46 days until conference! Have you registered yet? Door prizes keep trickling in. Be sure to see the new additions here. This week's spotlight is Annette Lyon. She will be teaching SELF-EDITING AND REVISION: DIG DEEP TO LEARN THE NIT-PICKY STUFF—AND MAKE THE BEST IMPRESSION (2 HR INTENSIVE) and HOW SCRIVENER TOTALLY ROCKS AND WILL MAKE YOUR WRITING EASIER AND FASTER. Be sure to check out her blog and books. Enjoy her spotlight!
*What is the first childhood memory that comes to mind?
I remember taking family bike rides to the library when I was just a little kid. My two older siblings had their own bikes. I rode on this little seat at the back of my dad’s bike, and my baby sister on essentially an infant seat strapped to the front of my mom’s bike. (Looking back with modern safety standards, I’m stunned that such seats were ever sold—and that we all survived to adulthood!) I remember not being able to see very well but trusting my dad, and then stopping for ice cream at a place where they always put a little red plastic animal shape on top—I remember the monkey in particular. I was talking with one of my sisters the other day and realized that the animals on the ice cream are one of her early memories too! I couldn’t have been more than 3 or 4.
*What made you decide to become a writer?
I’m one of the weird ones who wanted to be a writer at a young age, ever since reading Beverly Cleary’s The Mouse and the Motorcycle. My first stories were about rodents (first mice, then hamsters). Eventually my interest in subject matter shifted (thank goodness!), but my passion for writing fiction never has. Something else that inspired me early on was watching my big sister write stories in a notebook. Big sisters, of course, of super cool, so I felt cool doing whatever she did. But I caught the bug, kept writing on my own, and never stopped.
*What's your favorite thing to write?
Fiction, although what kind has shifted over the years. The longer I write, the more my work has leaned more and more into women’s fiction. I really enjoy exploring life, relationships, and tough but fascinating subjects. I used to publish romances primarily, both contemporary and historical, but looking back even at my earliest books, I’ve always had some thread of women’s fiction in my writing. I just didn’t know I was a WF writer until I got a bit older and had more life experience, I guess!
*What method do you use to write?
I can’t write longhand—my handwriting becomes a mess after a few minutes, to the point that even I can’t read it. I was a secretary in college, so I type pretty fast, and typing helps me keep up with the story in my head. I usually draft in Scrivener and do revisions and editing in Word.
*What was the book first and latest book you've read?
I’m always in the middle of several books, but one I recently finished is Wreckage, by Emily Bleeker. It’s rare that I can’t put a book down; being both an editor and having ADD, I generally have no trouble setting even a great book aside for a spell, but this one kept drawing me back. Excellent women’s fiction!
*What is something you wish you would have known going into the writing world?
Sometimes I wish I would have known just how long it would take to break in, or how hard it can be, but on the other hand, if I’d known all of that, I might have decided not to keep going—and I’d never wish that on myself. I guess I wish I’d known how supportive awesome the writing community is. Writing can be so solitary, and at times you feel very alone, which can be a recipe for depression, especially during the inevitable down times. My closest friends, the ones I turn to in times of both sadness and celebration, all came into my life because of writing.
*If you could travel back in time to when you began your writing career, what would be the advice you would give yourself?
Find a critique group as soon as you can. I joined one in January of 2000, four and a half years after I began writing seriously—and had racked up a bunch of rejections. The first manuscript I took through the critique process was quickly accepted and published. I attribute the huge improvement in my writing—and the speed of that improvement–to finally getting the right feedback!
*What would you tell any writer at any stage in their writing?
Read a lot. Write even more. Really study the craft: go to conferences, read writing books and magazines and blogs. Not only will you learn a ton, but you’ll also find friends who understand you—and who can become part of your support and critique network.
Which leads to the advice I'd give myself: Get solid feedback. Not the kind that says, “I loved it!” but the kind that gives you a place to go. (WHY did you love it? What am I doing right? What parts are weak? Where could I do better?) Solid, trustworthy critique partners are worth their weight in gold. You probably won’t agree with everything they say—and that’s fine; it’s your story—but getting outside opinions and learning to critique others will do more to improve your writing than any other single thing.
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