{"id":3430,"date":"2011-07-16T06:45:56","date_gmt":"2011-07-16T10:45:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/newvinegrowing\/?p=3430"},"modified":"2019-06-07T13:40:31","modified_gmt":"2019-06-07T17:40:31","slug":"margaret-yang-on-how-and-why-she-writes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/newvinegrowing\/margaret-yang-on-how-and-why-she-writes\/","title":{"rendered":"Margaret Yang on how and why she writes"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post continues an occasional series on writers \u2014 how and why they write, what inspires them and how they overcome challenges like writer\u2019s block and rejection. <\/em>
\nPreviously we\u2019ve heard from Jim Tobin<\/a>, Jim Ottaviani<\/a>, Lara Zielin,<\/a> Bruce DeSilva<\/a> and Jennifer Worick<\/a>.<\/em>
\nToday\u2019s Q&A features a baker\u2019s dozen questions with Margaret Yang, an Ann Arbor-based science fiction writer whose first novel launched this week. AND it features a contest! See the bottom for your chance to win Margaret’s new book.
\n<\/em>
\n

\"\"<\/a>
Fate's Mirror is available on Smashwords, among other places. Click here to learn more.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\n1. What have you written?<\/strong>
\nI write novels and short stories. I\u2019ve published lots of science fiction short stories and my first novel came out this week. I wrote Fate\u2019s Mirror<\/em> with my longtime writing partner, Harry R. Campion. We share the pen name M.H. Mead<\/a> when we write together.
\nFate\u2019s Mirror<\/em> is about a hacker and the artificial intelligence who is trying to kill him. We have another near-future novel coming out this fall.
\n2. What do you wish you\u2019d written?<\/strong>
\nI think every spec fic writer wants to be Neil Gaiman<\/a>. Let\u2019s face it, the man is God. Plus, he makes it look easy. “Anansi<\/a> Boys” is my personal favorite.
\n3. Who or what inspires you?<\/strong>
\nWriting with another person is extremely inspiring. There are days Harry and I riff like jazz musicians, each of us trying to outdo the other. When we both bring our A game, it\u2019s magic.
\nYou know what else is inspiring? Deadlines. One of those can get me inspired in a hurry.
\n4. How do you answer when someone asks you, \u201cWhat do you do?\u201d<\/strong>
\nI always say I\u2019m a writer and a parent. Those two jobs fill my days, sometimes to the exclusion of everything else, including a shower. What\u2019s really fun is to tell people that I write science fiction and watch their eyes widen. I guess people expect a suburban housewife to write children\u2019s books or cookbooks or something.
\n5. When do you most enjoy writing? When do you enjoy it least?<\/strong>
\nI am one hundred percent a morning person. I enjoy mornings for writing, and am pretty useless in the afternoon or evenings. Even if I set aside a whole evening to write, by that time of day, I have run out of energy. I sometimes write in the evenings anyway, either out of necessity or desire, but I\u2019m lucky if I get a third of the output I would get in the mornings.
\nI least enjoy writing in a coffee shop. I don\u2019t know how other writers do it. It\u2019s always so noisy and the music is always terrible. I\u2019ve tried it a few times but I always give up in frustration.
\n6. Describe your favorite writing environment.<\/strong>
\nI do most of my writing when my kids are at school\u2014when the house is quiet and I have a fresh cup of coffee close by and I know I have several hours before I switch into mom mode. I recently moved my home office into our finished basement and I got to paint the walls my favorite color\u2014cotton candy pink. Want to see?
\n
\"Margaret<\/a>
Margaret Yang writes in her newly created home office, painted cotton candy pink.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\n
\"Margaret<\/a>
Here's another view of Margaret's pink home office<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\n7. How do you budget your time for the creative part of writing versus the business side \u2013 marketing, communicating with your agent or editor, tracking finances, etc.?<\/strong>
\nIn publishing, things have to happen on a deadline. So when I get email from an editor, I answer right away. Let\u2019s say a magazine editor wants revisions. Well, there goes that day\u2019s writing. Recently, I lost several days writing trying to perfect some cover art. It\u2019s awful, because the writing is what makes the whole thing go, and by all rights, it should come first. But I\u2019m sort of used to it, because I also push writing aside for my kids. (They come before writing, before anything<\/em>.) I\u2019ve learned to \u201chold that thought,\u201d sometimes for days or weeks.
\n8<\/strong>. How do you deal with writer\u2019s block?<\/strong>
\nI really, really like writing. To me, \u201cwriter\u2019s block\u201d is nonsensical. It would be like having a \u201crelaxing on the beach block\u201d or \u201ceating ice cream block.\u201d It\u2019s not that writing is a constant party. There are days it\u2019s agony. But overall, I\u2019d rather be writing than not writing.
\n9. How do you deal with rejection?<\/strong>
\nEvery short story I\u2019ve sold has been rejected at least once. Some were rejected ten times before I sold them. That just shows you how subjective these things are. Recently, a story was rejected because the editor hated the exposition. The very next editor I sent it to bought it, raving about the \u201cskillful handling of exposition.\u201d What can you do but laugh?
\nHarry and I are self-publishing our novels, so there won\u2019t be any editorial rejection, but readers can reject us at any time by refusing to buy our books or by giving a bad review. All we can do is hope that the novels find their audience.
\n10. Do you outline a structure before you start writing or do you just let the story unfold?<\/strong>
\nWhen you collaborate, you simply must outline. Harry and I spend a lot of time making sure our outline is solid before writing the story. We\u2019ve been writing together so long that we can usually tell when we\u2019ve got our plot in good working order.
\nEven when I write short stories on my own, I like having a handle on the plot before I begin. With the plot fixed in my mind, I can write more freely, concentrating on the more subtle aspects of the story like characterization or mood.
\n11. Do you know immediately when you\u2019ve written something good?<\/strong>
\nI never know. It takes a bit of distance for me to tell.
\n12. Did anything about your approach to writing change after you were first published?<\/strong>
\nNot really. I still do multiple drafts before I show my work-in-progress to anyone. I still rely heavily on my critique partners. I still study the industry to try to keep up with all the changes in publishing.
\nOne recent change for me is that I joined Twitter. (I\u2019m @Margaret_Yang) I did that specifically to make connections with other writers and industry pros. It\u2019s been extremely helpful.
\n13. Why do you write?<\/strong>
\nBecause it\u2019s fun! I love playing with stories, shaping them and reworking them until the finished product on the page matches the vision in my mind. Then, with any luck, someone reading it gets that same vision in his mind. How cool is that?
\nTo get you excited about Fate’s Mirror, here’s a promotional video — and a giveaway! Comment on this blog post, and Margaret will use a random number generator to pick one lucky winner to receive Fate’s Mirror, either in hard copy or as an e-book. Comment by July 30<\/span> to be eligible.
\n<\/em>
\n[youtube=http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_rh2xpEYu0g]
\nBlogging disclosure: I am rarely unbiased about anything I write about. Think of Newvine Growing as my version of Oprah\u2019s favorite things. In the case of Margaret, we’ve been friends for years. I make no representation of impartiality \u2014 I would love for her to be a best seller \u2014 but I have not yet read the book so my endorsement is based purely on friendship, until I dig into my own copy.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post continues an occasional series on writers \u2014 how and why they write, what inspires them and how they overcome challenges like writer\u2019s block and rejection. Previously we\u2019ve heard from Jim Tobin, Jim Ottaviani, Lara Zielin, Bruce DeSilva and Jennifer Worick. Today\u2019s Q&A features a baker\u2019s dozen questions with Margaret Yang, an Ann Arbor-based science fiction writer whose first…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":11551,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[1],"tags":[241,272,596,708,884,1122,1216,1558,1639,1684,1978,2265,2315,2819,2820],"yoast_head":"\nMargaret Yang on how and why she writes - Newvine Growing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.communify.me\/newvinegrowing\/margaret-yang-on-how-and-why-she-writes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Margaret Yang on how and why she writes - Newvine Growing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This post continues an occasional series on writers \u2014 how and why they write, what inspires them and how they overcome challenges like writer\u2019s block and rejection. 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