I’ve known Karen Hattrup since college, where I think it’s fair to say we both desperately tried to avoid the social scene, me by going abroad by a year, and her by going to Thailand for a semester. Even back then, Karen was known amongst us liberal arts types as an incredibly talented writer, so it comes as no surprise that she went on to publish a young adult novel Frannie and Tru (HarperTeen, 2016), and has a book forthcoming. Karen lives in Baltimore with her husband and two children. Here, Karen talks about being a parent and her creative process. She’s got some great, concrete writing advice. Read to the end for a delightful anecdote about her daughter.
So, in college you were always such a talented writer, but you mostly wrote nonfiction and journalism. And didn’t you get your MA in nonfiction? I was wondering, where did the YA novel come from? Was it always in your head?
Thank you! Growing up and in undergrad, I did write a little of everything – poetry, fiction, nonfiction. I ended up majoring in journalism rather than creative writing because I thought it was more practical, which – HA. That is really funny in retrospect. But actually, I did work as a newspaper reporter for four years, and that was an incredible learning experience and an important challenge for someone like me, who is naturally introverted and non-confrontational. (Plus, as an arts reporter in a small Midwest city, I got to interview Pauly Shore AND Jordan Knight.) (author’s note: Wait, what??)
After I gave up being a reporter, I did get an MA in nonfiction, which seemed like a natural extension of the writing I’d been doing. Going in, I imagined I’d do pieces I could pitch to magazines or something, but instead I wrote a bunchy of dreamy essays that were all about coming-of-age themes. This coincided with me starting to read YA again, and thinking about how much books mattered to me at that age. Basically, during the latter half of getting my masters, I realized that I wanted to do something completely different. I wanted to write books for teens, because I love teens and I never get tired of thinking about that time in life.
I had a little spark of an idea about a shy girl whose charismatic cousin comes to visit for the summer. It popped into my head when a professor was talking about the theory that there are only two kinds of stories in the world: man goes on a journey or a stranger comes to town. I nursed that little spark about a stranger for a long time before I wrote anything down.
What do you do for a day job, if anything?
Almost every published writer I know has a day job, and I am definitely no exception. I work as a development writer at a university.
How old is your child/are your children?
My kids are four and almost two. I have a flexible schedule at work, a part-time nanny, pre-school. My mom, a total Super Mom, also helps out. (Just a side note to say that I feel like I know so many families who operate like this, cobbling together a bunch of craziness to make life work.)
What is a typical day like, schedule wise?
Life got very chaotic after our second was born, and in a way, it seems like we’re just starting to get back on track. And yes, that means almost two years later. These days the kids are up at 630, and my husband is a high school teacher, so he’s out the door by 730. From there, every day depends on whether it’s an office day for me, or if I have anybody coming to help with the kids. Wait, maybe my life is still total chaos?
How do you turn off the “parent” part of your brain and turn to your own creative work? And how do you find the energy and time to make space for your own endeavors?
Confession: the first draft of FRANNIE AND TRU was written right before I got pregnant with our first child, exactly because we knew we wanted to start a family, and I was terrified that if I didn’t write a book before then, I might never do it. I didn’t actually get an agent and sell it, however, until after our daughter was born, and by the time it came out we had two kids. (Getting published is a slow business.) Ever since then, I have totally struggled with everything you mention. At first, when it was just one, everything seemed doable. She was always a deep and prolific sleeper. Our second? Exact opposite. (author’s note: What is with second kids and not sleeping??) For a long time now, I’ve been just plowing ahead and trying to squeeze in writing and editing when I can, but I’ve started to realize that isn’t working for me.
To that end, I’ve just committed to a new schedule where I’m waking up at five am every day, to get an hour and half of total alone time/head space to get some writing done. I’ve always worked best in the mornings – the words just flow better, the day hasn’t invaded my thoughts yet. It seemed impossible to do that when we were struggling for months and months on end of bad sleeping, up multiple time in the night, or the kids were waking up at five. Now that they’re “sleeping in” I’m in a place where I can try the morning schedule again. It’s definitely not an unusual thing to do, according to what I’ve heard from other writer friends. I know people with kids (or without!) who wake up at 4. One writer who is a teacher said he has to get up at 330. Habits are good though, at least for me, and I really think that writing is like exercising, a muscle you have to keep in shape.
What does your “space” look like, physically, emotionally?
Home or the library works best for me because I like it to be quiet – music and talking and espresso machines distract me. But I do need coffee, lots of coffee. Light helps, too. The hardest part for me is getting started. The first words are always like bleeding, but once I’m really in, I can go and go.
What kind of supports do you have that make it possible for you to write?
Awesome husband and parents and in-laws. Local and online writer friends. A steady job with benefits. No student loans.
Did your writing change after having children?
I have so much less time than I did before, but you know what? When I had more time, I struggled SO HARD to get started. Now I have a different kind of drive and earnestness when it comes to my writing – it’s an outlet from the stress of the everyday, as beautiful as that stress can be and as thankful as I am for it, so there’s a different kind of motivation now when it comes to creativity. The need to do it feels a little more desperate, but I’m trying to channel it in a positive way.
What are you working on now?
*weeps furiously* No, just kidding. Sort of. I’m under contract for my second YA novel, and I have struggled hard. I drafted something and ended up setting it aside, started a new project that I believe in so much more, but still has some growing pains. I think I’m at the turning point, at least I hope so, but I’m weird and superstitious when it comes to things like this, so I’m afraid to say too much until I’m a little more confident about it. At first it was tentatively titled ONE BRIEF HOUR OF MADNESS AND JOY, but for various reasons it no longer is. Still, that’s a good title, right? Maybe someone else can use it! (author’s note: that is an amazing title, nobody steal it)
Now I have a different kind of drive and earnestness when it comes to my writing – it’s an outlet from the stress of the everyday, as beautiful as that stress can be and as thankful as I am for it, so there’s a different kind of motivation now when it comes to creativity. The need to do it feels a little more desperate, but I’m trying to channel it in a positive way.
What are you reading now?
I just finished an advanced copy of INKMISTRESS (out 2018), which is YA fantasy novel by Audrey Coulthurst, who I know through a debut author group I was a part of. This is her second book, and it’s about a demigod who can dictate the future with her blood, and has broken up with her girlfriend who can suddenly shapeshift into a dragon. Yes, it is awesome.
Any advice you think you could offer writers in terms of process, schedule, creativity? Things that have worked for you?
I really believe that working outside your typical genre can expand your mind. If you write fiction, try nonfiction. If you write nonfiction, try poetry. You’ll work your brain in a different way and maybe you won’t end up with something you want to publish, but you might come up with a thought or an idea that you didn’t have before. So much of the work that I did in my thesis (in terms of the thinking) ended up distilled in some way into the novel I wrote – I think writing in different formats can be incredibly helpful that way.
Here are some fun fiction tips/thoughts that I like:
-What is the very first decision your character makes, and why did they make it? What if they did the opposite? (Similarly, if you’re totally stuck in a scene, try having the character do the opposite of what you had planned.)
-If your starting place is an idea for a character, imagine the worst possible thing that could happen to that specific person. If your starting place is a plot, imagine the worst possible person to be stuck in that specific plot. (I saw a version of this on Twitter! I wish I could remember who said it.)
-Vonnegut said that every single sentence you write should advance plot or build character. Such straightforward, impossible advice.
-My editor is always telling me to try drafting the jacket copy for the book I’m working on, and wow does that help. Nothing shows you the holes or weak points like trying to sum it all up and say why it matters.
One last thought: I used to have this idea that if I didn’t succeed as a writer before I was 30, it wasn’t going to happen. That is profoundly silly. Don’t think that way.
What’s the funniest/cutest/weirdest thing your kid has ever done?
Oh my god, where to start. I do love the way my daughter uses words. When something surprises her she says, “That blew my mind out.” When something’s cute, she says, “That’s breaking my heart up.” She calls diarrhea “flood poop.” She once told me “I love cheese so much, I want to punch it into my face.” Donald Trump came on TV the other day and she said, “Ugh, I do NOT want to marry him.”
She also calls me by my first name half the time. The other day, I came home to find her sitting on top of her dad, who was sprawled out on the floor, exhausted. She looked me right in the eye and said “Karen, your husband is dead.”
Thank you, Karen! Your daughter is hilarious and I want to be friends with her. Such simple, helpful advice about writing. What a great tip about drafting jacket copy for the book. “Cobbling together a bunch of craziness to make life work” encapsulates so many people’s lives, parent or not, and would also make a really good song title.