Guest Post - Michelle Dennis Evans, Spiralling Out Of Control

Today I have the great pleasure of talking with Michelle Dennis Evans, fellow Christian writer and author of the newly released Spiralling Out of Control:

Spiralling Out of Control:
Temptation, depression, seduction, betrayal ... Not what Stephanie was expecting at fifteen years of age. Uprooted from her happy, all-girl high school life with a dream filled future and thrown into an unfriendly co-ed school, Stephanie spirals into depression. When charismatic high school senior, Jason notices her, Stephanie jumps in feet first and willingly puts all her faith and trust in him, a boy she barely knows. Every choice she makes and turn she takes leads her towards a dangerous path. Her best friend is never far away and ready to catch her … but will she push Tabbie too far away when she needs her most?

We met last year at the Caleb Christian Writers conference, and caught up again last week at this year's conference, just before she released her new book. So I quizzed Michelle on her writing process (one of my favourite topics to ask other writers). Sit back and enjoy!

I feel so honoured to be here today on Buffy’s blog. The writing process is such a personal and unique thing for everyone. Years ago I found I was great at coming up with ideas, good at starting to write a novel but terrible when it came to finishing. Back in 2009 I found NaNoWriMo, an organisation that supports authors get the story down by writing 50000 words in 30 days during November. In 2009 I drafted my first complete novel from start to finish. That draft would become Spiralling Out of Control.

Nanowrimo is now an annual event for me. It’s like an extreme sport for writers. For me, it works. I put months of thought into a new story with an intriguing plot and sub plots. During this time the characters develop in my mind and I begin to really know them like you would know the person you live with. Then, during October (sometimes October 31st), I write one or two pages of basic notes in point form to give me a little direction on how I would like the story to go. When I begin to write, I let the characters take over and often they take the story to places I would never have dreamed.

The not so good side of Nanowrimo is the mess that I am left with after writing without caution for thirty days. Some sentences are almost perfect … but most need a lot of work. So generally, I spend eleven months revising and editing the mess I write in November. This year I also wrote a verse novel using a similar process. I joined in with Kat Apel’s Month of Poetry in January to force myself to write a poem every day and get my verse novel written. For me, working with a community keeps me accountable and helps me to get to the end. Do you prefer to work on your own, or are you a community kind of person?

Michelle writes to inspire, take people on a journey and escape their world. She is married to an amazing man, with four adorable children and loves living in paradise on the Gold Coast, Australia. www.michelledennisevans.com



Let us know whether you prefer hermit or community writing. I'm offering a copy of Michelle's book to everyone who comments with their thoughts before the end of October.