Some writers rely on complicated charts
to plot their novels while others use outlines, says Debbie Reed Fischer, the award-winning author of Swimming with the Sharks, Braless
in Wonderland, and This is NOT the Abby
Show.
Fischer prefers to just sit down with an idea and write,
using what she calls a rather chaotic system of notebooks and post-its
containing plot points, snippets of dialogue, or key words.
“The fact is everybody’s brain works differently,” says Fischer,
“and so there are many ways to plan and write your story. I say find a system
that works for you.”
Fischer found a system that worked for her early in life when
she was an Air Force and State Department brat moving every two years.
“I coped with classes I hated by sitting in the back row,”
she says, “and writing stories, poems and notes to my friends.”
Although she had planned on a career writing film and TV scripts, she ended up after graduating from the University of Miami’s screenwriting program as an agent working on the business end of film and TV.
Although she had planned on a career writing film and TV scripts, she ended up after graduating from the University of Miami’s screenwriting program as an agent working on the business end of film and TV.
It may not have been what she’d planned, but the job gave Fischer
the inspiration to write Braless in Wonderland. It also left her with little
time to write. So she decided to return to college and become an English
teacher, which gave her, she soon discovered, even less time to write.
So, after having children of her own, she quit teaching,
began writing, signed up for a workshop at her local library, joined a critique
group, attended conferences, and dedicated herself to writing and reading.
“I’ve been an avid reader of middle grade and young adult fiction since I was a middle grader myself,” says Fischer. “I’ve never stopped reading books for kids. I met my agent at a writers’ conference, and we started corresponding. He liked my first manuscript, Swimming with the Sharks, and signed me. I wrote my second book, Braless in Wonderland, while waiting for Sharks to sell.”
If there’s anything that
she’s learned over the years, it’s how to keep her sense of humor, and how to
find humor in almost any situation.
“Humor
is everywhere if you pay attention,” says Fischer, whose humorous account of
Abby navigating middle school and ADHD has drawn rave reviews and comparisons
to Rachel Renee Russell’s Dork Diaries,
Jeff Kinney’s Wimpy Kid, and Jack
Gantos’ Joey Pigza series. “It’s the
little things. Listening to people order food can have me in hysterics.
Little kids say funny things, and so do the elderly. Take note of irony. It’s
all around you.”
Fischer
lives in Boca Raton, FL with her family and was kind enough to take time from her
work on a novel-in-progress to share some thoughts on writing with wordswimmer.
Wordswimmer: How do
you get into the water each day?
Fischer: I get
in the water early. I wake up at 5:45 when the rest of my household is
sleeping, because as the day goes on, it gets harder for me to focus. I like to
write while the water is calm and quiet.
Wordswimmer: What
keeps you afloat...for short work? For longer work?
Fischer: Writing snippets of dialogue or scene notes as
soon as they pop into my head keeps me afloat and on course. With one of my
books, the ending of a novel came to me during dinner, and I jotted it down on
napkins. Also, literal swimming keeps me afloat. Swimming opens up my mind
somehow. Maybe it's the sound of the water too. Anyway, ideas come when I'm in
a pool or at the beach.
Wordswimmer: How do
you keep swimming through dry spells?
Fischer: I
remind myself that a dry spell is just that - a spell. It's temporary. Just
keep writing, and eventually, you're swimming again.
Wordswimmer: What's
the hardest part of swimming?
Fischer: For
me, it's revising. I love writing a first draft because it doesn't have to be
perfect. But to rewrite a draft many times over can get tough, to the point
where I wonder why I'm torturing myself. My middle grade novel, This is NOT the Abby Show, was
originally a young adult book. It involved a love triangle, plus some scenes in
a juvenile detention facility. After receiving feedback from editors suggesting
it was more of a middle grade book, I took out several characters, eliminated
the love triangle, cut out half of it, and rewrote the book from a
twelve-year-old's point of view. It sold. So I guess that's why
I'm torturing myself!
Wordswimmer: How do
you overcome obstacles, problems, when swimming alone?
Fischer: I reach
out to my writer friends who will understand what I'm going through. I'm lucky
to have supportive friends that I've met through SCBWI (Society of Children's
Book Writers and Illustrators). I'm not the only fish in the writing sea, and
that has made all the difference. They give me great advice and comfort when I
need it.
Wordswimmer: What's
the part of swimming that you love the most?
Fischer: I love
it when I'm writing quickly with the story pouring out of me. Those first
drafts that are purely for yourself, before you have to show it to anyone or
revise it, are my favorite part of the process. I love being alone with me and
my characters in that time period before I have to share them with anyone.
To learn more about Fischer, visit her
website:
For more interviews with her, visit:
Posts
2 comments:
Thank you for this post, Bruce and Debbie. It's good to know that other writers are as eclectic in their approach as I am. I do need to know where I'm going, and why. But after that, it's anything goes, whatever I can make work. Only I am one who LOVES revision, and suffers through the first draft. So Debbie send me some of your first-draft karma! Please!
Onward!
Thanks, Sandy, for your comment. You are the Master of Revisions, and long ago helped me fall in love with the process, though I must say that, like Debbie, I love first drafts, too. Hope all's well, and that you're finding your way through the thicket of a first draft to the pleasure of revisions. Be well.
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