So. The finale. The big finish. How did it all turn out with Ms. Matchy Matchy? She finished her reading (you know, the reading that was, without a reading) and took some questions from her fans.
Question #1 went something like: "I love the covers of your books. Do you get to pick them? "
Answer #1 went something like: "I don't get to pick the designs, but I DO get to pick the colors. And I'm so excited about the next several books coming out. The next one is sage green, the one after that is peach, the one after that is lavender. See the trend? Cool, warm, cool, warm. That's how we're doing it. Isn't it great?"
Question #2 went something like: "I love your character's names. Do you come up with them on your own? Is it hard?"
Answer #2 went something like: "Actually, coming up with the character names is my favorite part! I love it!"
It was about here that I felt the night careening off course. Tragically. Typically. So stereotypically. But then.
Question #3 went something like: "So how did you decide to become a writer?"
Answer #3 went something like: "On the very first day of my job as a lawyer, I realized I had made a mistake. Utter misery will get your butt moving pretty quickly in another direction. I've always loved writing and always written stories, but I decided that day that writing was my ticket out of the pure drudgery of my job."
Fine. I'm warming up...
Question #4 went something like: "So what is your writing process? Do you write every day? At the same time?"
Answer #4 went something like: "Actually. No, I don't write every day. I find that I just can't do it. People say write one hour a day, every day. It just doesn't work for me. I find that when I do write a couple of times a week, I need to write for at least five hours at a time. Because still for the first hour or two, I'm checking email. Thinking about something else. Listening for my kids outside my office. It takes me a full 3 hours of writing to get back into the world I've created. And it's only that last hour of writing that is ever any good. In a five hour session, the first four hours of writing is usually crap. But I need that much time to get going."
...and I love you. The single most comforting advice I've ever heard from a writer, albeit a writer I've openly questioned. It makes sense and I love her for saying it because her process is my process and I've always felt like a proper failure because I don't write every day at the allotted time for the alloted amount. I simply can't do it. And, to her point, I need A LOT more than one hour to get anything good to come out. You know, you've read this blog.
Since hearing these words from her, I've implemented my own five hour sessions only a few times a week -- with excellent results. This larger chunk of time gives me room to play, to really open up, to take some risks and think bigger. To really get into the world I've created. An hour every day makes me feel...squeezed, smushed, strained. Just when I start to get into it, I find I'm already patting myself on the back for completing an hour of writing and my mind wanders at the 61 minute mark.
Matchy Matchy answered the question (the one we all hope is asked at every reading, even if we don't want to admit it) in a way that has actually improved my own writing dramatically. Who woulda thunk it?
So there. She lost a lot of points and she gained 'em all back. Until, of course, I read her books...
UPDATE: Justine just knocked matchy matchy out of the top advice spot. By a mile. So much good advice in such a short period of time. Now I have no excuse. Not a one. (Via Gwenda.)
