; attending conventions. Personally, I think you need to do the amount of promoting that you enjoy. I truly love meeting readers and booksellers and other writers, but IN MY CASE that hasn’t really had the biggest impact on my sales.

But that’s just me. There are others who are firm believers that an author’s career will die if they don’t do insane amounts of self-promotion, and maybe they’re right.

How did you pick the cover for your book?
The truth is that most writers have very little say on what their book covers look like. The publishers have people who design book covers for a living, and they’re very good at knowing what will look good on shelves or appeal to readers. Authors usually see the image and can sometimes make minor suggestions, but really that’s out of our hands (and that’s okay.) I’m a believer in leaving things to the professionals. 

How do authors get paid?
When a book is sold to a publisher, the author is paid an “Advance” or an advance against royalties. This is up-front money the author never has to give back.

For the sake of easy math, let’s assume we sell a book for a $10,000 advance (a not-unreasonable number, by the way).

According to the terms of our contract, we will earn royalties in the amount of $1 per book (this is the easy version, in truth it’s more of a sliding scale, and more complicated, but go with me…)

That means that for every book SOLD we earn a dollar. But remember the publisher has already advanced us $10,000, so we don’t actually see any additional money until we sell book number 10,001. Then we see another buck. Book 10,002 gives us another, and so on.

Keep in mind, though, that your agent has earned 15% of all of your book earnings. Taxes will take another chunk.

Now do you see why most writers have to have another job to keep the lights on?

How old do you have to be to get a book published?
The good is that there’s not a minimum age to be a published author. SE Hinton wrote and sold THE OUTSIDERS when she was in high school. A lot of authors started writing when they were really young; some sold right away, others didn’t. The key is to write.