2. You've written so many short stories, as well as novels, essays, poems, and beyond. I'm intimidated, honestly--in a good way, of course. How are you so prolific? Do you have a strict schedule? A special routine that makes your creative brain wake up? I'd love to know.
I honestly don’t consider myself prolific compared to writers like Seanan McGuire or Tim Waggoner. I don’t have anything near a strict schedule. I tend to be a binge writer who focuses on writing to deadlines. I tend to work on one piece at a time and move on to the next once a draft is complete.
What I have been — and what I think has made the most difference — is strategic. A long time ago, I thought, “You know what? I don’t ever want to have to turn down a writing gig because I don’t know how to write the thing the editor wants.” So I studied a wide variety of writing; the only form I haven’t ever attempted is playwriting. I have an MA in journalism and an MFA in creative writing. Which isn’t to say that I think any specific degree is necessary to be a successful writer! But I did learn a whole lot in both my graduate programs. That said, college has become grotesquely expensive here in the U.S., and everything I learned in school I could have learned elsewhere. It just might have taken a whole lot longer. And everything about the business side of things I did learn elsewhere.
I’m a plotter rather than a discovery writer. I’ll think about a piece a whole lot before I actually sit down to write it. While I do leave room for a story to organically develop, I generally have at least a beginning and ending in mind before I start.
At this stage of my career, editors regularly invite me to contribute to anthologies and magazines, and that keeps a steady number of deadlines on my plate. I seldom find myself at odds and ends wondering what to work on next.
I also seldom have to do much rewriting once I’ve completed an initial draft. And I sell the vast majority of what I write for publication. That’s all a function of practice and experience — when I was starting out, I’d endlessly revise a story. But now, with over a hundred stories behind me, I write fewer words per day and write more slowly than some writers. I know folks whose process is to write hundreds or thousands of words every day and then carve that mass down into a finished story or novel. They might start with 250,000 words to craft an 80,000-word novel. Having to regularly scrap so much work would drive me crazy! But that’s their process, and there’s nothing wrong with it, if it’s effective for them.
An important detail is that I don’t write every day. Should I? Probably! But, I don’t, and I have a viable writing career in spite of that.
So, for all the beginning writers out there who are tying themselves in knots because they just can’t get writing done every single day like all the books say they must: it’s okay. Honest. Don’t beat yourself up. As long as you are managing to get your work done, it doesn’t matter if you do it during your lunch breaks or late at night or during epic writing binges every Sunday. Learning when you can effectively write is as important as figuring out how to write, and there’s no one “right” way to do it. Try different things and do what works for you.
With regard to special routines, I do listen to specific playlists when I write. Most music with lyrics is distracting to me, so I listen to a lot of movie soundtracks. Curating specific music that I only listen to when I’m writing fiction seems to help get my brain in the necessary creative mode.
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