Q&A with Shauna Kelley discussion

OK, I have to be honest. I don't HAVE a writing process. It's more like a writing impulse. Doesn't matter where I am or what I am doing, I periodically am struck by the sudden need to get a story out of my head.

I do love hearing other people's, though. Anyone a writer who has to wear holey slippers to compose? Anyone a reader that has to be in a specific tree in 70 degree weather in order to focus? This stuff fascinates me!

Hi Shauna,

So how does it feel to be on the other end of a Q&A? Whoop Whoop! :o)

My writing process is really slow. It takes me about a year to write the first draft of a novel. And then another year to revise it! I'm hoping I can speed that up with practice.

But I think it comes down to me being too much of a perfectionist. I can't bear to just get down the bones of a story without going back to edit. It's habit I can't break, and I guess I don't think there's any need to break it, unless I have a really tight deadline looming.

I write scene by scene with an outline I've prepared. And I layer them bit by bit. First I write the dialoge and any important actions. Then I fill in the blanks with gestures and characterisations. Then I make it all sound pretty and poetic. By that time I've erased most of the dialogue because I realise I don't need it all!

PS: How did you go about setting up an author page on goodreads? I can't figure it out. Email me if you have a moment ;o)
jessica (dot) carmen (dot) bell (at) gmail (dot) com

It is totally bizarre to be on this side of the Q&A!!

You are far more methodical than I am. I am the tazmanian devil when I write.

I have to be dreaming. Either the stuff of sleep or the stuff of reverie. Sometimes I feel like my mind is just a series of little playlets -- some spinoffs of reality, others complete fabrications. But these most often commence from the springboard of a dream.

Question for you, Shauna: when do you feel the most inspired?

I feel most inspired by things that are overwhelming-- and that can be overwhlemingly beautiful, or overwhelmingly terrible.

Travel helps, because new things, new people, new places get my mind churning, but it is usually a follow up to really good things or really bad things happening in life. I've had an abundance of both :)