The Author Interviews, Round 3: #5: Tahani Nelson

I spoke toTahani Nelson, (whose novel is currently in a competition where the top 3 winners will get MASS publication) about her writing habits. Here's what she had to say.Where do you get your ideas from?The idea for my debut novel, The Last Faoii, started as a dream. I woke up at 1 a.m. and wrote the first three chapters in one sitting, then went back to bed. The next day, I couldn't stop thinking about it. And the next. I worked on that book every waking moment that I wasn't at work. There's something about dream-ideas that feel more organic to me. I can't force a story very well, but this one wanted to be written.Why do you write?There are a lot of reasons that I write. I've always loved Fantasy, but growing up I could never find a heroine in my stories that weren't being saved or wearing bikini armor. I wanted to create a world and group of heroines that my future daughters could look up to. I write because in my fantasy stories there are no social barriers except for the ones I put up. It doesn't matter that Kaiya is a woman, or black, or gay. In Clearwall, women are given swords at a young age and taught to be warriors. I write because the world has enough helpless princesses. I write because there are too many young people out there without heroes they can identify with. Too many Bella Swans and not enough Katniss Everdeens.What do you find most appealing about your chosen genre?I love sword fighting and castles. I love magic and dragons and worlds where the only restrictions are those you create yourself in order to make it feel "real." I love armor that covers all of your body parts. And I love being able to create stories that can incorporate all of the above and more.How do you deal with bad reviews, rejection and criticism?I found out yesterday that I'd finally sold enough pre-orders of The Last Faoii to actually publish the book. Yesterday. After five years of trying to succeed in the literary world. I've found a lot of ways to cope with rejection. I got almost 200 rejections from agents before I was told that my original draft was too long to be published. I made origami animals out of the letters. My zoo was huge-- but it was beautiful. The minute I learned why I was being rejected, I worked to make it right. To make the story better. I cut 20,000 words out of the draft. I cut characters and subplots. I listened. And I improved.Of course, by then I'd already queried every agent I knew, so there was no where else to turn. I thought. I'm so glad that I found Inkshares and that it offered another avenue to publication.What do you find difficult about writing?Finding time. I have two jobs-- one of which is teaching. I'm exhausted by the end of the day, and I only get a couple days off each year. But I force myself to write at night. I force myself to keep my skills fresh and to improve my abilities. Luckily, it was easy to do with The Last Faoii-- again, that story wanted to be written and there was no forcing it. But it is always hard to find time to write.Do you ever outsource your work?If you mean do I sell my skills to help others, then yes. I have an English Lit degree and use that to help edit/ beta read other people's work for free. If you mean whether or not I hire others to help, then that's also a yes. I commissioned a portrait of my main character from one lovely woman and abook trailerfrom someone else.What is your opinion on indie vs traditional publishing?Since I've never succeeded with traditional publishing (and have only just barely succeeded with Indie) I don't have a lot of opinions on this point. I think that traditional publishing might be outdated, and that the rules that govern it don't necessarily apply to today's readers. However, I also think that traditional publishing is still more visible and that authors who can succeed there have a better chance of financial gain or publicity. There are good and bad to both sides.Talk us through your creative process from start to finish.There are planners and pantsers in writing. People that plan ahead every detail and then flesh it out, and those who are just along for the ride from day one. I'm definitely part of the second group. Which is why this answer is going to be long. Ready? Here we go.Usually, I'll start a story with a single scene in my mind-- it will be crystal-clear and perfect and I'll write the entire thing immediately. If I'm really lucky I'll start off with more than one scene in my head at the beginning, but that seldom happens.After I write the first scene, I start writing everything else that comes to mind as it comes. Things that led up to the scene, aftermath of whatever went down. I don't edit or stop writing at this point. I just write until everything I can think of is in a jumbled mess on the pages.After all the major parts are written out (this can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, depending on how much the character inspires me or how helpful the original scene was to the entire story). I start putting all the parts and pieces in order of when they should have happened. This is a lot of copying and pasting. But eventually I end up with a pretty decent skeletal outline.Obviously an outline needs to be fleshed out, so I start on page one and fill in all the gaps between big scenes. As I work, I refine the big scenes and take out what doesn't work, is too similar to something else I've written in outline, or that doesn't add anything to the overall story. (NOTE: This almost always means taking out the original scene that inspired the entire book. I don't know why that is, but it almost always happens).Once I feel that the entire thing is fleshed out, complete, and a coherent story, I read the entire thing again from cover to cover, making sure that it really is as complete as I think it is. If so, I send it to my dad (he's my first line of defense against bad writing). He'll tell me if it's something worthy of following through on or if it should go into my "fun tries" folder.If it gets my dad's seal of approval, I start sending it to betas. I usually send an original draft to 10 people. After they read it and respond, I compile all of their notes and ideas, keep anything that more than 50% agree on, and pick and choose what I agree with of the rest. Then I apply the changes to the manuscript.Then I read through the entire thing again and make the necessary changes.Usually there are more than a few changes, so I send the updated manuscript to 1-3 beta readers who don't mind reading the new draft.Eventually I get it back again and look over/ apply any new changes. If there are a bunch I re-read the entire thing again, then send it BACK to my father (I really trust his opinion). If he likes it I start looking for a professional editor and the process of sending out/ receiving/ editing/ reading/ father's approval starts again.Once it hits all of these steps I start querying again. So far, I've only been through every single step without it being halted somewhere along the way one time. And it's proven effective. So, while it's tedious and time-consuming, it seems that my process is at least effective.What advice would you give to aspiring writers?Your first draft is never good enough. Never assume that it is--hubris is not pretty. You need an outside opinion. You need a rewrite. Or five. You need the help of someone that's not so close to the world you created and love with every fiber of your being.I know it sounds harsh, but the literary world is harsh. If you market a book that's not the best you can give, people will always remember you for it and will judge your writing ability on it from then on. It's better to take your time and get help-- it's better to achieve something closer to perfection than to send something less than amazing out when you can't get it back.If you could go back in time 12 months, what advice would you give yourself?Practice saying your book's premise out loud. Learn to answer "what's your book about" in three sentences or less. NEVER answer that question with "ummm..."Many thanks for this author interview, Tahani Nelson. If anyone's interested in The Last Faoii they can read excerpts, chapters, reviews, watch a trailer andorder a SIGNED copy.