La-Tessa Montgomery

Today I’m joined by new author Christine Ashworth, sharing her experience with overwriting– an affliction that many newbie authors suffer from.  I’m sure most of you authors out there have similar tales as Christine, if so please share.  There’s no judging here  

Hi La-Tessa, thanks for having me on your blog to blatantly promote my first published novel! But before I get to that, I wanted to share how I went from overwriting, to writing to sell.

When I wrote my first novel, I put everything in it. Ballet dancers, gay men, straight men, alcohol, sweat, snow, gorgeous imagery, sexual tension, heartbreak, omniscient POV, deep third POV, Paris, New York, San Diego, Los Angeles, hot tubs, nakedness in the kitchen, really great lasagna, sex with inappropriate people…should I go on?

Needless to say, that novel, while remaining a darling in my heart, is on a dusty section of a hard drive that no longer exists. Ten long years have passed – eleven complete novels and over a dozen partials later, and I’m still struggling not to put everything plus the kitchen sink into a book.

I know now how to plot just enough that the thought of writing the story doesn’t bore me. I know how to go back through a book and see what’s missing, and how to add it in. I write fast, mainly to get through the writing to the rewriting, which has become my favorite part of writing. (Which is good, since selling means rewriting.)

But it’s taken me a long time to accept my method of writing and then rewriting. I had a friend ask me if I keep all the words I write in a day (typically 2k-5k, depending on the day, the story, and life in general). At first I thought, well of course I do! But in retrospect, when I rewrite a story for sense, romance, plot, and character, I do change/add/delete quite a bit of words. I’ve tossed out entire chapters because that dragged in a fourth POV, which the story didn’t need. So do I keep all the words I write? No. My bet is, few writers do.

I’m no Gustav Flaubert (Madame Bovary), who would at times agonize over a paragraph for a month before he was satisfied with it. (Plus, you know, he was writing in French.) Rather, the words fly out of my brain and onto the screen because if I think too much I can’t write – therefore, the words that make it to the page aren’t always appropriate for the story, but they lead me to the next bit, and the next, and before I know it, the book is done and the real work (fun!) begins.

No writing is truly wasted. When I say I “toss” words, I really mean “put in a delete folder for all eternity”. Because someday, those words might come in handy! Yes, I still over-write – add in elements to the story that don’t really fit. But they get put into the delete folder at the appropriate time, because my brain has finally figured out what happens next.

Christine, thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your experience.  You weren’t kidding about trying to put everything in your first manuscript were you?.  Personally, I’d like to know how all that could possibly exist in one story, but I suppose that’s a tale for another day.  Great lasagna indeed-LOL. 

Before I let Christine go, I ‘d like to mention her 1st release, Demon Soul is out and available for purchase.  Here’s a bit about it:

…to retrieve his soul, she’ll become fire… Gabriel Caine stands on the edge of the abyss. A vampire has stolen his soul and if he doesn’t get it back soon, his next step will be into hell.

Rose Walters has been sent back from the dead to complete one task – save Gabriel Caine. But this muscled guy in leather, black jeans and a dangerous aura didn’t look like he needed anyone’s help.

Rose has touched the whole of Gabriel, making him yearn for a love he believes he can never have. Her willingness to put her human life on the line for him forces him to bring all three parts of himself – demon, human and Fae bloodlines, and the traps and gifts of each – into harmony, and into the fight that will decide their fate.

Demon Soul is available for purchase on Amazon and All Romance eBooks. 
You can find Christine over at her website and on Twitter.

One of my writing buddies, Jus Accardo, put together a 12 step programs for any and all writers who are WIP-Aholics.  No explaination neccessary.  You know who you are.  And you’re on the fence about whether or not you’re one, remember,  admiting you have a program is the first step- LOL.  

1.  We admit we are powerless against our WIPs—that they hold our muse—and our hard drives hostage.
2.  We believe something greater than ourselves—the revision process and editing that comes with it—can and will restore our sanity.

3.  We have made the choice to give our lives over to the care of our Muse.

4.  We will cease extensively researching and move forward with the revision process so that our WIP will one day grace the desk of our dream agent.

5.  We have admitted to ourselves, and our fellow writers, our flaws—and will make a conscious effort not to indulge our WIP obsession until we have made at least one submission.

6.  We acknowledge that we are ready to move forward and tackle our enormous pile of WIPs—by focusing on them one at a time.

7.  We offer chocolate, caffeine, and other indulgent gifts to our muse in exchange for urging us onward toward our publication goal.

8.  We have made a list of the WIPs being neglecting, and are now willing to make amends.

9.  We will continue to move forward with our neglected WIPs, admitting freely when the urge to start another surfaces.

10.  We will, through chocolate and coffee, improve our relationship with our muse, begging for her/his knowledge and guidance.

11. We will not make excuses.

12. We will, having had an awakening of epic proportions due to these steps, go forth and spread this message to all other WIPaholics.

I loved this so much, I asked permission if I could share.  So all you WIP-Aholics, take time to review the above affirmations.  Become friends with them.  Then… stop procrastinating & get going.