Today I’m taking a slight detour from talking about books to discuss the writing process as part of a blog tour that’s been going around. I was invited to take part in the blog tour by Mary Vensel White, author of the beautiful novel The Qualities of Wood which is being published to paperback next week by HarperCollins. I had the pleasure of first reading the book two years ago (so I can now say I knew her way-back-when) and despite the passage of time I can clearly remember the setting of Vivian’s story, the intricacies of her character, and the taut feeling at the center of the novel that still touches me with its artistry. I wrote about The Qualities of Wood and also interviewed her back in the day (y’know…2012). You can read Mary’s answers regarding her own writing process here.

What are you working on?

Of fiction I have two projects that are each fighting for my time (with a third lingering in the back somewhere). I think, as a writer, expecting to have any control over where your stories go is a fairly laughable concept. The stories can and will do as they please, and that’s what I’m dealing with at the moment: trying vainly to wrestle one story into submission while another story vies for my attention. Coincidentally, the two are vastly different: one is a contemporary drama about a woman’s struggle with debilitating fear while the other is a fantasy about what’s really behind the books we read and write. It’s spooky and romantic and I’m quite curious about it, but the contemporary story is also important to me, it comes from a very personal place, so I want to pursue that as well.

As for book reviews, I have a full reading list (maybe overly so) for the summer and I’m excited about everything on it. I’ll be writing about Elisabeth Gifford’s The Sea House tomorrow, and for the rest of the summer I’m reading work from Manju Kapur, Barbara Taylor Bradford, and Linda Francis Lee, plus three debut novels and a nonfiction book. I also have my TBR Pile challenge which will include The Virgin Suicides, Life of Pi, and either Midwives or Half the Sky. And then I have The Rosie Project and Fangirl (at least!) from a set of eight books I won from Jen‘s birthday giveaway, and I’ve been meaning to read Gayle Foreman’s Just One Day and Just One Year which I won from Britta. You can always find what I’m reading on Goodreads, too, of course. (I’m exhausted from just typing all of that.)

How does your work differ from others of its genre?

I don’t know that I have a niche genre, so this question is difficult to answer. The whole menagerie of things I’ve written run the gamut. My stories are always dramas; regardless of the setting and the differences in story type, they do have that in common. One might be an historical drama, one a contemporary drama; there might be a romantic drama or a social drama or maybe (maybe, maybe) a psychological drama. I love that word – drama – because I think, in the broad sense, it can cover a lot of territory while still being at least moderately descriptive: a drama can be quiet, heartwarming, suspenseful, romantic, emotional, moody, inspiring, tragic, opulent, sparse. Drama gets us in touch with the edges of life and helps some of the raw bits feel a little less scary. I think maybe that’s what makes my work different, the fact that its consistency is in its essence rather than in a style or plot or “genre”. (I’m just glossing over the fact, of course, that in literature a drama is often considered to be a play. We don’t seem to have a broad-spectrum form of drama quite like the cinematic world does. But, with all due respect to wonderful playwrights the world over, I’m stealing drama for today.)

The same could be said for my book reviews, as far as not having a niche. I don’t review a certain genre specifically; it’s nothing I did on purpose, really, I’ve just always been a sort of riotously unspecific reader. I hope it’s something people enjoy, but I imagine it can also make my posts of…maybe inconsistent value for readers who came to the blog looking for reviews on one genre. For better or worse, it does make me a little different, right? I love to look back and realize that I’ve written about biographies, memoirs on religion and travel, science fiction and historical romance, novels and poetry and fiction-in-verse. It’s all very interesting to me.

Why do you write what you do?

I write drama (I like that, I’m sticking with it) because I think it’s really quite important. When I think about the arts in general I do see drama, because I think the way art moves us is dramatic. There’s an element about being invested in the arts, at least for me, that becomes very introspective and quite deep. I guess there’s really a lot of myself in what I write and why I write it: I think writers ought to reflect a lot of themselves into their writing, because our unique gifts and our individual perspectives are important. In my case, I want my stories to be pleasant and easygoing, positive, but also meaningful, drawing the reader into deep reflections and maybe offering an interesting outlook of life. (That all feels wildly self-indulgent, but there you have it.) Also, I like writing about awesome, modern women, or women ahead of their time; about how they think and feel and what gets into their bones and makes them come alive. How they deal with their problems and overcome them, but also how they handle their own imperfections. I think the world can never have enough representation of the full scope of women.

As for book reviews, I started writing about books on a whim and now I really can’t imagine not doing it. It’s helped me to connect with books in a deeper way than ever before, and it’s shaped my experience as a writer as well. I’ll tell you truthfully that I don’t write reviews for others – it seems a little strange to say that, but when I write my reviews it’s just me and the book and all the feelings that have come up in the course of our time together. The fact that I then get to connect with an awesome community of bloggers is like this entirely separate little gift I did nothing to deserve.

How does your writing process work?

If I ever find out, I’ll be sure to let you know. I find it very hard to have a schedule, to sit down and write at the same hour every day, but it’s something I’m working very hard on as I hope (really, really hope) doing something like that will magically make me more productive. In the meantime, my fiction process is like a bullet train followed by…whatever’s slower than a snail. In order to get any story down at all I must do it quickly, preferably without much thought involved because that leads to instantaneous over-thinking, debilitating self-criticism, and a desire to give up altogether. This is why NaNoWriMo has been such a great tool for me, it’s helped me very much in determining the initial part of what works for me: silencing the inner editor and getting those words – any words – down. I type out my first drafts and sometimes I’ll get into such a rhythm that I pay more attention to the sounds of the keys tapping than to what’s going on in the story. Then, occasionally, I’ll go back and read what I wrote and it’s genuinely like experiencing it for the first time. (It seems a bit like cheating; I’m expecting someday to be banned from literature for being my own ghostwriter.) What comes after all that is quite terrible, and probably that crazy spree of uninhibited writing is to blame, because all of my inhibitions come slamming back into my body and I think: “What next?” Do I research, do I write more scenes, do I take scenes out? I’ve never done a story outline because I’ve never known more than a thing or two about a story going into it: a character or a scene or a sentence or a feeling. So my process is very much a non-process, but for me I think that’s what makes for the most honest work.

With book reviews, it’s kind of similar but without that terrible last part. I always write my reviews as soon as I close the book, when the experience is freshest in my mind. It usually takes me about twenty minutes to write a review and I hardly ever do any editing beyond the proof-reading sort or occasionally if I think of a better way to organize a sentence. But for the most part, what you see is pretty raw. When I wrote about Love in the Time of Cholera I had just closed the book, my computer was already on, and I just slammed on my keyboard until I felt like I’d sufficiently relived the experience. I’m pretty happy about how that one turned out. I think my best reviews are the books I was the most excited by or moved by in the end; what I write truly becomes that moment when you finish a book and you want to tell everyone you know: “This was amazing, you should read it!”.

Other writers to follow…

The final part of this little series is to tag three other authors/bloggers to share their writing processes. I’ve cheated a bit and I’m passing the baton to four writers, but I also want to give shout-outs to a few other friends who weren’t able to participate. I recommend checking out all of them, reading their blogs and their work and getting to know them. They’re all wonderful. Thanks for reading!

Stephanie Shar | Blog

Stephanie blogs at The Loudmouth Lifestyle and just released her first inspirational ebook, 7 Steps to Living Loudly, all the while building a freelance career and – oh, yeah – having a baby. (I don’t know how she does it, either.) Steph and I first met as fashion bloggers and she now writes inspirational pieces for women. She’ll be sharing her answers to the Q&A on TLL next week.

Joelle Duff | Blog

In addition to being a full-time wedding planner, Joelle blogs at Something Charming and writes love stories in her free time. She released her first novel, Breathe Again, earlier this year and she’ll be re-releasing it with Montlake Romance this summer. She’s one of the most beautifully candid writers I know, and she puts a great deal of heart into her words. She’ll be answering the Q&A on her blog next week.

Darci Hannah | Blog

Darci is the author of the historical fantasy novels The Exile of Sara Stevenson and The Angel of Blythe Hall which were both released from Ballantine a few years ago. She has such a beautiful way of capturing history (especially 15th century Scotland in The Angel of Blythe Hall).

Katie O’Rourke | Blog

Katie is the author of Monsoon Season and A Long Thaw, two beautiful contemporary novels with wonderfully imagined characters. She was also tagged by Mary and answered the Q&A on her blog, Telling Stories, so although I’m not “tagging” her I certainly count her among the writers I’ll always recommend.

Molly Greene | Blog

Molly is the author of the Gen Delacourt mystery series (Mark of the Loon, Rapunzel, and most recently Paint Me Gone) as well as the indispensable guide, Blog It!: The Author’s Guide to Building a Successful Online Brand. Molly is a wealth of knowledge; she shares wonderful articles full of tips and tricks on her blog. And her mysteries are the sort of fabulous stories you never want to see end!

John A. Heldt | Blog

John is a terrific writer of genre-bending stories, and he’ll also be answering the Q&A on his blog next week. This year he completed his Northwest Passages series, a collection of five wonderful time-travel romance novels that I just adore. The series consists of (in order) The Mine, The Journey,The Show, The Fire, and The Mirror; I couldn’t possibly pick a favorite.

Britta K. | Blog

Britta is one of my oldest writing friends, a quixotic charmer with a penchant for whimsy. She’s the girl behind the book blog Novel Days and the knitting blog Twining Necklaces, and she’s also working on her first novel. She’s a dedicated creative type and she’s always inspiring me with her willingness to teach herself new things. She’ll be answering the Q&A on Novel Days next week.

Kendra Bean | Blog

Kendra is a film historian and the author of the extraordinary illustrated biography Vivien Leigh: An Intimate Portrait, and she’s also written extensively about film history and the Oliviers. She also created the website and blog Viv and Larry, which is dedicated to all things Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier. I’ve known Kendra and enjoyed her beautiful writings on classic film for years; she’s remarkable at what she does.

Christine Nolfi | Blog

Christine is the author of the Liberty Series, which includes Treasure Me (easily one of my all-time favorite books), Second Chance Grill, and The Impossible Wish; she’s also written several standalone novels, The Tree of Everlasting Knowledge and The Dream You Make, and the nonfiction book Reviews Sell Books, a guide to help indie writers land quality book reviews. Besides being a beautiful writer, Christine is a self-publishing whiz and she’s always willing to lend a hand and a supportive voice to aspiring writers.