Ask Maggie Stiefvater - Special One-Day-Only Group! discussion
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Leah: What advice would you give aspiring young authors like myself? Kaye: Do you have to work out your characters before you write the story, or do you make up their qualities as you go along?
Emily: As for my question, it's "What advice do you have for aspiring teenage writers?"
Hola, guys! I just wanted to let you know that your questions were tackled earlier in the day, so if you scroll up through the pages you should see the answers. :)
Jamie: Hey Maggie -If you ever discovered that one of your children had been letting their high school boyfriend/girlfriend sleep in their room (like Grace & Sam), what type of punishment do you think you would dish out? As a parent, I think I would implode on the spot.
Yes. Yes, I think I would too. One of the things about writing books is that your characters aren’t always right, even when they think they are, and they aren’t always wrong, even when they think they are. I really, really like showing the gray areas when they are both. I agree with Grace’s argument with her parents quite a bit in some places and quite a bit not in others.
But as a writer, I definitely think it’s my responsibility to not make my characters ME. I get a little tetchy (I love that word) when I see readers complaining about something a character said, assuming that it reflects the author’s beliefs. This is REALLY true of politics, I find. I love reading one star reviews of my favorite books (I know, I know, there’s something wrong with me) and it’s amazing how often readers blur the line between a fictional character and the creator. Not saying that you are, Jamie! ;p But I do get asked about my parenting philosophy a lot, and always about that scene. I think it’s great to hear the discussions that come up around it.
Phailin: What I also love about your fantasy books is that they set their own rules. How did you get your ideas?
I think it’s crucial for fantasy to have rules, especially when you’re dealing with a lot of power. Otherwise, there’s no way for a reader to know when something is dire or not, because maybe there is some magical power that I, as the author, just haven’t gotten around to describing that will save everyone! I also think that makes it more realistic. The real world has very ironclad rules -- what comes up must come down, humans have to drink water to survive, if you run yourself too hard, bad things happen -- and consequences, and if you make a book magical but remove the consequences, it’s no longer real at all.
So for me, it starts with the magic, with the fantasy, and then I start imposing rules. Sometimes they happen at the same time, and that’s the conflict. Sam can become a wolf BUT he loses himself, etc. That’s the best sort of regulation, I think. When it’s inherent.
I know for a fact that often writers are their own worst critic. I constantly critique what I write and it is holding me back as a writer. How do you NOT over-analyze your work?
Aylah50: Maggie, One of the wonderful things about you as an author is that you are so accessible to your fans and readers, via facebook, twitter, your blog and groups like this. It makes us feel so connected to you - I remember in particular personally discussing with you how Sam's change in Shiver reminded me of Aha's "Take On Me" video! Does being so available to the people who read your work inspire you even more? And how do you deal with eventual, albeit I'm guessing rare, criticism in such an open forum as the internet?I generally get inspired by readers when I meet them face to face, but sometimes readers will help me out of sticky spots online — they’ll answer research questions quickly, or send me to a great restaurant on tour, or tweet me excitedly about a song they just found, or help me plan a trip to cliffs in California. So it’s not inspiring for the book-writing directly, but they’re still a part of my life in a very active way. Does that make sense?
And oh, criticism. Writing isn’t for the thin-skinned in any case. Books are really subjective, so negative reviews generally don’t affect me, but it does bother me when people are personal about it. Months and months ago, there was a blog with a negative review written in such a way that the commentors got very personal, and one said they would hunt me down and kill me. That’s jarring, I won’t lie. The immediate reaction to personal stuff is to reply, but that never helps! Unfortunately, I only ever find that out the hard way . . .
But the fact is that 99.9% of what’s out there is either fantastic or professional, and I’ll take either.
Rivkah: What was your favorite scene(s) from the books?
EVERYTHING THAT MAKES READERS CRY!!
Also, I do have favorite scenes in each of the books, but I don’t know if they would make sense if I listed them. They’re always because they were tricky in some way and I was happy I pulled them off, or the character finally changed in a way that I wanted him/ her to, or because I had been looking forward to the scene for a long time and it turned out how I planned or better.
But I can say that pretty much all of the nature scenes make me happy.
Katie: I am concerned that my writing may be, well, too choppy. Is there a certain way to smooth that down? My second question: I've noticed that I need to explain more stuff because my story is very complex; you'd have to read it to understand. How do I should I explain more stuff, without dragging the story along?
Read, read, read. Our best text books as writers are other people’s amazing novels. Try reading your writing out loud, and then read out loud some of your favorite writers’ writing. Then try to rephrase your writing so that it sounds smoother — say it out loud, again, and then just write down what you spoke. I often still read my writing out loud for pacing.
And as far as backstory, this is a huge problem for all of us! I think we tend to prefer found knowledge instead of given knowledge. So if I pointed to three different peppers and told you which one was spicy, which sweet, and which mild, you might remember it a week later. But if you tried each of those three peppers and found out for yourself, I’ll bet you’ll never forget.
I try to write the same way. I sneak in back story in such a way that I avoid telling the facts outright. Instead I sneak it into dialogue, and into description. Instead of saying that someone just came back from vacation in Florida, I might sneak in details about how they have dark tan lines, etc. You can’t sneak in every bit of rules this way, but you can make it less clunky when you only tell the stuff you can’t show.
Also, it’s where reading comes in. Because the more you read how other authors get their rules across, the more options you’ll see for how to deal with yours.
@Adeeb: How does a cover and layout of the book gets accepted? Are you involved in making the covers perfect and do you do edits? How do you end up approving them?
Most authors don’t have much role in their covers at all (this is not necessarily by choice, it’s just the process). A cover designer at the publishing house comes up with ideas and bounces them off the editor of the book and the marketing division until they find something they think both matches the book and will sell copies. I usually see it at this point, and, like some authors, I can put in my two cents. My ideas are generally just one of many ideas thrown into the hat at this part of the cover process, though, so my role is really really tiny. Many authors get absolutely no say at all.
I know for a fact that often writers are their own worst critic. I constantly critique what I write and it is holding me back as a writer. How do you NOT over-analyze your work?Really, this is where critique partners are really good to me. Because I can send it off to them and say, “what do you think?” and they will tell me. If I trust them, then I can carry on without anxiety. If it’s NOT ready for me to go on, they can guide me to do better. Also, objectivity is a huge part of this -- if you’re working and working and over-working something, it’s impossible to know how it really reads to others. It’s crucial to set the manuscript down and come back to it in two weeks or a month while you’ve been reading other things and not thinking about it. Often that’ll point out real trouble areas for me . . . but also real lovely areas as well.
Also, reading. Read other successful books in your genre and you’ll find that you get perspective on what is forgivable to you as a reader and what isn’t.
Thank you for answering my question Maggie! :D
Questions on Criticism: How do you take advice from your crit partners? What advice do you keep? What do you scrap? How do you know when to stop editing? And how do you deal with rejections and bad reviews from professionals or just ordinary readers?
i know rules are well, rules, but can you elaborate on how come up with the rules of a novel?
Hi Maggie!I'm a fan of Shiver and Linger and dying to know when 'Forever' will be released in Australia. The wait is killing me and I refuse to read spoilers, reviews etc. Hahaha
By the way, when will the Shiver movie be released? 2012? 2013?
Thanks a bunch!!
I am re-re-re-reading shiver and I just came across a part that has always bugged me. After Sam and Grace leave the candy shop in Duluth Grace sees a pile of clothes and paw prints leading away from the clothing. Every time I read this I try to figure out which wolf it was and each time I come up empty. Can you help me out a little?
Hi Maggie!I'm so proud of your accomplishments! I remember you from Wet Canvas and was wondering if you are still drawing?
It's great to see your books in print! Hugs, Rose Herczeg (IrishRose from WetCanvas)
Hi Maggie,I love the Mercy falls series so my question is Why do you keep making them fight to be together???
Hi Maggie,Just wanted to say a big thankyou for answering my questions! I'm now really looking forward to reading the Scorpio Races, and of course Forever. Thanks for bringing so much joy into my life.
Maggie, thank you SO much for answering my questions and spending time with us. I wish you all the best for the future! I haven't read Forever but I will soon. Happy writing :)
hey thank u maggie 4 answering my question but i would have loved it if u cud throw some more light on my question but its okay u need 2 read d book 2 noe the endin...m lookin forward 2 read other books of urs...but are u a secret singer u noe im one its gud that music inspires u so much and we benefit frm it*grin* love u .one more thing why was cole actually introduced iz he going to b d leader of the wolves?
Thank you for answering mine and other questions, by taking time out of your day. Thanks again. :)
What is your purpose of writing the book Shiver?
Why did you want to write the book Shiver?
Hi, Maggie!
Okay, so in Shiver, Sam found out that Beck had changed three new wolves when he found them in a van; one girl and two boys. In Linger, we found out that the two boys were Cole and Victor. But who was the girl? My prediction was that it was Angie, but who was it?
~Thanks
Okay, so in Shiver, Sam found out that Beck had changed three new wolves when he found them in a van; one girl and two boys. In Linger, we found out that the two boys were Cole and Victor. But who was the girl? My prediction was that it was Angie, but who was it?
~Thanks
Hey! It's me again. (I commented on page 1) Did you design your own cover art? If not, how would you design it?
I mean, schedule.
I’d be lying if I said that life was not crazy 100% of the time. I am traveling a lot for the books (like I said, of the 6 months left of the year, I’m gone for over three months of them), I’m married, I have two kids (6 and 7 years old), three dogs, a cat, and a very needy tank of fish. I also find it pretty much impossible to operate with less than eight hours of sleep. Studies have shown that the first part of your brain to stop working right when sleep deprived is the creative part. Studies have shown that only takes Maggie one lost hour of sleep.
Without that cloning machine, I’d be tanked.
Francesca: You will release two books this year, how do you find time for writing and having a family life at the same time? Do you have a schedule or something like that?
Caffenero: Hi Maggie, I love the way you take care of us (your fans, I mean) writing on FB, Twitter, your blog and so on :D But I've to ask you: how do you manage all?!
Jbrackers3: My question is about your writing routine and process. I love to write but find it really hard to make time for it. Do you follow a writing routine everyday?
First of all, I’m hugely grateful to my readers for being so funny, charming, and personable online every day. It means that when I’m away from home, I’m surrounded by people that chatter at me or with me every day, and that’s a great feeling. It makes it hard, though, to give up any of the online elements, because I don’t want readers to feel like I don’t appreciate them or their conversation.
But I think this is really the answer to all these questions: it’s about priorities. I got way less things done when I was a newly wed just out of college with no kids, because I never prioritized my oceans of time. Once I had brand new kids and very little time to work in, I suddenly became a honed machine. Because when I had two hours to work in, I worked in it. I didn’t browse Youtube or watch MTV. I sat my butt down and worked.
And that’s still true. My time crunch is epic and legendary in my family, and it never goes away, but it manages to run because of prioritizing. I also chunk activities into large pieces of time. If I tell myself that I need to answer interviews AND write on Tuesday, I will do both badly. If I tell myself I will write all day Tuesday and do the interviews and some blogging on Tuesday, I will accomplish many more words of both. I’m just not good at splitting things up. So no, no schedule. Because the schedule is just: Tuesday, writing. Wednesday, blogging and online stuff. Thursday, event planning stuff. etc. I try to keep the day’s mission as simple as possible.
I think the biggest thing I could tell aspiring writers about this, though, is that you do have to make the writing a weekly priority. I wrote all of Lament in three hour blocks every Wednesday, because that was all the time I could spare for it. But I never did anything else in those blocks either. I used that precious time every week for writing every week, before I was published or ever had a chance to. You have to bet on yourself, sometimes.