Maren Bradley Anderson and I recently spoke about writing, editing, and refining. Maren is my friend and the co-author of our upcoming book Commas: An Irreverent Primer. Maren is also the author of Liz A. Stratton Closes the Store, a very funny novel about sex and politics. Maren is a Writing instructor at Western Oregon University, and she had some great pointers on how to approach the writing life.
Tips from Maren
Kate: Maren! What a pleasure to officially interview you. I’ve read several of your books and enjoyed every page. How do you make your writing so page turning?
Maren: First, thank you for the compliment(s).
How do I make page-turning stories?
Short answer: I dunno.
Long answer: I am a “discovery writer,” which means that I do very little planning when it comes to my stories and books. I actually write to find out what happens in the story. The instant I’m bored with my writing, I stop and figure out why.
Ultimately, I think I can write interesting stories because I only write what interests me. If I can’t make a story interesting enough to keep myself from wanting to stop, how can I possibly captivate a reader?
That all applies to the first draft because first drafts exist to entertain me. Subsequent drafts exist to entertain a reader. I actively put on my “reader hat” and think about what would be interesting to someone else. That keeps my self-indulgent soliloquies to a minimum.
Kate: I love how you say that first drafts exist to entertain you and then you have to put on your reader hat as you revise. What other hats do you wear while writing?
Maren: When I talk about hats, I am speaking figuratively, but I do know of people who need a hat or other physical talisman to get them into a certain creative “mode.” All I really need is time between modes.
But, to extend the metaphor a little, I have a Preparation hat, a Writing hat, a Reader hat, and an Editor hat.
All the hats!
The Preparation hat is for when I am thinking of a story, jotting ideas, doing research, etc. I don’t write much of anything while wearing this hat, perhaps just character sketches or plot points. For example, the latest manuscript I wrote centers on a superstition about tearing down barns. I researched that for two months and never found a satisfactory answer. That was kind of good, because it gave me free reign to invent a reason of my own.
The Writing hat is for when I am pounding out the first draft for my own amusement. I write first drafts with abandon, no spell-check, no grammar corrections, no continuity freak-outs. I can fix all those things during editing. What I can’t do during writing is editing. I have to fling the door wide for the Muse to come and spill her sloppy mess of a story out. I only move forward while wearing the Writing hat.
Time for a new hat
After the first draft is done in all its tangled glory, I pull out the Reader hat. This is when I fix big problems. Continuity (what color were the hero’s eyes again?), plot holes, story arc, genre issues, etc. I’m still not worried about grammar and spelling. I’m thinking story and how that story is going to affect the reader.
Finally, I put on the Editor hat, or to use another metaphor, I let the Editor in my head out of her cage. She’s the nasty little nit-picking wench who likes to whisper about what a hack I am because I can’t remember whether it’s “lie” or “lay.” However, she is the perfectionist who love love loves to correct spelling and grammar errors and find all the stray -ly adverbs that need to be killed. She’s very useful, but she has to stay in her box until the end. She kills creativity, otherwise.
The point of all this is that I cannot do these four things at the same time. Writing and Editing at the same times results in near-perfect prose, but only tiny portions at a time…like a few lines. Writing and Preparation doesn’t go anywhere, either because the research is often a time-suck that eats into productivity. You get the idea. I like to keep these as separate tasks so I can be productive and happy.
Lie versus Lay?
Kate: I’m happy somebody out there knows the difference between lie and lay!
As someone who really knows her editing stuff, what editing advice can you give struggling writers? Any tips on how to get to that elusive “final draft?”
Maren: The final draft? The final draft is the draft where I stop editing, not necessarily where I can’t find anything else to change. I have to set deadlines for myself to finish things because otherwise, I will fiddle with the editing of stories forever.
One piece of advice I have taken to heart is when you notice that you are changing one sentence or word back to an earlier version…again…it is time to stop.
Perfect drafts?
Another thing to realize is that there is no “perfect” draft. There will always be something that I could have executed better. This is a difficult thing to accept, but it is as freeing as the “shitty first draft” concept. If you can get it good enough to get it sold, or at least so you aren’t afraid to show it to other people, then stop and GO WRITE SOMETHING ELSE.
Sometimes I have urges to re-edit something I’ve already published, and sometimes those urges are pretty strong. However, each piece is what it is and the next one is probably going to be better. The logic goes, therefore, that I should move on to the next piece instead of obsessing about the current one.
The productive writer wins. That is, the productive writer is the one who practices all the time and recognizes when one piece has taught him all it can and he can move on to something new.
Kate: I’m happy we got to the end of writing our comma book. It’s hard to be the productive writer when you also want to be the perfect writer. Thanks for working with me!
Maren: My pleasure. I can’t wait for our book to come out!
If you want to know more about our book, or what Maren is up to next, log onto her website for more details: marens.com. Maren often teaches writing classes that are open to students and the community – they are a great chance to learn the art of writing (and revising) in a friendly, supportive setting. Check out her blog for more, and keep an eye out for her upcoming book!
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