Author Interview: Stephanie Perkins

November is National Novel Writing Month (often shortened to NaNoWriMo), an event that challenges people to write 175 pages (50,000 words) in 30 days. When I heard about it last year I thought, "That's nuts. These people are nuts. I have to sign up." And then I wondered, "Is anyone ever successful?"


The answer to that question is yes! And to celebrate all the possibilities NaNoWriMo brings and get a few NaNoWriMo tips, I decided to interview a successful WriMo writer.

Today I have the pleasure of posting an interview with author Stephanie Perkins, who graciously answered my NaNoWriMo questions via e-mail. Stephanie has two NaNoWriMo novels under her belt and her first book, Anna and the Boy Masterpiece, will be released by Dutton in Fall 2010. ___________________________________________

Do you make detailed plans before plunging into NaNoWriMo?

Oh goodness, no. This is, without a doubt, the biggest and most common mistake among participants. There's often a misconception that NaNo is about writing a book in a month. I mean, National Novel Writing Month. It's there in the title! But that's really not what it's about. It's about creating a first, very very rough draft that you can eventually — with a lot of hard work — turn into a novel. Many participants believe they have one month to write a BOOK. A good one. One that they can sell, that people will want to read. So they do all sorts of outlining and research before beginning, sometimes months in advance! But the problem with this is that the more you know about your story beforehand, the more pressure you put on yourself to write something GOOD. And few people (I'm certainly not one of them) can write a GOOD book in a month. So what happens? The participant starts the novel, realizes that the words coming out aren't nearly as beautiful and perfect as the idea they had in their head and in their notes, and they become frustrated and discouraged. It becomes impossible to move forward. And if you aren't moving forward during NaNo, it's over.

The founder of NaNoWriMo, Chris Baty, recommends only one week of preparation in his fantastic book No Plot? No Problem!. Solid advice. It gets the gears in your brain turning, but it's not nearly enough time to turn your idea into something perfect, and therefore, unattainable.

Was writer’s block a problem for you during NaNoWriMo? If so, how did you overcome it?

Yeah, a little bit. I'm a slow writer, so not having the time to think my story through is both liberating and frustrating. I hit road blocks frequently. This was where Chris Baty's book came in handy again. He talks a lot about how to keep the story moving forward, even when you have no idea what's supposed to happen next. Anything from freewriting (this is what I do most frequently, my NaNo drafts of Anna and Lola have horrifyingly long passages of nonsense), to interviewing your characters, to introducing random llamas into a scene just to see how your characters react or to give them something to talk about.

Again, this has a lot to do with distancing yourself from that notion that NaNo is about creating a capital-N Novel, rather than what NaNo works best at, which is pushing you to create as many ideas as possible within a one month span. Who cares if all of the ideas are good? One or two WILL be, and that's where you begin writing/revising in December, with the ideas that worked.

So . . . just barrel through it. Write anything. Seriously. Anything. Word count is still word count!

Do you have any must-have objects with you while you write?

Ritual was more important for me the first year. I had a green plastic flower ring that a friend had given me, and I wore it whenever I sat down. It was a nice reminder of the support I had behind me. (My family and friends have always been tremendously supportive. I am lucky.) Now that I'm used to sitting for long periods of time and big writing pushes, I only keep around the necessities — laptop, research books, notes, coffee, tea, and gum.

And OF COURSE coffee, tea, and gum are necessities!

Describe your NaNoWriMo experience in three words.

Life-changing month. (Oh man. That sounds so unbelievably corny, but it's true.)

What, in your opinion, is the best reason to participate in NaNoWriMo?

NaNo is fantastic for people like me who have a difficult time writing first drafts. It forces you to spit one out, quick and dirty. And then you get to move on to the better stages — beefing up the story, cleaning and tweaking it, and making the language sparkle! If it weren't for NaNoWriMo, I would not be in the position that I am today. I doubt that I'd even have a complete first draft by now.

Publishing a book involves a lot of revising. Is NaNoWriMo in your plans this year, or will you have your hands full working on Anna and Second Novel?

Yes, I'm participating! It's true my hands are full — I'm still shaping Lola and the Boy Next Door (formerly known as Second Novel) into a working draft, and Anna and the Boy Masterpiece will probably hit the line editing stage smack in the middle of November — but absolutely, I'm doing it. NaNo changed my life. It brought me Anna (and her delicious boy), and I will be eternally grateful for that. I'm positively giddy to star this year's project. Something NEW. What a relief!

Any tips, tricks, or words of NaNo wisdom that you’d like to share?

I learned two important things last year. First of all, I did the Bad Thing — worked on a project that I had a lot of preconceived ideas and notions about — and it was dreadful. Seriously, do NOT do this to yourself. I spent the entire month agonizing at how awful it was, whereas my first year (when I had no idea what my story was), I was just happy for the high word count! So this year, I'm starting with a significantly blanker slate.

The second important thing I learned was to nail down the tense early on. I never picked one last November. Never. I wrote some of Lola in first, some in third, some in present, some in past. (I told you my NaNo drafts are terrible!) I didn't think it would be a big deal in revisions, but it turned into a HUGE ordeal. I had more salvageable ideas in that draft than I realized, so when I moved them into my REAL novel, it required several weeks of painstaking revisions to get them all into the same voice. I won't make that mistake again! So bite the bullet and pick a tense within the first few days. Even if you decide on a different tense for your next draft, it'll still make the transition easier.

Not that you would be as silly as me and not pick a tense. I mean, really. What was I thinking?

Thanks for the fab interview! . . . . GOOD LUCK! And if you or any of your blog readers are looking for a NaNoWriMo cheering squad, I love having writing buddies. You can add me here: http://www.nanowrimo.org/eng/user/230633

— Steph
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Actually *looking down at my shoes* choosing a tense was a problem for me last year. Thanks for the awesome advice, Steph!

You can read more about Stephanie's NaNoWriMo experience HERE, and I strongly recommend visiting her enormously entertaining blog HERE.

NaNo-ly yours,