I  N  T  E  R  V  I  E  W:

To celebrate the release of Beth Revis’ latest book ‘Paper Hearts’, completely dedicated to inspiring aspiring writers, we got the chance to ask Beth some questions about the book! (And if that wasn’t exciting enough, there’s also a giveaway you can enter here!)

Maddie and Bee: You discuss a lot of controversial tips for writers in Paper
Hearts, which piece of classic writing advice are you most opposed to and
why?

Beth Revis: “Write every day.” That one piece of advice was very damaging to me,
personally, and it’s one of the most pervasive in literature. You hear it
over and over when you start out and it’s just wrong. I have never been
the type of person who can write every day. My writing schedule usually
means that for three or so days of the week, I can write between 2k and
10k words, averaging out to about 10-15k per week. But when I do those
really big bursts of writing, I almost always take one or two days off.
And that’s fine–the book gets done, often at the same rate as someone who
writes every day. It doesn’t matter how often you write, as long as you
write consistently and progress toward completing the novel.

“Write every day” is the kind of advice that has a good heart. There are a
lot of people out there who like the idea of writing, but don’t actually
write. But if you’re not one of those people, forget this advice. Write
the way you write to finish a novel. That’s all that matters.

M&B: What are your go-to sources of inspiration when writing?

BR: Anything! It depends on the novel. But typically, it’s a sort of feeling I
have. When I write, I have a mood that I’m chasing. This sounds very
elevated and ivory tower, but that’s not what I mean. For example, for A
World Without You, which comes out in July, the feeling was hopelessness.
It’s a book about mental health and death, and how there’s not an easy
solution, so the mood was darker than a lot of my other books. The songs,
television, and art I surrounded myself with were also darker. I kept
myself in this dark mood–which isn’t to say that I walked around
depressed all the time, but I sort of kept myself mired in this knowledge
that there is no deus ex machina in real life, that there are no easy
answers and solutions.

The current book I’m writing is all about “shades of gray.” There’s no
black-and-white. The good people do bad things and vice versa. So the
music and art I’m gathering around myself, magpie-like, reflects that.

M&B: Do you have any tips for dealing with rejection?

BR: Wear it like a badge of honor. And know that it’s helping. It hurts, but
it helps. I have been much better equipped for this career–able to handle
negative reviews, turn down bad deals, and deal with edits–because I went
through so much rejection prior to being published. Rejection helps turn
you into a professional. It sucks, but it’s helpful.

M&B: What is the lasting message you want readers/aspiring writers to
take away from Paper Hearts?

BR: Do you. Whatever it takes for you to write the book you want to write, do
that. There is no right way to write. As long as you get the words down,
you’re golden.

 

W  R  I  T  I  N  G    T  I  P:

Tip 3:
All stories have structure.

Additional details:
It doesn’t matter if you write your book with an outline, or you go by the
seat of your pants. Eventually, your story will need to adhere to some
form of structure, and you’ll need to put the work into making it
novel-shaped in the beginning, with an outline, or at the end, with
rewrites. No one just pops out a perfectly formed book. You have to put
the work in the front end with an outline, or put the work in the back end
with rewrites, but either way: you’re going to have to do the work on the
structure of the novel. Whichever way works for you—outlining or revising
(or both!)—is fine. At the end of the day, you’ll have a novel one way or
the other.

A  B  O  U  T:

Bird by Bird meets Save the Cat in this new writing advice book by NY Times bestselling author Beth Revis. With more than 100000 reads on Wattpad, this newly expanded and rewritten edition features 350 pages of content, including charts and a detailed appendix.
~~~
Fight the blank page.
When it comes to writing, there’s no wrong way to get words on paper. But it’s not always easy to make the ink flow. Paper Hearts: Some Writing Advice won’t make writing any simpler, but it may help spark your imagination and get your hands back on the keyboard.

Practical Advice Meets Real Experience
With information that takes you from common mistakes in grammar to detailed charts on story structure, Paper Hearts describes:
-How to Develop Character, Plot, & World
-What Common Advice You Should Ignore
-What Advice Actually Helps
-How to Develop a Novel
-The Basics of Grammar, Style, & Tone
-Four Practical Methods of Charting Story Structure
-How to Get Critiques and Revise Your Novel
-How to Deal with Failure
…And much more!

BONUS! More than 25 “What to do if…” scenarios to help writers navigate problems in writing from a NY Times Bestselling author who’s written more than 2 million words of fiction.

Learn more at BethRevis.com

Paper Hearts, Volume 1: Some Writing Advice on Goodreads

Purchase Paper Hearts, Volume 1: Some Writing Advice
Amazon – Kobo – Barnes & Noble – The Book Depository

Follow along with the rest of the tour at the Paper Hearts Tour Headquarters, or follow Beth Revis on Twitter!

G  I  V  E  A  W  A  Y!

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