Author Quick Chat with NY Times Bestselling Author RaeAnne Thayne
Being an author can be a solitary process. Wouldn’t it be fun if all of the authors could get together and have a quick chat about writing and life? Wouldn’t it be even more fun if you as readers could listen in? I thought so too. So I got together with some of my favorite authors—the first one is New York Times Bestselling Author RaeAnne Thayne. The two of us sat down for a little virtual conversation. Grab a cup of coffee and join us! We hope you enjoy this little glimpse into our world…
A Conversation with RaeAnne Thayne
Jenny: One of the weird things that I need to give me the creative energy to write is a group of total strangers. I find that if I go out to a coffee shop to work, the liveliness around me gets my brain going. When I stay at home, all I think about is how I should probably unload the dishwasher.... Do you have any weird writing quirks?
RaeAnne: I’m lucky enough to have an office away from my house, sort of. Several years ago the rather dilapidated house next door went up for sale. We bought it and fixed it up with the idea of renting it out but then I decided to use it for my office. I really have the best of both worlds. I have my own space but I can walk through the backyard in my pajamas to get there! It’s funny how writing habits change over the course of a career. I spent the first twenty years of my writing world embracing the chaos, writing around kids’ homework assignments and doctor appointments and folding loads of laundry. Since moving over to my office, I’ve discovered that while I can write in the midst of juggling other things, my most creative times are when I’m alone (except for the dog!) in my clean, comfortable, absolutely quiet office, with the Internet turned off.
Jenny: I’m currently in the chaos phase right now. :) The time I like to have everything absolutely quiet like that is when I read. But I have the hardest time reading fiction because it’s like speaking another language that only me and the author use, and I get all kinds of inspiration for my own writing just reading someone else’s. If an author makes me fall in love with a character, I’m inspired to make others fall in love with mine in my own way—I think, “How can I build that kind of emotion?” And the whole time I’m reading, all I can think about is how I can write my own character. I end up reading a page and then jumping up to write. What’s your favorite way to get ideas?
RaeAnne: Oooh. This is a hard question. I can’t say I have only one favorite idea-generating method. I’ve written sixty-five books and I’m not sure any two ideas came to me the same way. The more books I’ve written, sadly, the harder I have to try to come up with fresh and new ideas. I read an article a few months ago that said if you have a hard time coming up with ideas, you should try to come up with ten new ideas every single day. For every ten ideas you come up with, you might have only one or two that are actually viable. Since reading that, I’ve tried to exercise my idea-generating muscle. Every day I try to write down at least six or seven germs of a idea I could use for a book. Some of them would never work, some of them aren’t strong enough to carry an entire book, but there are a few pearls in there I’m sure I’ll use. It’s been fun to see what my subconscious comes up with when challenged!
Jenny: I’m the same way with ideas—I get them from so many places. Coming up with ten a day seems hard! I’m lucky if I come up with one or two every few months! I suppose it’s a practiced skill, though. I will jot little snippets of thoughts onto sticky notes—they’re jammed in my desk drawers, stuck onto the outside of file folders, all kinds of places. But I don’t really brainstorm ideas until I’m starting the next pitch for my editor. Then I usually dive in and write out a thin story synopsis. Speaking of the writing process and our editors, once I finish a manuscript and send it to my editor, I jump right in to the next book. If I turn in a manuscript on a Wednesday, I’m writing the next book on that Thursday. I think it’s hard for me to come down off the buzz of finishing. And I don’t sit still well. What’s the first thing you do after you turn a manuscript over to your editor?
RaeAnne: I usually sleep. LOL. It seems the last few weeks of a deadline are so emotionally and physically draining that I’m completely exhausted at the end of it. All I want to do is sleep for about fourteen hours straight. I usually give myself a day or two to catch up with the chaos and get to know my family again then jump into the next book.
Jenny: I think it’s hard for those around us to know what goes on in our brains all the time! I adore the publishing process. I actually prefer editing my novels to starting with a blank page. I love the mental gymnastics of adding things in, and I’m always trying to outdo myself with every draft. What do you get most energized about during the writing and/or publishing process?
RaeAnne: I love the final editing process, especially when reading the copy edits from my publisher. That’s usually a month or two after I’ve finished the book, when I’m already deep into writing another book. Re-reading a finished book is like reconnecting with a beloved old friend. After I’ve been away from it for a little while, I can find whole phrases or lines of dialogue I have no memory of writing. It always reminds me what a magical, miraculous endeavour it is to tell stories. I always marvel that I’ve somehow once more managed to turn a random, barebones idea into a fully formed novel, filled with characters who have become real to me during the writing process.
Jenny: Oh, I love that too! And I will read sentences that I have no memory of writing as well! Sometimes, I’ll think the book I’m writing is a mess, and I’ll go back to the beginning to shape it up. When I start reading it, I’ll think, “Oh! That’s not so bad…” I won’t remember what I’ve written until I go back and look at it again. Storytelling is definitely, as you say, a magical endeavor. Thank you for letting me in on your process! Cheers to happy endings!