Ask the Author: Bailey Vincent
Answered Questions (6)
Bailey Vincent
The hard part about being a writer AND a mother is that my life IS writer's block. Meaning: there is never any time to write. And if I have time, then I'm too exhausted to even want to sit up. As a teenager, I could power through chapters all night long because... really, who cares? But now, I write during phantom bursts of magical freedom or energy, and then suffer through long bouts of nothingness. There is literally never a "good time" to write in the life of a momma so... we take the chances when they arise! It's an imperfect system
Bailey Vincent
It helps turn neurosis into a profession. It conceals the fact that most of us need psychological help. .... Just me?
Bailey Vincent
Just write. We all have ideas, right? Everyone says, "I have an idea for...." and that's where it all begins. But the key really is: just write. I, unfortunately, don't have a lot of ideas ...but I just bumble my way through horrible draft, after horrible draft. Without the words, you can't move forward, right? So.... write
Bailey Vincent
"The Details of How We Lived" is the first novel I've written that is grounded very closely to my life (almost too close for comfort). Luckily, my next series is a happy balance of both- realism and total fantasy.
It is a Young Adult series dealing with genetic extremism... medicine in the future... our constant search for a cure for all maladies... and the plight of most awkward teenage girls who don't completely fit in.
I wanted to write a hero/anti-hero that could be a model for my daughter's one day. Someone who is the epitome of the underdog... There will be a lot of historical symbolism (drawn from our previous quests for human perfection)- the Nazi experiments, the evolution of science, etc. What happens when humans need a cure for the Cure?
It is a Young Adult series dealing with genetic extremism... medicine in the future... our constant search for a cure for all maladies... and the plight of most awkward teenage girls who don't completely fit in.
I wanted to write a hero/anti-hero that could be a model for my daughter's one day. Someone who is the epitome of the underdog... There will be a lot of historical symbolism (drawn from our previous quests for human perfection)- the Nazi experiments, the evolution of science, etc. What happens when humans need a cure for the Cure?
Bailey Vincent
I write in the same way that I choreograph dances. I almost always have a vague idea of the beginning and possibly the end... and then I have to figure out the middle as I go. I call this my "skeleton" when it comes to the stage, but for writing, if I plan TOO much... it ruins all of the fun. Writing a novel feels like a chase- chasing my own subconscious to see what's going to happen next. If I figure out every nuance and detail in advance, I'm literally too bored to put pen to paper (or rather, finger to keyboard)... I need the chase to keep going. In terms of other inspirations- I try to keep a finger (are all the digit references getting creepy?) in a variety of creative things. I'm a horrible artist but I dabble just for fun. I dance to keep my body artistically fueled. I read all the time. And mostly, I'm fascinated by people.
Bailey Vincent
I am possibly the least organized person in the world, and have literally never "planned" when it comes to writing. For me, writing a novel is a weird, out of body experience (which used to freak out my mother when I was a kid)- where I sometimes don't realize what is happening in my own book until it happens. For example, with this novella- I had no idea what "the accident" would be until it occurred in the book. I sort of thought it would a car accident... Who knew?
Details is not my first completed novel- it's just the first one I've had the gumption to publish (eek). Typically, I will refer to parts of my writing in hindsight as if I am not the author. As a child, my mother would often remind me: "You do know that YOU wrote this, right? Why do you refer to parts like you don't know the plot?" Honestly, this is because I sit down, I tune out, and I just write. I end up looking back a few chapters later and thinking "oh that's cool- I didn't know my character was going to do that." Generally, it feels as if the books write themselves... and I'm just a lucky, nerdy passenger!
Details is not my first completed novel- it's just the first one I've had the gumption to publish (eek). Typically, I will refer to parts of my writing in hindsight as if I am not the author. As a child, my mother would often remind me: "You do know that YOU wrote this, right? Why do you refer to parts like you don't know the plot?" Honestly, this is because I sit down, I tune out, and I just write. I end up looking back a few chapters later and thinking "oh that's cool- I didn't know my character was going to do that." Generally, it feels as if the books write themselves... and I'm just a lucky, nerdy passenger!
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