Matter of Craft with Wendy Corsi Staub
In this installment of Matter of Craft, New York Times bestselling author, Wendy Corsi Staub, chats about her immersive writing routine, starting a novel from the end, setting daily writing goals, and her latest thriller, The Other Family.
As a thriller writer, what is the first spark you follow when starting to write a story? Plot? Character? The inciting incident? What was it specifically for The Other Family?
It’s different with every book—and I’ve started from all of those places. THE OTHER FAMILY is unique in that I began with the end. There are a couple of big twists in this book, but the jaw-dropper in the final few pages is the spark that inspired the book itself. I knew when I conceived it that it would be a challenge to pull off, and that it was something most readers wouldn’t see coming. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am now that early reviews indicate that I met the challenge!
The Other Family has some heavy themes of being watched or being the one who watches. Stalker movies and novels are so popular and intriguing. Why do you think we love to consume content about being watched or watching when no one knows?
Because we can all relate to that particular fear! There are certain places where people feel safe--home being at the top of the list for most. It provides the illusion that we can control our personal safety. There’s nothing more frightening than the idea that we may vulnerable in our familiar safe haven. I doubt there are many people who have spent time alone in a house without at least the passing thought that they might not BE alone.
With quite a number of novels under your belt (so impressive!), I'd imagine you have your process pretty down-packed. Can you walk us through a typical writing day for you? How long did it take you to write The Other Family?
Oh, yes. Everyone’s process is different, but I’m an “all in” kind of writer. I tend to fully inhabit my fictional world and my characters’ heads. I get up between 4 and 5 a.m., spend an hour on coffee and email and rereading whatever I wrote the day before. I head to the gym by 6 a.m. to swim laps for an hour, listening to an audiobook while I do so, because I so rarely have time to actually sit down and read anymore! Back home, I get right into the writing. I eat breakfast and lunch at my desk, and sometimes take another hour break in the afternoon for a walk or hike or errands. Then I go back to writing until about 8 o’clock (spending the last hour or so winding down the book and dealing with my inbox while cooking dinner. We eat at around 8:15 in front of the TV, and I’m often dozing with my plate still on my lap by 9.
I do this daily, seven days a week, until the book is done. I’m just not one of those people who can take my laptop and write in a coffee shop, or take a few days off in between-- I’m just not very good at writing in a piecemeal fashion. The marathon style works for me! THE OTHER FAMILY took me about four months, and a lot of it—including the first three chapters--was cut when I went back in and streamlined.
What do you love most of the thriller/mystery genre?
In real life, I’m the world’s most curious—maybe nosy is a more apt word—person. If there’s a secret or surprise, I just have to uncover it. Secrets and surprises define the genre, so it’s a natural fit for me, as a reader and as a writer. I love a good twist, and I love being fooled.
You also write young adult fiction. What is a common misconception about this genre that you come across?
That books for young readers are dumbed down, simplistic versions of books for adults. Nothing could be farther than the truth. Last year, I judged the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Awards in the young adult category, which entailed reading well over a hundred YA novels. Wow! I was blown away by the quality. When I say it was difficult for our panel to narrow our short lists to ten, then five, then one, well…I’m not just spouting the usual cliché. I found it next to impossible. These books were that impressive!
Do you have any advice for aspiring thriller writers? What is something you hold on to that gets you through the work?
Set a daily or weekly goal—a number of pages or words you need to write to finish a novel by a certain deadline—and then stick to it. Treat it like your day job, and force yourself to sit down and do the work, regardless of whether you’re feeling it or not. Some days are – to put it mildly – less inspiring than others; days when you’d rather do just about anything else, even the laundry or cleaning toilets. But try not to turn those off days into days off. Get the pages done. You may not create your best writing, but you’ll still be propelling yourself toward a complete manuscript, and you can go back in and fix it later.
Can you share with us the last book you read that you loved?
It’s not a recent title, but I just discovered it last month and feel compelled to mention it: Strange but True by John Searles. I recently met John through mutual friends, and we hit it off instantly. I immediately bought Strange But True, with some trepidation--my work life and social life are pretty blurred, and many authors are close friends of mine as well as colleagues. You always hope that you’ll love the work as much as you love the person. With John, that was absolutely the case. Strange but True was so fresh, so well written, and thoroughly entertaining!
New York Times and USA Today bestseller Wendy Corsi Staub is the award-winning author of nearly ninety novels and is a three-time Mary Higgins Clark Award nominee. She lives in the New York City suburbs with her husband, their two sons, and a trio of rescue kitties. Learn more about Wendy at www.wendycorsistaub.com.
