My Writing Process – Katie L. Carroll

Confession #9: I hate prolific writers.

Yes, I’m using the word “hate,” a word–you guessed it–I hate (it’s so unimaginative and really when you think about it, rather vague). It seems every other author I’ve ever heard of is a faster writer. Yeah, I know, it’s not a good idea to compare yourself to other writers and their processes or successes because to each his own and everything, but, man, I wish I could just write faster…and that I hadn’t heard of all these other writers who have a million books coming out all the time.

Seriously, my writer friends seem to have books releasing every day. I know about all their new books because I’m constantly hosting them here on this blog and reading their amazing stories. They post about their huge word counts (I’m happy to get a couple hundred words in a day, and I don’t even write every day…not even close to every day) and they do NaNoWriMo and write, write, write. And I love these writer friends of mine, but I hate them too. Why? Because they are so prolific and I am, well, not.

And I know what you’d say to me (because you, my dear blog readers, are a wonderful, supportive group of people). “Katie,” you’d say. “You have a preschooler and a baby, you have your editing, a husband who does housework, and a wonderful, full life.” And I’d say, “Yes, that is all true, and thank you for saying so.”

I do have all these wonderful things in my life, but I only have two published books and one collaborative work on the way, and I want more published books. I want more work to put out there. I want more time to write and when I do have time to write, I want to write more. Bottom line, I want more! “Wah, wah, wah,” right?

Then I feel guilty because there are other writers who are struggling to have anything published, writers who deserve to be published. Because I remember having that kind of wanting before ELIXIR BOUND came out, and that is a whole other kind of longing.

Back on topic, even this blog post feels like it’s taking forever to write. Why can’t my brain just get the words out of my head and onto the page in a manner that doesn’t feel like losing a 100-meter race to a slug? I’m a fast typist, so that’s not the problem. I’m a fast thinker, too. I think part of the problem is how much I have to think about things before I write them down. My process is part of who I am, not just as a writer but as a person. That’s hard to change.

I have to have a really good sense of what I’m writing before I even begin to put it down on the page. And then when I do start to get it down on the page, it spawns all these other thoughts and ideas that I have to rein my brain in. Wait, I think that means I think too fast, so it’s hard to focus on the writing and just get it on the paper. My brain moves too fast for my fingers. Plus, I’m a deliberate person. I don’t just do things nilly-willy (not saying prolific writers do things this way…only a comment on myself); I need to be ready to do things before I do them. I’m not sure there’s a way to circumnavigate that.

Okay, now I’m thinking out loud on the page, and boy, that’s a scary thought because who knows what will come out next. Let me gather my focus again. I am not a prolific writer and I may never be one because it’s just not the way I work. So all you prolific writers out there, just cut it out already! 😉

I’ve been tagged! Author extraordinaire Kai Strand asked me to participate in the My Writing Process blog hop. Make sure to check out Kai’s post about her (many) works in progress and her blog at http://kaistrand.blogspot.com/.

Now on to the questions I must answer:

1. What am I working on?

I’ve been really mum on the blog lately (and in general) about my WIPs since putting myself in a creative bubble last fall. I’m not exactly ready to bust open the bubble, but a little sharing won’t hurt.

So I’ve been working on drafting two different YA projects. Elixir Saved (which I’ve mentioned on the blog before) is a companion novel to my published YA fantasy Elixir Bound. It has three point of view characters, is epic in scope, and has a central theme of sacrifice. My other YA project is tentatively titled Black Butterfly. And that’s all I’m going to say about that one.

I’m hoping to have good drafts of both done before Baby Boy #2 arrives, but that may be wishful thinking. We’ll see how the drafting progresses.

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?

My work is different from others in its genre in exactly the same way as any other writer’s is (how’s that for a paradoxical answer!). What I mean is I write stories that only I can tell in a way that only I can tell them. Okay, you want me to be more specific. One important way I try to stand out in the fantasy genre is to feature dynamic female characters with complex relationships among themselves and with the males around them. (Admittedly, there are other fantasy stories, particularly YA ones, that do this, but I think there aren’t enough.)

3. Why do I write what I do?

I write for teens and kids because that is what I love to read. But it goes beyond that, too. Kids and teens are learning and growing in ways an adult never will. A book read by a child has a far greater impact on his/her life than a book read by an adult had on that adult’s life. I think it’s important to offer kids and teens important, deep, diverse, fun, and entertaining reading experiences (not necessarily all provided by a single work). And I’d love to feel like something I’ve created can have even a small impact on a child.

4. How does your writing process work?

I’m not sure I’d say it does work. I often feel inadequately equipped to be a writer. Not because I can’t write well, but because the process can be elusive. Most of my stories start with a driving plot point and a character and grow from there, but I’ve never written two books in the same way. But they eventually get written, so maybe it my process does work.

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Thanks for reading about my writing process. I’m tagging two more authors extraordinaire Erin Albert and Suzanne de Montigny. Be sure to check out both their posts next week!

Erin Albert (http://www.erinalbertbooks.com/erins-blog.html) is an editor at BookFish Books and author of The Fulfillment Series. Since she picked up Morris the Moose Goes to School at age four, she has been infatuated with the written word. She went on to work as a grammar and writing tutor in college and is still teased by her family and friends for being a member of the “Grammar Police.” In her free time, Erin enjoys acting, running, kickboxing, and, of course, reading and writing. Her favorite place to be is at home with her family and easygoing tabby cat.

Suzanne de Montigny (http://suzannesthoughtsfortheday.blogspot.ca/), author of The Shadow of the Unicorn: The Legacy, was an elementary music teacher for twenty years where she discovered her knack for storytelling. She has nearly completed The Shadow of the Unicorn: The Deception.