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This book was put together from the writing Q&A, with the help of Ina Yalof. It is a collection of the most frequently asked questions about the writing process, how to get published and what Janet's life is like.
INTRODUCTION
Three people are actually responsible for writing this book. Alex, my webmaster daughter, is the third author. When asked if she preferred the money or the glory, there wasn't a contest, so for design purposes Alex's name isn't on the cover. Bad enough we had to fit Evanovich on once, much less twice!
Alex constructed my website in 1996, and in 1997 she instituted the writing Q&A. This book is based on those archived questions and answers. So I suppose I've been writing this book for almost ten years. Alex and Ina put the book together, Ina added some of her own expertise, and SuperJen Enderlin edited the book for St. Martin's Press.
The title of the book is How I Write, and the bulk of the information here is from my personal experience. Ina adds her two cents occasionally but, as an educator and nonfiction writer, she writes from an entirely different perspective. I haven't attempted to produce the definitive book on creative novel writing. I'm simply passing on what works for me. This is how I write. And these are the answers to the questions I've been asked over the years.
We've inserted writing examples throughout the book, and all those examples have been pulled from my Stephanie Plum series. Okay, so it's a little narcissistic. Well, heck, you didn't think I was going to use examples from Sue Grafton, did you?
Bottom line is we had a lot of fun putting this together for you, and we hope you have fun reading it. And if you learn something... hooray! Icing on the cake.
-- Janet Evanovich
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* * *THESE ARE EXCERPTS FROM THE "WRITING LIFE" PART OF HOW I WRITE. FOR A LOOK AT THE TECHNICAL PART OF WRITING SEE THE WRITING Q&A IN THE FUN STUFF MENU ABOVE.* * *
- Q. How and why did you become a writer?
- JANET: I was always the kid who could draw. I majored in studio art in college, but painting and sculpture never felt exactly right. One day (in my early thirties), I was coloring with my kids, and I realized every time I engaged in an art project I created a story about that project. It was like lightning striking. For thirty years I'd been telling myself stories and I'd never once put one on paper! I knew nothing about the business of writing. Didn't know any writers. Didn't have any skills. Had forgotten how to punctuate a sentence and hadn't a clue how to write dialogue. So, armed with all this ignorance, I set out to write a book. My first attempt was horrible and embarrassing. Ditto the second. The third book was less horrible, and I'd gotten beyond embarrassment. Still couldn't sell anything. The thing is, I discovered I loved the process. I had a supportive family, and my Jersey belligerence kicked in. I hung in there and kept trying to get better . . . and ten years after I made the decision to write a book, I finally sold one (Hero at Large).
- Q. What is the most difficult part of being a writer?
- JANET: Meeting expectations. The constant fear that this time out I might disappoint the reader.
- Q. Who or what has most influenced your writing?
- JANET: Carl Barks, who created and wrote Uncle Scrooge comics and gave me a lifelong love of the adventure story. Donald, Scrooge, Huey, Dewey, and Louie were a little dysfunctional, but they basically liked one another and they were always going on adventures-- just like Stephanie Plum. I also studied Robert B. Parker, creator of the Spenser series. And Tom Clancy, who showed me the value of timing and writing for the market.
- Q. How do you manage to make yourself sit and write? I'm wondering how such a successful author as you keeps yourself fueled.
- JANET: I run up my charge card, eat a lot of junk food, and pretend I'm a professional.
- Q. What is your workday like?
- JANET: I drag myself out of bed around 5:00 a.m. and shove myself into the clothes lying on the floor. I eat a boring breakfast of coffee and yogurt. Then I shuffle into the office I share with a really rude parrot. I stare at the computer screen for about four hours, sometimes actually typing some sentences. I chew gum and drink diet soda to keep myself from falling out of my chair in a catatonic stupor. At noon I'm suddenly filled with energy and rush to the refrigerator, hoping a pineapple upside-down cake with lots of whipped cream has mysteriously appeared. Finding none, I make a tuna or peanut butter and olive sandwich. I go back to my office and visualize myself getting exercise. I play an amazing game of mental tennis. In my mind's eye, I look great in the little tennis dress. Very athletic. When I'm done playing tennis, I stare at the computer screen some more. When nothing appears on the screen, I drive down to the local store and buy a bag of Cheez Doodles. I eat the Cheez Doodles and manage to actually write several pages. When I'm done with the Doodles and pages, I wander out of my office looking for someone to whine at because I just made myself fat. I alternate typing and whining for the rest of the afternoon until about 5:00, when I emerge from my office, once again hoping for the pineapple cake.
- Q. Come on. What's your workday really like?
- JANET: Okay. When I'm in a book, I like to keep the momentum going, so I usually work an eight-hour day, five days a week. I like to be at my computer by 5:00 or 5:30 a.m. I stop writing around 2:00 and become a businessperson, answering phone calls, doing mail, and having discussions with my publicist and whatever. I take an hour or two out in the middle of the day for exercise. Five days a week, I work evenings answering mail and having phone meetings with my webmaster daughter, Alex. On weekends I work in the morning, but I use the afternoons and evenings for fun. That's generally how it goes unless I'm behind schedule. When I'm up against a deadline, I go continually day and night. And I really need to be left alone to get the job done. Just slide the Snickers bars under the door, thank you.
- Q. What types of music do like? Is there any particular kind you like to listen to when you're writing?
- JANET: When I listen to music, I like happy music, like funk and disco. But when I'm working, I need quiet. I have a fifteen-year-old parrot named Ida that shares my office (his choice, not mine), and he's noisy enough.
- Q. How did it feel the first time you made it onto the New York Times Best Seller List?
- JANET: A major relief. The first book to make the list was High Five, which came on at number 13. My next book-- Hot Six-- opened at number one. I'll never forget it. I was in Seattle on tour. Alex and I were at a lunch, hosted by Amazon, when I got the call telling me that my book was opening at number one on the list. After the luncheon, Alex and I went to Tiffany's and I bought her a small pair of diamond studs. We both had worked so hard and for so long to get enough books out in the stores to even have a shot at making the list. It was her first piece of real jewelry, and they have never left her ears.
- Q. What's the best part of a tour?
- JANET: Room service.
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How I Write
Copyright © 2006 by Evanovich, Inc.
Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book
may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without
written permission except in the case of brief quotations
embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information
address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue,
New York, N.Y. 10010
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