Reading time: About 2 minutes
According to Rae Knightly, the strategy that best sells any author’s first book is writing and publishing the second…
Rae Knightly is an award-winning author of science fiction and adventure for teenagers. She is best known for her Alien Skill Series (which fans affectionately call the Ben Archer Series). She also wrote a young adult dystopian novel The Knowledge Seeker and a teen space opera, The Lost Space Treasure. Rae lives in Port Coquitlam, B.C., with her husband and two children, and enjoys taking pictures of beautiful scenery of the West Coast.
I was excited to talk to Rae about how she approaches writing.
Q. Roughly how much time do you spend writing every day?
I spend about four hours writing every day. However, once the first draft of the project is complete, I stop writing and focus on editing and marketing, so several weeks or months can pass before I can start writing the next book.
Q. What’s a simple activity or habit that makes you a better writer?
I usually read the chapter(s) that I wrote the previous day and do some light editing. This helps me get back into the story so that I can write the next chapter(s). I also do my best to get my writing done in the morning before I do anything else, like go on social media.
Q. What interferes with your writing?
Because I am self-published, I have to juggle a huge number of administrative tasks. All this takes away time I would prefer to spend on writing. But it’s part of the business, and I’ve learned to embrace the process.
Q. How do you persuade yourself to sit down to write on days when you really, really DON’T feel like doing it?
If I really, really don’t feel like writing, it usually means I need a break and need to do something not writing-related. However, when I have a tight deadline, I put on a playlist that has always helped me focus.
Q. Is there a particular motto or saying that you’ve found helpful for writing?
It’s better to write something bad than not write anything at all, because you can’t edit a blank page. Also, your writing doesn’t have to appeal to the entire world: finding 10,000 to 100,000 readers is enough.
Q. Which stage of the writing process do you enjoy the most: researching, writing or editing/rewriting and why?
The stage I enjoy the most is the writing process itself, because that’s when I can tap into my imagination and let the story pour out of me. That’s when I feel closest to my characters.
Q. What’s one of the best books you’ve read (either fiction or non) in the last five years?
As a middle-grade author, I thoroughly enjoyed Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend.
Q. What book are you reading right now?
Because I have been dealing with a chronic illness (ME/CFS) in the past six years, I am currently reading The Body Keeps The Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk, M.D.
Q. What do you think is the biggest misperception that new writers have about the act of writing?
New writers are very attached to their first book. They ruminate and check the sales of their book over and over, thinking, “Why aren’t more people buying my book?” And then, often, they feel disappointed and give up. But the one thing that sells the first book the most is writing and publishing the next book.
