Sunday, September 2, 2012

Meet 'n' Greet

As part of the Gearing Up to Get an Agent (GUTGAA) festivities, here are my answers for the Meet & Greet Q&A. I'm actually one of the first-round judges for the upcoming pitch contest, but I really wanted to join in the preliminary schmoozing! :-) For more info on GUTGAA, or to sign up for the upcoming contests, go to deanabarnhart.blogspot.com.

Where do you write?
At my desktop computer in the family room, right smack in the middle of all the commotion. Occasionally, my husband lets me steal his laptop and write in my bedroom with the door shut for hours. That is divine, and I write so much faster when I'm not interrupted every two seconds!

Quick. Go to your writing space, sit down and look to your left. What is the first thing you see?
A rubber-banded stack of note cards with the major beats and scenes of the novel I'm writing.

Favorite time to write?
I'm a night owl, but I write best first thing in the morning. I've discovered evenings are better for editing.

Drink of choice while writing?

Water. I carry a water bottle everywhere I go. I need me my H2O!

When writing , do you listen to music or do you need complete silence?

Complete silence is best, though I write to music often--but only if it's instrumental. Movie soundtracks are great. I love to sing, and if the music has vocals, I can't help but sing along. Then I'm too distracted to get any writing done!

What was your inspiration for your latest manuscript and where did you find it?

Two things inspired The Rowaness of Shalott. First, my lifetime love of fairies (especially dryads) and mythology (Arthurian myths, in this case). And, second, my feelings revolving around donating a kidney to my brother played a huge role in the themes of this novel.

What's your most valuable writing tip?

Once you've finished your draft, give it some space--at least two weeks (I did two months). Then read it in as little sittings as possible and mark it only for pacing or big picture things. Edit as little as possible so you keep reading quickly like a reader would. This helps me understand, more than anything, how my story is working as a whole.

Mini Bio:
I grew up spouting Shakespeare on the stage and playing folk songs on my guitar, but it wasn’t until I had three children that I discovered my passion for creative writing. Now I channel my artistic energy into the pages of my young adult fantasy novels, where I get to act out all the parts and write swoonworthy love songs for my characters.

39 comments:

  1. Oh, I'm glad you did this part of GUTGAA. I always enjoy getting inside a writer's head and learning about their writing process.

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  2. At my desktop computer in the family room, right smack in the middle of all the commotion. Occasionally, my husband lets me steal his laptop and write in my bedroom with the door shut for hours. That is divine, and I write so much faster when I'm not interrupted every two seconds! - that sounds like my life! Ah, but those locked in the bedroom hours are fantastic! :D

    I love the sound of The Rowaness of Shalott - fairies and Arthurian myths; excellent! :D

    Great getting to know a little more about you. :D

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    1. Thanks, Clare! Maybe one of these days we'll have a real office. (Though I'd feel guilty shut away for so long every day.)

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  3. Your writing space is exactly like mine. I can't write in silence anymore. Late at night I leave the TV on for background noise because I'm so used to the hubbub!

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    1. It's funny the little rituals and things we writers need to do to get in the zone.

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  4. Loving the sound of your MS! Also, I carry water around everywhere with me too! :D Great to meet you!

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    1. Thanks, Kyra. Yes, water is an absolute necessity for me. A chiropractor once told me 90% of bodily pain would be eliminated if people drank more water. I don't know if that's true, but when I feel a headache coming on, I guzzle up, and it usually wards it away.

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  5. Nice to meet you! Wonderful answers to the questions! :) *Shake hands*

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    1. *Shakes hands back* Thanks for stopping by, Livia.

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  6. I think the inner editors like to sleep in. ^_^

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    1. I never thought about it that way, but it's SO TRUE!!!

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  7. I agree about setting a manuscript aside for awhile. Some of mine were put aside for an entire decade thanks to being on obsolete file formats on discs, and was it ever a great experience to finally have them again and read them with entirely new eyes!

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    1. Wow, how awful to not have access to some of your stories for so long. I'm glad you've found them. What a treat it must've been to read them again!

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  8. I think that was the best writing advice...thank you! I find I mess up with that all the time, when I go back and re-read...I am constantly stopping and doing little edits, and changing small things...until it gets to the point that I feel I can't "hear" the story like a reader would. Great to "meet" you!! =)

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    1. Thanks, Jodie. And thanks for the RT on Twitter the other day. I'm excited to get to know you more. :-)

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  9. I definitely love movie soundtracks as well. Currently have the soundtrack to "Brokeback Mountain" in my car. It's beautiful! I'm your newest follower! *waves* Very nice to meet you. :)

    AA
    http://anallegedauthor.blogspot.com/

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! My favorite composer is Rachel Portman. I just type her name into Pandora, and it brings up a ton of great movie soundtracks to write along to.

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  10. I think that is great advice... even if I don't follow it. Haha. I just can't leave it alone that long so after I type 'the end', I edit it a few times then shoot if off to CPs. The break from my MS is while they have it. :)

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    1. I know it's hard to resist, but that break sending it CPs definitely counts!

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  11. Saying hello from GUTGAA...I too like listening to cinematic instrumentals while I write, such as the score from The Hunger Games movie. Look forward to reading more from you.

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    1. I love that soundtrack! Thanks for visiting, Cynthia.

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  12. Hi there! Nice to meet you! And thank you so much for donating your time to be a first round judge for GUTGAA. So many writers helping writers, I love it!

    Your revision tips are great. I always have that itch to line edit when I revise, but the times I've forced myself no to and just read the whole thing through, I've caught some bigger concept issues that I never would've noticed if I'd gotten out my red pen and moved silly little commas around. Great advice!

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    1. Yes, I easily go crazy with the line editing too. I've heard reading on Kindles helps avoid this, as well. Good luck with GUTGAA!

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  13. Very cool that you're helping with the contest! (thank you and bless you -- that's a lot of entries to go through). Great advice to let the MS sit for a bit. I tend to have the issue of letting it sit too long and then obsessing that the whole thing is no good. Ah, the drama of being a writer!

    Here's my GUTGAA Meet & Greet post: A Girl and her Diary

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    1. Yes, I know all about the obsessing too much dilemma too. It's a fine balance to strike. Nice to meet you, Steph.

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  14. Glad you're participating in the schmoozing. I am nearly halfway there - my vow is to to comment on every blog but wow there are a lot! I'm upping my caffeine intake to keep up...

    I love Arthurian legend, so anything remotely related interests me. I actually think Lancelot was one of my first crushes... OK, so he's still a crush.

    And good advice re: putting the story down for a while. I thought I'd written the most epic story ever, but then fate made me step away from it for a couple of months, and when I picked it up again there was such a gaping plot hole that I almost fell through it into another dimension. All fixed now though! See you around GUTGAA!

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    1. Holy cow, I can't believe you read all the Meet 'n' Greet posts!! I'm in awe. Thanks for stopping by, and here's hoping you'll crush on my Lancelot too. :-)

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  15. I am exactly the same! Mornings for writing, evening for editing. I guess it all depends on how alive your brain it at different times of the day.

    Rebecca

    My google ID has nothing to do with my writing, Go to rebeccaethington.com to find me.

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    1. I'm glad you're like me. It seems most writers out there do drafting at night. My brain is mush then. I don't know why editing is easier. I guess it's more of a reflex for me than creating from scratch. :-)

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  16. Water? Late night writing? Are we soul sisters?

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  17. Loved your advice. I find this to be so helpful. I haven't touched the ms I'm currently editing for over a year. I enjoy this story so much more this time around because my mc and I aren't fighting anymore.

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    1. It's so true that it feels like you're fighting your MC at times! Wow, a year would be a great distance to have for "fresh eyes," but I'm way too impatient. I'm impressed you did this!

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  18. Love those few hours you occasionally get to sneak away from everything to write. Like you said, it's really divine! It was nice getting to know more about you!

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    1. You too, Janeal. :-) I loved your Meet 'n' Greet post. I'm hoping I'll get more "locked away" hours to write tomorrow.

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  19. Wow byou donated a kidney? Youre a superstar!
    It's great to meet you. I love your advice. Time away always improves the ms!!

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