Interview: Amanda, Creator of Headdesk and Writer Extraordinaire

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I’ve got a cool interview to share with you today. She’s someone who advice on writing I respect very much and whose blog I read often. She’s won contests and teaches about writing.

Amanda has been published in The Mainstreet Newspaper and is forthcoming in Byline Magazine. Other accomplishments include winning a $500 prize for a children’s book and finishing 3 novels within a year! Please welcome Amanda!

I heard that you’ve won a few writing contests. Can you tell us a little about those? How do you go about selecting contests to enter? What is the process like, etc.?

The first writing contest I ever entered was a community thing and I
thought it would be fun. I won first place. I remember clutching my
prize and thinking, hey…maybe I can win again.

Picking a contest is tricky. I tend to go for free, prize-attached,
theme-inspired short-fiction contest. I’ll read about a contest and
instantly get an idea. If this doesn’t happen, I won’t be able to
enter, because I’ll never get an idea I can write about.

The process itself is pretty simple. I scan the guidelines looking for
loopholes, turning it over in my head, and then I run off and type up
the entry. I work at it very carefully and always plan to have it
entered a week before the deadline – something always goes wrong, so
this way I come in on time. Then I edit, get my beta to read it, edit
again, polish, and send it off. After that there’s nothing to do but
wait and obsessively check my e-mail.

Thanks for sharing. I’ve never entered a contest, but it’s definitely something I’d like to do in the future.

I love your blog, Headdesk. What inspired you to start blogging? What do you hope to achieve with your blog?

 Thank you! I love that you love it I noticed a while ago that
writers seem to keep covering the basics, over and over again. That’s
not good enough for me. I want the good stuff, things I can chew on
and have “oh!” moments with. So I wrote what I wanted to read. Plus, I
wasn’t sure if I could do it – before Headdesk, I didn’t write
nonfiction, and I didn’t have deadlines. Now I do. It’s taught me a
lot.

Headdesk is unofficially for the intermediate writer. The one who’s
got a hold on the basics and feels like they’re doing good, but keep
getting rejected, and don’t know what else to do. When I was naming
it, I sort of imagined a bunch of writers banging their heads into
their desks and moaning, “Ugh…what am I missing here? Why won’t this
work?” Hopefully Headdesk can help take people to the next level. At
the very least, I want to provide the next step.

 

Can you tell us a little bit about the Seven Writerly Sins?

This is a really fun series I’m working. It’s about the things writers
do that they don’t realize are problems. An added caveat is that these
are “secret” sins – they have to be something few people know about.
I’ve covered prologues/epilogues, dialogue tags, editing, marketing
expectations…it’s fun. Right now I’m working on sin #5.

Great. I know I’ve enjoyed the series so far. You belong to a writers’ group and even teach there. What do you get out of your membership to such a group? Why did you join and what have you learned from the experience?

At first I was a little disappointed. My group is pretty small (though
growing) and many of the writers are unrealistic about how much they
have to learn. Plus, I’m the only one who writes novels! That’s tough.
But the diversity is good in that each person brings something
different to the table. You’re always “trading shoes” so to speak,
looking at things from someone else’ eyes. And we tend to talk about
the basics a lot, so it keeps those in the forefront of my mind.

My group does two interesting things: we hold lessons as well as
critiquing other’s work, and every month we rotate to a new teacher.
Each member of the group gets a chance to teach. I found that if I’m
the one researching the lesson, bringing it to the group, and trying
to pound it into people’s brains, It sinks a lot deeper than if I had
been the one listening. And the critiques are great.

That’s an interesting setup and maybe one others can implement in their groups. Can you tell us about your writing schedule? Last week we covered a writer’s environment? How do you operate in regards to writing?

My schedule may be considered loose, but I’ve found this way I am most
productive. I write in the morning from around 9:30 (ok, ok, 10) until
around noon. If I’m on a roll, I’ll keep writing until 2. If I’m not
on a roll, I’ll just surf the web and do writing-related chores for a
while.

I write something nearly every day of the week. Every few days I’ll
work on my novel, keep it up half the week, then spend another few
days working on other things. This keeps me writing but gives me time
to refresh and muse.

My environment needs to feel businesslike. I have this desk with
bookshelves overtop, and a box of files underneath; I keep my music
here, my pens, reference books, fiction, movies, coffee cups, snacks,
notes, laptop…everything I need for work or inspiration. And I
literally write with the door closed. If the door is open, people
interrupt me and I can’t think. Door stays shut. Period. It also puts
a physical action to a mental process – when I close my door, my muse
gets ready.

Sounds a lot like my schedule. Ha! 

What do you want to accomplish with writing? What are your goals?

Someday I hope to write deep, thoughtful, God-inspired Christian
fiction. Right now I am focused on being a great writer. Really, I
mean it. All I want is to write fiction I could read and put on my
favorites list, with a nice fan base and regular publication.

I sort of have this 5 step plan. Right now I’m on step 2, which
involves building my credentials and writing the first novel I will
ever try to publish. (Eek!) By step 5, I should reach my goals. It’s
exciting. I made myself wait a long time for step 2.

Oooh, a girl with a plan! Someone after my own heart. Can you offer us a tip for all the aspiring writers out there?
Take yourself, your writing, and the facts of being a writer
seriously. Never think this is going to be easy. Simultaneously, never
believe you can’t make it. It has been statistically proven than the
difference between people who do OK, and the people who do great, is
that great people are dedicated. Prepare for failure. Expect success.
Read, write, edit – plan.

Excellent advice. Finally, if you could have written one book, a book that is already published by another author, what would it be?

Can I pick two? Please? My first choice would be Robert Crais’ “The
Watchman.” I swear, his main character Joe Pike is the MC I’ve been
trying to write my entire career. Except with more swearing and less
superpowers.

Next would be bestseller “The Time Traveler’s Wife.” It was beautiful
in a way I’ve only touched briefly, once or twice, but keep finding
myself working towards, keep yearning after. It’s one of the few books
that made me cry and the only one I’ve ever loved entirely. Someday,
fingers crossed, I’ll write a book like that.

 

Thanks for coming, Amanda, and we hope to hear back about your future successes soon.

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Tags: Amanda, blog, Byline Magazine, Christian fiction, critique groups, dialogue tags, editing, epilogues, Headdesk, inspirational fiction, Joe Pike, marketing, prologues, Robert Crais, Seven Writerly Sins, The Mainstreet Newspaper, The Time Traveler's Wife, The Watchman, writers' groups, writing advice, writing contests, writing environment, writing schedule