Writer in Residence

lotti asked: well, i have to say, i really enjoyed both of your writing styles, but it got me wondering, do you pick up tips from each other? because both of you are really good compared to other writers—is it because you help each other a lot?

Scott: It helps a ton to have another writer in the house. I don’t know how them solo writers do it.

When we’re in heavy writing mode, Justine and I read out loud to each other every few nights. Sometimes it’s like being a cheering section, sometimes it’s more about challenging the other when they’re being lazy, and sometimes it’s just pointing out little things, like the bit of celery that’s stuck between Justine’s teeth right now.

Here’s one real-world example of how Justine helped me:

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As I was reading her the second Midnighters book, and we got to the part where the baddies are planning to kidnap Rex, Justine started getting excited about all the cool stuff that could happen after he was kidnapped. I said, “But he’s not really going to be kidnapped and transformed into a darkling! That would change everything about his character!” And she pointed out that changing everything about a character is what good novelists do.

So that was a case of her challenging me to do something more intense and plot-shattering than I’d intended. (And yes, she was right. But she’s still got celery stuck between her teeth.)

Over to you, Justine.

Justine: Scott, there isn’t any celery in the house! How could I possibly have it stuck between my teeth?

Little known fact: most writers are not only liars, they’re also barking mad.

What was the question? Oh, yes, do we help each other a lot?

On that matter, Scott is full of truth. We’re helping each other and exchanging ideas before we even type a word. We both like to talk about new novel ideas. So I heard all about Midnighters and Uglies before Scott started writing them. And I’ve heard all about the Leviathan trilogy and dozens of other novels. It’s wonderful but also frustrating.

Wonderful because they’re all such great ideas. I love having someone tell me stories and getting to put my oar in, “Hey, you know what? If the anti-gravity chamber blew up it would be even better! And forget about a love triangle—how about a love pentagon?! All you have do is make the Chan boys be triplets!”

But frustrating because Scott’s only written a small fraction of the stories he’s told me. Sometimes I get attached and years go by and nothing happens.

“What about the giant lizard zombie apocalypse novel?” I’ll ask.

“What about it?” Scott will say.

“Well, when are you going to write it?”

“I’m not. It’s too close to Peeps and The Last Days.”

“But it’s NOTHING like them! That was a vampire apocalypse—these are giant lizard zombies! They’re COMPLTELY different! And the story’s different and EVERYTHING!”

Scott shrugs. “It’s lost its allure. These days I’m all about living air ships.”

“And message lizards?” I ask hopefully.

“And message lizards.”

Which means he hasn’t changed his mind about Leviathan. Phew!

Talking about my ideas before writing helps me figure out what the important parts are and where and how to start writing. Sometimes Scott responds in ways I wasn’t expecting. For instance, he’ll assume a relationship between two characters that isn’t there, or that someone’s the protag who isn’t, which will make me go, Hmmmm. Or, sometimes, he’ll change the direction of the novel because he’s pointed out possibilities I wasn’t seeing.

Even when I violently disagree with his suggestions (which is most of the time) they make me think about why he would suggest such an insanely wrong thing. What did I say to led him down such a hideously incorrect path? How can I write the novel so no one else will respond that way?

Sorry for not giving specific examples from my unwritten novels, but I’m superstitious about talking about them with anyone other than Scott or my agent. If I talk about something too much then I wind up not wanting to write it.

Scott: It’s true, when you read aloud to another person, you get to watch the exact moment where your audience laughs, cries, or get confused about what’s going on. Real-time reaction like that is something you never get in editorial letters or reviews.

When I’m reading, Justine is particularly good at showing her emotions. Like the first time I read her the scene in Pretties when Tally and Zane read the letter from non-bubblehead-Tally while Special Circumstances is breaking in, she kept yelling, “Take the bloody pill!” So I could see that the suspense had built up properly. And when she thinks something’s funny, she laughs pretty easily.

I’m a lot less inclined to show emotion when being read to, which annoys her. We rarely reach audience response parity. But at least that means when I do laugh or cry or whatever, Justine knows she really hit it for six.

Justine: Hah! Yes, indeed, sometimes reading to Scott is like reading to a robot. He’s a lot better at the critiquing part than he is at the cheerleading part. Le sigh. But like he said when I do get a response out of him? SCORE!! And, on the other hand, because I show my emotions so clearly Scott also knows when I’m bored.

Justine and Scott: Even if you don’t have someone on hand to listen, it helps to read your work out loud. That way you’ll notice the bad sentences much more readily.