Author Insight: Novel Avoidance

What lengths have you gone to to avoid your novel?

"I’ve seen probably every chick flick in existence in an effort to avoid writing. I like to refer to them as 'research,' since I like to write fun, funny, sassy, colorful books with lots of kissing and swooning. There’s also the endless spiral of 'Just one more episode of Gilmore Girls or Veronica Mars! No really, just one more!'" - Lauren Morrill, author of Meant to Be.

"Only the usual kinds of faffing, nothing dramatic. Most of my life is spent fighting my way towards writing my novels, not running away from it." - Margo Lanagan, author of The Brides of Rollrock Island. 

"I once set a cop car on fire so I would go to jail. Kidding. I don’t have to go to any special lengths. Sometimes I’ll be stuck on something and be happy to take a few days off." - Dan Krokos, author of False Memory. 

"Mediocre lengths." - Martha Brockenbrough, author of Devine Intervention. 

"I always know when I'm really stuck while writing because I find myself cleaning the kitchen or *gasp* ironing." - Joy Peble, author of Anastasia Forever. 

"Do you mean the manuscript or the actual published object? :)" - Greg Leitich Smith, author of Chronal Engine. 

"Oh, goodness. If we're talking about avoiding writing, so many things. Making wearable clay antlers. Cutting my dog's fur (he's bushy). Teaching myself how to crochet. Cooking everything and anything. Not cleaning, though. I avoid that even more." - Kirsten Hubbard, author of Wanderlove.

"I practice avoidance of my novels on a regular basis. I am a great procrastinator of writing, and once the book is in ARC format, I will not even page through it. I can safely say I have not opened a copy of FAIRY TALE since sometime in 2008 (except to the front page to sign it for someone!)." - Cyn Balog, author of Touched. 

"Washing my dogs." - Dayna Lorentz, author of No Safety in Numbers. 

"Oh, I’ve spent weeks doing nothing at all. I’ve always meant to write a new, honest version of the writing process. You know how it’s taught in school: Brainstorming, Rough Draft, Revision, etc. My version would include phases such as Ditherment, Doubt, Avoidance, and Self-loathing. I can’t seem to get through a book without, at some point, seriously hating myself." - James Preller, author of Before You Go. 

"Avoiding my novel isn’t an issue for me. I have a crazy life and I feel like I’m always trying to find time to write." - Katie McGarry, author of Pushing the Limits. 

"I think setting a novel or revision letter aside is an important step in the process. I have a spare room in my house and I physically put the manuscript/revision letter on the desk in that room and shut the door until I am ready to work on it." - Sarah Tregay, author of Love and Leftovers. 

"Let us count the ways. There’s always surfing the web, which holds infinite possibilities for distraction, from news to social networking to online shopping to reading random articles to looking at the photos on TMZ. We’ve also started writing new books, just so we don’t have to deal with the one that’s currently being written, which is a pretty extreme thing to do (we’ve got about seven partial novels percolating). Sadly, avoiding writing is one of the easiest things to do." - Stacy Kramer & Valerie Thomas, co-authors of From What I Remember. 

On Thursday, learn what lengths the other authors have gone to to avoid their novels. 
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