Ask the Author #1

A few weeks (or maybe, by now, months) ago I asked my newsletter subscribers to ask me anything. And a few of them actually did!

I recorded an Ask the Author video answering those questions. You can watch the video, or keep reading to find out:

⭐️ What inspired me to write?
⭐️ How did I find an agent and publisher?
⭐️ How long did it take to get my agent?
⭐️ What is my writing and revision process?

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1. What inspired you to write?

The number one reason that I started writing is that I fell in love with reading.

Growing up I never considered myself a reader. I did read—a lot—but the things I liked to read “didn’t count” (according to people who have no right to tell kids what is or is not worth reading). I devoured things like Nancy Drew and Baby-Sitter’s Club and Sweet Valley High and Michael Crichton.

But I wasn’t a reader.

Then I went to college, to an Ivy League school, and in my freshman literature class, we read Pride and Prejudice. Game over.

I started reading historical romance like crazy. Especially after graduate school. I would go to the bookstore and bring home a stage of 400-page novels that would last me, like, a week max. Then I would go back for more.

And the more I read, the more I started wanting the characters to do or say things differently.

I finally realized that the could… if I wrote them.

So that’s pretty much why I started writing.

2. How did you find an agent and publisher? How long did it take you?

I went after my career in a very traditional way. I knew I wanted to be published by a New York house, and I knew that meant getting an agent first.

So I did two things that landed me my agent.

First, I entered writing contests. Mostly through the Romance Writers of America, whose chapters offer tons of different contests. (RWA has changed a lot over the years and I no longer recommend them.)

Some of the contests offer feedback, which is great if you’re still developing your craft. Some of them use agents and editors a final round judges.

Once I started finaling in contests (meaning my writing was getting closer and closer to publication-ready) this not only got my book in front industry professionals but also gave me some writing credentials.

I used those credentials in part two of my get-an-agent plan: query letters.

Sending query letters is pretty much the oldest and most boring way to get an agent. Basically, you find an agent who represents your kind of book, you send them an email (or, in the stone age, an actual letter) that describes you and your book, and ask them if they want to read some.

It’s painful and stressful and often an exercise in extreme patience.

But it also works.

This is how I got my agent. I sent her a query letter (the second one I’d sent her, for a different book) and she asked to read more. Then she offered to represent me.

Writing and sending query letters sucks, but it can also work.

The whole process, from when I decided to pursue writing as a serious career until I signed with my agent took about four years (and four books, for that matter). Selling that first book, Oh. My. Gods., took another year.

Judging from my writer friends, four years and/or four books is a good general average, but there are always exceptions and outliers.

3. What is your revision and writing process?

My process changes a lot depending on the book. Some books are like chiseling limestone—pretty soft and easy to manipulate—but others are stone cold granite that requires a jackhammer and some explosives to get into shape.

In general, though, I think there are three stages to the process.

1. Brainstorming

First, I brainstorm. This can take many forms, anything from scribbling on index cards to freewriting from a character’s point of view to trying to hammer out an outline using some kind of screenwriting beat sheet.

When I feel like I know the story well enough to start (or the deadline is looming so close I can feel it breathing down my neck) then I begin stage two: first drafting.

2. First Drafting

This is, by far, the most painful. The emotional labor of sitting down at the blank screen and begging the words to come can be excruciating.

I’ve recently developed a system I call micro-outlining that helps a lot. I will open up Workflowy (a super-simple outlining app) and basically go through the entire scene in my head and make shorthand notes about what I want to write.

It might look like this:

• Floating outside the door
• Super nervous
• Fidgets with hair
• Door opens suddenly

Even just knowing the kind of play-by-play action of the scene removes the burden of trying to figure out what has to happen next and makes writing (dare I say it) painless.

And finally, when the first draft is done—after as long of a break as I can afford—I dig in on revising.

3. Revising

Usually, I self-edit first.

As I’m writing, I keep a running list of things I need to go back and fix or change. Like if a character’s name changes or if I realize they want to be a school teacher, not an architect. These can be tiny, word or sentence sized things or big massive ones with huge implications on the overall story.

Then I go back through the manuscript, keeping an eye on my list of notes.

I do the same with notes I get from an editor. In that case, I usually break down the notes by how big the impact is. I’ll highlight the little, easy to fix thing in yellow. The medium, not-so-bad stuff in orange. And the watch-out-this-changes-everything problems in pink.

Because I’m a wimp and I like to feel like I’m checking things off my list, I will do the yellow and orange things first and save the big bad pink things for last.

This also lets me go back through the book with the big changes in the back of my mind so that my subconscious can help me figure out how to fix them.

So that’s pretty much my writing process.

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If you want me to be more granular about it—what do I write on or with, where do I write, how often, what do I listen to…etc—then either let me know in comments below or submit your questions at teralynnchilds.com/ask.