Guest Blogger: Rebecca Hamilton

Today's post features writer Rebecca Hamilton. Rebecca has been one of my critique partners for the past year, and is one of the hardest-working writers I know.

How long have you been writing and how did you get started?

Writing? Who said anything about writing? But I guess I’d say writing for me began in the last year. I got this crazy idea – and really, it was insane – that writing was easy. So I decided to try my hand at it. I’d always wanted to write a book – I just didn’t know what about. Strangely enough, now that I’ve written one, I find the ideas are endless.

Back to that whole starting to write thing: When I was a kid (This is what people want, right? The when I was a kid story?) Well anyway, when I was a kid, I wrote a short story that was a spin on the Midas Touch, but instead of everything my character touched turning to gold, it turned to chocolate. I think at the end of the story she accidentally turned herself to chocolate and her dog ate her.

I didn’t understand the whole fridge logic aspect at the time, so I never noticed the gaping plot hole that said, “hey, genius, why didn’t she turn to chocolate earlier in the story,” but you’ll have to cut me some slack. I was a kid.

What's the lesson you'd like to send to writers just starting out?

Ooh, goody. I feel like I can give a clever answer to this one!

I think the best advice I can give is to trust yourself. Open your mind to new advice, but trust that the good advice will resonate with you. If someone gives you advice and you think, “ah ha! I see the light!” than you are probably wise to heed their advice. However, if it doesn’t sit right, do your research. The advice may be off, or plain wrong.

The other thing is, your story isn’t precious. Neither is mine. Sometimes you have to chew it up and spit it out, otherwise, it maybe chock full of clichés like my interview replies here.

What are your strengths and weaknesses as a writer?

*crickets*

Ummm.

Well… the thing is…

This is hard.

Weaknesses: Self-confidence is a big one. People will say my writing is good about thirty drafts before I’ll agree. I could easily say my weakness is everything, because for me it’s never good enough. I’m no literary genius, that’s the heart of it, but even publication wouldn’t be enough for me. I want my book to be “great”. I’m always worried if my story is interesting enough, original enough, real enough, “fresh” enough. Is it *enough*? And I guess at some point I will think it will be, I’ll query, and like every other writer out there, I’ll get a rejection letting me know “no, it’s not enough.”

But the flip side of that is one of my strengths. I think I must be published, and therefore I will be. How could I not when the idea is so real? I’m devoted to the craft of writing and storytelling. I have ideas I know haven’t been done before.

Yes, I know…. “It’s all been done before.” But I think I’ll stay in my pretty little state of denial over that. If it’s been told, it hasn’t been told *my way* yet, that’s for sure. And I’ll tell you what, I am unlike most people.

When I was a kid (people love this stuff, right?) all I ever heard was people telling me I was strange. And I was. And I still am. No one thinks like me. It’s my curse and it’s my gift.

Which published writer has been your biggest influence?

I have never really devoted myself to any single writer, but recently I stumbled upon the works of Nancy Pickard. Phenomenal. I love everything about her style and she’s someone I immediately looked up to. I wrote her by email too, and she responded. Boy is she a sweet lady. One of the sweetest. Her writing is *flawless* and her craft is *breathtaking*. Moreover, I read an interview with her and she thinks a lot like me. It’s refreshing because I felt very alone as a writer before reading what she said. To see she works that way, when she was someone who I so quickly admired, was encouraging.

What qualities most attract you to a book? What turns you away from
a book?

I recently made a blog post on this (here: http://rebecca-hamilton.com/?p=187)

But, okay, let me see if I can sum that up, yeah?

I like a story with a good pace. Something happening from the onset and the story moving forward with each scene. Attention to detail too, and by that I don’t mean a *lot* of detail, but rather the *right* details. The small details people don’t notice unless they are paying attention, like someone shaking out an umbrella or hanging their hat on hook by the front door or plucking cat hair from their shirt. It makes the story and characters alive.

Emotion, Tension, and a Good Story---these things are key. I want a story that doesn’t let me go. They are hard to find. God, I hope I can write one some day. I have a ways to go, but the more I read the more I learn what works.

I guess that ties into your second question---advice to new writers: READ.

R-E-A-D : READ.

Do not underestimate this step. Hand copy prose you like. Take notes on what works in a scene and what doesn’t. If you like the pace, write a list of the main events in the story to get an idea how they created that pace. If you like the tension, look at how it was accomplished. Study what the characters do and how they talk. And ENJOY. Read and enjoy. It’s not a math equation.

Among unpublished writers, what's the most common mistake you see?

Too much distance. Saying things in twenty words that can be said in 15 (when those extra five don’t “add” anything) And the damned dream scene opening. PLEASE—NO! And dialogue punctuation – I had the same weakness when I started writing, and I have to say it’s quickly become an easy way to spot and amateur writer. Often when the dialogue punctuation is in disarray, there are many other basic errors being made.

You know how people beat you over the head with the “no adverb” thing? Well, I find that to be one of the least made newbie mistakes. Made, sure, but nowhere near as much as other mistakes.

What's your ideal workspace?

If I could dream something up? I’d be surrounded by a wide array of colors and photographs of nature, a word basket my kids could never get to, a bowl of lemons and apples and oranges, some sticks of vanilla… I like things that look pretty and smell pretty. At the same time, I need the dark side too, so definitely a second pin up board to keep some edgier photographs as well. Nothing compares to getting out there in the world (I like to take notes) but while writing I like to have lots of inspiration readily available without interrupting my concentration.


Anyone interested can follow me on twitter @inkmuse, visit my blog at http://rebecca-hamilton.com (free ongoing blog story there for the readers, lots of writing tips for the writers, and all other kinds of categories for the web surfer's perusal) or check out the rough sample chapters of my current WIP (The Forever Girl) on Authonomy: http://www.authonomy.com/ViewBook.aspx?bookid=15535

Thanks for taking the time to interview me. It's been a pleasure and I'm honored to be featured on your blog.