Blogging with Steph, Who Is Maybe Genius

In the course of internet wanderings though, I’ve ran across a lot of really awesome people, and culled an enormous amount of information from blogs. As I raided my brain – yes, I picture myself on the prow of a Viking ship, approaching my own gray matter – for more people I’d like to interview, it repeatedly offered up names of bloggers. And so, my readers, I give you the third series; Bloggers of Awesome. Yeah, it’s the BOA.

Today's guest is S.E. Sinkhorn, who writes both speculative and contemporary YA fiction, and was the 2010 runner-up for the Katherine Paterson Prize for YA & Children’s Writing. She loves cyborgs, alternate universes, wily heroines, and cookies.

So you run an excellent blog over at Maybe Genius. What made you decide to take the approach you do on your blog?

Thank you! I started out as your usual writer-who-wanted-to-record-her-journey about two years ago. From my own daily writing musings, it evolved into crafting tips and publishing news, as these things tend to do. About a year ago, I decided to turn my focus over to YA literature, because it’s what I write and what I’m passionate about. I wanted to create a space where “mind meets heart.” I believe young adult literature can be so powerful, so important, and so GOOD. I wanted to stay away from jumping on trends and “cashing in” on the YA craze and focus more on building strong, well-crafted stories.

I know a lot of aspiring writers who are intimidated by the idea of blogging.  They want to, but they are worried it will cut into their (already precious) writing time.  You're a prolific blogger - how do you recommend one be both a successful blogger and writer?

Plan ahead, heh. I keep a long list of possible topics. That way, I always have a subject to turn to when it’s time to write a post. I only blog three days a week. I keep my posts fairly short – I can usually bang out 500-1000 word posts in about an hour. If time’s really tight, I write posts ahead of time (usually on weekends) and schedule them. It’s also 100% okay to give yourself time off. I just took a month-long hiatus so I could finish my current draft. It dips your readership, sure, but your writing comes first. Even more important: only blog if you really enjoy it. If it’s a chore, don’t do it. Write.

It looks like you’re a big reader - do you set aside time for that?

Definitely. I am completely behind the idea that you must read to be a writer. It’s important to me to know what’s currently out there in YA lit, so I make time for it. It’s not all I read, but it makes up the bulk of my reading habit. I’m also constantly in search of the diamonds in the rough, and you can’t find them unless you look.

Do you think blogging is a helpful self-marketing tool?

Tough question. Yes and no, because it depends on how you use it. I blog for writers. Writers will certainly be interested in any book I put out, but they’re not my target audience. I don’t think blogs really work as “marketing” unless you’re targeting the people who will buy your book. I definitely think successful blogs increase sales, but as to how much, I couldn’t say. If I find an agent and sell my current manuscript (*fingers crossed*), I may toy with the idea of creating a second, more targeted blog.

What other websites / resources can you recommend for writers?

Oh, tons:

Agent Mary Kole's Blog
Nathan Bransford's Site
Absolute Write
Publisher's Marketplace
Shelf Awareness
SCBWI
Duotrope
QueryTracker

On Writing by Stephen King
Writing the Breakout Novel (and workbook) by Donald Maas

How’s that for recommendations? :D

What is your genre, and what led you to it? Does your genre influence the style of your blog?

I write Speculative and Contemporary fiction for young adults, and yes, it absolutely influences the style and content of my blog. It’s the main focus, really :)

Any words of inspiration for aspiring writers?

All the usual advice about writing what you love and screw the trends and all that, but also: don’t sacrifice (or straight-up refuse to learn) craft because you think rules are for squares or something. Don’t. It doesn’t matter how amazing or original your idea is if you can’t skillfully transfer it to the page. Yes, successful authors break rules all the time. They also know what they’re doing. Be careful not to confuse “breaking the rules” with “it’s too much work to learn them, so I won’t.”

The House of Writing Metaphors - Wall Mounted Light & Partner In Crime, the Register

As mentioned before, there is a fixture trying to kill me in the Bathroom of Self-Loathing. And no, it's not the usual case of me being overly dramatic. This lovely little piece of business is a fan of being manually turned on, and its devastatingly understated buddy, Mr. Metal Register, is fond of just lying there and waiting for you to step on him. Together, they create an electric partnership that can quite literally, shock you.

Yeah, I know, there's definitely something not quite right going on there, and I should do the normal thing and call an electrician. Somehow it's more fun to explain to unsuspecting visitors the proper way to use the bathroom without being injured.

Also, when I first discovered this dynamic duo I didn't quite understand what had happened. In order for the circuit to be complete, I had to be barefoot, standing on the register, and touching the light switch. Some wild test runs that had me fearing I was crazy (and had the b/f totally convinced) proved that all factors had to be present.

Inspiration can be like that - fast, unexpected, and hard to recreate later. If you're lucky enough to have figured out exactly where your foot needs to be, what you should be wearing, and where to put your hands in order to get that imaginative electric shock, then you are one lucky individual.

Do you have an inspiration process? Is there a routine you keep to with your writing that helps?

The House of Writing Metaphors - Pretty Possibilities Hidden in the Barn

Once upon a time, I found a clawfoot tub in a barn. Yes, really. One of those cast iron babies that makes you wonder how one thing could be so impossibly heavy. I'm not exactly a butterfly, and even I could only raise one end off the floor about two inches, then the curled edge felt like it was going to take my finger down to the bone.

So I had a debacle. Leave this possibly awesome, yet horribly disfigured and grotesquely heavy thing in the barn? Or, make it what it's supposed to be. I chose the hard route (I'm funny like that), and coughed up the money to have it refinished, then a coalition of kindly farmers came over and moved it into the house and up the Staircase of Fate for me. It was a struggle (on their part - not mine, I had firm instructions to just stand there), and three very big men said very bad words by the time it was said and done.

But now it's upstairs, in the newly redecorated bathroom (and I mean down to the studs) that is right around the corner from the Superfluous Banister. I don't have the money for the plumbing parts yet, but I know that once this baby is finished it'll be worth the investment of time and money, and other people's physical strength.

As writers, there are ideas in our heads like that. We've got ideas that we keep re-shelving, telling ourselves we're not good enough writers to tackle that one yet, or it's too sprawling we don't know where to begin. For me, it's a piece of historical fiction that I'm not sure I've got the research cajones to do right, or the time to invest to do that research in the first place.

But I think we need to face those big projects head on, tell ourselves it's worth the time, the effort, and the heavy lifting. We might get something beautiful out of it in the end.

What's your big project? Have you got something you don't trust yourself to write just yet?