Confession: I was shoulder-deep into the manuscript revision of my fourth book, which has a deadline of, oh, one week from now, when I realized I had to write this blog post. And for the life of me, I could NOT come up with something to discuss. That tends to happen when I fully immerse myself into a book – all other aspects of my brain shut off. So I asked some writer friends if they had any subjects they wanted me to cover, and the wonderful Kris Riggle, who has a new book out next week called The Life You Imagined (and who DID NOT, I promise, ask me to say that for her!), asked me how I ensure that I don’t plagiarize myself, how I ensure that I don’t write the same thing book after book.
And I thought – what a great freaking question! Because now, on my fourth book, this is a huge concern of mine, and something that I am taking very strong steps to protect myself against. But at the same time, I’m also aware of the fact that quite simply, this is also who I am as a writer: I have a voice, a way of writing, a tone that is present in all of my books, and I think that readers have come to expect that from me…so I’m trying to toe this line, to figure out the balance between recreating my work and challenging myself and not, say, offering a work so different that no one recognizes the threads that tie all of my books together.
So. This is what I’m doing.
1) I’ve made a very conscious choice to eliminate any magical realism from this book. (And even if you don’t write magical realism, insert XYZ into your own work.) My past two books have been defined by this concept, and initially, I was urged to include the magical realism twist in this one too. But I thought, “You know, I’d really like to prove that I’m not a one-trick pony. That I can create a very grounded, albeit high-concept book, without that suspension of disbelief.” And so, out went the magical realism, even if that’s what I’m known for.
2) I am challenging myself to write in a way that I’ve never written before – namely, the book is pocked with scenes told in the third-person. Now, my comfort zone is first person. I can write in first person until the end of time. Third person, in fact, is my mortal enemy. But I wanted to try something different, push myself. And thus, I did. And guess what? Damned if honestly, those aren’t the best written scenes in the book. Why? Probably because I didn’t have my old habits to fall back on, my word patterns that are so familiar to rely on. By stretching my brain, I feel pretty confident that I’m stretching my writing too.
3) I’m trying to give my characters hobbies and traits that I haven’t yet explored. It is easy, after all, to essentially write the same person over and over again. I try, actually, to do this with each book. Jillian, my protagonist in Time of My Life, was very, very different than Tilly, my protagonist in The One That I Want. And similarly Nell, my new protagonist, has her own skew of the world – namely, one in which she’s lost her memory in an accident. Throwing myself into something so unfamiliar allows me to create something entirely new.
4) I try to be very conscious of words and phrases that, well, I use too easily, too often. For me, those are (among others): push, press, absorb, exhale, and guts. (Again, among many, many others.) Anyone who has ever been copyedited very quickly sees the crutches on which he or she leans. For me, it’s these expressive or active verbs. So I reread these sentences and try my very best, sometimes succeeding, sometimes not, to rethink them, tweak them, write them in a way that I haven’t before. Which isn’t to say that I remove my voice from this book or this character. I’d like to think that instead, I’m fine-tuning it, improving it each time I step up to the plate.
It’s a tricky thing, and I can see how authors who write ten books end up essentially writing carbon copies of their previous work. Not because they’re being lazy, but because many of us have our way of doing things, and shaking that up requires a lot of mental acuity and a lot of sweat. I’ve even been thinking that writing one book a year might not be best for my creative process, despite whatever contractual obligations I might have. Brains need time to refresh themselves, so if mine isn’t up to the task in the ways that I’ve laid out above, I’ll rethink and step away until I can be sure that I’m truly game for writing an original.
I’d love to hear how you guys ensure that you’re not plagiarizing your own works too!
Photo courtesy Flickr’s One From RM
About Allison Winn Scotch
Allison Winn Scotch is the bestselling author of six novels, including IN TWENTY YEARS, THE THEORY OF OPPOSITES, and TIME OF MY LIFE. Her seventh novel, BETWEEN ME AND YOU, will be released on January 9th, 2018. In addition to fiction, she pens celebrity profiles for a variety of magazines, which justifies her pop culture obsession and occasionally lends to awesome Facebook status updates. She lives in Los Angeles with her family. For more about her and her books, go to allisonwinn.com or follow her on Twitter at @aswinn.
Great post, Allison! I had to smile at your list of crutch words; we all have them (mine’s “clench”). ; )
All in all, I applaud your willingness to stretch. While readers do like the consistency of an author’s style and voice, we still want to be surprised. Looking forward to the next book!
Agreed: great post! Over at the Amazon forums, there was a thread about authors who seem to write the same book over and over, and how readers find it annoying. I pointed out a few things, including… (A) it’s probably a function of frequency rather than laziness, and you mentioned that writing a book a year might be a contributing factor to your own accidental repetition. (Which I think you rightfully distinguished from intentionally thematic tie-in.) (B) Once an author becomes a brand, there IS a certain expectation, and smart authors (like you!) will find ways to write within those expectations without becoming dull, but some authors simply don’t. That doesn’t mean *new* readers won’t still find them entertaining and fresh.
Anyhoot, I don’t have the problem you have (yet!) but I hope to someday. :)
Jumping on the bandwagon … loved this post!
It’s so easy to fall into that pattern of repitition, especially with word choice and the like. It almost seems to be a subconscious trait most of the time, at least until the editing stages. I’ve taken to jotting down a list of words/phrases I tend to fall back on, so that when I DO find myself using them now, it jogs something in my brain and I immediately stop.
In terms of theme and weaving in certain elements, it definitely seems like a tough balance. On the one hand, you always want to bring something fresh and unique. On the other, you don’t want to stray too far that you lose yourself and your voice in the story. It’s a delicate line to walk, but you do such a great job of it. Your voice is clear, but your characters also stand on their own. It seems like a wonderful balance!
Allison,
Great post. I agree that most authors around book five or six itch to branch out and try new things. I applaud your doing so in your next book and as a fan look forward to reading it. I also applaud your friend for suggesting the topic so we can have a dialogue about the risks and benefits associated with changes in direction. Best of luck with your deadline!
When I discover a new author I like, I tend to pick up their backlist. Reading back-to-back often reveals similarities–I recall in one series, the two characters, when in bed, were often ‘separated only by the thin cotton of her nightgown.’ Right now, I’m struggling to decide how to handle what’s becoming a recurring theme in my books–character trying to recreate a life. I’ve also found myself saddled with a kid in the current WIP (long story–be careful what you hand your characters in one book; you may be stuck with it in the next) and while it’s would be a great conflict situation to use the child as a way to get to the mother, I’ve used something similar in another book, so I’m trying to see how to make things “the same but different.”
Terry
Terry’s Place
Romance with a Twist–of Mystery
Wonderful post – definitely in line with lots of what I’m thinking on now as I’m starting a new peoject. I actually have a list of words from one of my friends that I’m “banned” from using in my next project. And I’ve learned weird sayings I use all of the time that I never noticed until it came up in the revision process.
Great technique to choose hobbies/interests that are foreign to you. I hadn’t thought about working that angle.
Good luck with the deadline!
THAT is a great question and terrific answer — one that TOO popular (i.e. formula) authors could learn from
great post, Al. I think it is tricky. I had a great teacher in grad school, the amazing writer John Wideman, who said we write about what haunts us. I think that is totally true–and thematically, we hit those themes again and again. I think the key is hitting them in new and interesting ways. your ideas for how to do so are ones that should be utilized. that said, 10 books like time of my life? I’d take em!
Voice works. Just because you’re writing in a different genre or style doesn’t mean you have to change your voice.
Many of my favorite authors have different genre or style stories. I usually like them all; I’ve learned to trust their voice.
Why thank you, Allison!
I’m in the throes of revising my third book and will soon dive into the fourth, so that explains why this was on my mind. Trademarks can turn into habits can turn into author-specific cliche if we’re not careful!
Great suggestions!
I’m known for not repeating myself and doing surprising things with plot twists, etc., and several readers have told me that they know what I’m going to do because I always choose the most unlikely direction.
(shrug) You can’t win.
Great post! I have a question, though: Does this apply to themes as well? For instance, when I consider the books that you’ve written, they all seem to revolve around a women who is forced to consider the choices in her life, whether it’s due to illness (Dept of Lost and Found) time travel (TOML) or The One that I Want. Is this a conscious choice that you’ve made as an author?
Thanks all for your great thoughts! Suzanne, I love this question, and I’d love to really give it some thought and pull it out for my blog next week. But I think the short answer is that my themes will all probably always echo something that is resonant to my life…so in that sense, I don’t know how much they’ll change. Great question.
I don’t have a suggestion so much as a question/comment. The one book a year thing. I would think, as you stated, you wouldn’t have enough time to refresh. Also, as in love, absence makes the heart grow fonder and leaves the audience anticipating the next work. Wouldn’t the quick turnaround be best for a series?
**please note: I’m kinda clueless here…..
Thank you Allison, I can’t wait to read your follow up on your blog!
One of my big rules, in fact my only rule, is ‘if you’ve seen it done before, don’t do it again.’ This applies to my own work as much as anyone else’s, so when I went to write A Warrior Made, book 2 of my series, I gave it a completely different style and tone from Unbinding the Stone. Stone had three main players, Warrior has eight. Stone has one storyline in a very pyramid-like structure, Warrior has three separate strands that wind around each other, with some characters leaping from one strand to another before they come together at the end. My third book was a paranormal romance about werewolves. In short, on the level of the book itself I don’t repeat myself.
I have noticed a number of word usages that repeat on occasion, especially “Whatever that means.” My characters are often fish out of water and don’t understand, and one is linked to the other so the occasional phrase will be used. Editing has revealed a number of other grammatical structures I have a tendency to use, since my editor has a tendency to cut them out.
Marc Vun Kannon
http://authorguy.wordpress.com
Great advice even for those who haven’t yet had many books published. I love your advice about making sure characters don’t always have the same hobbies, for example. I always tend to rely on hobbies with which I’m already familiar, and that’s not a good thing.
Thanks for the inspiring post!
Debbie
This is a great post. Though I have yet to be published, I’m writing my third story and I began to worry about this very issue. It’s reassuring to know this is not a matter of me being a novice, but something even experienced writers have to deal with. Thanks.
Here’s where I hope that my restlessness and need to self-challenge will prove helpful. Good for you, for trying something new.