Interview with Michael Vaughn on publishing and writing
At what age did you begin writing?
I’ve always been a writer since first grade. When I first started sitting down and working on fiction I was 22. In school I was a journalist major, so I wrote for that as well.
How long did it take to write your first book?
My first novel took four years, but my current on took only one year, so you do get more efficient.
At what point did you gain faith in your writing abilities?
I always had the notion, that I had natural abilities. And somewhere in there I realized that you had to start with natural abilities and work your butt off. In high school I took English courses and I got As, but I hated them. It took me until college to realize that I found the classes completely unchallenging. The reason I disliked them so much was I wasn’t challenged. In college they began challenging me and working on hard stuff.
I always had faith in my writing and that’s what I always tell people, that’s what you have to have; faith in yourself, because you are going to get lots of rejection. Rejection is a lifestyle for writers.
What is your strategy for dealing with rejection?
If someone doesn’t accept your novel, all they are saying is they are not willing to lay out $10,000 and all the time it takes to publish a novel. That’s all that it means.
How long had you been writing when you first published a piece? Where did you publish it and what type of piece was it?
I had been writing for 11 years. The first novel that got published was the third novel I wrote. I think I may have buried my first novel in my front yard. I have rewritten my second novel and I’m now talking about publishing it as an e-novel. My idea is to keep writing novels no matter what.
How many publishers did you send your third book to?
I finished it in 1993 and sent it out for 6 months until I got it published. I sent it to about 50 publishers, which is actually lucky.
What was the publishing experience like?
It was kind of a roller coaster; you get good things and bad things. I had a great editor. She was very supportive of the book. And then it came out and they let me design the cover. At that time Barnes and Nobel was just starting up so I managed to set up a 25-city tour. Through the readings I got books on the bookshelves. Here’s the hard part, three months after I got back, the publisher went out of business. So I got no money. But I learned so much from that process, it continues to pay off.
How did you set up the readings at bookstores?
You call the bookstore and say “Hi I am blah blah blah I am doing a book tour.” If they agree to the reading, the bookstore will order some of your books ahead of time. It’s much more impressive to have a publicist call the bookstores though. I continue to do book readings to market my books.
What do the bookstores take into account when deciding whether or not to let you do a book reading?
One thing they look at is the distribution of your publisher. They are looking for evidence that if they give a reading people will show up. They might be interested in local writers. Never stop looking for different opportunities, cause you never know what is going to do it for you. Maybe your local library has good book reading options. I called the bookstore at the University of Washington and they were really supportive. You should take a hard look at your product and see if there are other places you can send it. I had a book with poetry in it so I went to poetry readings and sold my books there.
Do you have a goal of a specific number of words or a required number of hours that you work each day?
No, I order a 16 oz latte and I am allowed to write for as long as I have energy. I write at night cause that’s when my brain is most focused. That’s when I am sharpest and I have to keep writing to the end of the latte. Sometimes I will work on a paragraph for two hours and sometimes I can reel off 30 pages. I work long hand; the pen on the paper is almost sensual. It’s almost visual art at that point, instead of writing, you are almost sculpting.
One of my greatest assets is that I have complete self-motivation. A lot of people hate me for that.
Do you ever write people you know into your stories?
I have written two novels based on one woman. She wanted to be an actress but it never worked out. I got the impression that she liked me writing about her. My next girlfriend forbade me from writing about her. I have read novels that were written for revenge and they were bad. You have to write the novel cause you have it in you. Another difficult thing is if you are going to address the issue of sex, it’s hard to get rid of your parents. In my last novel I have some pretty frank sexual scenes. My dad was buying 10 books and sending them to my relatives.
Have you ever experienced writers block?
No. I think it’s cause I never force myself to write if I don’t have anything to write.
I wrote an article called “The art of creative Lolly-Gagging” for Writers Digest. Sometimes you need to lolly-gag. I always allow myself time between novels, to walk some beaches and play some softball. Don’t feel like you have to start the next project right away. I call it the brewing process you have to let the ideas come naturally. The beautiful thing about my current novel is it simply grows and little subplots just happen. I don’t use outlines. I start with a one-line premise for a book and go from there. I spend a couple days thinking about each chapter. The hard part is to not think too far ahead to chapter 25. Then I sit around for a few days and think about chapter two.
What is your revision process like?
I tend to do about four drafts longhand. The first draft I just get it down. The second draft I go back and discover what I have found, in the third I add in details. The forth draft is where I polish and then I type it up. I will then print out the whole book and read through the whole book and make changes.
Do you have any advice for other writers?
Good writing takes passion, if you try to fake passion, it doesn’t work. One of my popular novels is about opera. The reason it works is because I love opera. Sometimes people will force themselves to write something because it will sell. Every time you look at the bestseller list, there is always one freaky novel, like The Da Vinci Code. Go for what you are passionate about and that’s what works.
To learn more about the author, his books, his poetry and to hear him sing, go to: http://geocities.com/michaeljvaughn/
|
