About Karin Adams:
Karin Adams is an author and creative writing coach based. She holds a Master of Arts degree from the University of Winnipeg and pursued doctoral studies at Harvard University with a focus on ancient languages and text. After seven years as an instructor at the University of Winnipeg, Karin returned to her first love—writing fiction. Alongside her own writing, Karin offers in-person creative writing workshops and has worked with thousands of participants since 2010. Her book The One Week Writing Workshop gathers together the inspiring lessons and activities from her live workshops to help aspiring novelists write their novels step by step.
Karin’s books for younger readers are published by James Lorimer and Company (Toronto, Canda) and include Lights! Curtains! Cows!, No TV? No Fair!, Frostbite Hotel, My Best Friend is a Viral Dancing Zombie, and Mermaid Warrior Squad.
What inspires you to write?
As a writing coach, I feel so fortunate to have lots of opportunities to interact with both my fiction and non-fiction audiences. I’ve done a lot of work guiding young writers through the writing process, and since I write for a middle grade audience, simply spending time around today’s young people and paying attention to their thoughts, concerns, and behaviors inspire lots of story ideas for me. My non-fiction is geared toward helping aspiring adult writers to get their dream novels written. Once again, when developing non-fiction writing resources, I can draw on my experiences working with adult groups and also on feedback I get from my readers, too. The questions and comments they have about the writing process—what’s helpful, where they might want to take a deeper dive, the areas they find the most challenging—all this helps shape what I choose to write about next.
What authors do you read when you aren’t writing?
I enjoy the work of many different authors and read lots of different genres. I enjoy classic literature but also love books by contemporary authors. When it comes to favorites, the authors who will always have a special place in my life are those I encountered as a young reader, where my love for reading and writing was sparked. Topping that list is C.S. Lewis, Judy Blume and Gordon Korman.
Tell us about your writing process.
I am a planner by nature, but I have discovered that it’s important for me not to over plan. It’s possible to plan so much that you never get around to writing a draft, or worse—lose interest in your own story! I’ve tried lots of methods, but I’ve developed a core strategy that I now always start with. I call it the mini storyboard technique, and in fact it’s the planning strategy I share in my writing guide, The One Week Writing Workshop. As a natural planner, it gives me the benefit of having a sense of purpose and direction, but not bogging me down in the planning stage with too many details. I can get started on my draft and discover and explore the details as I go. Project to project, I might use some additional outlining strategies, like a chapter synopsis or story summary, but I try to get going on my draft as soon as I can. The pantsers I’ve worked with like my mini storyboard technique, too. It’s simple enough that it doesn’t feel too constrictive, but they have something to refer to when their “pantsing” leads to a dead-end, which sometimes happens!
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
I would say that I listen to my characters in the sense that I’m continually putting myself in their shoes. I want to stand in the world the way they stand in it, see it through their eyes, and take it in through their ears and of course through their emotions. In a way, you kind of “become” your character for a while as you write, or at least that’s the hope. You’re telling their story, so you want to pay attention to how they are experiencing the ups and downs, and try to grasp the inner “why”. This will dictate their behaviors, their speech, their interaction with other characters, and more.
What advice would you give other writers?
Keep reading what you love to nurture a strong connection to stories. This will help you as a writer! Also, if you like to plan your plots and other elements before you begin to draft, follow this instinct—but make a pact with yourself that you won’t stay in the planning phase forever. At some point dive in, even if you haven’t worked out all the details in advance. You can always pause, do some further figuring, and then jump back into your draft. Writing your draft is where a lot of things come together organically, and where the magic is!
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I have five traditionally published books. My first book was published by James Lorimer and Company in 2009. I was happy to find a publisher looking for the sort of humorous story for young people that I wanted to share. It led to further opportunities to write and share more books. It’s been a wonderful experience and I loved working with such talented editors and knowledgeable staff! I can see the advantages of self-publishing options, too. There are a lot more opportunities for writers to share their work these days, and that’s exciting. In fact, sharing the story you’re meant to tell is the focus on my latest book The One Week Writing Workshop. The way you publish your book will depend on how you want to share it with others, but it’s great that there are so many possibilities and avenues!
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I look on with a lot of interest! As writers, we’ve never had so many ways to share our work and to connect with readers. It makes me wonder what new possibilities will arise and even what might soon become a new standard. Also, because I focus on helping others who are interested in writing, I know that a love of books and story is alive and well among many people! There are so many folks out there with a story to tell, and it’s exciting to think that there are now so many options for sharing our stories.
What genres do you write?: Middle grade fiction, Non Fiction, Self-Help
What formats are your books in?: eBook, Print, Both eBook and Print
Website(s)
Karin Adams Home Page Link
Link To Karin Adams Page On Amazon
Link to Author Page on other site
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
YouTube
All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit to allow you the reader to hear the author in their own voice.
