I’ve been tagged as part of the Writing Process blog tour by my super writing friend Wendy Storer, author of two teen novels: Where Bluebirds Fly and Bring Me Sunshine, and finalist in the Mslexia Children’s Novel Competition. Her next YA novel, How to be Lucky, will be published later this year. Check her out at http://wendystorer.blogspot.com.
Anyway, the idea is that you answer four questions, then tag your next victims… sorry, I mean participants. So here goes:
1. What am I working on?
Hmmm… well, a number of things. I’ve just done one set of edits on my second YA novel and am waiting for the next round of revisions to come back from my editor. In the meantime I’ve dusted off a middle grade (age 9-12) novel I wrote a few years back – I’m hoping with the current upsurge in interest in writing for this age group that I may be able to find it a home. And when I’m not actually writing, I’m busy promoting my soon-to-be-published YA novel: Now You See Me. Lots to do before the 1st May launch date!
2. How does my work differ from others in the genre?
Big question! If you take YA as a whole, well, we could be here all day. So let’s restrict ourselves to YA thrillers. I think one of the distinguishing features of Now You See Me – apart from the fact that it’s inspired by something that actually happened – is that there is no love story. Though there are many wonderful books out there with romance at their heart, I wanted to write a novel for teens that has a slightly different dynamic. Why? Because there’s a lot more to life – and your teens – than falling in love, and I want there to be books that reflect that.
3. Why do I write what I do?
Quite simply, I love exciting, gripping stories, with characters that I can really root for. When I’m reading or watching a drama, I’m gripped by suspense and twists and wondering what will happen next. So I try to offer this in my own novels.
4. How does my writing process work?
Ha! *grimaces* Well, there’s a great deal of procrastination , but when I do get down to it I find I work best with a decent outline of what I’m planning to write. So I’ll kick off with an idea, and I’ll gradually flesh it out with things like plot and character questions, mind maps and tools like Scrivener, which is much more flexible than Word and allows you to shift chapters around easily. I try and sketch out the main story arc and subdivide that into chapters before I tackle the first draft.
Then it’s a question of refining and asking myself questions as I go along. One of the most useful things I’ve found when I’m stuck or have fallen into a particularly deep plot hole, is to journal. Open up a new Word doc, summarise the issue and how you feel about it, then free associate all the possible solutions or ways round the problem. It never fails to throw you some way of climbing your way back out the hole.
The bit of the writing process I like best is round about the third draft, when you’ve got all the structure in place and can concentrate on tinkering with the words and sentences. I love sweating the small stuff.
Okay, so that’s it from me. I’m passing you into the extremely capable hands of my three nominated YA writers, who’ve kindly supplied their bios and pics. Check out their blogs to find out more.
Caroline Green’s first YA novel, Dark Ride won the RONA Young Adult Book of the Year and the Waverton Good Read Award. Cracks and Hold Your Breath have been shortlisted for nine awards, including: The Amazing Book Award; The Catalyst Book Award The Leeds Book Award; The Hampshire Book Award; Sefton Super Reads, the Oldham Book Award, The Stockport Book Award and the Portsmouth Book Award. She is the Writer in Residence at East Barnet School in north London. Her latest book, Fragments, was launched in March. She is also a freelance writer on health and science matters, and has written several non-fiction books.
Follow her on Twitter @carolinesgreen or check out www.carolinegreen.net.
Emma Shevah is half-Irish and half-Thai, and grew up in London. She has travelled across, got lost in, and lived in a number of countries. She holds a BA in English Literature and Philosophy from Nottingham University, and an MA with Distinction in Creative and Professional Writing from Brunel. She has been writing a blog for The Independent since January 2007 and has written articles and op-eds for other newspapers. Her debut novel, Dream On, Amber, was published by Chicken House in March 2014. She currently lives in north London with her four children, dog and baby tortoise.
Check her out at www.emmashevah.com
Eve Harvey is currently a full time writer. This sounds much grander than it actually is since it mostly involves drinking lots of coffee and looking like a bag lady. She was, until recently, a kids bookseller and misses it so much she is currently merchandising her home bookshelves with 3 for 2 offers and recommends. Her kids are unimpressed.
Eve blogs over at www.eveharvey.com