Learn a little more about me, my writing process, and other assorted things that I fancy -such as my favorite William and Kate commemorative wedding mug I purchased in London! :D
Q: HAVE YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A WRITER?
RD: A little yes and a little no on this question. Have I always enjoyed writing stories? YES. Have I always thought of pursuing writing as a full-time career? No. In fact, it's only within the last two-three years that I've seriously considered becoming a professional writer, and so here I am today. Storytelling and writing are somethings I've always been passionate about as hobbies, and becoming a writer is now something I pursue both with great seriousness and equal verve.
If you would have asked me when I was very young what I wanted to be, I immediately would have said a postal worker, of all things. Not to knock the USPS (Hey, I LOVE snail mail! It's a direct connection to the written word!), but it's not the most common occupation you hear come out of a five-year-old's mouth. After that I progressed to veterinarian, and then to astronomer in middle/early high school. I even attended an astronomy camp through Duke TIP. However, once I caught the acting bug as a high school junior, my intended career path changed pretty drastically from science towards theatre arts. I had every intention of becoming an actor, then took a slight shift towards arts administration by the time I graduated from William Jewell College. Although this may seem like a bit of a complicated, haphazard journey through career choices, every twist and turn undeniably informs my writing today -especially my theatre background. As an actor, I came to understand the importance of character development, plot arcs, and strategic reveal through script analysis. Through playwriting exercises, I learned how to craft dialogue that is engaging, "shows, not tells," and progresses a scene forward to uncover new information that drives the overall storyline.
In a nutshell, I wouldn't change what brought me to this point in my life (or to writing) for anything. Writing is about creating characters that are relatable, flawed, and human -and nothing is more human than trying new things that divert you down a path you never thought you'd take.
Q: WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE AUTHOR?
RD: Hands down, Gillian Flynn is definitely my fave -plus, homegirl's from Kansas City, so major props for representing Missouri writers! If you haven't read Flynn's latest book Gone Girl, you are truly missing out. Her character development and use of page-turning suspense are as brilliant and innovative as they are incredibly engaging. Gone Girl is the first book in a very long time that I absolutely could not put down, and I am super excited to see the feature film in October. Flynn's other two books- Dark Places and Sharp Objects -are also certainly worth the read.
RD: Aside from my weekly goal of writing between 7,000 - 10,000 words of new material for my current KHO, KHT piece, I make it a point to write every single day. No matter how much or how little, it all counts towards reaching that ultimate goal of 70,000 -80,000 words for my first draft. I usually average between 1,200 - 1,500 words most days of the week. Since I am blessed to hold a full-time job, as well, I wake up a bit early each morning so I can squeeze in two hours of writing/outlining time before work, then at least three hours in the evening after work. Weekends, obviously, have more leeway, and I just fit writing in around my other commitments. This is, of course, more or less the schedule I use when I'm hashing out the first draft. When revision time comes along, my schedule will change accordingly and I won't have as many early mornings.
Q: HOW DO YOU BALANCE WORK, SOCIAL ACTIVITIES, FRIENDS, FAMILY, ETC. AND PURSUE THE GOAL OF BECOMING A PUBLISHED AUTHOR?
RD: You don't have a social life. Next question.
JUST KIDDING! ;D It's actually relatively easy if you have the determination to make writing a priority along with all of the other things that are important to you. I have a very active and diverse social schedule throughout the week, so I more or less see where I can get those necessary hours of writing time slated in on a given week and then just be sure to follow through. (Remember, just an hour or two here or there is how a book gets written -seriously! :) Don't feel like you have to become a hermit and hole yourself up for nine hours in one go.) That's the only part where you really have to be a drill sergeant towards yourself, though: use the time you set aside for writing to actually SIT DOWN and WRITE. As every writer knows, sometimes it can be soooo tempting just to totally veg out and catch up on all those episodes of THE BACHELOR you've recorded on your DVR instead of writing, but DON'T DO IT, skippy! Hold yourself accountable and once that bad boy of a manuscript is in your hands, it'll totally be worth it.
And, btw, Juan Pablo didn't really propose to Clare or Nikki, so, yeah, that's how that went down, friends :/
Q: HOW DO YOU BALANCE WORK, SOCIAL ACTIVITIES, FRIENDS, FAMILY, ETC. AND PURSUE THE GOAL OF BECOMING A PUBLISHED AUTHOR?
RD: You don't have a social life. Next question.
JUST KIDDING! ;D It's actually relatively easy if you have the determination to make writing a priority along with all of the other things that are important to you. I have a very active and diverse social schedule throughout the week, so I more or less see where I can get those necessary hours of writing time slated in on a given week and then just be sure to follow through. (Remember, just an hour or two here or there is how a book gets written -seriously! :) Don't feel like you have to become a hermit and hole yourself up for nine hours in one go.) That's the only part where you really have to be a drill sergeant towards yourself, though: use the time you set aside for writing to actually SIT DOWN and WRITE. As every writer knows, sometimes it can be soooo tempting just to totally veg out and catch up on all those episodes of THE BACHELOR you've recorded on your DVR instead of writing, but DON'T DO IT, skippy! Hold yourself accountable and once that bad boy of a manuscript is in your hands, it'll totally be worth it.
And, btw, Juan Pablo didn't really propose to Clare or Nikki, so, yeah, that's how that went down, friends :/
