Michelle Buckman is the author of contemporary fiction, most recently The Pathway Collection, a new young adult series. She lives in South Carolina with her husband and five children. Her favorite pastime is strolling along the beautiful Carolina beaches.
Plug time. What new book or project do you have coming out?
Maggie Come Lately, released in June, is the first book in a new young adult series called The Pathway Collection with NavPress.
Book two, My Beautiful Disaster will be released in Oct.
How did you come up with this story? Was there a specific 'what if' moment?
The opening scene came to me years ago. I wrote it and set it aside, going back to add plot ideas and snippets of scenes as they came to me. I knew it was going to be a story about a teenage girl struggling with the desire to be popular and the shallowness she finds there when it does happen. However, it wasn’t until I attended a meeting at church about how to spot child molesters in our midst that the full plot developed and the theme took on a thread about abstinence with an underlying tension created by the darker side of situations kids face nowadays.
Tell us about your publishing journey. How long had you been writing before you got a contract? How did you find out and what went through your mind?
I always wanted to be a writer, but got a degree in computer programming because it was more practical. After my first child was born, I combined the two talents and wrote computer manuals at home. From there, I began freelancing for corporations as well as regional and national publications. All the while, I wrote fiction on the side. I threw away my first three manuscripts. The fourth was a winner (according to my critique group), and sure enough it sold and was published in 2005.
There were many times I was tempted to give up my dream of being a novelist, but ther parable about the Talents haunted me and I felt God wanted me to invest in my writing. So, in 2002 I made a New Years resolution that I would set aside all writing and devote the entire year to getting published, and if I didn’t land a contract, I would quit writing until my children were grown and gone. Well, with only one week remaining—on Christmas Eve of all days—I got a call from an editor as he was running through an airport. He bought and published my first book. As you can imagine, that was a pretty exciting Christmas.
Do you ever struggle with writer's block? If so, how do you overcome it?
I’ve never had writer’s block because I don’t write books linearly. I write whatever scene is most prominent in my mind, fill in here and there, then stitch the book together at the end, so I’m never stuck struggling with what to write next. I just follow what the characters are showing/telling me.
However, I have had burn out from working too many hours at the end of a project. I allow myself time off to refresh and renew my spirit. Sometimes that means an entire month of absolutely no writing at all.
What is the most difficult part of writing for you (or was when you first started on your writing journey), i.e. plot, POV, characterization, etc? How did (or do) you overcome it?
I love playing with POV, and every book is all about character, so I’d say plot is the hardest. I can’t say I have a simple answer. I just play with ideas and listen to the character. To me, the plot has to unfold so seamlessly that the reader can’t imagine it happening any other way, or ever imagine that I had trouble deciding what was going to develop. I try to think outside the box and not let anything be predictable. If an automatic plot point comes to mind, I usually determine it’s too easy and force myself to go a different direction.
Where do you write? Do you have a dedicated office or a corner or nook in a room?
I’ve always had a dedicated office—until now. God surprised me with a late-life baby (born in January), and rearranging rooms to accommodate the crib and paraphernalia means sticking my desk in my bedroom. However, my best writing is during my weeklong writing retreats at the beach. I go by myself in the off season and write constantly while I’m awake, walk down the beach for breaks and inspiration, and sleep when I’m too tired to write any more.
Do you have a word or page goal you set for each day?
Usually I work toward a page count determined by the contract deadline, but I tend to write in scenes, so I stop when I’ve finished enough scenes to fill the quota.
What does a typical day look like for you?
Much different now than six months ago. My older kids have all been trained to understand I’m not to be disturbed while writing (in fact one daughter acts as my assistant and often does research and review for me). I home school some of my kids, so before January, my routine used to be getting the kids started on their home school work first thing in the morning, and then I would sit at the computer and write, pausing when they needed help, and breaking to do certain subjects with them, but basically I’d write from 9 till 2.
Now I’m having to figure out how I used to do this when they were babies! Most of my work is being done in the wee hours when the baby is sleeping and there’s nothing else to distract me. (Who needs sleep?)
Take us through your process of writing a novel briefly—from conception to revision.
Usually the character is sparked by observing a stranger doing something odd, and then the character seems to come to life in scenes. As the character develops—sometimes over the course of a year or more in brief notes and disjointed scenes while I’m working on other projects—I begin to learn what conflict she is trying to overcome, and from there the story pulls together.
By the time I’m ready to work full force on that project, the story is clear in my mind and it spills out. I’m a perfectionist about polishing each scene, writing and rewriting it immediately so that when I move on, it’s done. Revision is usually more smoothing out than anything, and then of course there are line edits and such from editorial.
What are some of your favorite books (not written by you)?
Patchwork Planet and all else by Anne Tyler
Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
Everything by Maeve Binchy
The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens
What’s the best writing advice you’ve heard?
Read, read, read. (I learned by studying others.) And network.
What do you wish you’d known early in your career that might have saved you some time and/or frustration in writing? In publishing?
I wish I had earned a degree in literature, and that I had attended more conferences—both would have shortened my journey I think. But God’s timing is perfect, so maybe it wouldn’t have made any difference.
How much marketing do you do? What have you found that particularly works well for you?
I struggle with marketing. I prefer to sit at home and write. Nevertheless, I’m being asked to speak at more and more events, and I feel that’s the best marketing tool.
Do you have any parting words of advice?
The opening scene came to me years ago. I wrote it and set it aside, going back to add plot ideas and snippets of scenes as they came to me. I knew it was going to be a story about a teenage girl struggling with the desire to be popular and the shallowness she finds there when it does happen. However, it wasn’t until I attended a meeting at church about how to spot child molesters in our midst that the full plot developed and the theme took on a thread about abstinence with an underlying tension created by the darker side of situations kids face nowadays.
Tell us about your publishing journey. How long had you been writing before you got a contract? How did you find out and what went through your mind?
I always wanted to be a writer, but got a degree in computer programming because it was more practical. After my first child was born, I combined the two talents and wrote computer manuals at home. From there, I began freelancing for corporations as well as regional and national publications. All the while, I wrote fiction on the side. I threw away my first three manuscripts. The fourth was a winner (according to my critique group), and sure enough it sold and was published in 2005.
There were many times I was tempted to give up my dream of being a novelist, but ther parable about the Talents haunted me and I felt God wanted me to invest in my writing. So, in 2002 I made a New Years resolution that I would set aside all writing and devote the entire year to getting published, and if I didn’t land a contract, I would quit writing until my children were grown and gone. Well, with only one week remaining—on Christmas Eve of all days—I got a call from an editor as he was running through an airport. He bought and published my first book. As you can imagine, that was a pretty exciting Christmas.
Do you ever struggle with writer's block? If so, how do you overcome it?
I’ve never had writer’s block because I don’t write books linearly. I write whatever scene is most prominent in my mind, fill in here and there, then stitch the book together at the end, so I’m never stuck struggling with what to write next. I just follow what the characters are showing/telling me.
However, I have had burn out from working too many hours at the end of a project. I allow myself time off to refresh and renew my spirit. Sometimes that means an entire month of absolutely no writing at all.
What is the most difficult part of writing for you (or was when you first started on your writing journey), i.e. plot, POV, characterization, etc? How did (or do) you overcome it?
I love playing with POV, and every book is all about character, so I’d say plot is the hardest. I can’t say I have a simple answer. I just play with ideas and listen to the character. To me, the plot has to unfold so seamlessly that the reader can’t imagine it happening any other way, or ever imagine that I had trouble deciding what was going to develop. I try to think outside the box and not let anything be predictable. If an automatic plot point comes to mind, I usually determine it’s too easy and force myself to go a different direction.
Where do you write? Do you have a dedicated office or a corner or nook in a room?
I’ve always had a dedicated office—until now. God surprised me with a late-life baby (born in January), and rearranging rooms to accommodate the crib and paraphernalia means sticking my desk in my bedroom. However, my best writing is during my weeklong writing retreats at the beach. I go by myself in the off season and write constantly while I’m awake, walk down the beach for breaks and inspiration, and sleep when I’m too tired to write any more.
Do you have a word or page goal you set for each day?
Usually I work toward a page count determined by the contract deadline, but I tend to write in scenes, so I stop when I’ve finished enough scenes to fill the quota.
What does a typical day look like for you?
Much different now than six months ago. My older kids have all been trained to understand I’m not to be disturbed while writing (in fact one daughter acts as my assistant and often does research and review for me). I home school some of my kids, so before January, my routine used to be getting the kids started on their home school work first thing in the morning, and then I would sit at the computer and write, pausing when they needed help, and breaking to do certain subjects with them, but basically I’d write from 9 till 2.
Now I’m having to figure out how I used to do this when they were babies! Most of my work is being done in the wee hours when the baby is sleeping and there’s nothing else to distract me. (Who needs sleep?)
Take us through your process of writing a novel briefly—from conception to revision.
Usually the character is sparked by observing a stranger doing something odd, and then the character seems to come to life in scenes. As the character develops—sometimes over the course of a year or more in brief notes and disjointed scenes while I’m working on other projects—I begin to learn what conflict she is trying to overcome, and from there the story pulls together.
By the time I’m ready to work full force on that project, the story is clear in my mind and it spills out. I’m a perfectionist about polishing each scene, writing and rewriting it immediately so that when I move on, it’s done. Revision is usually more smoothing out than anything, and then of course there are line edits and such from editorial.
What are some of your favorite books (not written by you)?
Patchwork Planet and all else by Anne Tyler
Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
Everything by Maeve Binchy
The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens
What’s the best writing advice you’ve heard?
Read, read, read. (I learned by studying others.) And network.
What do you wish you’d known early in your career that might have saved you some time and/or frustration in writing? In publishing?
I wish I had earned a degree in literature, and that I had attended more conferences—both would have shortened my journey I think. But God’s timing is perfect, so maybe it wouldn’t have made any difference.
How much marketing do you do? What have you found that particularly works well for you?
I struggle with marketing. I prefer to sit at home and write. Nevertheless, I’m being asked to speak at more and more events, and I feel that’s the best marketing tool.
Do you have any parting words of advice?
Persistence is key to making it happen.
Thanks, Michelle, for sharing your journey. What you said about writing scenes as they come to mind then stitching them together is something I've just recently begun to do, instead of being frustrated over a plot point or block. Glad to see it's not just me!
ReplyDeleteI loved Maggie so much I voted her best young adult fiction title of 2007 at my blog!
ReplyDelete