This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Stephanie Evanovich's debut, 'Big Girl Panties' about a grieving young widow who decides to get in shape and in losing the pounds, gains a lot more than she bargained for, was released this summer. Stephanie has answered a few questions we put to her for our Novelicious Readers.
Can
you tell us a little about your average writing day?
I try to be up by 5 and slowly boot up the
laptop and get the coffee and then sit down and work till about 9. That may
sound like torture, but I’ve been a morning person for a while now. If I’m really into something, I’ll spend more
time during the day. That’s during the week. On the weekends is when I get the most done though.
When
you are writing, do you use any celebrities or people you know as inspiration?
Of course! I will admit though, once I think I have the character nailed down, they
sort of morph into their own personas.
What
is your favourite Women’s Fiction book of all time and why?
I can only choose one?!? Not fair! I claim shenanigans.
What is your writing process? Do you plan first or dive in? How many drafts do you do?
I’m a diver. If I do too much
planning, it quickly turns into procrastinating. I just do one draft and then I work off it,
no matter how much changing it goes through.
What
was your journey to being a published author?
The short version is, I joined a
writers group and met someone with ties to the publishing industry. He encouraged me to finish the book and told
me he would help me. And then he
did. He called the woman who would
become my agent and asked if she’d be interested in talking to me. Luckily, she was receptive. I sent her the manuscript and it took off
from there. I owe him the kind of debt
that can never be repaid.
What
do you think is the biggest myth about being a novelist?
That it’s easy or comes naturally, even if
you have a knack for it and/or love doing it.
I found that one out myself the hard way and have lots of awful pages to
prove it.
What
advice can you give to our readers who want to write a novel of their own?
Sit down and write it! Work the craft, push through the parts you aren’t feeling, even if you hate it. You can always go back and change them, and probably will. But if you walk away in frustration, you’ll never finish the manuscript.
What are you working on at the moment?
I’m
finishing up Book 2 and meeting lots of nice people promoting BGP.
What
are your top five writing tips?
1) Write.
2) Keep writing
3) Write some more
4) Don’t stop writing
5) Remember – it’s a craft you never finish practicing.
Thanks, Stephanie!