In this series, guest bloggers tell us about their paths through the writing landscape, from their early beginnings to where they are now. My guest today is Julie LaVoie, an awesome writer I’ve known for years.
Let me hand over my mic. The next voice you’ll hear will be Julie’s.
1. What made you want to be a writer?
The compliments. Ha! Kidding. No, actually, I’m not. Since the very first book I wrote in first grade (where I told the world that my little brother liked to kiss me when he danced with me) to my eleventh grade research paper on STDs, my teachers ranted and raved about my “natural” writing ability. They said it had a fresh tone and that I was going to do something wonderful with it in the future. To date, my writing talent has been used for school absence excuses and emails to my son’s football coach, but I’m not giving up just yet. I still have half a century before I croak (fingers crossed).
2. What is the toughest part about writing?
All the rules. Sometimes I wish you could just write what’s in your heart and that publishers will eat it up. But I’ve learned the hard way that telling is a no no. Filtering is a no no. Too many gerunds are a no no. Then there’s the word duplication and the clichés, and many more rules I haven’t even learned yet! (Oh, and don’t forget about the overuse of exclamation points!!) But alas, publishers are a picky people. They want polished, succinct writing. For me, the rules take the fun out of writing. When faced with this sticky conundrum a writer must evaluate whether they’re writing for themself or for an audience. If it’s for them, they can fill their pages with every cliché imaginable. No one will ever see it. But if they’re writing for others, then they’re going to have to suck it up, learn the rules, and implement them. Ahem. As I am currently doing with the help of my very knowledgeable writing partner, who shall remain nameless (her initials are CF ;)).
3. Have you experienced an aha moment, a piece of advice or a moment where something fell into place?
Oh dear. I can’t say I’ve had an aha moment where I’ve seen the light, per se. Wouldn’t that be lovely? What I do experience quite often actually comes from my gut. At least that’s where I like to tell people it comes from. You’d all think me zany if I said it was from my writing fairy who whispers in my ear. What I’m talking about is trusting my instincts. I don’t plot out my books. Or use timelines or grids of any sort. I know how I want it to start and how I want it to end. Who I want to fall in love with who, and then I start writing. My characters take me down this way and that, things falling into place that I never could have planned if I tried. For example, just yesterday I had a character dropping a jar of mayonnaise after being surprised. This was my attempt at painting a picture for the reader. Well, what do you know, later in the scene I needed her to fall onto a knife. And I thought, “Hey, I’ve got greasy mayonnaise on the floor. How perfect for her to slip on and fall.” Completely unplanned, yet worked out chillingly perfect. That’s my writing fairy-er-gut for you. So I’m not sure if I answered this question correctly or not, but the point I think I was trying to make was even if you don’t have a particular aha moment, trust your writing and trust yourself.
4. Whose style do you admire, or is there a line you wish you’d come up with?
I hate this question. If I had a writing weakness it would be my lack of reading what’s currently out there. Since having my three boys I just don’t have the time to read. When I was younger, I read and read and read. During summer breaks, I don’t even think I left my bedroom, just laid in my bed reading (does it count if the window was open?). My favorite genre was historical romance and I ate up Victoria Holt books. As I grew older I opted more for the thriller suspense-type novels by Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb, Tami Hoag, James Patterson, and even Dean Koontz. But lately, the only books I read are from my writing partner and any other beta reads that come my way. So if I had to base my answer on past authors I’ve read, I’d have to say Victoria Holt, just because it was her writing style that captivated me enough to keep me housed up in my bedroom from morning to night. Not to mention the tea and crumpets phase she inspired. Oh, Earl Grey, how I love you.
5. Describe your ideal reader.
My ideal reader would be in the sixteen to thirtyish age range. My love scenes are curtained enough to be appropriate for younger readers, but the content is definitely mature enough for an older reader to appreciate, and even relate to. However, that’s just for my current project, a YA dystopian. I also have a paranormal romance on the back burner and a handful of children’s books. One could diagnose me as having “Writer’s ADHD.” But I do believe my favorite age to write for is the teenage/young adult audience so let’s stick with that answer.
Carmen, thank you so much for having me as a guest on your blog. I fully enjoyed it and hope you ask me back again.
You can visit Julie at http://juliemlavoie.wordpress.com
