But there’s something else about Iman, and I knew there was a reason why I admire her so much. This woman knows good weave. A good weave—and I’ve said this before—is like a stunning pair of earrings. Sure, you might not need it, but it will take you, and your outfit, to a totally different level if you had them on.

In the December issue of Harpar’s Bazaar, she mentions her love affair with weave and wigs.

SD: How many falls and wiglets do you own?
Iman: Millions! I believe in glamour. I am in favor of a little vanity. I don’t rely on just my genes. Looking good is a commitment to yourself and to others. Wigs, killer heels, Pilates, even fillers — whatever works for you, honey.

Aaah, so refreshing to see an honest woman fess up how she gets glamorous. Pick up December’s issue of Harpar’s Bazaar on newsstand’s November 23rd to read the entire interview or if you can’t wait, then read the full interview here.

Shon is an author advocate and does so much to help women writers promote their books. To read the interview, click here.

Get It All Down

When I begin my first draft, I work with a short outline—character names, ages—and then it’s all about getting the story down on the computer. My first book, Six O’clock, I wrote longhand in spiral notebooks. My typing skills back then left much to be desired, and I didn’t feel that I could type and think the story through. With Unbeweaveable, and with this book, I am able to type it all up on the computer—something I never thought I would be able to do. When I write my first draft, I don’t check facts, I just keep writing. If I forget a character’s name I just leave a blank space _____ and keep going. Same for children’s names or anything else that I can’t remember. If I write a particular scene and I know that I’m not in love with it, I’ll leave a note for myself, something like, “Not in love with this scene, too unrealistic. Fix on second draft.” But the goal on the first round is to just get the words down, however horrible they may be. I also shoot for a word count of about 75,000 because I know I’ll need to add scenes in the future and I want to leave myself a little wiggle room.

On To the Next One

So on my first round of revisions I start by reading my novel—on the computer—all the way through. Most of the time I’m shaking my head in disbelief and wondering what kind of haze was I under to type such mess, but I don’t fix anything yet. Right now I’m just trying to see if I like the direction the story is taking me. And I did. Yes, it needed a lot of work, but I occasionally would read a scene or two that knocked my socks off and reminded me why I write. After reading it, I begin by fixing typo’s, misspelled names, etc. I’ll fill in all the blanks that the book may have. I also go through and give my characters their distinctive voices, no one talks the same so if I notice two characters that sound too much alike I’ll change it. I pump up the dialogue and fix any scenes where I’ve left myself a note to fix. Then I read it again. I’m still cringing at this point, but I can see a vast improvement in my work.

Off to the Printer

Now on my second draft I print out the pages of my novel. No more computer work here, I like to feel the pages in my hands as I transform scenes. This is my favorite part of revisions. Something about holding 300+ pages of your work makes you feel like you’ve really accomplished something, that all those late nights of no TV watching did not go in vain. It also makes me work harder to make the book better, because who wants to throw away a whole book and start over? Not I. So I read parts of my book aloud, so I can hear how the words sound. Does this conversation make sense? Does something here ring false? Out it goes. (With my trusty red pen of course. Nothing like seeing your manuscript marked through by red ink.) This is also the part where I add description, hoping to really draw the reader in with all their senses. How can I make them smell the banana bread my character is cooking in the oven? Describe it. Or what about the way the light hits the hardwood floors in the morning making them shine like new pennies? Describe it. I get my book printed only on one side and leave the back sides of pages with all my description notations. I also pull out the notebook that I did the basic outline with and begin to draw pictures of my characters homes, nothing fancy, just a basic floor plan so I can keep the story consistent. Does my character have to walk upstairs to get to her bedroom? Do you have to walk through the kitchen to get outside? Those kinds of things help me keep the story alive. I also add to the outline making it much more extensive, going through each chapter, scene by scene. I’ve just started this process, so I’m expecting this to take me about two to three months to finish. (I’d like to have it finished by November. If I’m really good, October.)

Back to the Computer

So now I input everything I’ve written into the computer. Not the outline—I keep that in longhand, sort of like a memento—but all my new red scenes I transcribe to the computer. This becomes another draft in of itself, because as I’m typing I find ways to improve my words, so again, I’m revising. This doesn’t take a long time, maybe a few weeks tops.

Now normally after this point I would give the book to my reader, (hey Mama!) and get her viewpoint. Then it would be another light revision and that would be it, off it would go to my editor. But with this book I’m taking a different approach. I’m adding three more rounds of revisions. Why so many? Because with growth comes change, and if I don’t change the way I write and really take myself seriously, then I won’t reach my full potential as a writer. I’ll let you guys know the different techniques I use when I get closer to that stage.

Any writers care to chime in on how you revise your books?

Lately, I’ve been thinking—how many books does it take to no longer call yourself a newbie? Three? Four? Ten? Is a newbie measured by the books they’ve written or how many years it took to write those books?

I ask this question because as I’m revising my next novel, I see my improvement and the growth I’ve developed as a writer over the years. I’m still learning my craft, but I see my voice getting stronger and stronger. With all this, would I still call myself a newbie? In a lot of ways, yes. I do feel that I’ve learned a lot with two books under my belt, so I would say that I am a senior newbie, approaching graduation. Still in school, still learning, but definitely older and wiser than her freshmen counterparts.

Something to think about as I approach another rest-filled weekend. Thanks for all the well wishes as I recover, you guys have been great. Okay, now back to work!

Boy, you have to wear a few different hats with being a writer. For those of you who aspire to do this, let me tell you—it’s a lot of work! Tremendous! Promoting a book and revising another—did I mention how hard it is? I did? Well alrighty then… I love the creative side of writing—but the marketing side? Not so much. It reminds me of the hustle you had to have as a new hairstylist. You always had to be on point—hair done to perfection, hundreds of business cards in your purse inching to come out at a moment’s notice, (Why yes I do hair! Here’s my card…) Hustling like that is exhausting but when it’s all said and done it’s part of the business and you either accept it and thrive or wither away. I plan to thrive as long as I can and so I’m getting the word out about Unbeweaveable the best way I know how right now. I’m not on schedule with my revisions like I would like to be, but I have to let that go because I know over the next few months when things have died down I’ll be ready to send my book out to the world for critique. I’m cringing from the thought…

For those of you who remember, (and for those of you who don’t here’s the link) I was totally against all social media.

MySpace. No.

Facebook. You got to be kidding right?

Twitter. Which don’t you understand the N or the O?

I was against them all. All my writer friends, (you know who you are) kept telling me on the opportunities I was missing out on. I deemed Facebook a complete waste of time and for the life of me couldn’t figure out why so many writers were out there in cyberspace instead of writing.

I’ll tell you why. Writing my friends is a lonely business. On a typical day of doing hair I would talk to so many people, clients, product distributors, other stylists—the list goes on and on. Well now that I’m home with my four-year-old daughter, my day consists of Candy Land, Yo Gabba Gabba (There’s a party in my tummy, so yummy, so yummy!) and sitting in the sweltering heat while she rides on the sidewalk on her scooter. When a stranger asks me how I’m doing, I actually answer. “Well, today I’m thinking of cooking pork chops for dinner. My husband loves them. Although chicken would be great too…” I see their feet slowly back up as I continue to talk, until I realize that a simple, “Fine,” would have done nicely.

So now, *ahem* I…um…take it all back. Can I say that I love Facebook? That the people I’ve met, especially the writers, have been so supportive of me I’m at a loss for words.

For example, the lovely Cheri Paris Edwards, (Fabulous author. Her book, The Other Sister, will be in stores November 2010) posted a lovely review of Unbeweaveable on her blog. (Read it here.) Of her own volition. I mean, how cool is that? She reached out to me on Facebook and dare I say that I feel a friendship forming?

All of my old reasons for not being on Facebook are long behind me.

Time waster? I wish! I don’t have time to be on there long. And I don’t play games, (nothing against it, but have never been much of a video game kind of gal) so it’s pretty hard for me to waste time.

Addicting? Puh-leaze! I have always been good at self-discipline, (if you’re a writer you learn that pretty early) so I don’t know why I thought I would get addicted to it. Don’t get me wrong, it may be addicting for some, but for me everything has it’s limits. And that includes Facebook.

My lesson? Be flexible and willing to change. Be adaptable. And be humble enough to try new things. Dr. Seuss had it right all along, “I do so like green eggs and ham! Thank you, thank you, Sam-I-am!”

Okay guys I’m over at the Home Girl Blog today run by the lovely Raquel. (Or Quel for short.) I love her on Twitter, and I love what a dedicated mother she is. She gives Unbeweaveable a great review and says that she didn’t want the book to end, which is always a writer’s dream. She’s also giving away a copy of Unbeweaveable so run over there and leave a comment for a chance to win a copy.

Okay, no more stalling—click here to read the interview!

Writing a book is like blowing air in a balloon. You blow, and blow, and blow—filling your lungs expand and contract as you blow life into this balloon—and once it’s all done you tie a string around the end and let it go. So folks Unbeweaveable is out there, flying around in a book store near you. I hope that it flies off the shelves and into your homes but I have no control over that. But you do don’t you? So don’t let my baby wander aimlessly in the sky alone. Pick her up and take her home and read her!
She’s worth it.

I’ll be stopping at a few blogs for the next couple of weeks. First on my stop? One of my favorite blogs ever, Hair on the Brain. One of the reasons why I love this blog so much is because it talks about all types of hair, African-American hair, Caucasian hair—the wonderful creator Valerie covers it all. This blog should definitely be added to your blog roll if you are a lover of hair tips, product reviews and cool interviews with celebrity hair stylists. But let me stop yapping and click here to check out the interview.

The contest ends on Tuesday so get going! Make me laugh!