Tracy Holczer On Writing the Next Book

Welcome to another of my fabulous acronym-based interviews. The second novel is no easy feat, and with that in mind I put together a series of questions for debuts who are tackling the second obstacle in their career path. I call it the SNOB - Second Novel Omnipresent Blues. Whether you’re under contract or trying to snag another deal, you’re a professional now, with the pressures of a published novelist compounded with the still-present nagging self-doubt of the noobie. 

Today's guest is Tracy Holczer. Tracy lives in Southern California with her husband, three daughters, and two rather fluffy dogs named Buster and Molly. She has a deep love for the mountains where she grew up so she writes them into her stories. A 2014 ABA Indies Introduce New Voices pick, her debut middle grade, The Secret Hum of a Daisy, was written in praise of both nature and family, and all that can be found if you're willing to hunt for treasure.

So --- how to deal?

My first reaction to reading the intro was—HAHAHAHAHA, professional? Which pretty much addresses the validity of the second part of the question. How to deal? Oh, man. Seriously, I would like to know. At least, I would like to know how to get through this part without all the FEELINGS. That, I can’t really help with. The feelings come and we all have to find a way to sit with them until they pass. But I can help with what keeps me productive while I’m having the feelings.

• Walking. Not on a treadmill, although that is better than nothing. But walking in the world. Talk to the trees and/or your dogs. Or cats. Or whomever you walk with. Clear all the stickyawful thoughts first thing in the morning. Pretend your brain is an etch-a-sketch and just rip that little plastic thingie clean.

• Write anyway. Even if your head starts back to yammering. Tune it out like the white noise it is and plow ahead. When you string enough days together with productivity, the feelings dim to a dull roar.

• Love on your people. Like crazy. This will make them love on you back. Which you desperately need, even if you think you need to be left alone in a cave. This is your lying, lizard brain trying to fool you. Don’t listen.

Is it hard to leave behind the first novel and focus on the second?

YES!

At what point do you start diverting your energies from promoting your debut and writing / polishing / editing your second?

Um, today. Yeah. Today. What a coincidence that you would ask me this question on the very day I started really focusing on my second novel and not the eleventy-eleven things I still have to do for my debut. You must be psychic.

Your first book landed an agent and an editor, and hopefully some fans. Who are you writing the second one for? Them, or yourself?

I always write for me first and the reader in revisions. I think it’s important to write like I don’t have a reader when I’m just trying to get the story down. Much less pressure this way. I have more confidence in my revision skills than my drafting skills, so this works for me.

Is there a new balance of time management to address once you’re a professional author?

I waited until my kids were all fairly self-sufficient before I decided to try for a writing career, so it hasn’t been too bad in terms of time management. But I’m miserable at multi-tasking, so I’ve come up with a schedule where I can focus on one thing each day, whatever that is, and writing happens about five times per week. But it is a balancing act. I constantly have to remind myself that writing isn’t my hobby anymore and I can’t do it only when I feel like it. Discipline is key. Even though I don’t have as much as I could. Always a work in progress, I am.

What did you do differently the second time around, with the perspective of a published author?

I’m (lucky? Jury is still out on that one) to have signed a two-book deal. So there isn’t the nagging worry, will this one sell, too? But there is a different kind of pressure with a looming deadline, even though my editor would admonish me for feeling pressured. She has gone out of her way to make sure I’m comfy-cozy. But you can only do so much for a writer and her wonky head. I suppose that this time, I really do feel more like a professional, that my first book passed some kind of test and now I feel challenged to surpass that first goal. To write better. To use the skills I’ve developed (to remind myself I have developed skills #$%! dammit!). To BE a published author. You know? To live up to this amazing gift I’ve been given.

Thursday Thoughts

Thoughts lately...

1) Do the planet Mercury and the substance mercury have anything in common? Also, does anyone miss the days when someone dropped a glass thermometer and everyone ran shrieking in the other direction?

2) I've always been taught that the only way to effectively dispose of a tick is to flush it down the toilet. Because of my twisted brain I have a recurring nightmare about gigantic shit-engorged ticks emerging from the ground one day, a la Tremors.

3) And speaking of shit - I really feel like latrines should just be called shit ditches. It's so appropriate and pleasing to say.

Interview with Jenn Marie Thorne

I'm lucky (or cunning) enough to have lured yet another successful writer over to my blog for an SAT - Successful Author Talk. SAT authors have conquered the query, slain the synopsis and attained the pinnacle of published. How'd they do it? Let's ask 'em! Today's guest for the SAT (Successful Author Talk) is Jenn Marie Thorne, author of THE WRONG SIDE OF RIGHT, coming from Dial/Penguin 2015.

Are you a Planner or Pantster?

I am 100% a planner. Outlines/spreadsheets/character breakdowns, you name it. Whenever I hit something even vaguely resembling “writer’s block,” it’s because my outline has gotten fuzzy or otherwise failed me. I take those days to re-outline, then forge ahead fresh.

How long does it typically take you to write a novel, start to finish?

Before I had kids or after? ☺ These days, it takes me about four months to get from prep (outlining, making character notes) to a draft I’m prepared to show my agent and beta readers. Then I’ll redraft once or twice (or three times!) before it goes out to editors. That takes about a month. But in terms of writing a rough draft from start to finish – two months on average. I like to get into a steady pace where I’m writing something every day. Not necessarily NaNo numbers, but NaNo certainly helps.

Do you work on one project at a time, or are you a multi tasker?

I really have to focus on one thing at a time. I need that monogamous infatuation with a project in order to really be creative about it – that thing where everything reminds you of your book and you solve the third act problem while you’re taking a shower because you’re obsessed. But edits do pop up with other books, so I’ll put projects aside and pick them up again as needed.

Did you have to overcome any fears that first time you sat down to write?

Oh yeah. I still do! My rampant insecurities have not gone away, especially since every new book is more challenging than the last one. I always question whether I’m qualified to write the book I’m writing. But I set small goals that are easily exceeded, and then I get into a nice groove of patting myself on the back before terror strikes again in the form of Draft Two.

How many trunked books did you have before you were agented?

Two trunked books – a fantasy MG and a future-set Western, both of which I’ll likely dismantle for pieces and rewrite in the future. I’m proud of having finished multiple drafts of both of them, even though they’ll never see the light of day in their current form. They were great learning experiences. I call them “my free MFA.”

Have you ever quit on an ms, and how did you know it was time?

I’ve never quit in the middle of a draft, but I’ve got a whole graveyard of discarded ideas on my laptop. I have a long enough “concept queue” that I’m able to look back over concepts or hooks that I thought were genius when I came up with them and can now see are excruciatingly derivative.

Who is your agent and how did you get that "Yes!" out of them?  

My agent is the lovely Katelyn Detweiler at Jill Grinberg Literary Management. I came through the slush pile – and am therefore a huge proponent of the query system. When I was querying my first two books and getting no bites, I heard so much “The system is rigged against us, it’s all about who you know,” but that just rang so false to me. I kept writing and querying. Katelyn read my second book and had sent me some incredible notes for a revise and resend, but in the meantime, I’d written THE WRONG SIDE OF RIGHT, so I sent that to her as an FYI. That wound up being the book she signed me on.

How long did you query before landing your agent? 

Oh gosh, it’s so hard to say with that many trunked books! Two years? My query list got much, much smaller and more targeted as I gained more experience in querying, so I’d only sent THE WRONG SIDE OF RIGHT to a tiny handful of agents who had specifically asked to see more from me after reading the trunked previous book.

Any advice to aspiring writers out there on conquering query hell?

Write. Another. Book. I mean – embroider that and frame it and hang it over your desk. If this is the career you intend to have, then start treating it as your career now - keep writing and reading and querying and learning and growing. The stars will align when they’re meant to.

How much of your own marketing do you?  Do you have a blog / site / Twitter?

I’m on Twitter but I think it’s probably more of an addiction than a platform at this point! I have a website but I can’t commit to blogging at the moment. Although, I do feel tempted from time to time.

When do you build your platform? After an agent? Or should you be working before?

Twitter is tremendously helpful while you’re in the slush pile trenches – and when you’re working on a book, which hopefully is always. I don’t think you need a website before you’ve sold a book, unless you have a particularly interesting blog with content you can’t find anywhere else.

Do you think social media helps build your readership?

Absolutely! Sometimes it does feel like preaching to the choir, but hey – choirs sing. Loudly. If social media is something you enjoy, something that comes naturally to you, there is absolutely no reason not to use it to spread the word about your work. If you’ve never tweeted in your life and suddenly you’re on Twitter every hour linking to your Amazon page and retweeting reviews and…nothing else? I don’t think that helps much. You’ve got to be authentic or it’s just kind of a downer for everybody who’s trying to interact with you in their own authentic way.