Eva Schultz lives in Aurora, Illinois, where she is a business writer by day and a fiction writer by night. Her work has recently appeared in Slippage Lit, The Free Bundle, and Fabled Journal. She lives with a big orange cat named Gus and enjoys drawing, painting, and collecting typewriters.
How long have you been writing and what got you started?
I can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t want to be a writer. When I was 5 or 6, my mom made me a little blank book with yarn binding, and I wrote and illustrated my first picture book. I grew up writing stories, wrote for my high school and college literary magazines, and then became a marketing writer after college. I’ve written stories and novels on and off for years, with a focus on speculative flash fiction and short stories in recent years.
Are you an outliner or discovery writer? Or somewhere in between?
I love to outline. I write down what I know about the story concept based on my initial ideas and feelings about it, then develop it into a solid beginning-middle-end. By the time I’m ready to sit down and start drafting, I’ve played around with the idea long enough in my head and notebook to feel confident in where it’s going and to press on when the drafting process gets tough.
What is the best piece of advice you have for new writers?
Don’t get too hung up on feeling that sense of creative joy every time you sit down to write. Because reading fiction is such an enjoyable experience, I think that we as writers sometimes expect the writing process to feel the same, like slipping into another world and listening to the characters as they tell us their stories. Instead, turning those exciting concepts and feelings into words on a page can feel really mundane and even tedious sometimes. Don’t assume you’ll ruin your story if you make yourself keep on writing even when you don’t feel inspired; if you press on, that sense of “creative flow” will come and go throughout the writing and editing process. In the end, you’ll be able to send a reader on that journey of imagination through your own writing!
What tips do you have for finding time to write?
I like to keep a list of stories at various stages of development so that I can choose the type of work I’m in the mood for – brainstorming, plot outlining, drafting, revising. Because deadlines help me motivate myself to work, sometimes I search Duotrope for open contests to help spur me to get words onto the page. I’ve had some success with short-term “write every day” challenges, but I don’t think I’ll ever be a person who faithfully works on fiction writing for a set amount of time every single day. If you’re struggling to write, try out every strategy that you can find, and only keep the ones that work for you. You don’t have to stick to anyone else’s recommended writing schedule to be a “real writer.”
Are there any writing resources, such as books or websites, you’d like to recommend?
I’m a big fan of creative writing prompt tools because they’re an easy way for me to get into that feeling of creative flow. My favorite right now is the Story Engine deck, a unique take on combining and recombining elements to come up with fresh story ideas. https://storyenginedeck.myshopify.com/. Another excellent resource is the Storymatic deck.
How do you deal with rejections?
If a story rejection really gets to me – which mostly happens when I’ve written for a contest and have been eagerly anticipating the results – I always give myself permission to be mad for 24 hours. I don’t try to tell myself to brush it off, start editing the piece, or look for a new market for it until that day has passed. After that, I’m usually ready to pick myself, brush myself off, look at the story more objectively, and decide on next steps. I find it easier to do that if I give myself a little room to just “feel my feelings” first.
Were you taught anything about creative writing in high school or college that just didn’t work for you?
I took a fiction writing class in college that required us, after writing a first draft, to go back and reimagine the plot extensively. The second draft often resulted in a story that was fundamentally different from the original concept. While I agree that holding too tightly to a concept and refusing to consider any changes to it will hold you back, I also don’t believe that you need to question yourself every step of the way. For me, it creates too much doubt and second-guessing, and that stops me from writing.
Do you participate in any online or in-person critique or writing groups?
I’m in an amazing Facebook writers’ group that grew out of a story contest forum. We’ve been together (mostly online, but sometimes in live meetups) since 2016, and we have writers worldwide. I rely on my group for beta reading, cheerleading, and encouragement when the writing road gets rough.
What book(s) are you reading right now?
I’m working my way through the Hercule Poirot mysteries of Agatha Christie. She had an incredibly engaging writing style and was jaw-droppingly prolific. If you want to try her work and are wondering where to start, you can’t go wrong with “Murder on the Orient Express” or “Death on the Nile.”
Is there anything you’d like to plug?
I post all of my published stories, along with some of my artwork, on my website, http://www.evaschultz.com. You can like/follow me at facebook.com/EvaSchultzCreative to get an update when I publish a new story or post a new drawing or painting.
