As part of Fast Fiction Fridays, I'd like to start featuring some author friends and their new books. Rather than just hearing my point of view all the time, this will give you a chance to hear how other authors outline, or don't, and bring together their ideas for a final draft. I hope these interviews are as interesting for you as they are for me!
To kick it off, I'm welcoming Elana Johnson and featuring her new release, ELEVATED!
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About ELEVATED:
The
last person seventeen-year-old Eleanor Livingston wants to see on the
elevator—let alone get stuck with—is her ex-boyfriend Travis, the guy she's
been avoiding for five months.
Plagued with the belief that when she speaks the truth, bad things happen, Elly hasn’t told Trav anything. Not why she broke up with him and cut off all contact. Not what happened the day her father returned from his deployment to Afghanistan. And certainly not that she misses him and still thinks about him everyday.
But with nowhere to hide and Travis so close it hurts, Elly’s worried she won’t be able to contain her secrets for long. She’s terrified of finally revealing the truth, because she can’t bear to watch a tragedy befall the boy she still loves.
Plagued with the belief that when she speaks the truth, bad things happen, Elly hasn’t told Trav anything. Not why she broke up with him and cut off all contact. Not what happened the day her father returned from his deployment to Afghanistan. And certainly not that she misses him and still thinks about him everyday.
But with nowhere to hide and Travis so close it hurts, Elly’s worried she won’t be able to contain her secrets for long. She’s terrified of finally revealing the truth, because she can’t bear to watch a tragedy befall the boy she still loves.
Links:
Praise for ELEVATED:
"ELEVATED will take you on an emotionally gripping
journey through the highs and lows of first love."
~Carolee Dean, author of Take Me There and Forget
Me Not
"Poignant, raw, and intense, ELEVATED is a novel that
will grip your heart and linger in your mind long after you turn the last
page."
~Stasia Ward Kehoe, author of Audition and The
Sound of Letting Go
About Elana Johnson:
Elana Johnson’s work, including Possession, Surrender,
Abandon, and Regret, published by Simon Pulse (Simon & Schuster),
is available now everywhere books are sold. Her popular ebook, From the Query to the Call, is also
available for free download, as well as a Possession short
story, Resist. School teacher by day, Query Ninja by night, you
can find her online at her personal blog or Twitter. She also co-founded the Query Tracker
blog, and contributes to the League of
Extraordinary Writers.
Social Media Links:
Website/blog: http://elanajohnson.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ElanaJ
Tumblr: http://elanajohnson.tumblr.com/
League of Extraordinary Writers: http://leaguewriters.blogspot.com/
WriteOnCon: http://writeoncon.com/
Elana on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4044383.Elana_Johnson
Interview with Elana:
1. How fast is the fastest you’ve
ever written a first
draft of a novel? Was this
unusual or do you always draft in about the same time frame?
I wrote POSSESSION (my first
published novel) in only 17 days. This is very fast, and I've never been able
to replicate it. The reason is that now I don't have as much time devoted to
just drafting. I've found that I usually start a book, get about half of it
done, and get bored or stumped about what to do next. So I leave it --
sometimes for months. When I come back to it, I can usually finish it pretty
quickly. So that's why it takes me "months" to write a book now.
2. Do you outline your work ahead
of time or fly by the seat of your pants? Any tips or tricks about what makes
this method word for you?
I am a pantser when I draft. I like
to have the story feel organic and take the turns it wants to take. I am slow
to start stories -- I usually stew on ideas and characters for several months
(or even years!) before writing them. For example, with ELEVATED, I got the
idea to write about people stuck in an elevator about 5 years ago. I didn't
write the book until about 2 years ago. I just don't have a fast mind for
developing, I guess.
After I finish drafting the novel, I
outline it using Blake Snyder's "Save the Cat" method for
screenwriting. He has 15 beats that every successful movie (story) should have.
I follow his guidelines and try to get my beats in the right place at the right
time. This helps me find plot issues, character problems, and an idea of what
needs to be revised.
3. When you first get a germ of
an idea for a new story, do you usually start by developing the characters or
the plot first?
Character. Always character. To me,
stories are about people, not plots. So I need a compelling character that has
Things They Need to Learn before I can write.
4. Are you an over-writer or an
under-writer (meaning, after you write a first draft, do you usually spend time
cutting lots of unnecessary sections of words, or
filling in sections that are bare?)
I am an over-writer. I can't seem to
write a first draft that's less than 80,000 words. And that count usually goes
UP during revisions before it goes down!
5. What’s your favorite book on
the craft of writing? What do you like best about this book?
I'll admit
that I don't read very many of these... I did read all of Blake Snyder's
"Save the Cat" series, because it made sense to the structure part of
storytelling. And I read a few sections in "Stein on Writing" by Sol
Stein. His stuff on pacing really helped me.
Thanks so much for visiting, Elana, and congratulations on ELEVATED! I can't wait to read it!
If you're an author who would like to be featured on Fast Fiction Friday, answer the above interview questions, and send them along with some information about your book to d(at)denisejaden(dot)com.
