I’m super-de-duper excited to welcome a special friend to Adventure Awaits today: Christine Smith from Musings of an Elf! I’ve been blessed to know her for a couple years now, and she is such an encouraging ray of sunshine everywhere she goes. Enthusiastic, kind, perceptive, and an awesome writer to boot, she brightens her corner of the internet . . . and a whole lot of other people’s corners, too. I’ve had the privilege of beta reading one of her books (in novella form and as a full-length novel), and she’s returned the favor for me.
So it’s really about time I feature her here on my blog, and what better topic to discuss than her writing life? Ladies and gentlemen, I now give Christine the floor!
Christine Smith is a twenty-something,
homeschool graduate who still believes in fairies and has every intention of
owning a pet dragon someday. One day she thought it’d be fun to write a book.
Fifteen years and much caffeine later, she’s still writing. Stories are her
life—reading, writing, watching, whatever it may be. She writes primarily YA
novels, and refuses to stop, no matter how old she gets. She loves tales grand
and epic and whimsical and beautiful. But her greatest love is her Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ. Her favorite adventure of all is letting Him sweep her
off on His beautiful plan for her life. You can find Christine at her
blog musingsofanelf.blogspot.com,
where she muses on those many peculiar things writers think about.
a certain point in your writing life when you decided to pursue it as a career?
Can you share a little excerpt of your work-in-progress? (We’ve got to start
off with a bang and cover all the basics!)
I’ve been writing for 15 years, since I
was 9 years old. I always loved reading and just stories in general, but it
never occurred to me to try writing my own until I discovered a contest to
write a short story involving a horse in some way. It sounded fun, so I
couldn’t help but try it. Well, what was supposed to be a short story, turned
into a full novel, and I completely abandoned the whole contest thing and
instead happily became a novelist writer for fun.
in my mind from the very beginning. But I never really…did anything about it.
I just dreamed and hoped. I called myself a writer, but I really only wrote
occasionally and never once read books on writing or learned the craft too
much. But then NaNoWriMo happened. I participated in my first NaNo in 2010 when
I was 18, and, oh, what a magical experience. I lived and breathed my NaNo
novel for 30 days, and managed to finish it soon after NaNo ended. Before, it
took me yeeears to finish a novel. But this one I wrote completely in under 3
months. I was in awe that I was capable of such a thing. And LOVED it. NaNo
taught me I could finish books, AND that writing was absolutely what I
wanted to do with the rest of my life.
publishing wasn’t a dream, but a tangible goal. I started following writing
blogs, making writing friends, reading articles on the craft, writing more
books and more and more. My books before this were cringe worthy, but
slowly and surely I saw improvement. I still have a long ways to go, but now,
yes, I definitely am pursuing it as a career. Writing is my world.
Thorns, is a Beauty and the Beast retelling and the book I hope to start
pursuing publishing with first. Here’s an excerpt:
him, chest heaving, and blood pounding in her ears, Rose looked into his face.
“Dragon?”
as if a war wrought inside his mind. Slowly, the untamed gleam in his eye
faded. For the first time since he attacked, he looked at her. He saw her.
words she longed to say stormed in her throat, but only one broke free.
“Please.”
speaking pained him. His eyes roved over every inch of her face. They gazed
deep, piercing, hungry. Searching for something. She could see him now. Not the
dragon, but the man hidden underneath, so desperately trying to claw his way
out.
set out to write, I usually give myself a word limit I have to write before I
can stop. 500 words, 1k, 2k—something like that. Otherwise I’d just write like
100 words before quitting. If I don’t have a goal, laziness always wins. But if
I do have a goal, I obsess over it and have to make it. (I guess
that’s a good thing…?)
the book, open the story and outline if I have one (some books I pants, some
books I plan, it just depends), and just write. I always have a beverage
by me, whether it be water, coffee, tea, coke. Just something to keep me
hydrated. I also have to be alone to write. If people are around, I get too
distracted and can’t immerse myself in my story. So pretty much always I write
in my room by myself. Well, except for Navi—my poodle/writing buddy. 😉 I tend
to get most of my writing done during the afternoons. Though I think my best
scenes come from when I write at night.
process—first draft, editing, etc.?
favorite feeling. There’s just nothing like realizing that story that’s been
roaming your brain for months or even years is finally on paper. All those
hours and hours of work done. And, to me, the first draft is the most special.
Because with any other draft, you’re working with what’s already there, no
matter how much you rewrite it. But the first draft came about from an entirely
blank slate. And isn’t that a magical feeling? Making something utterly new
from nothing.
writing process.
equally. They both have their pros and cons, though I may lean toward first
drafting a smidge.
you about my most recent turning point.
I just finished doing the first round of edits for Burning Thorns and having my amazing beta-readers (one of which is our very own Tracey here!) go through it. I’ve never before had a whole group of people read a full novel by me. It was an entirely new experience, and one of the best I’ve ever had. Ever since, I’ve had a huge support system, encouragement, so much great advice, and people helping me reach my goal of publishing. Publishing has always been a terrifying, overwhelming idea. But suddenly, with people supporting me and pushing me forward, it feels real and doable and exciting.
Moral of the story is: Find writing buddies! They’re the best things in the world.
5. As a reader, do you prefer series or standalones? How about as a writer?
hardly even touched standalones. I wanted a huge, epic plot and to be immersed
in it for long amounts of time. BUT, back in the day, I didn’t actually have a
whole lot of reading material. *gasp* I know, craziness! Used to, if I found a
series, I was ecstatic because it’d assure I’d have lots of books to read for a
while.
stores and library sales and made writing/reading buddies who gave me 3892348
recommendations of books to read.
also means I have a TBR stack the size of Mount Everest and not nearly enough
time to read it all. And thus series are more daunting because it’s a
commitment, when I could just go through a bunch of standalones quickly
and lessen my to-be-read stack a bit.
returns and I wonder why I ever put off reading them. Disappearing inside one
storyworld for a long time is my favorite. It’s like I get to spend weeks in an
exciting place with dear friends, and I love it.
bigger, complex plots. But for some reason I procrastinate reading them.
*sheepish grin* Technically Burning Thorns was supposed to be a
standalone, and still absolutely can be, but I also have a whole line of
fairytale retellings set in the same world floating through my brain. Whenever
I TRY to write something short, it becomes this monstrous, complicated series.
It’s a problem. >.> But, I kind of like it, too.
are working on stomping away that self doubt because they’re the sweetest
things in the world.
I can come up with a thousand million plot ideas, but actual interesting worlds
to put them in? Nada. My worldbuilding always ends up sooo boring and/or
cliché. My brain just refuses to come up with fun, clever things. *glares at
useless brain* So that’s definitely something I want to strive to improve on.
summing things up quickly. Eheheh.
even more than that, that I’m not scared of editing anymore and actually ENJOY
it.
See, I’ve spent basically my entire life completely petrified of editing. Thus
I write a dozen first drafts, but never…actually…edit anything. Which is
like the biggest part of being a writer. Heh. But I finally took the
plunge and edited Burning Thorns, and all my fears were for naught.
Because I liked it. I LIKED EDITING. It was the most shocking and
wonderful writing revelation I’ve ever had.
the Go Teen Writers
blog. When I
started reading that blog was when my writing really started to improve.
The Go Teen Writers book is also my go-to for all things writerly.
since.
about the horrors of war. No. You write about a kid’s burnt socks lying on the
road. You pick the smallest manageable part of the big thing, and you work off
the resonance.” -Richard Price
favorite writing quotes, without a doubt.
story you ever write, who would you choose and why?
story. They become such a special piece of my heart, it’s hard ever saying
goodbye. Which is probably why I love series so much, now that I think of it!
from my Colors of a Dragon Scale series, a high fantasy, dragon rider
story. Cael wasn’t even supposed to exist. But one day he popped in my head and
completely took over everything. As in, the whole plot ended up
centering around him pretty much. Even though he didn’t appear until the 5th
book. O_O Only Cael can manage that, let me tell you.
(because, ya know, white hair is awesome (though there is a reason, I
promise)), and somehow manages to be both the villain and best friend to one of
my protagonists.
villain/antihero type. Sure, he causes sooo much trouble, but he’s quite polite
about it and does actually care about people. He’s charismatic and fun
and nice and complex and, honestly, the character I’ve had the most fun writing
out of all my many, many beloved characters. (Sh, don’t tell the others.) I
actually feel comforted whenever he’s around. Even though, ya know, HE’S
TRYING TO DESTROY EVERYTHING. It makes no sense. >.> But that’s Cael for
you. He’s a walking conundrum.
steal the show in every single one and probably cause all sorts of horrible
disasters…
relatable. You make me feel strongly in one way or another about each one!
What’s your secret?
Goodness. I don’t think I have a secret! o.o
tune to people and just…get them. I understand people and what they
feel and why they feel things or do something. I’m not book smart AT.
ALL. But I guess you could say I’m people smart. It just comes naturally. Also
it’s one of my favorite subjects. I get absolutely obsessed with studying
personalities and just PEOPLE. (Reading about the Myers-Briggs personality
types is one of my favorite activities. #nerd) So I guess that could be it. I
just understand people, and it shows through in my writing.
BLAST.
Thanks for such awesome answers, Christine! I loved getting this window into your writing life, and I’m sure all you questers did as well. (That quote in #9 . . . wow. Just wow.) Be sure to leave a comment here for Christine, because she’s taking over the blog for the next while! She’ll respond to comments (but who am I kidding, I won’t be able to resist piping up too), and answer any questions you may have. So ask and comment away!
Also, on Monday the 19th, she’ll be featuring me on Musings of an Elf, so stay tuned for that as well. It’s going to be fun!
UPDATE: Here’s the link to that interview in which I chat about my writing process, a few of my favorite characters, and what my dream guest list would be for a seriously epic, authorly tea party!