We talked to Kiwi author Alexa Rivers about her writing journey. Here, she offers some insights into her writing habits and offers advice for aspiring authors.
CANTERBURYWRITERS: Hi Alexa, can we ask why you started writing?
AR: I’ve always written. My parents still have a copy of a story I wrote about my cat when I first started school, which I drew a cover for and bound with a folded piece of A3 paper. I’ve just always had stories and characters in my head and wanted to share them.
CANTERBURYWRITERS: So, what does your normal writing schedule look like?
AR: These days I’m far more consistent and organised than I used to be. I write first thing in the morning every day, then edit a different manuscript in the evening. I can happily edit more than one thing at a time, but I can only ever have one writing project on the go. Rewind a couple of years and I’d binge write an entire story in a month, then not write again for six months or a year.
CANTERBURYWRITERS: Describe your best writing moment.
AR: For me, when it comes to writing, the best moment is when everything finally makes sense. I plot ahead of time and my plotting is heavily character-based. It all comes together when I finally figure out what issue a character is grappling with that’s holding them back.
Another big moment for me was when I got a particularly wonderful review (I read them all, even though I know I probably shouldn’t). It’s just so incredible to know that someone out there adores a story I created, and that my writing can have an impact on people. One reader contacted me to thank me because reading is her escape, and that means so much to me.
CANTERBURYWRITERS: What about your worst writing moment?
AR: One of my writer friends absolutely slammed a story I’d sent her an early draft of. Not because the writing was bad, but because she thought the hero was a prick. She identified every single instance when he did something she disapproved of. It took me a lot of chocolate and wine to get through her feedback, and the worst part was that she was right. But I’m so grateful she was honest with me because now I’ve rewritten that story and it’s so much stronger than it was. Sometimes great things can come from the hardest moments.
CANTERBURYWRITERS: What's your writing motivation?
AR: This might not be very exciting, but the thing that motivates me to write every day, even when I’m not feeling very creative, is that I want to do it full time. I’ve always wanted to be a full time author, but when I was younger I convinced myself it wouldn’t be possible, so I went and got other qualifications and a good office job. I don’t mind my job, but I absolutely love writing, so I’m giving it my all at the moment in the hopes that one day I’ll be able to sit on my couch in my PJs creating stories and earn a living from it.
CANTERBURYWRITERS: How did you figure out what genre you wanted to write?
AR: This was another trial and error thing for me. When I was in high school I wrote largely fantasy, paranormal, or dystopian stories. As I got older, those stories all included romantic subplots because I thought the romance aspect was fun to write. I did some research a few years back and decided I should try my hand at a straight contemporary romance because it’s such a widely read genre. I’d read dozens of Harlequin novels and expected it to be easy. I was so wrong. Romance readers are voracious and they know the genre very well. It’s taken me a lot of effort to get more savvy about it, and during that time, I’ve discovered how much I love the emotional journey of romances.
I’ve also made a business decision to stick with small town romances at the moment while I build up my backlist, but in the future I’d like to branch out into romantic suspense and psychological thrillers, which are some of my other favourite things to read.
CANTERBURYWRITERS: So, have you ever participated in NaNoWriMo or Camp NaNoWriMo?
AR: I haven't participated in NaNoWriMo before. I'm part of an online community, the 365 Writing Group, who are a subset of 10 Minute Novelists. We commit to a certain daily or weekly word count at the beginning of the year and track it in a shared spreadsheet (so we can all see who’s doing what), then we get badges if we meet our goals.
CANTERBURYWRITERS: Hour or word counts?
AR: Word count. At the moment, I aim to write 5,000 words a week, but my rule is that I have to write a minimum of 100 words a day, which keeps my story flowing. My books range from 55,000 words to 70,000 words, and I write in Scrivener, which lets me track my word count and I find it really motivating as I get closer to reaching the end of a manuscript.
CANTERBURYWRITERS: At what time are you most productive? Morning or night? And how did you discover that?
AR: I'm most creative in the morning because my mind is fresh. I’ve just found this through trial and error.
CANTERBURYWRITERS: Are you a Plotter or Pantser?
AR: Plotter. I work out character arcs for my hero and heroine, then combine and expand them to detailed chapter summaries. My scenes are generally 1000-1500 words with 2-3 scenes per chapter, and I’ve gotten pretty good at gauging how much action fits into a scene of that length.
CANTERBURYWRITERS: How do you know when you're finished with a manuscript?
AR: In terms of the story itself being finished, I know it’s good to go when my hero and heroine are together, optimistic for the future, and all loose strings have been tied up.
In terms of the manuscript being ready to publish, the feedback from beta readers is usually a pretty good indication of where it’s at. If the feedback is all about minor things, then I know the story is largely fine. If they raise some big issues, I address those as much myself as I can, then send it for an editorial assessment to get a professional’s opinion on whether it works and what could be improved. These have become so valuable to me when I’m not sure if a story is working.
If the beta reader feedback is good, I make any tweaks that I need to and read through my entire manuscript out loud to make sure the words flow and the sentences aren’t awkward. Then it goes to my editor for a copy and line edit, and after that, to a proofreader.
CANTERBURYWRITERS: So what would your tips be for aspiring authors?
AR: Never give up. If you really want it, make a promise to yourself to keep going. Four years ago, I got a tattoo as my very visible promise to myself, and I published my first book this June. I now have three books and a novella published, with more on the way. Not to say you should get a tattoo, but make a commitment to yourself to do it.
Enter contests! Even if you don’t win, the feedback you get helps you improve your writing and story-telling skills immensely. They’re so worth it. They also help you become better at accepting feedback and deciding what to take on board and what to ignore.
The only way you get better at writing is to write. Also, your first draft is allowed to suck. Most do.
Figure out what works for you. Writing isn’t a one size fits all situation. I’m big on plotting, but I only figured that out after starting dozens of stories that went nowhere because I wrote myself into a corner and couldn’t figure out how to get out. Some people thrive on the unknown. To them, plotting makes the story lose its shininess. Some people only write dialogue, then fill the rest in later. Whatever works for you is okay.
Never assume anything is going to be easy. If writing a book were easy, everyone would do it. That doesn’t mean it’s not worth it.
Join whatever communities you can find, online or not. Writing can be very solitary otherwise.
CANTERBURYWRITERS: What do you know now that you wish you’d known when you first started?
AR: That more does not necessarily equal better. My feedback from editors and agents on the first manuscript I queried was that it needed more conflict. So I kept adding different layers of problems until the whole thing became unnecessarily complex and confusing. It took me a while (a looong while) to realise that they weren’t referring to the number of conflicts between the characters, but the depth and intensity of the conflict. I should have just focused on one issue for each character and really played it up.
CANTERBURYWRITERS: And finally a couple of random question - Coffee Tea or Wine?
AR: Excessive amounts of green tea get consumed at my writing desk. Unless I’m reading feedback from a beta reader or editor, then my drink of choice is wine.
CANTERBURYWRITERS: How about ice-cream or cake?
AR: Ice cream in summer, cake in winter. But I’d take chocolate over either of them, regardless of the time of year.
CANTERBURYWRITERS: Thanks so much, Alexa. I'm sure we all have something that we can learn from you and your process. We're looking forward to your future releases.
