Writers' Rituals - Twist Phelan
The Mysterious Writing Habits of the World's Top Crime Writers
Are writers obsessive-compulsive? Superstitious? Do habits and rituals provide a security blanket for them? Searching for clues to the secrets of writing, Suite 101 has an exclusive interview with Twist Phelan. Twist is best known for her Pinnacle Peak series, legal mysteries featuring endurance sports.
Q: How much research and plotting do you do before you're ready to write a book?
A: I am an outliner, so I always know how the story is going to end (meaning I know where I want the protagonist to end up—emotionally and in fact), and generally the path that I am going to take to get there. But no matter how carefully I plan, detours or unexpected trips always crop up along the way.
I do basic research before I start the story. As I write, I use my imagination to fill in the gaps. When I am finished with the first draft, I check to see if what I made up is plausible. (I’m surprised how often my suppositions turn out to be correct!)
Q: What hours do you devote to your writing and what time of day do you prefer to write?
A: I like to write early in the morning, stopping around midday. When I first sit down at my computer, I read what I wrote the day before and mark it up. If I am deep into the book, more often than not I go back to it again in the evening. After I finish the first draft, I will leave it 2-3 weeks, then rewrite it twice.
Q: Do you take breaks, and if so, what do you do during them?
A: Sports! Skate-skiing in the winter, road-biking, polo, hiking, paddling in the summer
Q: Where do you write?
A: At my desk. No music or other distractions.
Q: What do you write with?
A: Computer via DragonSpeak (dictation software)
Q: ...and why is that your preference?
A: I am a terrible typist!
Q: What do you like to keep within arm's reach while you're writing?
A: Outline, notes, bottled water
Q: What can you see when you look up from your writing?
A: Art on the wall; the paintings change every few months. I never face a window. (Superstition is the religion not so much of feeble minds, as philosopher Edmund Burke once said, but desperate ones under deadline.)
Q: What was the first thing you wrote which was published?
A: For the Good of the Game, a short story (published by Red Herring and Mystery Review magazines)
Q: What is your latest book?
A: False Fortune (the fourth in the Pinnacle Peak series published by Poisoned Pen Press), plus several short stories for Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine
Twist Phelan was born in California but now lives and writes in Colorado. She is a world traveler and endurance athlete. During the past decade she has competed in Ironman triathlons, skate-skied in Scandinavia, team-roped in the American West, paddled outrigger canoe in Australia, rock-climbed in South America, and bicycled from the Pacific to the Atlantic Coast in less than four weeks. Find out more about her achievements and her books from her website.
Source: Interview with Twist Phelan conducted by E-mail, October 2008
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