Maintaining Inspiration While Writing (& Some News)

I've put off writing this post for a few days because I wasn't sure how to approach it--I could have just posted some suggestions for maintaining inspiration while writing without mentioning why they're important to me, or I could go all-out and give you some insight into why I'm on cloud nine right now.

I've opted for the latter. It is my blog, after all, and I owe myself a little bit of slack once in a while, right?

Since it's been a while since I've talked about this group, I'll start at the beginning:

Earlier this spring I applied and was accepted to inkTANK, MN's teen literary council through the Loft Literary Center (the nation's largest center for literary arts). It's a group of fifteen or so students that work together to plan literary programs for teens in the Twin Cities. It's a "job"--we receive a small stipend--but, more than anything, it's an opportunity to improve our own writing as we work with a group of fellow young artists.

The most significant benefit of being a part of inkTANK is the opportunity to work with an MFA student at either the University of MN or Hamline University for an entire school year with the goal of improving your writing--it's like having a personal writing coach, but I'm sure the relationship will be much more than that. By the end of the year, I expect I'll be good friends with my mentor.

That's where my news comes in.

I've been assigned the PERFECT (squee!) mentor - novelist Swati Avasthi, whose debut YA novel SPLIT releases from Knopf in March. Swati teaches writing courses at the Loft and is currently at work on the second book in her Knopf deal.

About SPLIT:

16-year-old Jace Witherspoon arrives at the doorstep of his estranged brother Christian with a re-landscaped face (courtesy of his father's fist), $3.84, and a secret. It is about what happens after. After you've said enough, after you've run, after you've made the split - how do you begin to live again?

How many writers get a novelist as their mentor? I can't put my excitement into words. She and I hope to revise my YA, WHERE THE DOVES FLY, by June. (Yes, I keep on pushing my goal date back, but that's because Swati and I are going to work very closely on plotting out emotional, character, and plot arcs to make sure that this draft works.) Our last month we'll spend together working on a query, if time allows.

I'm particularly excited because those who have read pieces of the novel - multiple of you from the blogging community here - love it. I'm particularly blessed that consistent praise has been applied to my use of first person present point of view, which was the hardest part of the book to tackle.

I've sent her my first 15k and I hope to send another 15k in the next two weeks.

I just met Swati a few nights ago, and I want to conclude this post by offering three pieces of advice for maintaining inspiration and momentum while writing, which she offered when I explained that I have a really hard time keeping at a novel when I have too little time.

• Create a music playlist that matches the tone/mood of all your novel's pieces.

I think this one is pretty self-explanatory. Find music that matches the tone of the book and write to it. I listen to music as I write always, but I've never matched music to the tone of the book and my goal is to have one created and ready to play within a week or two. I'll blog about it here once I figure out the details.

• Create a collage of photographs and images that help trace the parts of the book--whether these are specific characters, settings, emotions, etc.

Again, this one is self-explanatory. Swati explained that this will have particular benefit for a writer if s/he can show it to someone else and to have that other person explain what s/he sees. She gave the example of how, once, her collage had no faces on it, which fit the "hiding" theme of the story. This can reveal a lot about where you're taking your story.

• Plot/outline your novel as you go so that, when you sit down to write, you can avoid having to reread everything you wrote the night before.

Quick notes or a full-out chapter synopsis - it's up to you, as long as you detail out what you write before you finish up so that you don't have to reread and self-edit the next day. It can be an incredible time waster, wallowing in what you wrote and never getting to the next stage. This should be totally informal, and you should keep notes that help you move along at the pace you want to maintain.

On that note, I wish you all the best in your writing. I'll blog more about my last days at Flux and some other cool things soon.

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