Literary Exhibitionism

Okay, I know I haven't been very chatty lately. I've been busy doing things like writing, house-hunting and...oh yeah, getting married!!! I promise I'll write more about that in the near future. But what brought me back today is friend and fellow New York Times bestselling author (still love saying that) Alina Adams. She's launched a really interesting writing project that seems to be part exhibitionism, part performance art and part lunacy.  You see she's writing a romance novel filled with drama, secrets, double-crosses, revenge, scheming, schemers and sex. So far this is my kind of book. Note I did not say it sounds like it's going to be my kind of book. I said so far it is my kind of book. I can say that definitively because I've read part of it. And no, she didn't send me the first few chapters. She didn't have to because she's writing it online, as in anyone who clicks this link can actually see her while she's typing this thing. We can see her typos, we can see her delete, we can see her going back and rewriting sections or taking out entire passages all together. We can even give her advice in regards to what we think she should be writing and what's good and bad about the sentence she's writing as she's writing it.

Personally I'd rather play Twister with Attila the Hun on a bed of hot coals than invite the world to judge me as I struggle through sentence after sentence.  Therefore when I found out Alina was doing this I had to know what on earth was going through her head.  That burning question lead to this interview. Hope you find it as interesting as I do!:


So I've written my fair share of exhibitionist scenes before but never anything as daring as this.  What gave you the idea to write a novel live, online, for all to see?

Well, as with all traumas, this one began back in my childhood. When I was in high-school, I was a voracious fan of what some might call "trashy novels." Sidney Sheldon was my all-time favorite, but I also read Judith Krantz, Belva Plain, Michael Korda, Jeffrey Archer, etc.... Basically, if they made a rich, splashy, 1980s mini-series of it, I was there. 

I wanted to grow up to write trashy novels that got rich, splashy, 1980s mini-series made out of them. To English teachers, this was not a worthwhile goal. Frankly, it wasn't a worthwhile goal to anyone. So I had to make it up as I went along. I wrote many, many books, and received many, many rejections letters, before I somehow stumbled into selling my first romance novel, a Regency, in 1994 to AVON (a year later, my second book shut down their line - make of that what you will). I can't help thinking, though, that the process would have been made a whole lot easier if, as an aspiring writer, I'd been allowed to hang out and watch over a professional writer's shoulder as they went about their business, seeing how they did things, learning all that stuff high-school English teachers wouldn't - let's be honest, couldn't - teach me. (That shouldn't be too annoying to said professional writer, right?) That opportunity didn't exist for me as a teen. So I decided to create it as an adult.
Want to watch a book as it's being written live, all the typos, the mistakes, the deletions, the moving words around, the changing the same word ten times in the hopes that, this time, it'll magically work, not to mention the cutting of two entire chapters because you've come to the depressing realization that if a character is boring for you to write, he'll be even more boring to read? 

Well, then, www.AlinaAdams.com/live is the place for you! You can learn from your own mistakes, or you can learn from mine. Because, God knows, even twenty years and over a dozen published novels later, I still make tons of them!

When I'm writing I rarely let anyone in the same room with me but you'll literally have untold numbers of complete strangers looking over your shoulder as you type each letter. Won't that make you self-conscious and if it does, are you worried that it might impede your creative process?

I used to think that I never get writer's block. I'd just sit down in my chair and force myself to write one sentence. Then another one. Then another one. Even if they suck, just get something down on paper, you can always fix it later. (The sadly ironic part is that, when I go back and reread scenes I wrote on days when it felt like pulling teeth as well as those from days when I was in the zone and everything was flowing... there is very little difference between the two in quality.)
But then I hit a point where I was writing my first sex scene - live. I could see the icons that indicated people were watching. And I, who never get writer's block, totally and completely froze up. I realized they weren't exactly watching me, personally,  having sex (trust me, the fictional is more interesting), but, suddenly, it sure felt that way.

It was the first time in my life I ever actually walked away from the computer for the day. (Well, when I say walked away, I mean from this particular project. When I told my husband I'd walked away, he laughed and said, "You mean, you just worked on something else?" He knows me so well.)
I did come back the next morning and forced myself to write it. To be honest, I do think it came out a bit more inhibited than my usual fare. However, this is only the first draft. The entire point of this experiment is so people can see how I go through and revise. Adding spice to love scenes will be part of the revision process. I promise.

I understand that readers will be able to offer you advice and criticism while you write.  Will you stop to read each comment as they come in? Will you respond to each suggestion or just the ones you're seriously considering implementing?

In addition to a childhood wasted amongst trashy novels, I was also a rabid soap-opera fan. Eventually, I ended up working for ABC Daytime, and Procter & Gamble Productions, where I both wrote tie-in novels for "As the World Turns" and "Guiding Light," as well as a bi-weekly serial called "Another World Today" where, at the end of every webisode, I would put a plot question up for vote and, whatever the fans picked, that's what I would write. I really enjoyed this "writing in collaboration" with readers, so I am carrying the model over to my new book. After all, in the end, the most important people to please are the readers. They might as well tell me what they like - and don't like - right off the bat. (What good does criticizing a book AFTER it's published do anyone, me or them?) So, yes, I am trying to answer each comment as it comes in. Sometimes I explain why I'm not taking a suggestion. And sometimes, I go ahead and take it! And the comments are visible to readers, as well, so you can see what others have suggested and either agree or disagree with them.

How long does it normally take you to write a novel? 

Well, it depends. My first book, "The Fictitious Marquis," was written in four weeks of 10 hour days, because when the editor called to say she loved my proposal and wanted to see the whole manuscript, I had to say, "It's... not... polished, yet." That sounded better than, "It's not written yet." 
My second book, "Thieves at Heart," I wrote in three months, from five to seven am every morning while working a TV production day job. But that was before I had children. I now have three. My mornings, and my 10 hour days, are spoken for. I did write my first NYT best-seller, "Oakdale Confidential" on a tight turn-around of six weeks, because the book needed to be out in time to appear on "As the World Turns." But, then I only had two children. And a full-time sitter. Those days are also gone. I will say that, if I have to, I can pound out about a thousand words a day. Though many of them will be misspelled.

Do you think aspiring writers who will now have a front row seat to the arduous process of writing a novel will be more attracting to the pursuit or repelled by it?

Well, I am very happy to report that due to some less than inspiring high-school English teachers, my oldest son has now reported, "I hate writing. It's so boring. I will never be a writer." This makes me very, very pleased. Anytime I can talk anyone out of a career that's rife with rejection, failure and pathetically little money, I feel I have done a good deed.

That said (with tongue firmly in cheek), my goal for the live writing project is to pull back the curtain and demonstrate what it really takes to put together a book. It doesn't all come in one swoop, and the first draft is rarely the last one. There is criticism, revision, more criticism, more revision, frustration, despair, fear, loathing, a mad desire to rip everything up and start all over again, conviction that what's on paper will never sound like what you heard in your head, telling everyone you know that the book is trying to kill you, even more revisions and then publication. At which point you get to go through it again and find all the typos that were missed, no matter how many highly-skilled copy-editors took a pass at the manuscript. Plus, there is a possibility your cover may end up having a pink duck on it (see the paperback release of "Annie's Wild Ride"). If, after watching me go through it, people think they'd like to give it a try themselves, all I can say is, "Welcome to the club!"



So there you have it. Personally I will never have the nerve to practice this kind of exhibitionist but if Alina's writing project has taught me one thing it's that being a voyeur can be fun. So tiptoe on on over and join me at www.alinaadams.com/live , catch up on a really fun story and watch the words fly!