Welcome to week six of the Process Project!! If you don’t know about us already, please visit The Process Project page to find out more about this project, and read interviews with other authors.
MEET
KAREN BYNUM!
Dragons, unicorns, genies…oh my!
NA/YA author, coffee-lover, olive-hater, tea-drinker, music-listener. Random
becomes me. Married to a genius. Mother of a human baby and a furry baby.
Easily distrac -- Rep'd by AKA Literary,
LLC.
And now, let’s hear some more about
Karen’s writing process...
JB:
What is/are your main genre/field of writing?
KB: I started out writing Young
Adult paranormal romance, but as I looked back on my seven completed works, I
realized only two of them were true Young Adult stories. I really write more
New Adult urban fantasy/romance with diverse characters.
JB: Let’s talk a little about your writing routine and rituals. First, do you have a writing time or day?
JB: Let’s talk a little about your writing routine and rituals. First, do you have a writing time or day?
KB: Before my little *cue Gollum
voice* precious was born, I used to write
at 4:30AM (insanity, right?), but now I covet every second of sleep…so I write
throughout the day when he naps.
JB:
Music you listen to? Need silence?
KB: Uh, none! Unless it’s totally
instrumental. But, I prefer silence. All the better to hear the voices, my
dear. :P
JB:
Do you drink or eat something special?
KB: Hmm, it varies…coffee,
chocolate, some kind of carb, or hot tea. I tend to eat more when I’m
editing/revising then when I’m creating new worlds.
JB:
When do your best ideas come to you?
KB: On the treadmill, in the shower, and
on long drives.
JB:
When you’re on the road and ideas come to you, what do you usually do?
KB: Jot them down at a stop-light on the
Post-It notes I keep in the console or put them in Google Keep on my phone.
JB: When you are preparing to write a new story, what kinds of techniques or methods do you use to organize your ideas?
KB: Back in the day, I pantsed my
way through many a novel. I’d just open a Word document and race through the
tunnel until I saw the The End light.
The problem with that was plot holes, flat characters, and rushed endings.
While all those things are fixable and did get fixed -- because I have an
amazing editor -- I wouldn’t have had to work as hard if I’d known more of my
characters’ backstory, goals, motivations, and conflicts. After loads of hard
work and experience, I’ve found plotting -- at least fleshing out goals,
motivations, and conflicts (GMC) -- helps the words flow easier and the edits
less intense.
JB: While you are working on a piece, do you have any particular way that you structure your work?
KB: Even though my thoughts about
the story don’t always come in order, I still write linear. I’ve tried writing
by scenes, but it just ticked me off because I ended up having to rewrite those
scenes completely since things changed.
So instead, I start each story out
with a few notes about the world-building and GMC, scribbled on Post-Its or in
old notebooks, and then I launch into the words. Fingers to keys. Eyes to
screen. Voices chatting away inside my head.
I do find plotting out a few
overarching ideas/turning points helps. And I use Michael Hauge’s Plot
Structure for that. But I can’t plot too intensely because if I do, and I know
everything that’s going to happen, it just kills the story for me. (I had that
happen just recently. Argh!)
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JB: When it's time to revise/edit your
work, do you have any particular methods that you use to help you through the
process?
KB: After I type The End, I usually don’t look at that
story for at least a week…maybe two, if I can wait that long. ;) Then, I read
the entire thing over a couple days while taking notes on repeated
concepts/phrases and things that need to be tweaked/rewritten. I get those
things done, send to my beta readers, and cut out overused words while I await
their feedback. After I make the beta reader adjustments I read it one more
time, and then it’s off to my freelance editor (*insert plug here* Danielle
Fine is ALL THE AWESOME, seriously, don’t know where I’d be without her). Once
she’s worked her magic -- AKA we’ve done about a gazillion rounds of edits
until it’s shiny like a diamond -- it’s off to my agent!
JB:
What do you do when you're stuck?
KB: Keeping the momentum going is a
huge help. So even if I only write ten words one day it’s something. If I’m
plugging right along and suddenly seem to have worked myself into a corner,
I’ll do something else for a few minutes -- laundry, dishes, eat a snack.
Anything that I can accomplish in a short amount of time, and then I go back to
my manuscript. Usually, I’ll have worked out the problem by not thinking about
it for a bit. And I always try to remember, “First drafts don’t have to be
good. They just have to be written.” Because… “You can’t fix a blank page.”
JB:
And most importantly: why do you write?
KB: To be honest, guilt. LOL
Writer’s guilt is real and alive in me. If I don’t meet my daily word count the
voices in my head make me feel horrible. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE writing…
It’s an escape -- and it’s like playing God to the worlds I build. But, it
definitely is something I have to do.
If I don’t, all the worlds I have in my head will collide and my soul will
implode. I need those worlds on paper! I need to keep my soul intact! So, yeah,
that’s why I write. :P
---
Want to read more by Karen Bynum?
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I love reading interviews you do, Karen. They are always so entertaining. And I totally get the whole write on post-it's at stop lights, although I usually write on the back of check registries, lol. Can't wait to read about your girls someday. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Heather. That means a lot to me. :D Check registers, lol. Love it. I can't wait for you to read about them too. They are so special!
ReplyDelete