FAST FICTION Friday, Featuring Elana Johnson and ELEVATED!

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!

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.

Links:

Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Kobo  |  iTunes  |  GoodReads

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

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/possessionthebook

Tumblr: http://elanajohnson.tumblr.com/

Wattpad: http://www.wattpad.com/user/elanajohnson

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.

Fast Fiction Friday!

Happy Valentine's Day! If you haven't entered the Heartbreaker's Blog Tour contest yet for a Kindle loaded with awesome ebooks, there's still time!

This Fast Fiction Friday I'm celebrating! My new book FAST FICTION, is officially out in stores this week (and available on Kindle and ebook, wherever online books are sold!) I've already been hearing some wonderful reviews, and I'm so thankful people are getting something out of the book.

A few things I wanted to let you know about:

There is a GoodReads Giveaway going on right now for three copies of FAST FICTION, courtesy of New World Library.

The official blog tour for FAST FICTION will begin right here on March 3rd. I hope you'll stop back, as there will be TONS of prizes, including a critique from my agent, boxes of books I'm giving away, and a whole slew of writing books, including FAST FICTION, thanks to New World Library!

If you have an active blog and would like to be part of this tour, please let me know!

In lieu of this milestone, today's Fast Fiction Friday tip is very simple: Take time to celebrate your successes! I'll be celebrating this weekend with a bottle of wine I've been saving and some Lindt chocolate. What do you celebrate with, and when is the last time you've celebrated a writing accomplishment?

Fast Fiction Friday: Get Moving!

This week I caught a bout of pink eye from my son. Bleh. No fun. It's especially no fun because I couldn't really leave the house for a few days, since pink eye is highly contagious. This meant no going to the gym for me, which is usually a regular part of my day.

I didn't notice it for the first couple of days, but by day 3, I was feeling so sedentary and lazy and uninspired, I couldn't stand it. (It's also been way too cold here to get active outside). I decided to do a home workout, and within about an hour, I was feeling like a different person. Not only did I physically feel better, but my brain was buzzing with ideas even during my workout.

There's definitely a connection between movement and creativity. Have you been in a creative slump or stuck for new ideas? I highly recommend going for a walk, or going up and down your stairs a few times, or even just doing a few stretches on your office chair. The more ideas you have, the more GOOD ideas you will have, and new ideas will multiply with movement.

Now, get moving!

Fast Fiction Friday: Love Your Work

I'll be back soon to draw a winner for the Early Copy of Fast Fiction. I've been super-busy, which means that if you haven't entered yet, you still have time!

Just like any other writer on the planet, I definitely go through times where I doubt my ability as a writer. It can be difficult to slog on through a draft or a revision when we're in that state of self-doubt. It can be even harder to write well, since confident writing is difficult to fake!

I keep a Word document file on my computer that's called "Favorite Writing," and it's made up of bits and pieces of writing I've done over the years--a paragraph or a sentence or a metaphor I particularly liked. Every once in a while, I need to open up this document. The truth is, I've trained myself in being disciplined, and I'm going to complete my daily writing no matter what. But looking over this file, remembering some of the writing that I have loved, I truly think it helps me bypass some of that garbage, I'm-a-lousy-writer-and-should-stick-to cleaning-toilets attitude that sometimes comes over me.

Do you ever take moments out to "love your work?" If not, how do you battle your self-doubt seeping into your writing?

Fast Fiction Friday: When There Really IS No Time

Sometimes there really isn't any time to write. I get it. I do. I've certainly had those days or weeks, sometimes even months. In fact, I've been feeling a bit swamped lately between promotional prep for FAST FICTION, a few new homeschooling commitments, and just life commitments in general.

My first aim when I get this busy is to keep perspective. The busyness will not last forever. I know that.

Secondly, I TRY to remember to stay sensible in committing to things and prioritizing commitments. Other people will always think your commitments are super-important if it's something that involves them. But, really, I have to ask myself often if commitments are really urgent, or if I'm just taking on someone else's stress.

Once I get those two things out of the way, rather than singing the blues about my lack of writing time, I instead try to flex my brainstorming muscle. I think of ideas while I'm taxiing my son around in the car. Or when I'm running errands or in lineups. I keep an app on my phone where I input any and all ideas I come up with, so even if I'm not doing any actual writing, I still feel like I'm being creative and somewhat productive. Which, in turn, gives me a better attitude.

What do you do when you get too busy? Any tips and tricks? I'd love to hear them!

Fast Fiction Friday: Text-to-Speech

When it comes to polishing my manuscripts, my biggest help and time saver is a text-to-speech editor--or a little computerized voice that reads me my stories. You see, when I'm reading my own stories, I don't notice many spelling mistakes or garbled wording of sentences. I sound them out in my head the way I think they should sound--if written correctly. But with a computer reading to me, I notice so many problems I can't pick up on my own.

I used to do this on my Kindle, since it has a built-in text-to-speech editor, but just recently I discovered that I can also do this in MS Word! And it's already installed and a much more natural-sounding voice than on my Kindle. (To set this up, go up to the very top left hand corner of your MS Word screen. There are a few little icons there. Click on the far right one, which should read "Customize Quick Access Toolbar" when you mouse over it. Then choose "More Commands". Where it says "Choose Commands From" it will probably say "Popular Commands". Change this to "All Commands" and then scroll down in the commands box below until you find "Speak". Add it to the right hand box, and from then on, a little "Speak" icon will now appear in your Quick Access Toolbar at the top.)

Do you use text-to-speech to help you polish? If so, I'd love to hear what editor you use and how it works for you!

Fast Fiction Friday: But What About Depth?

Just because I believe in fast-drafting a first draft of a novel, does not mean I don't believe in deep characters and plotlines. I do a lot of prep work before fast-drafting to get to know who my characters are at a gut level, like how they feel about their mothers and fathers, what's the worst thing a parent has done or said to them, how they still carry around some of their most embarrassing moments...

However, even with a lot of prep work, I don't like to nail anything down in stone until after my first draft. To me, fast-drafting is as much about exploration as it is about finishing a book. Often I'll get to the end of writing a draft before I really know what the book should be about. And when I go back to read the draft over, I hardly recognize many of the scenes or character traits that have shown up. To me, that is the characters showing me who they are, rather than the other way around.

There are a lot of things that an author needs to think about when crafting a satisfying novel, but I like to take the fast-drafting phase--only 30 days--and spend that time not thinking, and instead just feeling what's happening with my characters and which direction I feel they want to go.

So if we're talking about depth, to be honest, I find more of that as a fast-drafter than I ever did before.

Fast Fiction Friday: Don't Beat Yourself Up!

New Year's resolutions are bunk.

There, I've said it.

Which is not to say that I never make any. I just make resolutions with a loose hand and a light heart. I've seen too many people make huge resolutions, and then beat themselves up by January 3rd because they've already broken them. Then, because they feel like garbage and worthless and have been beating themselves up, they often become even worse in the area they made the resolution.

You see, it's not the resolutions that are bad. It's the self-talk we allow ourselves that's truly detrimental.

I made a resolution this year to read more of the things I want to read and less of the things I *should* read. I purposely set my GoodReads reading goal for this year at 10 (down from 100 last year). You know how it's gone so far? I've already been reading two *should* books. Since January 1st!

But you know what? I'm not beating myself up about it. Because I have a whole year to improve (many years if I need it). January 1st is only a day. For most, it's a day off, so it can be a good opportunity to evaluate life and make some plans. The great thing about setting resolutions is that you're thinking of ways you can better yourself. That's a GOOD thing. Assessing how you're doing on these goals, though, takes time. I'll bet if you set some goals for self-improvement and then don't look back at them until the end of the year, you will have improved. Maybe you won't meet your goals exactly, but who cares if you're better than you were!

I saw several writers on Twitter this year professing that they were going to make writing more of a priority this year. Then, the next day, I saw those same writers saying, "I haven't written a word...it's sure to be another sucky writing year." It makes me so upset for them. They're talking themselves into defeat, and they still have ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD TO IMPROVE!

I commend you if you have plans to better yourself--this year, or any time in the future. Just promise yourself that you'll cut yourself some slack along the way. Notice all the little things you've already improved on. Positive self-talk and noticing your achievements, no matter how small, will definitely get you farther in life than calling yourself names.

Fast Fiction Friday: Respect Your Beta Readers

Good critique partners and beta readers are worth their weight in gold.

My readers are an integral part of my revision process, and when we're talking about getting a book into a polished state in as quick of time as possible, one of the first things to look at is finding the right readers for your books. And then KEEPING those right readers, once you've found them.

Finding appropriate, helpful readers, quite honestly, is a matter of trial and error. Your readers, hopefully, should enjoy the majority of what you write, even if they do see flaws in it. You don't want the process to be like pulling teeth for them, or it will take them six months or more to provide you with feedback.

Part of finding good readers is BEING a good reader. When someone asks you for help with their manuscript, make an effort to clear your schedule and read it in a timely manner. Then, hopefully, they will do the same for you when it comes time for them to read one of your books. Try to provide the most helpful and fully-explained feedback you can. Think of how clearly you would want it worded if you were hearing it about your work.

Then, when it comes time to sending your work out to these helpful, timely readers, don't send them unpolished garbage writing. Make it as good as you can on your own before sending it out. Get yourself a text-to-speech program (I use the one on my Kindle) to play back your story with an ear for typos and clunky sentences. You can hear the difference between "She went to her house" and "She went to her hose" even on the most computerized voice. Honestly, I think it comes across as disrespectful to a reader's time if you haven't taken the time to make your writing as easy as possible for them to read.

When it's as good as you can make it, then send your writing out to one or two people (save some readers for the next revision round - always assume there will be a next round).

 There are some parts of the process that are going to take time, they just are. But the idea here is to make them take the least amount of time possible.

Fast Fiction Friday: A Time For Fast and A Time For Slow

Even though I'm a big advocate of fast-drafting a first draft, I don't believe in rushing the entire process of writing a novel. Brainstorming my plot and character ideas, for example, will often take months or even years.

Once I finish a fast draft, I'm also not in any hurry to send it off to publishing professionals. Sending out messy, incongruent, unpolished writing will only give you a bad name in the business of publishing, because people in this business are very, very busy.

After a fast draft, I recommend taking some time to clear your head from the project. Generally, my books take over a year from conception to a point where I feel they are ready to sell. Much of that time is due to the process of either head-clearing or waiting for beta readers to get back to me. The best thing you can do for yourself is try to align those two chunks of time.

When you send your book to a beta reader, don't look or even think about it while you're waiting for feedback. And when you receive feedback, unless you're decisively clear about how to take that person's criticism and implement it to make an infinitely-better book, then sit on the suggestions for two weeks and then read them again before making changes. Sometimes our brains need time to rest, and sometimes they need time to digest new directions.

So, yes, there is a time to go fast (I even complete revisions quickly when I'm very clear about what I want to do) but there's also a time to go slow and let your mind have lots of resting space.

Fast Fiction Friday: Some Perspective on #NaNoWriMo

It's very very close to the end of National Novel-Writing Month, and so I wanted to write a little bit about the whole idea of The Big Challenge. It is big. It can be stressful and even depressing. But it shouldn't be.

Some of you will have met your goal for the month, but some of you--probably most of you--will not have met your goal. First of all, congratulations to everyone in either category! Whether or not you wrote 50,000 words (or met some other goal) this month, if you set a goal and tried to challenge yourself, you are way ahead of most people in this world. There is no reason, no matter how far you are from your goal, to think of this year's NaNo as a personal failure.

The other downfall I've seen with people who complete any amount of their goal during NaNo is that they tend to beat themselves up over the quality of their new manuscript. Don't do it! Instead, take some time away from your new draft. Let your mind relax and change from micro-thinking mode to where you can truly look at the bigger picture of your manuscript and will be able to recognize its great points. This often takes time. If you come out on the other end with anything good, it's probably more than you would have otherwise found in only one month.

We are still over twenty-four hours away from the official NaNoWriMo deadline, so first off, I'd like to say that if you're close, or even near the range where you COULD complete your goal, I encourage you to stop reading this, turn off your phone and Internet, and do everything in your power to make it happen. You see, people who meet goals increase their likelihood of meeting future goals. So this is important, not just for this goal, but for your future. It's only one more day. Why not at least try to give it everything that you have and attempt to sprint to the end?

If you're not near your goal, I have some advice for you too: DON'T GET DEPRESSED. I mean it. You have done something wonderful for yourself by actually setting a goal in the first place and trying. Next time you set a goal, you will be more prepared and will go into it with more realistic parameters. Plus, chances are good that even if you didn't get close to meeting your goal this time, you probably wrote more this month than you would have without a goal. Maybe setting too challenging of a goal actually made some small inner part of you decide to rebel. Maybe your next goal should be to take the project you started and complete it over the next three months. Think of NaNo as a jumping off point and keep moving forward. However you want to approach the future, I encourage you to at least keep your focus there. Don't get stuck thinking about today and yesterday and the goal that didn't quite get completed. You are a person who moves forward in life and improves. Keep doing that today, tomorrow, next week, and next year.

If you did complete your goal, congratulations! Of course you should spend some time basking in your accomplishment and eating lots of chocolate. But besides that, I recommend taking a moment to think about what you learned during this year's NaNoWriMo. I learn something new every year. Because of that, I feel like the process of fast-drafting does get easier and easier for me. I still would NEVER call the process of drafting a book easy! But there are things that can help. Look for the help and take note of it.

No matter where you're at on your project, don't let yourself get discouraged. Know that you have improved your life by setting a goal and making an attempt. Plus, writing is a lonely enough process. Why not join in on these group goal-setting efforts and see it as a chance to have some fun with other writers? If you want a second chance at this, make sure to stop back by here in March for my March Madness Writing Challenge (I'll be looking for blog hosts soon). If you haven't discovered that fast-drafting CAN be fun yet, keep coming back and I'll help you see it. I promise.

Fast Fiction Friday!

Today's thought on Fast-drafting:

Know why you're doing it. Why do you want to write a fast draft? Is it because life gets too busy and if you don't finish your draft this month, you may not finish it at all? Is it because you need a challenging goal to keep you motivated?

Those are a couple of reasons, but, for me, here's the main one: Once I have my whole idea down on paper, I can really see the shape of it. It's much easier to revise the story that is on paper, no matter how bad it is, than to revise a story still stuck in my head. Plus, by writing quickly, I forget plenty of it along the way. I'm always whisking forward through plenty of words and character actions and plot points every single day. There's no way I can remember all or even most of them. So when I go back to read my full draft, it's almost like reading someone else's book--I have that much distance and perspective.

The first draft of my first published novel was written in 21 days. The first draft of my second published novel took years. If you read them both, I think you'll agree that they are similar in quality, but I have to say, the 21-day venture was MUCH less painful on my poor little brain.

So think about why you're doing this. If the goal is really just to get the arc of the story down so you can have some perspective and go in with clarity and excitement to revise, then why are spending so much time worrying about the words you are writing and how wrong or bad they may be? Individual words and sentences and paragraphs and even scenes don't matter at this point. Just work your way through the main arc of the story. Don't worry, just keep moving forward to the end!

 

Fast Fiction Friday!

It's another Friday, and so time for another Fast Fiction tip. Some of these tips come from my forthcoming book, Fast Fiction, some just come from my NaNo-tired brain. But hopefully you will find them helpful.



Today's tip: Find the RIGHT kind of accountability.

You may be a member over at NaNoWriMo.org, which is great, but are you plugged in there? Do you have buddies that are keeping up on your progress and messaging you regularly, especially if they notice your word count has dropped for a few days?

We can't do this alone. There may be people who can write a book all on their own, without the help of critique partners and beta readers and accountability partners and cheerleaders (I'm not one of them), but I don't know of any writer that can FAST-DRAFT without some support.

Get plugged in somewhere with one or two or three writers who will hold you accountable to writing every day, whether you feel like it or not. People who will cheer you on to dig deep, even when it seems like your muse has left the building.

This doesn't have to be on the NaNoWriMo website. I have a great group of accountability partners on Twitter under the hashtag #wipmadness. You're welcome to join us, or find your own little group via email or Facebook or Twitter, or even through a daily phone call.

Just don't try to do it alone. It'll work on the days you feel motivated, but it probably won't work through an entire draft.

Fast Fiction Friday!

As I mentioned, I'm starting a new series on my blog to offer tips to writers on how to make fast-drafting easier, more effective, and more enjoyable. Some of this advice comes from my forthcoming book, Fast Fiction, some are just from my continuing exploration of the subject. If you have your own tips on fast-drafting, or if you try some of my tips, I'd love to hear of your experience in the comments.

Today's Tip:

When you awake each morning, while your brain is still in that fuzzy half-dream state, write for five minutes before you speak to anybody.

This is one of the best times of days to come up with new and creative ideas, before you're bombarded by responsibilities and cares about getting through every day life.

Make this a habit. Do this every day and stockpile your ideas. If you want to write for more than five minutes, go for it! But even if you just do the five, keep a special notebook (or computer file) for this purpose, so you can keep all your new ideas in one place.

You see, the difficulty with fast-drafting is not writing or typing the words out. The difficulty is having the ideas of what to write about. Try this for a week. Stockpile your ideas and see what a difference it makes to your drafting!