Lauren Gibaldi Talks Inspiration

Inspiration is a funny thing. It can come to us like a lightning bolt, through the lyrics of a song, or in the fog of a dream. Ask any writer where their stories come from and you’ll get a myriad of answers, and in that vein I created the WHAT (What the Hell Are you Thinking?) interview. Always including in the WHAT is one random question to really dig down into the interviewees mind, and probably supply some illumination into my own as well.

Today's guest is Lauren Gibaldi, whose debut THE NIGHT WE SAID YES will be available from Harper Teen June 16, 2015. Lauren is also a public librarian. She's been, among other things, a magazine editor, high school English teacher, bookseller, and circus aerialist (seriously). She has a BA in Literature and Master’s in Library and Information Studies, both from Florida State University.

Ideas for our books can come from just about anywhere, and sometimes even we can’t pinpoint exactly how or why. Did you have a specific origin point for your book?

Kind of. I wanted to write about a crazy night, that was the original plan. I like the idea of one night that can change everything, and the magic and possibility a night out with friends holds when you’re in high school. It evolved and changed quite a bit, but I like to think the original feel is still there. I do remember I thought of the title while driving on the interstate with my husband…I kind of just blurted it out, and that shaped the whole “saying yes” plot.  

Once the original concept existed, how did you build a plot around it?

I originally had the “then” idea – the one crazy night where the four teens say yes to every idea they have. So I thought about fun things they’d do, crazy places they’d go. But when thinking about it, I kind of wanted to see what would happen next – how the one night changes them and where they would end up one year later. So after writing the first “then” chapter, I went back and wrote a “now” chapter and it stuck. 

Have you ever had the plot firmly in place, only to find it changing as the story moved from your mind to paper?

I had a lot of plotting for it because I had to make sure each “then” chapter line up with a “now” chapter. But I threw a lot of that original plotting away and kind of wrote on the fly, which made it more fun, in a way. So, locations and motives changed and I was okay with that. I also realized that the characters evolved as I went on, so I had to go back and alter voices and such. 

Do story ideas come to you often, or is fresh material hard to come by?

Ideas come to me often…GOOD ideas do not. For instance, while typing this I thought: “You know what would be funny? A vampire retelling of The Great Gatsby.” You know what’s NOT a good idea? A vampire retelling of The Great Gatsby. 

How do you choose which story to write next, if you’ve got more than one percolating?

I’m facing this issue right now! I start writing the first that comes to me and see if it sticks. Sometimes I just don’t like it enough to go past the first chapter. I keep it around, in case I ever want to go back to it, and then start on something else. It’s not necessarily the best idea, but I like giving each possible story a shot. The hardest thing is putting an idea aside when I’m working on a story I’m really into. I’m always worried I’ll forget it. 

Sometimes when I’m cooking ground beef I get distracted by the fact that it definitely looks like a brain. Does that happen to you?

Can’t say it has. BUT NOW THAT’S ALL I’M GOING TO THINK ABOUT. A friend once told me that he feels his brain move every time he drives over a speed bump, and now that’s permanently in my head, too. YOU’RE WELCOME. 

Or, wait, was that a metaphor? 

Sandra Waugh On Inspiration

Inspiration is a funny thing. It can come to us like a lightning bolt, through the lyrics of a song, or in the fog of a dream. Ask any writer where their stories come from and you’ll get a myriad of answers, and in that vein I created the WHAT (What the Hell Are you Thinking?) interview. Always including in the WHAT is one random question to really dig down into the interviewees mind, and probably supply some illumination into my own as well.

Today's guest is Sandra Waugh, author of LARK RISING. Sandra grew up in an old house full of crowded bookshelves, in walking distance of an old library that allowed her to drag home a sack of six books at a time. It goes without saying, then, that she fell in love with the old house in Litchfield County, CT, because of its many bookshelves, and she lives there now with her husband, two sons, and a dog who snores. Loudly.

Ideas for our books can come from just about anywhere, and sometimes even we can’t pinpoint exactly how or why.  Did you have a specific origin point for your book?

A hawk alighted on my porch railing, prompting the first pages. I’d been toying for a while with an idea sparked by a walk through a marsh near our home—a girl’s journey—but the who and why were intangible threads. When the hawk visited, a friend called it auspicious and somewhere soon after that I sat down and started writing. I had no idea where it would go but Lark was suddenly there, shy and timid and burdened with her gift. (The marsh, on the other hand, waited for Book 2.)

Once the original concept existed how did you build a plot around it?

The rest of the story evolved while mowing the lawn. We have a large field bordered by woods, which I mow with a small, walk-behind mower.  This is insanely effort-ful, as the guys at the True Value hardware store enjoy reminding me when I bring the mower for repairs. But I like it—I watch all the life going on around the property and listen to the stories in my head.  So: I would say that plant and creature showed me the way into this fantasy—my own backyard inspiring Lark’s gardens, her fence, Dark Wood, ghisane, hawk, fox and hare. LARK RISING is a lot about Nature—both its fragility and its tenacity.

Have you ever had the plot firmly in place only to find it changing as the story moved from your mind to paper?

Since I am a ‘seat of the pants’ or ‘free’ writer I can’t say I’ve ever had a plot firmly in place, more like a beginning, end and a few points, or beats I want to hit. How I get there is fairly fluid and of course the challenge. Characters change, though. Some who I determined as hugely important recede and some who I assumed extraneous suddenly become integral to the plot.  I find that amazing.  I’d heard authors talk of characters wresting control of the work, and it’s true—they really do take on a life of their own.

Do story ideas come to you often, or is fresh material hard to come by?

Material exists everywhere. A gum wrapper spied in a gutter can be the beginning of an incredible story. There is a beautiful scene in Out of Africa where (Meryl Streep as) Isak Dinesen is challenged to weave a story from nothing—she can, of course, and enraptures her dinner companions. Moments or images or phrases pop into my head, leading to a thread of a story. And then I sort of wait… let more threads filter in… and start to weave.

How do you choose which story to write next, if you’ve got more than one percolating?

The one that keeps coming back to haunt me is the one I have to take on. It’s not always the one that I ‘should’ be working on.

If you spill candle wax on something, should you try to clean it, or is this a cut your losses type of situation?

This is a trick question, right?

I had a photographer boyfriend once who assisted at a shoot where some priceless antique table was being used for the set—one of those ‘on pain of death do you let anything happen to it’ events. And then, gasp, candle wax accidentally dripped on the table. Panic set in, a myriad of helpers went to work with all kinds of cleaners and solutions to remove it, which only succeeded in marring the poor table. Honestly, if they’d just waited a few moments for the wax to harden, they could have pried it off with a fingernail. So, my answer is:  I wouldn’t cut my losses with something akin to candle wax. Patience is huge. Sometimes you are writing something that turns hideous. Put it away, let it simmer, or forget about it for a while. When you return you may realize there’s just a tiny bit of scraping to do to reveal its original beauty.

Moriah McStay On The What - If's

Inspiration is a funny thing. It can come to us like a lightning bolt, through the lyrics of a song, or in the fog of a dream. Ask any writer where their stories come from and you’ll get a myriad of answers, and in that vein I created the WHAT (What the Hell Are you Thinking?) interview. Always including in the WHAT is one random question to really dig down into the interviewees mind, and probably supply some illumination into my own as well.

Today's guest is Moriah McStay, fellow Katherine Tegen author of EVERYTHING THAT MAKES YOU, releasing March 17th. Moriah grew up in Memphis, TN, where she acquired a come-and-go drawl and a lifelong love of cowboy boots and fried pickles. She attended Northwestern University and the University of Chicago. Two graduate degrees and seven jobs later, she finally figured out what she wants to be when she grows up.

Ideas for our books can come from just about anywhere, and sometimes even we can’t pinpoint exactly how or why. Did you have a specific origin point for your book?

I was in an accident at age one that left me blind in one eye. You can’t tell now, but you could when I was younger. My eyes were different colors, and I had to wear big protective glasses. I couldn’t play contact sports, went to tons of doctors, had school pics taken in profile rather than face on. Looking back, it doesn’t feel that big a deal, but at the time, it was. 

Often, I wondered how much of me was determined by that single, freak accident. And what about my brother and sister? My parents? How did the accident shape their lives? What about everyone else’s individual experiences? What about my friend whose father died when she was young? Or the classmate with cancer? How did those events shape them?

There are so many “what ifs”--we all have them. It’s an interesting question to explore, I think.

Once the original concept existed, how did you build a plot around it?

For the longest time, I did NOTHING. I started thinking about writing a book around this idea--exploring how we each come to be the person we are--when I was in college. In fact, I had this idea for SO LONG that when I saw the Sliding Doors trailer, I said to my then-boyfriend (now-husband), “That’s my book.” I didn’t see the movie for years, scared it would affect how I’d tell the story. (I finally watched it while I was revising my first draft, looking for tips on how to deal with certain elements.) 

I’d say there was a good fifteen years between the original idea and the final draft.

Have you ever had the plot firmly in place, only to find it changing as the story moved from your mind to paper?

Uh, yes! My original plan was to follow lots of events, because seemingly insignificant things can create enormous impacts. It was impossible to follow, though. 

Later, I focused on Fiona (the girl with the burn) thinking it was her story--Fi’s purpose was as a counterpoint. But Fi ended up flat and uninteresting, and I had to create more of an independent story line for her. 

Lessons learned from ETMY (and my next novel) are why I don’t outline anymore—it takes forever, and I abandon it in days. Now I keep a general direction in mind, but otherwise try to get out of the way of the story. My first drafts are a mess because of it, but the end result is better, I think.  

Do story ideas come to you often, or is fresh material hard to come by?

I have a list of ideas that I’ll never get through, even if I live a hundred more years and write 18 hours straight a day. 

How do you choose which story to write next, if you’ve got more than one percolating?

I ask this question: On the off-chance I’m run over by a bus the moment I finish the next WIP, what do I want to have written the most?

If dinosaurs were real and had you to marry one, which would make the best spouse?

I’m going to say Pterodactyl, because I could ride on his back, which would almost be like flying.