Michelle Waitzman

Michelle is a Canadian living in Wellington and is currently going through the process of having her book, "How to Make Love in a Tent: Romantic Camping Adventures for Wild Couples" published. She has also written a novel (unpublished) and maintains a blog for her web presence. She also regularly writes articles for various magazines and on-line e-zines.

KW: If someone asks you what you do for a living, what do you say?
Michelle: Now I say that I'm a freelance writer. A year ago, I would have said I'm in TV production but working on a book. Now that I'm doing more writing than anything else, I call myself a writer. It's how I'm making most of my living right now, so I think that's a fair thing to call myself.

KW: If I'd really done my homework, I'd have read your book and had some really specific questions for you right now.
Michelle: You WOULD, except that it's not out yet. Hahah...

KW: Can you tell us a little bit about the book?
Michelle: Ok, The book is called "How to Make Love in a Tent", a non-fiction book about camping, tramping or paddling with your significant other. It's being published in the U.S. by Wilderness Press... hopefully soon.

KW: To get from an idea to a finished, published work is a lot of steps. What step did you find hardest?
Michelle: Because I'm not from a journalistic background, the hardest thing for me was going after interviews and trying to track down experts and because it's not in my nature to keep calling people up and trying to get interviews with them. That is something that I struggle with and the publisher kept pushing me to do more of.

KW: It sounds like the publisher gave you a lot of suggestions...
Michelle: Yeah... the book that's coming out is SIGNIFICANTLY different from the book I had originally planned to write.

KW: In what way?
Michelle: Content-wise. It 's taken a significantly different angle. It's much more focused on the sexiness and relationship-y stuff and much less practical camping stuff because their feeling was that people who camp have books on camping already - there are lots of books on camping already, there's no need to service that market all over again. So we might as well feature what's different about this book and make THAT the content.

KW: Do you find that you're taking the lead from the publisher, or is it give and take? What's your relationship like with the publisher?
Michelle: Some give and take and I probably could have been more forceful if I felt that I didn't like the way things are headed. In the end, all through the editorial process, they said, "It's your book, it's your choice, your name is going on it." Since it's my first book, I had to take their word for it that they know better than me about certain things. I was trying to take that as my guiding force. Let's just assume that they know better. Let's just assume that their suggestions are good suggestions, and that it's just my personal feeling and ego that make me want to stick with what I had planned. As opposed to, "No! My idea's better.". But it's hard to say until you've done this a few times, where you've built up your confidence and you're fairly sure about what works and what doesn't.

KW: Do you have any other books in mind?
Michelle: I have two book proposals that are out at the moment. One is for a cookbook for backpackers/campers that I'm making with a chef. That is making the rounds with my agent at the moment. There is another one that I made a book proposal for ages and ages ago for a publisher, actually advertised on their web site that they were looking for an author for this book in their series. They have a whole series about living abroad. It's aimed at Americans who want to emigrate to another country. They have a series of different countries, like "Living Abroad in France" and "Living Abroad in Guatemala" and whatever. They want to have a "Living Abroad in New Zealand". So, I sent in a proposal for that, to their guidelines, ages and ages ago and they've taken a very, very long time and I'm still not sure when they'll decide who is writing it or if they're still still going to publish it. So those are still floating out there.

KW: I always wondered how much you would plan ahead for that kind of thing (new book ideas)
Michelle: I think, as with television, which is what I learned when I worked in television is that you always have to be thinking about where your next job is and you have to keep throwing things out there and wait until something comes back 'cause it can take months, if not years.

KW: So you have a book that is going to be published, and you have a couple of proposals in the works, but you must have to fill the gaps and keep a job going. I know from talking to you outside of this interview that you are doing articles for various magazines. How do you find out about this "in-between" work?
Michelle: It's not easy, and I'm not doing as much of it as I'd like to. I'd say at this point that I have half a job writing. I would need to be doing twice as much, or get paid twice as much for what I'm doing in order to feel like I'm making a living at it. So, there are several web sites that have freelance jobs posted on them. I read them several times per week, and when I see something, I respond right away because you know there are a lot of other people looking. That's basically how I found my freelance work. You can also, if you are interested in something, or if there is a magazine that you really like that you think you could write for, it never hurts to send them a query and say, "I'm interested in doing an article on THIS, would you be interested in publishing one?"

KW: We talked earlier (outside of this article) about you doing that for New Zealand Wilderness magazine.
Michelle: I just did that with New Zealand Wilderness mostly because the publicist at the publisher who is doing my book, and it's written right in my contract, that I have to supply a certain number of articles to magazines, actually offer to write articles for free in exchange for mentioning the book and the publisher. So, one of the places I approached was New Zealand Wilderness and they actually said, "Yeah! Bring it on!". I was quite excited because I like that magazine a lot, as opposed to some magazines I pitch things to I don't actually really read.

KW: When you are writing, and we (Kiwiwriters) all come from a Nanowrimo background, so we all have a schedule, and a word count to meet to get through 50,000 words. How firm are you on your word count? Do you just have a certain number of hours? How do you work?
Michelle: Because writing is most of what I'm doing right now, I sort of get up in the morning and after I've showered and done whatever I need to do, I plop myself in front of the computer and work on whatever I've got going. I'm in front of the computer for a good chunk of the day, not every single day for all day, but most days of the week for most of the day.

KW: So what counts as a good day?
Michelle: It really varies, it depends on what I've got going. Sometimes I've got a bunch of assignments happening at once from the different freelance jobs. And, when I was working on the book, when I was in the meat of it... I can't quite remember, but I was writing only about, maybe 2000 words a day.

KW: Is that fully edited? Do you edit as you go?
Michelle: I do edit as I go. I know you're not really supposed to do that but I do. I'll write something out, I'll read it over, even if it's just a paragraph and I'll say, "that doesn't sound right" and I'll go back and fix it.

KW: With Nanowrimo, there is a bit of a crazy schedule to work into your regular life, and it's hard to go back and edit as you're writing.
Michelle: To me - I'm a bit of grammar snob so if I see something is wrong, I can't just leave it. I've gotta go fix it.

KW: In Nano circles, there is the whole "stuggling with your inner editor". You just let your inner editor loose?
Michelle: Yeah... and I find that the deadlines I'm on are loose enough that I have time for that. In fact, whenever I can, if I'm doing an assignment for somebody, I'll write it and then I'll go off and do something else and then I'll look at it again later and give it a once over and I usually find something I don't like if I've been away from it for an hour or two and then open it up again.

KW: Your unpublished novel. I'm curious about that. Now, you've written an entirely other novel...
Michelle: Yeah, I wrote what is usually referred to as chick-lit. So, along the lines of "Bridget Jones's Diary", and that sort of genre. And, it was actually the first long form thing I wrote.

KW: How long ago was that?
Michelle: I started working on it in 2001 I think.

KW: Did you finish it in New Zealand or before?
Michelle: Finished it before. It went through four drafts.

KW: Oh really? Are they completely re-written or... ?
Michelle: Significantly yeah...

KW: And what kind of size are we talking?
Michelle: I think it was about 180,000 words, somewhere along those lines. I know when you edit things write new drafts, it's supposed to get smaller - mine got bigger. So... haha...

KW: How long did it take you from start to finish? And was it just part time, or full time?
Michelle: It was all very part time... and it was in fits and spurts. So I wrote the first draft, gave it to a friend of mine who writes. And then probably didn't look at it for about six months. Then got another burst of energy and did the second draft, then gave it to someone else to read for feedback. So, it was written over a very long period of time, with months in between drafts where I didn't look at it at all.

KW: You mentioned a writing friend, do you keep in touch with a writing community that you hang out or keep in touch with?
Michelle: I don't have a formal writing community like you guys have, but I do have friends who write. And, it certainly helps because they can provide feedback that non-writers have difficulty putting into words I think. People can tell you they like it or they didn't like it or they didn't like the characters but people who have been through the struggle of writing a story or a book themselves can actually define what might be wrong much better. They might say, "there's not enough tension in the first 3rd of the book." or whatever - useful specifics.

KW: How do you know if you're doing it right?
Michelle: Feedback helps, and every book I've read on writing says that if you want to write, you have to read, and you have to read a lot and you get to see what works and you can interpret whether you're accomplishing that.

KW: What kind of books do you read and how much do you read?
Michelle: I don't read as much as I like to. I read a certain amount of literary fiction. I do read a certain amount of fluff.

KW: What do you call fluff?
Michelle: Like Chick-lit sort of thing. I'm a big fan of the Harry Potter books - I kind of consider that pseudo-fluff because it's easy to read. But, I'm just looking at my book shelf right now, haha, I read some travel stuff because I like to travel. I went through a little phase, I think after I finished university, where I decided I should read all the stuff I never got around to reading that one ought to read in one's life. So I started reading, you know, all the Sherlock Holmes mysteries and Shakespeare, and 19th century French Literature, "The Three Musketeers" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and "The Count of Monte Cristo" and all those things that one SHOULD read in one's life. Hahaha...

KW: Do you have any conclusions about that phase? What it useful or not?
Michelle: I think the great invention of the twentieth century in literature was the editor.

KW: Hahahah...
Michelle: I think a lot of earlier books would have benefited from some hands on editing.

KW: When you read now, modern stuff, do you look at it with a critical eye because you're writing?
Michelle: To a certain extent. I'm still able to sit back and enjoy a book at face value and not sit there and pick it apart.

KW: So there's no critic coming out?
Michelle: There can be... if it's crap, it's crap and I have no patience for it. On the other hand, sometimes that the most inspiring thing to read a completely mediocre book that you know has been on the best seller list and go, bah! I can write at least as well as that! Hahah... You know, there's gotta be some hope for me because this crap is getting published. It's as good an inspiration as anything when you look at what you write and look at what other people write and you don't see a difference in quality, then you're on to something.

KW: Writing technique, do you work on that, or do you just write?
Michelle: Do I work on it...

KW: For example, do you read books on writing?
Michelle: I have started reading books about writing.

KW: Now that you've been published....
Michelle: Yeah... pretty much. The only book on the writing industry that I read before signing a publisher was "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Published", which, by the way, I highly recommend. When I spoke to a friend of mine who had been published, and I said, "Well, how'd you do it?", and she said, "Well, I feel a little silly telling you this, but I went out and read 'The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Published' and it was really quite useful." So, I got myself a copy of it and, yeah, it tells you step by step what you have to do to play that game. And, it is a game.

KW: But that is post writing. Nothing about the act of writing?
Michelle: That doesn't really affect writing except in that it tells you there are things you should write and things you shouldn't write. Just because you are interested in something doesn't mean there's a market for it. So, if you're writing to get paid for it... I mean, if you're writing to write, that's great, write whatever you want. If you're writing and hoping to get it published, then you have to determine that there is actually someone out there to buy your book. Before you spend a year or five years of your life working on it only to find that nobody is interested in what you have to say.

KW: This is my last question Michelle. It's a standard question that most authors are asked by a writing group. If someone wants to be an author and wants to make a living writing, do you have any specific recommendations?
Michelle: I think you have to understand... do your homework... and understand how the business of writing works. Because it IS a business. Just because it's creative doesn't mean anything goes. There's a way to approach people that's acceptable and a way that's not acceptable.

KW: Do you have an example of that?
Michelle: For example, one of the things I had to learn, because I wrote a novel and then decided I wanted to write a non-fiction book. With a novel, you can't approach an agent about representing your novel until it's done and in good shape. I mean done, edited, re-written, ready to be shown to the world. THEN, you send a letter of inquiry to an agent saying, "I have this novel, do you want to see it?" In non-fiction, you write a book proposal, maybe a sample chapter or two, and you send that to an agent and you don't write the rest of the book until they've found a buyer for it. Completely different. And, unless you knew, how would you know? So we guess.

KW: Thanks very much for your time, I really appreciate it.
Michelle: No problem.

Michelle's blog can be found at Love in a Tent.
Interview by Travis Cottreau.

Updated: 27 Feb 2007 23:23:11

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