Elise
asked
Claire Legrand:
What is the hardest part or step in writing your stories? And what is the most challenging part of getting your books edited to the final copy and published? Do you get excited or scared when your books are about to be published?
Claire Legrand
Hi Eliza! (That's one of my favorite names, btw.)
Hoo boy, these are some hefty questions!
The hardest part of step in writing my stories: DRAFTING. I love brainstorming, outlining, and revising, but getting through the first draft is super tough for me. It's the stage during which I feel the greatest doubt and get hung up on the "what ifs"--What if I can't ever finish this? What if, if I DO finish, it's not good? What if I'm never able to become as good a writer as I want to be? Questions like that. Once the book is actually finished, then I can rest easy knowing that, no matter what else happens, I've actually finished another book! And the voices of doubt fade away while I revise the book to a shine.
The most challenging part of getting my books edited to the final copy and published: I think you're asking about what the most challenging part of revising a book is once it's written? So: The most challenging moment of revisions is right after I finish reading through the first round of edits from my editor and realize how much work I'm going to have to do. I usually feel completely overwhelmed and have to go process/grieve via Netflix and some sort of baked goods. But after I've taken some time away, and after I've let the notes simmer and stew in my head for a few days, and then actually sit down and get started? Then I settle into a groove pretty quickly. Editing is really fun for me. :)
Do you get excited or scared when your books are about to be published? Both! I'm always excited to see my books on the shelves, and to share my stories and characters with readers. But of course I'm a little nervous too! Once a book is finished, it's out of my hands, and it belongs to the readers. I worked really hard to make it the best book I could, and beyond that I can't control how people react to or interpret it. It's nerve-wracking to realize that, to let the book go out into the world and hope that readers will love it as much as I do! Luckily, though, I don't have a lot of time to worry about such things because I'm always pretty busy working on new projects!
Thanks again for asking these questions, Eliza! Happy reading!
xClaire
Hoo boy, these are some hefty questions!
The hardest part of step in writing my stories: DRAFTING. I love brainstorming, outlining, and revising, but getting through the first draft is super tough for me. It's the stage during which I feel the greatest doubt and get hung up on the "what ifs"--What if I can't ever finish this? What if, if I DO finish, it's not good? What if I'm never able to become as good a writer as I want to be? Questions like that. Once the book is actually finished, then I can rest easy knowing that, no matter what else happens, I've actually finished another book! And the voices of doubt fade away while I revise the book to a shine.
The most challenging part of getting my books edited to the final copy and published: I think you're asking about what the most challenging part of revising a book is once it's written? So: The most challenging moment of revisions is right after I finish reading through the first round of edits from my editor and realize how much work I'm going to have to do. I usually feel completely overwhelmed and have to go process/grieve via Netflix and some sort of baked goods. But after I've taken some time away, and after I've let the notes simmer and stew in my head for a few days, and then actually sit down and get started? Then I settle into a groove pretty quickly. Editing is really fun for me. :)
Do you get excited or scared when your books are about to be published? Both! I'm always excited to see my books on the shelves, and to share my stories and characters with readers. But of course I'm a little nervous too! Once a book is finished, it's out of my hands, and it belongs to the readers. I worked really hard to make it the best book I could, and beyond that I can't control how people react to or interpret it. It's nerve-wracking to realize that, to let the book go out into the world and hope that readers will love it as much as I do! Luckily, though, I don't have a lot of time to worry about such things because I'm always pretty busy working on new projects!
Thanks again for asking these questions, Eliza! Happy reading!
xClaire
More Answered Questions
Candice
asked
Claire Legrand:
Hi Claire, my middle-grade book club is reading The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls as their May book choice here at our library. So far, we're all very excited to start reading and get a good discussion going, but I haven't been able to find any discussion questions for the book itself. Are there any discussion questions that you think would be good to bring up? Any help is appreciated. Thank you!
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