An Interview with Elaine Viets

Elaine Viets is a published mystery writer. She began her career as a popular columnist in St. Louis. She was also a TV host for Viets Beat which she won two Emmys for. Elaine Viets eventually left reporting to write full time where she based her stories on her real life experiences and often works dead-end jobs like a telemarketer for her novels.

How did you get into writing? At what age did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I started writing in grade school. In high school, my teachers steered me into writing for the school newspaper and I had a letter to the editor published in New Yorker magazine. I was hooked. I'm grateful to the nuns who encouraged me to have an interesting career.

What was your first book or story that you completed? Did you ever get it published?

I started with a really bad poem called "Oh Flag In the Sky." It was published in the school newspaper, unfortunately.

How did you finally get published? When were you able to write on a full time basis? Please explain your success story?

I got fired from my job at a newspaper and suddenly had plenty of time. I used it to clean house until I made my family so crazy I decided I'd either write for a living or clean house as a paid job. I wrote my first mystery, set at a newspaper, and killed a lot of editors. My agent sold it to a New York publishing house. My home has never been quite so clean since, but I'm happy.

How do you stay motivated to finish a novel? How do you stay focused?

It's a job. A job I love, but I have to work just as if I went into a regular office and I have to produce. I try to do 1500 words a day. Also, I like telling my stories. For a further incentive, I don't get paid until the work is turned in and approved by my editor.

What is your writing schedule like? Do you write in the mornings, evenings, and for how long?

I write in the mornings after breakfast, around 9 or so, and take a break at 11 AM, and then again for a late lunch. I usually stop between three and four in the afternoon.

How do you get your ideas? What is your method for remembering them?

I have ideas scribbled everywhere -- on post-it notes, note pads, scrap paper. My desk looks like a landfill with a phone.

If you get writer’s block, how do you get over it?

I keep writing. Daniel Keyes, who wrote "Flowers for Algernon" said he starts typing, even if it's just ahahahahahahahah. Then he types words, even nonsense words, and then sentences and then he's off and writing. He may have to throw out most of what he wrote, but it jump starts him.

However, if you have a serious writer's block, there are two solutions:

(1) You're not meant to be writer. Find something else to do.

(2) You're depressed and need to talk to a professional to help remove the block.

What piece of advice would you give to someone thinking of becoming a writer? What is a good starting point for them?

Writing is a lonely business. Eventually you have to quit talking about "going to write" and actually start writing. Most successful writers have two or three unpublished novels stuck in a file cabinet. Those aren't failures. That's how you learn the process.

To find out more about Elaine Viets published work, check out Elaine Viets official website.