Lisa J. Yarde, historical fiction author and great friend, invited me to participate in IC Publishing’s writing path blog tour. Thank you, Lisa! Read her answers to the tour questions.
1. How do you start your writing projects?
A brand new story starts with a scene in my head and I have to put it to paper. Sometimes, scene begins with someone else sharing their story, a true event. As they’re speaking, I visualize it and then…aha!…I have a beginning. That doesn’t mean that I fictionalize their anecdote but really work with that one visual as the cornerstone of inspiration. More often, it’s those characters making themselves known to me, on their own accord. But the visualization process is the same. It’s seeing, as if watching a movie, a core scene and that begins the story.
I love history and spend a lot of time researching areas of interest (usually Irish history) or doing genealogy research. My current Brigid trilogy began as casual research into the question of how Ireland became Christianized from its pagan roots. One thing (Patrick) led to another (Brigid)…and now, three books later…
2. How do you continue your writing process?
Discipline. It’s so easy to stop. It’s so easy to do something else instead of write for that hour, or half-hour, or fifteen minutes. At the same time, I think we also need to be forgiving with ourselves. Commit to the writing time daily, but vary the projects. For example, I teach high school/dual enrollment and I think most teachers would agree that the start of every new school year is overwhelming (I support year-round school, btw, if anyone asks for my .02. Would really help keep my writing schedule
be more consistent) – especially if there are new preps, new content and topics to learn, let alone the hundred or so new students each year.
Anyhow. For the past two weeks, I haven’t picked up Church of the Oak, book three that I’m supposed to be revising. But I have made myself write everyday. Sometimes its a few pages of journaling. But its writing. I read through and submitted a few short stories I’ve had. That’s in the ball park of writing. Today, I’m counting this blog post as my writing time. Is it the novel? No. But it’s writing.
For anyone wanting to know how to start, read Julia Cameron’s The Artists Way.
3. How do you finish your writing project?
It takes me a long to really and truly finish because I’m a strong proponent of revision. Put a manuscript down for a few weeks or even months (but don’t forget about it!). Look at it with fresh eyes. Revise. Submit. Submit again. Revise. After a certain amount of time, it might be wise to say, stop. This story isn’t going anywhere, at least not in the near future. Put it away. On a positive note, when a story is published, well, you’re done!
4. Include one challenge or additional tip that our collective communities could help with or benefit from.
Do your research. If you decide to query agents and publishers or submit to literary journals or self-publish, do your research. Find the agent or publisher that might be the best fit for your novel. Don’t sent historical fiction to someone who only wants sci-fi. Don’t send straight historical fiction to a romance publisher.
I also edit a literary journal. I tell people to read several of the stories we’ve published and decide if your work is a good fit.
If you decide to self-publish, find out how to format, how to edit, how to upload a cover, how to market. Find out the many different self-publishing platforms available. If that’s not your thing, self-publishing may not be your thing.
And PLEASE, know the difference between a publisher and vanity press. Never, ever give somebody money to publish or represent your work. Period.
Finally, accept the fact that, like dating, publishing is a nebulous and subjective world. It takes a lot of good writing and little bit of luck.
