Guest Post: Ali Luke on Why Editing Matters

Self-editing must be in the water . . . last week I posted on the Precision Editing Group blog about how I do it, answering questions from TJ, and today my readers get a treat: a guest post by Ali Luke that digs deeper in to the whys and wherefores of self-editing.

Ali is a personal writing coach. She's written books about freelance blogging, and now she's also a novelist. Today she addresses what's behind self-editing.

In short: It matters, and here's why.

Why Editing Matters . . . and How to Stay Motivated to Do It Well

by Ali Luke

Whatever sort of writing you do– whether you’re working on a blog post, a book, or just a short piece for your church newsletter—you’re going to need to edit.

Sometimes, that editing might take just a few minutes. You’ll be looking for typos, smoothing awkward sentences, and making sure that you’ve included everything you wanted to say.

With bigger projects, though, the editing phase needs to take a correspondingly bigger chunk of your writing time. If you’re working on a non-fiction book or a novel, you may well find that you spent as long on the editing as on the first draft (and quite possibly longer).

If the creative bit of writing is what excites you—seeing a blank page fill up with new words and thoughts—then editing may feel uninspiring. You may be very tempted to just call it “done” and publish your blog post or send off your book manuscript as-is.

But here’s why editing matters...

Editing Shows Your Respect for Your Work . . . and Your Reader

It’s very, very tough to produce a perfect first draft. You might manage it on a short blog post (though even then, you’ll almost certainly find at least a word or two you want to change). With anything much longer, you’re likely to have all sorts of first draft problems. This doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with your writing, or with you; it’s just part of the writing process.

First drafts often have:

·        Missing information—sections, chapters or scenes that you realize need to be added in for a sense of completeness.

·         Superfluous information—tangents and digressions that you might have needed to write through . . . but that are now making your work lopsided.

·         Badly ordered information—perhaps chapter 10 would make more sense as chapter 5.

·         Repetitive information—maybe you’ve been working on your project for years, and you didn’t realize that chapter 20 covers rather similar ground to chapter 12.

·         Spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, poor punctuation, typos—all of these will distract, confuse and annoy your reader; thankfully, they’re easy to fix.

Careful editing means taking your work seriously. It means respecting the time that you’ve already put into the writing, and the time that you’re going to be spending on publishing, promoting, or sharing this piece with others.

Your editing also shows respect for your reader. Yes, of course the reader can still gain value from a piece of writing that has a few typos, or that’s badly organized—but when they’re investing their time and energy in reading your work, you want to deliver something that’s as good as you can make it.

Staying Motivated to Edit: Start to End

One of the best ways to be motivated is to split editing into several stages: don’t try to do everything at once, and definitely don’t try to edit while you’re writing the first draft. If you find yourself going back to restart every sentence before you’ve finished it, you won’t make much progress.

Whatever you’re editing—from a novel to a blog post—here’s a simple structure you can use:

Step #1: Let Your Work Sit

If you’ve written something short, leaving it alone over lunch might give your mind enough space to come back afresh. If you’ve written a whole novel, leaving it for at least a couple of weeks should help clear your head. While you’re away from your work, your subconscious will keep on mulling over ideas—and you may be surprised what comes up when you dig in on the editing.

Motivation Boost: Often, taking some time out can make you feel much more eager to get back to work! You might want to plan a vacation or a retreat so that you can rest while your writing is resting.

Step #2: Read Through the Whole Thing

Go through your whole post, article, or book in a short space of time—ideally, one day. Jot down any brief notes as you’re going along, if you’re worried about forgetting something. At this point, you’re just trying to get a sense of the shape of the work (something that’s tough to do when you’ve been writing for days, weeks, or months).

Motivation Boost: You’ll almost certainly come across some great passages in your work that you’ve completely forgotten writing. You may find that it’s better than you expected. And even though you’ll notice some problems, you’ll also start thinking of ways to fix it.

Step #3: Edit the Big Picture

This is the stage that I often call “revision”—making substantial changes to a work-in-progress. You’ll find yourself cutting, adding, or rearranging whole sections. If you’re working on a non-fiction book, you might change the direction entirely; if you’re writing a novel, you may add a subplot or cut a character.

Motivation Boost: You can make fast, visible progress at this stage, cutting through swathes of words at a time. You’ll see your book (or post, or article) coming into shape.

Step #4: Get Feedback

Once you’ve gone through step #3, it’s a great idea to get feedback on your piece, especially if you’ve written something in-depth like a book. Ask some trusted friends or fellow-writers to act as your “beta-readers,” testing out your work and giving feedback on what’s good and what might need some further improvement.

Note: Depending on the feedback you get, you might need to repeat step #3 and make some further big-picture changes.

Motivation Boost: Having readers feels great, especially if they get excited about your book. You’ll also get lots of new ideas and suggestions, which can be really encouraging, especially if you were starting to feel a bit stale.

Step #5: Edit the Details

By this point, your piece should be in good shape. If it’s a blog post or an article, all the paragraphs should be in the right order; if it’s a book, all the chapters and scenes should be firmly in place. Now, you can deal with all those little things like grammatical slips, spelling mistakes, punctuation errors, and so on.

Motivation Boost: This stage isn’t very creative, but it can be immensely satisfying to get things right. If it feels like there’s a lot of work before you, try splitting your project into sections; make a chart, and check each off as you complete it.

So, is editing really worth all that work? I was wondering that myself when I got to Draft 5 of my novel, Lycopolis: I sent the draft to a freelance editor, the lovely and honest Lorna Fergusson from fictionfire, and she recommended some substantial changes. I’d hoped for just a few minor corrections . . .  but I took her advice on board, and I cut the novel’s manuscript from 135,000 to 85,000 words.

It definitely was worth the work: the lovely reviews, tweets, and emails that I’ve had confirm that! So if you’re staring at a first draft right now—or even a fifth draft—then don’t be afraid to dig in once again, if that’s what your beta-reader (or your editor) is suggesting.

But once you’ve got that article or post or book as good as you can, let it go. Put it out into the world . . . and trust that the great editing job you’ve done will be enough that your work can really shine.



About the Author:
Ali Luke is currently on a virtual book tour for her novel Lycopolis, a fast-paced supernatural thriller centered on a group of online role players who summon a demon into their game . . . and into the world. Described by readers as “a fast and furious, addictive piece of escapism” and “absolutely gripping,” Lycopolis is available in print and e-book form. Find out more at www.lycopolis.co.uk.

16 Months: My Transformation

While I usually talk about writing and books and word nerdiness here, this post is going to be a bit different. I'm hoping it will be of some benefit to others in their journeys.

A photo that amazing photographer Erin Summerill took of me at the recent LDStorymakers annual conference inspired me to put this post together. Even with my goofy facial expression and hand waving (I can't teach without using my hands), I've got great before and after pictures.

The really short version: 
For some unknown (then) reason, I got fat, sank into a horrid depression, and otherwise was miserable. Now I'm, well, not all that. The end. Oh, and this is what I looked like. The picture was taken at the 2010 UVU Book Academy conference. I may have gained a few pounds more in the following three months.








The longer version:
For most of my adult life, not counting pregnancies, my has weight stayed in about a seven-pound range. Ideally, I would have liked to have been around 10 lbs lighter and at my marriage weight, but I was at a healthy weight and felt decent about myself.

Then, a few years ago, the pounds began creeping on. I wasn't doing anything different in my life, as far as I could tell. Okay, I could have exercised more than I was (although I didn't stop altogether). And sure, I ate chocolate here and there. But that wasn't a change. Nothing significant had changed in my lifestyle.

But hey, I knew how to lose weight, right? I began watching my diet carefully, cutting here and there and eating much healthier. I exercised more.

Result: More weight gain. The scale just crept up and up. I'll clarify here that my weight gain wasn't in the realm of anything you'd see on The Biggest Loser, but it was still way more than was healthy, and I hated feeling like a beached whale. I hated not fitting into my biggest clothes and having to go to the thrift store to find stuff to wear. I rarely wore anything that didn't stretch.

At first I was in denial. Sure, the scale was up, but I didn't look that bad . . . right? I inherited my mother's frame, so I really can carry a little extra weight without it showing up. When my chocolate cookbook first came out, I had people asking how I could write it and stay so thin. That was before the weight gain. So when those comments stopped altogether, I had a clue what it meant. I was fat. I cringed at every photo of me. My usable wardrobe shrank and shrank.

I started to suspect I had a thyroid problem, but I didn't want to be one of those people making excuses for being fat. ("Oh, it's glandular . . .") I brought it up to my doctor, who ran a blood panel. My TSH and T4 were normal, so I was told not to worry about it; I wasn't hypothyroid.

But the results didn't sit right with me. I had plenty of symptoms of hypothyroid beyond unexplained weight gain, including a low body temperature (97.1), brain "fog," fatigue, depression, headaches, brittle nails, and a bunch of other things.

After doing a bit more research, including talking with a good friend who has a thyroid condition, I was convinced that something wasn't right. My original doctor, while a great guy, was a GP and likely didn't know how complex hypothyroid issues are and which panels to run, or how to read them. Finding a doctor to take me seriously and who knew enough to run the right tests took awhile, but eventually I did, thanks to the referral of a friend.

And waddaya know, but my T3 (the one that really matters) was in the toilet. So was my progesterone (which helps with stress, sleep, and mood), and a few other things, including Vitamin D, which was also contributing to my depression. I was indeed hypothyroid, among other things. My body was whacked out.

Almost as soon as I began taking the supplements I needed, my life, and my body, began to change. While the weight didn't come off in a flash, it did come off, slowly and steadily.

Here's a key point: I still had to do the work. 

I had to exercise, stay hydrated, and watch what I ate. But at least losing weight became possible, where before, it wasn't.

Something to note here: It's a horrid myth that to exercise you have to find something you like to do. I hate exercising, but I love having exercised. If you're waiting to like huffing and puffing and sweating like a pig, and you're using your dislike of exercise for not doing it, then you'll never have success. I often go running even when I hurt all over and I feel like someone's taking an ice pick to the back of my head. I go because it's something I have to do. I force myself to do it. I don't go to the gym when I feel good. I go to the gym and work my tail off so I'll feel good.

Another aspect in my success was that I started reading blogs of people who'd managed to lose weight and keep it off to learn more about how to fuel my body properly for weight loss (which takes more than cutting calories, of course). I grew up in a nutritious home, but there was still a lot to learn.

I'm now within (count 'em!) 9 pounds of my marriage weight. I'm solidly in the healthy range for what my weight should be, and on the low end of my old range. (I think I can actually hit that old marriage weight yet!) I sleep better (didn't even know how messed up my sleep was until it was fixed). I can exercise more. My chronic headaches are still around, but they're more manageable. My depression isn't the dark sink hole it once was.

No, life isn't all unicorns and rainbows. I still have chronic headaches. Depression of some kind just runs in my family. But things are so much better.

Losing the weight hasn't been an easy road. Like I said, it's still work. But now I can fit back into my skinny clothes, and my fat clothes are a thing of the past.

In my before picture up there, I hated myself.

But now? Well, this next picture was taken just over a week ago, at the LDStorymakers conference. I feel and look like myself again. Huzzah!

Why I DO Read Mormon Fiction

I had a fantastic weekend at the 9th annual LDStorymakers Writers Conference, which was followed by the Whitney Awards gala. The weekend those two events happen is something I look forward to all year.


I've been part of the LDStorymakers guild almost since its inception. I was something like #18 to join, and there are now somewhere around 200 members. I taught at the first conference, which was about 1/10 the size of the one we just held. 


I signed my contract with Covenant just over 10 years ago, and in that time have become familiar with the LDS publishing industry, market, and authors in a way I couldn't have otherwise. Thanks to the Whitney Awards program, and the desire to cast a vote as part of the hundreds-strong voting academy, I read more LDS fiction every year than most people, and I'm quite sure I read far more LDS fiction than the author of THIS POST.


It really got under my skin. I tried to set it aside, but after a weekend of seeing and hearing serious writers learning and bettering their craft, after months of reading books and voting for the best of the best, and after an inspiring Whitney Awards gala this past weekend, I just can't keep my mouth shut.


The post pretty much lambasted LDS fiction as anything but worthy of reading. So here I'll address some of the arguments made in that post and then explain why I do read Mormon fiction.


The post contends that:

The Mormon author that wants to get published is either faced with the cringe worthy fluff of Mormon publishers or the appetite for the salacious in national publishing.

I contend that there's a far broader spectrum than those two extremes, and that further, neither the LDS market nor the national market deserve such condemnation.

Has "cringe worthy fluff" been published in the LDS market? Absolutely, especially in its infancy. I'll go so far as to say it is still being published at times.

But the entire market isn't like that. 

For that matter, the national market also has plenty of cringe-worthy fluff. I imagine that any market has mediocrity. It's the nature of the arts. But the amount of fluff and the proportion of it are changing. In the ten years I've been publishing here, I've seen a huge increase in the quality of work. 

The post also claims that Mormon fiction has no real problems or decent stories or characters. I have to wonder if the author has read more than a handful of books. And if they read even that much, I'm quite sure that handful happened to be the fluff still on shelves. 


He claims to not read Mormon fiction and then describes Mormon fiction, as if he's read it, yet his description shows his initial claim: he hasn't read it, so he doesn't know what he's talking about. 


If he tested the waters, he certainly didn't go to someone knowledgeable to ask for an accurate sampling of the range of fiction out there, or he wouldn't be making these claims. (Bookstore employees don't count; they're paid to promote the latest release, whether they've read it or not.)

Are there no decent stories, characters, or problem? Hardly. 


Here's one element of the current market that a lot of people don't know yet: Lots of LDS readers aren't looking for blatantly LDS stories; they simply want to be able to pick up a book in their favorite genre (mystery, romance, etc) and not have to worry about compromising their values (or flipping pages). And no, that doesn't mean the entire national market is "salacious," either. But it is harder to pick up a book, knowing beforehand whether it has content you'd rather not stumble upon. In other words, a lot of "Mormon fiction" (as defined by the author of the post, as books published by LDS presses) isn't really about Mormons at all.

I've read my share of awful LDS fiction, complete with trite characters and shallow problems. 

I've also read deep, meaningful LDS fiction. A lot of it.


As with the national market, the books with the most depth in some ways will be the literary titles. And, just as with the national market, literary fiction always sells fewer copies. 


It's no shock that the big publishers stick primarily with genre fiction. So do the Big 6 in New York. Publishing is a business, and the bottom line matters. It matters even more with small presses, where the profit margin is smaller. They have to sell a certain amount of books to stay in business. 


The result is fewer literary books, but, increasingly, higher-quality genre novels.

While the LDS presses do cater to a conservative audience, I don't believe it's the pathetic audience he describes: 

 the average politically conservative Mormon reader who, by the way, is shallow.

Okay, yes, shallow, uber conservative, readers exist. But that's an awfully broad brush to paint the "average" LDS reader with. The longer I'm in this market, the more I'm convinced there is no "average" LDS reader. I've come across readers like the ones he describes, but they aren't in the majority. The readers I come in contact with and hear about are far more discerning and demanding of their reading material than he gives them credit for.

More to the point, I take issue with his sweeping description of the entire market:

Any serous reader automatically finds it stifling and boring. The protagonist doesn’t have any real conflict to overcome. Sure there is conflict that exists, but the choices made aren’t very hard and therefore no real struggle to overcome. 

I consider myself a serious reader. I wasn't an English major for nothing. 

Off the top of my head, I can think of many examples that contradict his claim, lots of books from a variety of writers. And yes, I include myself in that number of novelists who write books that aren't boring, that do have "real conflict" and "real struggle."

To me, one of the biggest red flags of the post is that it pretty much wrote off every writer except, it seems, for himself, as he has aspirations of his own to write and publish, and perhaps some obvious fringe LDS writers. 


Why include only the LDS writers who have largely left the faith? I don't see why someone has to pretty much abandon their faith to write good fiction. 


I also don't see how criticizing and writing off an entire market is either useful or honest. 


Or remotely valid. 

Personally, I'm honored to be part of the LDS writing community. I've made some of the best friends a woman could ask for. I've had some of the greatest experiences of my life here. I've read a lot of fantastic work.

Have we achieved Orson F. Whitney's prophecy of having "Miltons and Shakespeares of our own"? 


No, of course not. But we're raising the foundations, moving upward all the time, so that some day, someone else down the road will be there when it happens.


I love the fact that Milton and Shakespeare were popular writers, the equivalent of genre writers in today's world. "Hacks," as some people call genre writers today. I don't think we'll reach the heights Whitney spoke of with only fringe and literary works, although they, too, will surely be part of the cannon.


I believe that LDS literature will grow and improve at the rate we support and encourage one another and at the rate we recognize the best, constantly raising the bar. That's why the Whitney Awards were first started. And in the five years the awards program has been underway, I have watched that bar continually go up. 


Kudos to those writers working hard in spite of outdated stereotypes and prejudices about what they do and the market they do it in.


Yes, I read Mormon fiction. More people should.

WNW: Celebration

Before today's Word Nerd Wednesday, a couple of housekeeping items:

1) I haven't posted as much as usual lately, because I'm under the gun on several deadlines. (Among them: the edits for Paige, my book in the Newport Ladies Book Club! Yeehaw!) (Oh, and be sure to LIKE the Book Club Facebook page!)

2) When those deadlines are over, I'll have a busy week with the conference I attend and typically speak at every year. I'm teaching a table at the Publishing Primer workshop plus two classes. Which means busy, busy, busy.

These two items mean that I'll return to my regular posting schedule after that.

TODAY we look at words for happiness and celebration, because I got some great news this afternoon. (See below.)

Gala

As in, the awesome place where I totally celebrated last May when I received a certain award.

Fete

A lavish, often outdoor party. Sign me up!

Carnival

This one's more for the kids. As long as there aren't huge crowds, I'm happy to show up.

Fest

One of my favorite words. I use it when describing all kinds of fun activities. Writing fest. Chocolate fest. Reading fest. You get the idea.

Jubilee

This sounds awfully fancy, like I need an evening gown.

Fiesta

Pinata, anyone?

Two fun related words that apply:

Merrymaking

Here's one that totally fits today's situation. I'm excited and will celebrate through merrymaking, which may or may not include a goofy dance. I hope it doesn't look as goofy as Elaine.

and (not kidding):

Jollification

This goes back to the early 1800s, and it's an Old West, mountain man term. I love it! I think I'll incorporate it into my vocabulary.

So WHY am I'm excited today? What's with the merrymaking and jollification?

The sequel to Band of Sisters has been accepted for publication!!!

It'll be called Band of Sisters: Coming Home, and it's slated for release pretty soon: in January!

This means I'll have two books out soon: Paige and then Band of Sisters: Coming Home.

(Can I hear a booyah?)

The writer's journey is fraught with bumps and bruises and well as the awesome vistas. To reach a summit (or increasingly more difficult-to-reach summits, as the case is), you have to climb long mountain paths.

The last couple of years have been tough; it's felt like I've been climbing and falling down cliffs, making little progress.

And now this. I'm feeling great about what's lined up and the projects I'm currently working on.

Serendipitously (I'm claiming that's a word), we're going out for Thai food with my parents tonight. Sounds like the perfect way to celebrate to me.

Oh, and a final celebration-related word:

Hooray!

WNW: Why Punctuation Matters

People joke that I'm the Grammar Nazi.

My critique group says that I know exactly how to use commas (and then they go comatose, and tweet about it, if I try to explain why a semicolon is correct on page 5).

For that matter, rumor has it that when they speak about our group and mention members' strengths, they bring up punctuation as my strength.

While I do know my fair share of punctuation rules, I do like to hope that in the 12 years I've been there I've been worth more than fixing comma splices. :)

But yes, I do care about punctuation more than the average reader or writer. Why? Because it adds nuance and meaning that nothing else can. The same words can have a totally different meaning with a few different punctuation marks.

This is true with big issues like pacing, tone, and mood.

But to make my point, I'll go a bit over the top for today's Word Nerd Wednesday.

First off, read Lynne Truss's Eats, Shoots, and Leaves (the title of which is a punctuation joke). If you think punctuation is stale and boring, read that book. I read it on the treadmill and nearly fell off, I was laughing so hard.

Truss has several other titles, including picture books. I own one of them, and my kids love it. My third grader took it to school for show-and-tell. (And probably had to explain it to the class . . .)

To make my point about how punctuation can change meaning, here are three fun examples:

1) I've seen this one go around Facebook under the guise of, "Punctuation saves lives!"

Let’s eat Grandpa.

(I doubt he's very tasty)

versus:

Let’s eat, Grandpa.

(Yo, Grandpa, dinner's ready! I'll race ya to the table!)

2) I saw this one in college during my nerd training (read: English major studies). The professor, a woman, wrote the following sentence on the board:

Woman, without her man, is nothing.

I was rather incensed. Until she changed the punctuation.

Woman: without her, man is nothing.

And then I laughed.

3) One of Lynne Truss's books, Twenty-odd Ducks, includes a punctuation joke right on the cover with the title. With the hyphen, the title means, "roughly twenty ducks." If you take the hyphen out, it means, "twenty weird ducks." So the cover has twenty funky ducks: some that are striped, one ready to go snorkeling, and so on.

Even the subtitle has a play on punctuation: Why, Punctuation Matters

On each page spread, the book has the same sentence but with different punctuation (and therefore different meanings), plus illustrations to match.

You need to get your hands on a copy. Really. As proof, I present my kids' favorite 2-page spread from the book. It's gruesome, which may be why they love it.

The first page shows a king strolling near a group of girls bowing and throwing flowers at him as he says, "Ah, life is grand." The caption reads as follows:

The king walked and talked. Half an hour later, his head was cut off.

The second page makes the whole thing read as one sentence, which changes the meaning drastically:

The king walked and talked half an hour after his head was cut off.

Above the caption: three illustrations showing the king decapitated and his head talking ("Why can't I feel my lips?") as his body walks around.

Hysterical, if you ask me. At the end of the book, Truss manages (quite brilliantly) to write an entire letter to a school teacher on one page and then changes the meaning entirely using nothing but punctuation on the other.

Convinced that punctuation matters? I hope so. At the very least, remember point number one: punctuation saves lives.

A Rant Against "I Expect Nothing of My Children that I Don't of Myself"

Soap box for the day:

In many circles and blogs, I hear the idea that we shouldn't give our children standards and expectations that we don't follow ourselves.

One blogger (who got lots of support in the comments) went so far as to say they didn't feel comfortable doing anything that they wouldn't approve their children of doing.

Oh, boy.

Okay, I get the concept, and in theory, if you stand at a great distance, squinting your eyes, it's a very nice-looking idea.

Yet I can't take people who say these things seriously, because the premise is so completely flawed.

On a very basic level, consider these examples:

• I will not let my nine-year-old wear make-up or get her ears pierced. Does that mean that as an adult woman, I should take out my earrings and remove all make-up?
• No way would I allow my twelve-year-old to get behind the wheel of a car. I expect her not to drive. Yet I drive. Every day. Dang. I'd better stop that.
• When my son was six, I expected him to stay away from the hot stove. Yet that's where I made him dinner. I also used sharp knives, but no way would I let him use them. I'm such a hypocrite.
• I also had to keep dangerous chemicals out of my children's reach, things that are perfectly acceptable (and sometimes necessary) for adults to use. Except that's a double standard. I guess I'll have to figure out another way to clear the drain.
• Some medications that are good and useful for adults (even something as simple as aspirin) can be harmful for a child. Yet, by the "same standard" argument, I shouldn't take aspirin if I refuse to let my children take it.

And here's the one I really giggle at:

Virtually all of the people I hear insisting that they maintain the same standards as their children are married and have children.

I'm betting they live a very different standard for physical contact in their bedrooms than they expect of their children! (Or else, how else would those children be here?!)

Obviously, I have issues with the "same standard" idea. In general, I agree with it, sure. But in big, sweeping generalities. As in the sense of, "Be honest," and "Obey the law," and, "Choose media that uplifts."

It's that last one (media) I want to mention in particular. I think that various types of media can be appropriate for one person at one age and totally inappropriate at another age.

For example, I would have traumatized my children if, at the age of four, they'd heard me read Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning to them. At that age, they were still dealing with scary things like monsters under the bed; they didn't yet have the emotional and mental maturity to face real-life monsters like Hitler and the Holocaust.

But is that a book we should all avoid, just because it's not appropriate for a small child? No way. I have teenagers now, and I'd love them to read it. They're at a place where we can sit down as parent and child and discuss issues and ideas, and they are mature enough to grasp it.

I can think of dozens of similar examples of books, movies, and more, things I want to share with my children when the time is right.

And yes, I do partake of media (and other things!) that they aren't yet allowed to.

Sure, some books and movies no one should be seeing.

But some are of great worth . . . even if they aren't for small children.

Is that a double standard? Maybe by some definitions. Not by mine.

Every time I hear people go off about how they ask nothing of their child that they don't ask of themselves, I can't help but laugh. They can't possibly mean that, not if they looked at the idea in bright light.

Author Interview: Susan Corpany

Today I get to interview Susan Corpany, a writer I've gotten to know a bit better over the last couple of years. Most of that has been electronically, as Susan lives in Hawaii, but she's made it out to a few conferences and the like, and it's been a lot of fun to rub shoulders and get to know her better.

About Susan:

Susan Law Corpany is the author of five novels. Her latest novel, Lucky Change, was a finalist for a Whitney Award. She writes a column for Meridian online magazine called “A Beacon Light.” Susan grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, and currently lives on the Big Island of Hawaii with her husband, Thom. In her spare time, she manages the family vacation rental home on historic Kealakekua Bay. Between them, they are the parents of six children and add new grandchildren on a regular basis. She loves to travel and see the world and loves to stay home and enjoy the paradise in which she lives.

AL: How long have you been writing and how did you get started? (When did the bug bite you?)
SC: I have been writing for about twenty-odd years now, if you don't count the "kid stuff." I don't think I caught "the bug" when my Primary teacher showed the poem I wrote to the Primary president and she read it to everybody. I was mortified, actually, to have attention called to me. Much has changed since then.

In the early 90s, on Prodigy, I connected with Orson Scott Card, because a friend of mine told me that his publishing company had produced a humorous book that reminded her of my writing. I traded a few humorous anecdotes with him online and sent him a short story called "A Month in the Life of a Relief Society President." After he read my short story, he told me I should try and write a novel. It was his kind and encouraging words that made me believe I might be able to write a novel, even though I had no idea how to go about that. My son says my early novels are a series of short stories about the same characters, and he is pretty much on the money.

After losing my husband when I was 26, I had often said, "someone should write a book" about some of the experiences that resulted, and I didn't know what else to write about, so I created the character of Beverly and wrote my first four novels from my life experience, about her courtship and marriage, young widowhood and remarriage to a widower, although I wrote about that last part first and then lived it. After I wrote the last two books, I married a widower with five kids, aged 15 to 23. Several chapters eerily came to life, including the one where my character Bob didn't tell Beverly that he had been the bishop until well into their courtship because he wanted to see how she would relate to him without knowing that.

AL: Where did the idea for Lucky Change come from?
SC: I actually got the idea for Lucky Change from a frugal boss in Florida who used to give the members of his sales team a lotto ticket from the gas station for a month well done. I used to stick them in the bottom of my purse and never even checked to see if I had won anything. Then one day I saw them there and thought about how embarrassing it would be to be a Mormon and win the lottery. The wheels started turning. I had already created the character of Karen in one of my novels, and she seemed like the perfect person to pull it off.

There have been a lot of books written about the poor person with a heart of gold who wins it big, but I thought the added twist would make this book unique. And I loved the juxtaposition of Karen in a wealthy ward where people unused to struggling would have to swallow their pride to accept help from her. I have been on both ends of that, and it is way more fun to be the source of charity rather than the recipient of it.

AL: What research did you have to do for the book? What was the most interesting thing you learned?
SC: I had to do some research into how the lottery works and how a winner would be paid off and notified, what the options would be for payment, as in a lump sum vs. annuitized payments, tax issues, etc.

I had to find out how the Church handles such windfalls and what the policy was regarding payment of tithing on "ill gotten gains."

I worked at a law firm for seven years, so I used that life experience as research into how a law firm operates. I am still rather embarrassed by one major mistake I made, pointed out to me by a friend. Isn't there always that one type or mistake that gets through somehow? I call it the "humility typo."

I always tap into my husband's brain for help with the motivations of my characters, since he is a family therapist as well as a Sociology professor. For example, I had written a scene where Ted was admiring the corner office and Thom told me that a guy with an ego like Ted's would not aspire to the corner office. He would assume it would someday be his.

Thom also suggested I do a scene where the balance of power shifts from Ted to Camillle, in an interesting subplot where a secretary was being sexually harrassed by one of the attorneys in the office. I enjoyed writing the scene in the elevator where Camille stands up to Ted, because I took her out of "doormat mode" for a few minutes. Research for these characters was also provided by real life experiences along the way.

I think the most interesting thing I found out is that if you embezzle money, you are not allowed to pay tithing on it. There goes that plan!

AL: What is your writing style? Are you an outliner or a by-the-seat-of-your-pantser? Somewhere in between?
SC: On the Myers-Briggs personality test, I am halfway in between being a planner and a winger, and that pretty much sums it up for my writing, too. I plan enough to give me clearance for when I fly by the seat of my pants. My experience with books is that if you overplan, you don't allow for those happy adventures when the characters do what they want and you just follow them around and write about what they're doing. Likewise with presentatoins and talks, you may miss those whisperings of what needs to be said rather than what you planned to say

AL: What is your typical writing schedule like?
SC: There is nothing typical. I don't have a job outside the home, but I do manage our vacation rental on the other side of the island, so every week my schedule is different depending on who is coming and going. The drives across the island are an important part of my writing process, because I hammer out lots of ideas in my trusty Jeep Grand Cherokee.

I think the only pattern I have set is not having a pattern. I admire those disciplined writers who write every day for so many hours. I find writing enjoyable and fulfilling and fun and something in me resists thinking of it as work that should be done on a schedule. For me part of the beauty of being a writer is the freedom over my schedule and my life. I build momentum once I get rolling on a project and then I can be like the little kid on the playground who doesn't want to stop playing, even to heed the call of nature. Okay, maybe not that bad, but I have been known to forget to eat. So I have periods of obsessiveness interspersed with periods of laziness and neglect. It all balances out on paper, eventually.

AL: What is one big thing you've learned through the process of publishing?
SC: Ooooh, there are so many things to choose from. I think the overarching thing I have learned is that like everything else that looks wonderful from the outside, like marriage, it is harder and more challenging than I had imagined. If you are self-published, there is the challenge of acceptance as a serious writer. If someone else publishes you, you lose creative control. I've discovered that every writer I know has had challenges, frustrations and disappointments that most people know nothing about.

I have also learned that you can find yourself in a constant state of discontent if you fail to enjoy the good that is happening in the present. There is always something greater to strive for. First all you want to do is hold that book in your hands and glory that your name is on it. Then you want the book to be in everyone else's hands. And some money would be good. Then you want the awards. Next, where is my movie deal? The bestseller list.

I have my "Glass Half Empty" mug on my desk, along with some of my other writing props, to help me keep perspective. I have little pieces of paper I have to pull out and read every once in a while to remind myself what I have accomplished and reframe things to the positive.

My first novel, Unfinished Business, was quite successful. It brought me a husband and a life in Hawaii, not to mention the big Mormon family I always thought I'd have, inlcuding my beautiful grandchildren. During the lean times, I have to remind myself of what I call "non-financial royalties." One of my nephews served a mission because of something in one of my novels. For the greater number of LDS writers, our success has to be measured in other than worldly terms.

AL: What's been the biggest surprise about the publishing process?
SC: That as an author you really are responsible for much of the publicity and promotion your book receives. I expected this when I was self-published, but it is also true when someone else publishes your work.

AL: Which authors are your biggest literary influences in the national market?
SC: I think I have always been influenced and inspired by humourous writings—Erma Bombeck. Bruce J. Cameron, Gordon Kirkland, my funny Canadian writer friend. In the LDS market, I have been collectively influenced by my fellow LDStorymakers. There is no one writer I emulate, because everyone's style is different, but I have learned so much from their classes at the conferences and have enjoyed the friendships that have developed and benefited from the encourage I have received.


AL: In the LDS market?
SC: Of course, I already mentioned Orson Scott Card and his initial encouragement and what that meant to me. I finally got to meet him and thank him in person a few years ago. It also helped elevate me in the eyes of my son and stepsons who are big fans of his.


AL: Any advice for aspiring writers?
SC: Find your own strengths and play to them and ferret out your weaknesses and work on them. Don't compare yourself to others. Be resilient and understand that rejection is part of the process. Most of us get that we aren't going to marry the first person we date. Have dreams and aspirations tempered by reasonable expectations. You have to develop a thick skin and understand that there are lots of reasons for rejection. On the other hand, a wise writer always learns from his critics. But don't allow someone else's lone opinion to discourage you from pursuing something you believe in. Obey most of the rules, break a few of them now and then. As Randy Pausch said in The Last Lecture, "the walls are there to keep the other guys out, the ones you don't want it as much."

Purchase Lucky Change at the publisher's website.

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