Hello folks,
This space has been silent for a little while, as you may know, as I recovered from another bout of serious illness (I swear, I must have the worst luck in the world to catch all of these viruses!). Today I bring to you a written interview with Shannon Scott that has been waiting to be posted! While this interview was done as a series of questions at the request of the creator, I have SO MANY more things I want to ask after reading these responses! Maybe you should all go ask them for me!
Bio:
Shannon’s not a person. Shannon is a honey badger and two pandas in a trench coat faking her way through life. During the day, she purports to be a fiction story coach and fiction developmental editor. At night, she tears through books and e-puzzles like a fiend. Sometimes she even throws words together on a page, with the hope that they make sense to someone other than her.
… Well, these words sure made a whole lot of sense to me!
Chaos Gays: I’ve gotten into the habit of starting by asking people about their creative work. So, for anyone reading, can you tell me a little about your work and the things you create?
SS: I’ve been a writer for almost as long as I can remember, since sixth-grade English when my teacher assigned a project. Create a short story, create a picture or two, and turn it into a book. Don’t ask me what the story entailed; I just know it was horse-related because I was obsessed with them at the time.
I shifted to professional wrestling fanfiction my sophomore year of high school and worked on one story for the next eight years, first with pen and paper, then on a computer once I got my own PC. It was January 2018 when I switched to Hawaii Five-0 fanfiction. I went through that phase for a few years, until a year after the show went off the air.
Now, I write original flash-fiction, and I’m working on my second manuscript for what will be my debut novel. My first one is on a shelf for at least the next three books. My novels will be M/M romances usually with grumpy/sunshine and strangers-to-friends-to-relationship/lovers tropes. My flash-fiction covers a whole spectrum of genres.
Chaos Gays: What’s your writing process like? Are there things that you really love or dislike about this form of creativity?
SS: Author/writing instructor Janice Hardy uses two perfect terms: Loose Outliner and Scene Sewer.
As a loose outliner, I build the foundations of my novel, usually from a story idea that I work into a premise. From there, I create a framework of major events/beats I want to hit, then go from there.
Being a scene sewer works hand-in-glove with my auDHD. I jump around when the mood strikes, write the scenes I’m most interested in or that form the fastest. I see it in my mind, get it on paper, and worry about how the puzzle pieces fit later, whether I can make them fit, or whether I want to.
Even on the days when words refuse to jump from my brain to the page, I love the idea of creating something out of nothing. There’s a power in writing fiction that is heady and addictive, and something I can’t imagine not doing.
Chaos Gays: You’re also an editor, what do you think this brings to your experience and expertise in writing?
SS: Oh, it’s frustrating as all get-out! I know that writing is messy, that the first draft is going to be absurdly long, that it likely won’t make sense. I know the only thing I should be focused on is getting words on the page. But oh, buddy, do I not listen to my own advice 72.8% of the time.
The writing craft books I read don’t help. I’m a story coach and developmental editor by day, so I have to stay on top of the craft from a big-picture perspective. This way, I can coach or edit to the best of my ability. And yet, putting all those lessons aside to put words to page?
I never understood the rationality when my mom would argue, “Do as I say, not as I do.”
Now I do.
Chaos Gays: When we originally messaged, you mentioned talking about writing ‘bad fiction’. What does this mean to you? And why is it an important part of your process?
SS: I mentioned before that I wrote pro wrestling fanfiction. I still have that first story on my current computer, as well as its follow-up (which I never completed). The first one, A Life in Professional Wrestling, is 921,206 words and 1,659 pages in MS Word. The second one, Stick Wit U, is 643,651 words and 1,130 pages.
I wrote the initial story from around January 1999 through around April 2006. I was a teenager at the start. What did I know about life, let alone a life in the world of professional wrestling?! Even the second story, which I think was written sometime around mid-2006 through mid-2016, is still cringe, and I was a young adult during that time frame.
Those two stories alone total nearly 1.5 million words written. 99% of them were CRINGE. Even my Hawaii Five-0 fanfiction totals close to 200,000 words, and whew buddy, go ahead and award me my gold medal in head-hopping any day now.
I go back occasionally and scroll them all. There are gems in there, certainly, but I am 100% confident that my writing now wouldn’t be what it is if I hadn’t written those two stories. You can’t write well if you don’t first write badly. Every writer goes through the process, and there’s no cheating your way through it.
Chaos Gays: If we’re talking about ‘bad fiction’ it makes sense to also talk about the good. What are your favourite things in your own writing, in the way you write, that make you want to keep going?
SS: I am in love with the dialogue I write, the way I use it to build and strengthen characterization. I am a smartass; thus, my characters are smartasses. I used to try to avoid it, fearing it would lead to cookie-cutter characters. However, because each character I write has a different life experience, even snark can be individualized to give them their own unique voices.
A close second is writing sexual tension. Getting two people so mentally flustered with each other, so physically under the other’s skin, that you want to scream at them, “Just kiss already!”
Chaos Gays: As a writer and an editor, is there anything different or the same in terms of what you would consider successful in your own writing versus other peoples’?
SS: I don’t proclaim to be any better at creating stories than any other person. However, one thing I pride myself on is studying my craft almost daily. Craft books, authors in my genre, webinars, professional development courses, writing workshops, everything. Give me all the knowledge my grey matter can handle, please and thank you. That obsession with learning has always been my guiding beacon, and it’s even stauncher when it comes to wanting to produce high-level stories.
Chaos Gays: As an author, is there anything specific that you would point to as ‘your brand’ (for want of a better term)?
SS: I love puns. I love dad jokes. I love wordplay. I’m sure it stems from cartoons, TV shows, and movies I watched as a child of the 80s. I’ve just always loved the power of words to entertain people. To me, there’s little better than that moment of realization at the meaning of a pun or joke or wordplay. Lightbulb aha, followed by absolute frustration or disgust or annoyance. It brings me joy. I try to share that joy with everyone around me, if only so I can experience that moment.
Chaos Gays: Is editing your own work a different process than other peoples’?
SS: My current work-in-progress stands at around 45,000 words. I have legitimately lost count of how many times I’ve read those 45,000 words, massaging and tweaking them until they give the aura I want them to. Yet, I get to the end and go, “Wait, where’s the rest? …I have to write it?! Sounds very sketchy, but I guess…”
This goes back to knowing that you can’t edit a blank page. But there’s no reason you can’t edit a half-full one, either.
(Do not do this. Just finish the manuscript.)
Chaos Gays: I almost always end on a silly or light-hearted question, so... in terms of plotlines and developmental edits, if you were editing the real world as a story, what plot holes are happening?
SS: Everything. Everything is a plot hole. Harambe died, and a hole was torn in the space-time continuum. What happened to those murder hornets?!
Chaos Gays: Thank you so much for talking to me! I’m also wondering about the murder hornets now. Does anyone know? Has anyone filled the plot hole for us? I think that’s going to be revolving around my head tonight along with ‘do penguins have knees?’ (they do. They’re just all folded up. You can all thank me later!)
For anyone interested in learning more about Shannon Scott or her work, there are a bunch of links below! As always, I encourage people to support anyone who catches your eye here - we have incredible creators in this space, don’t be afraid to reach out!
Links
Website: https://sageediting.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shannonsscotteditorauthor
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannon-s-scott
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/editorshannon.bsky.social
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@shannonscotteditorauthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shannonscotteditorauthor/