by Brittany Geragotelis
As promised, here's the second half of my Author-2-Author convo with the amazing Terra Elan McVoy. If you didn't read the first half, check it out
here.
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Thursday, October 10, 2013 8:30 PM
Terra
Elan McVoy
Do you have this thing where
you look back on what you wrote,
later, and say, “Huh, apparently
I was working through
such and
such and I didn't know it until I
finished this piece?”
Brittany Geragotelis
Totally. I have whole books that
were
cathartic experiences for me.
That’s what writing my book
PAINLESS was for me.
I was working through the anger,
frustration, feelings of being
alone and screwed by life after
being diagnosed
with Celiac
Disease. I was wishing I was as
kick-ass as my main character
and trying to work through my
feelings through her.
Terra
Elan McVoy
You are more self-aware than
I am!
Usually I’m like, “Huh. So
that was
it,” way after a book
is done.
Brittany Geragotelis
Hahaha. I’m not always that
aware.
Now going back to something
you mentioned earlier...you
mentioned that readers tend to
dislike Nikki in CRIMINAL. I get
the same thing about both my
main characters in WHAT THE
SPELL and LIFE’S A WITCH.
Readers get so
mad at the
choices they make. But I’m like,
“Good! That's the point!!!!
You’re
not always supposed to
agree with them or their
decisions. But it’s in the
story for a reason!”
Do you think sometimes
readers don’t
always get what
we’re trying to do in books
with characters who are hard
to love?
Terra
Elan McVoy
I completely think they don’t
always
get it, bless their
wonderful selves. I’m not sure
why this is, but it seems
that
there are a lot of readers who
want to relate to the main
character.
Brittany Geragotelis
Instead of learning from them.
Terra
Elan McVoy
Which is fine, because yes,
totally, we all want someone
to look up to or imagine we
could be.
But for me, that isn’t the
point of
reading at all. I
want to look at people I
don’t know, don’t agree with,
don’t
have any connection to,
and I want the writer to do
the work it takes to make
me
love them anyway.
Brittany Geragotelis
Or sometimes those characters
are
there simply to make us
FEEL something. Whether it’s
anger, sadness, frustration,
compassion, fear.....sometimes
realizing who we are through
reading stories IS the point of
the story in the first place.
Terra
Elan McVoy
But at the same time, you
don’t want
to totally alienate
the reader.
The trick is figuring how to
make
despicable characters
interesting enough or human
enough to keep the love
coming
from the reader.
Gillian Flynn does this
magnificently
in GONE GIRL.
Brittany Geragotelis
And I think that's what a
great story
does. It brings
up emotions in us that make us
think about who WE are and
what
WE want to do and be.
Terra
Elan McVoy
You are so right there. Good
characters make us think. It’s
what I love most about reading:
studying how good writers do
what they do to make
me feel
these things. The mechanics
are more difficult than most
people think. And I love that.
Brittany Geragotelis
I don’t know if it’s just me,
but I like the unlikeable
characters. The ones
that aren’t
perfect, the ones that are
damaged and flawed and wrong.
Does that
make me totally
weird? Or am I maybe just as
damaged?
Terra
Elan McVoy
You mention Buffy a lot in
terms of
your own work, and
she is a great study, too.
She’s beautiful, and strong, and
all these other perfect things.
But somehow the writers also
made her
flawed. She isn’t always
a good friend. She suffers
because of what she does.
She has questions all the time
about what she’s doing.
Brittany Geragotelis
And she’s always pushing people
away. But I still love her!
That’s why, if a Buffy fan likes
my
writing, I know I’ve hit
the mark.
Terra
Elan McVoy
And of course the queen of
despicable/loveable characters
is Scarlett O’Hara.
It’s not even a “love TO hate”
thing.
It’s more of an “I hate
her AND I love her” thing.
Brittany Geragotelis
Which brings us back to
studying other
flawed characters
to try and answer the question:
Why is it okay for these
characters to be flawed but
still be beloved or enjoyed?
I’m always wondering why people
won’t forgive my characters
for their flaws.
Terra
Elan McVoy
Which is funny, because it’s
our flaws that make us most
interesting.
Brittany Geragotelis
I totally agree!!!!!
Do you think as writers we
consume
stories differently?
Terra
Elan McVoy
Oh, definitely.
From an early age, like 16,
I was interested in the how
as much as the what. So,
I’m always looking at books
and wondering how the writer
did what they did to create
X or Y feeling in me. I don’t
know how to read for “escape.”
Brittany Geragotelis
I also think that people allow
for
more flaws in characters
on TV or film than they do
in books....
Terra
Elan McVoy
Why do you think that is?
Brittany Geragotelis
Maybe because it’s a more
social
thing? Somebody’s
creating something for you...
and they’ve already shown you
how they look, their movements,
how they act, etc. In books,
the reader is alone to shape
the world with their
imagination.
We give them the parameters,
but they build the rest of
the world.
Also, I think sometimes when
readers dislike a character
in a book, it’s
because they
recognize certain flaws about
themselves.
Terra
Elan McVoy
Oh wow that’s deep.
Brittany Geragotelis
We tend to put ourselves in
the role
of the main character
in books and therefor don’t
want that character to go to
the dark places they do.
Terra
Elan McVoy
That is so true.
Brittany Geragotelis
And with visual storytelling
(movies/TV), it’s clearly
someone else in the MC’s shoes.
Terra
Elan McVoy
Sometimes there are just
shoddily
written characters
though, right? I mean, the
writer hasn’t done the work
to make the character a
real person. And maybe it’s
easier to fill in those gaps
when you can see them?
Brittany Geragotelis
Yes. And sometimes watching
something
is less...
personal for people than
reading. A tad bit more
passive, so
consumers are
more willing to just go
along for the ride and accept
that the
creators know
what they’re doing.
Terra
Elan McVoy
Don’t even get me started
about
passivity.
:)
And your thing about
characters being
mirrors
we don’t want to look into
is dead
on.
My curiosity is: so many
people have
written that
they don’t like CRIMINAL
because Dee is a bad boyfriend,
or because Nikki is obsessed
with him.
And these things are TRUE.
But that’s
the point of
the story.
Brittany Geragotelis
That’s the same problem I
have!!! It’s so frustrating.
I’m always like, “You're not
supposed to like them, but
it’s supposed
to make
you learn something, feel
something, be a better person,
change, treat people better,
learn how not
to act, etc.
Life is full of people with
character defects who make
mistakes...maybe by having to
look at them, it’ll help shape
who we’ll become.
Terra
Elan McVoy
Sometimes people just don’t
get that.
But because I’m
always looking at how *I*
failed, I’m ever learning from
these
folks about how I can
do better.
Another thing to consider,
though, is
that we’re
writing for people who are
in the early stages of
figuring out who
they are.
Brittany Geragotelis
What was the most recent lesson
you’d
say you learned? Writing-
wise/world-wise.
Terra
Elan McVoy
Most recently, I’ve learned
that
being paid as a writer
is a total dream job—and
more people than I expected
are
unhappy with it.
I’ve learned that I always
want to
keep my gratitude
for being able to do this at
all. That for me it’s all
about
the writing—and writing
well—and the rest is just noise.
Brittany Geragotelis
You have an attitude of
gratitude!
Terra
Elan McVoy
Yes!
Brittany Geragotelis
I love it.
“If it ever becomes about
anything else [besides the quality of the writing],
I’m betraying the 14
year-old version of me that cried over an EE Cummings poem.”
–Terra Elan McVoy
Terra
Elan McVoy
Like I said before, I got
excited
about writing very
early; about how I could
illicit a response in a
reader, to
convey life in
a certain way.
And I’m constantly working
on being
able to do that
well, in a way that’s
effective.
If it ever becomes about
anything else, I’m betraying
the 14 year-old
version of me
that cried over an EE Cummings
poem.
Brittany Geragotelis
But don’t you ever have
moments where
the dreaded
ego creeps in? That’s
what
derails a lot of writers from
their actual passion: The
desire to be
recognized for
doing what they love.
Terra
Elan McVoy
Um. Hello, yes?
Of course.
And you would not believe
the
volcanic levels of
jealousy I can whip myself
through.
Brittany Geragotelis
What do you do to combat
that?
Terra
Elan McVoy
Well, it takes work, like
anything. I
mean, I go through
crying/whining/screaming fits
over whatever negative ego
thing might be happening
at the time . . .
But then I hear myself.
And I have constant reminders,
all
the time, about why I
want to do this and what
matters to me. It’s like,
you
have to have a touchstone,
and keep going back to it over
and over and over…
But the touchstone has to
be solid. It has to come
from something
that isn’t
just you fooling yourself.
Conversations like this help
me. When
I start talking about
why I write, I remember.
Brittany Geragotelis
Definitely.
I have to constantly remind
myself
that none of this
happened for me until I let go
of the control over my future
in writing and just did it
for the love
of it!
Terra
Elan McVoy
But loving something isn’t
enough.
You also have to
do the work. You
have to
show up in a million ways.
And you have definitely
proved that.
And it’s still not
Streets-
Paved-With-Gold for you,
either, right?
Brittany Geragotelis
Haha. No.
I wish.
Terra
Elan McVoy
But, I mean, if it were
easy, would
you love it
as much?
Brittany Geragotelis
I don’t think I’d appreciate
it as
much.
But the act of writing and
attaining commercial success
in writing are two different
things.
I hope to get to a place
where I only
care 10% about
the commercial success.
I’m not quite there yet.
Terra
Elan McVoy
That is so true. The
commercial part
is important
if you want to keep doing it.
And what you might want to
write may
not be commercial.
It is a tough row to hoe.
Brittany Geragotelis
True.
Terra
Elan McVoy
It’s also always changing.
Being a writer is harder
than most
people think.
And that’s not to be whiny
or anything—certainly there
are many
jobs out there that
are much more difficult—but
to also convey that it is
actual work. And just
because you want to write
something well, it doesn’t
mean you automatically can.
Brittany Geragotelis
Definitely.
Terra
Elan McVoy
Even in the case of people
who are
successful at writing,
it’s still a lot of work for
them. You are always still
trying to learn, to achieve,
to improve.
I think people have this
idea that being
a writer
means raking in millions
of dollars and living your
life in pajamas—but
that
so isn’t true. Even JK
Rowling is still trying to
get better at her own
craft,
as we’ve seen in her two
adult novels.
Brittany Geragotelis
For sure. Even she’s keeping
at it.
Terra
Elan McVoy
I bet JK would love this
conversation, actually.
We should text it to her.
Brittany Geragotelis
Haha! Yeah. I’m sure she’d
get right
back to us.
All kidding aside though,
I think JK
is such a smart
woman and knows exactly
what her journey’s been like.
She’s suffered the rejection.
She’s experienced the success.
She's seen it all. I doubt she
takes any of it for granted.
Imagine the pressure of
feeling like
you have to put
out another HARRY POTTER.
No wonder she wrote her
second adult book under a
pen name.
As a first-time author,
I actually appreciated
hearing her early numbers
on THE CUCKOO’S CALLING.
You know, before everyone
found out she’d written it.
Terra
Elan McVoy
She’s really a fantastic
example of
what all of
this can be like.
(Though, note to readers:
Her level
of success
rarely happens to anyone!)
CRIMINAL is available in a bookstore near you or online here and you can learn more about Terra
and her other books on her website.
My books LIFE’S A WITCH, WHAT THE SPELL and KI$$ & $ELL are also available to buy now.
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CONTEST!!!! CONTEST!!!! CONTEST!!!!
In honor of my first Author-2-Author post, we're hosting another giveaway. Here are the deets:
WHAT'S UP FOR GRABS: Sad Jackal sticker (the band in BEING FRIENDS WITH BOYS) and a copy of CRIMINAL. One lucky person will win!
HOW TO ENTER: Tweet about this blog entry, tagging @thebookslayer & @TerraMcVoy and you'll be entered. Winners will be chosen at random. Contest ends on Friday the 13th at 1PM EST.
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