Speaker Spotlight: Miel Moreland
BookOrators asks Ms. Miel Moreland, author of the book ‘It Goes Like This’, some questions. Read on if you want to learn more about how she became an author and what inspired her to start writing!
1. Could you introduce yourself and your debut… such as what attracted you to becoming an author, or the career/education path you took?
I’ve always wanted to be an author. Even before I could really write, I was always thinking of stories in my head, and once I could write, I wanted to share those stories with others. However, I didn’t study writing! In college, I studied Politics, English literature, and French. Since graduation, I’ve held several education-related jobs, and currently have an administrative position at a university.
2. For your debut book, It Goes Like This, are there any particular sources of inspiration for its premise? How did you develop the unique personalities/situations Eva, Celeste, Gina, and Steph find themselves in?
It Goes Like This is about a broken-up band, so I was heavily inspired by music and fan culture. I also had questions about ambition and how friendships change as we grow up, so I wrote some possibilities into the book. In developing the band, I knew I wanted four complex characters, whose goals at certain points in the narrative would be in conflict.
3. Is there a character you identify with in particular?
There are elements of all four I really resonate with—they’re all their own people, but they also each have some small part of me, taken to an extreme, that makes up one part of their personalities. I feel closest to Eva, since she is the most similar to me and I spent the most time writing from her perspective.
4. What inspired you to start writing?
I’ve been a writer my whole life, so there’s no real answer to that question! It’s simply who I am. I can’t not write.
5. Did you receive any guidance along the way? Are there any mentors or people that you sought advice from or looked up to?
I didn’t have any writing mentors or advisors. I did have (and continue to have) two incredible critique partners, whose feedback on my work has been invaluable. Now I’m fortunate to also have an agent and an editor to provide career guidance. If you’re an aspiring author, I highly recommend following Tess Sharpe on Twitter: not only is she a phenomenal writer, but she frequently writes threads with excellent craft and career advice.
6. Where/when do you write? What’s your ideal writing environment? Is there a process that you prefer (like physically writing down parts of the book on paper)
These days, I write at my desk in my bedroom, in the evenings and on weekends. There have been periods in my life when I’ve written in coffee shops before work, or in empty hallways before graduate school night classes, but now I write almost exclusively at home. I prefer someplace quiet, with no distractions, and where I don’t feel self-conscious if I talk to myself while writing or try on a character’s expression on my own face. I sometimes re-plot or untangle character arcs on paper, if I need to see the story in a different format, but for the most part I do everything in Scrivener, from notes to the actual draft.
7. Do you conduct any type of research? If so, how long does it typically take to research and develop your plans for each book?
I do research, primarily through reading relevant books, but sometimes through other sources as well (such as podcasts or magazines). I tend to do some research while developing the idea and then continue to research while drafting and revising. For It Goes Like This, I was casually researching the music industry for a couple of years—and writing music-related short stories—before I started writing the book itself. I did most of the research for Something Like Possible in one summer, but I was able to take a more targeted approach because I already knew what the novel would be—and at the time, I didn’t have a non-writing job to limit my research hours.
8. We are also really excited to hear about Something Like Possible - planned for 2023. How do you plan out your writing and storyline, as well as making sure you stick to staying on schedule and avoiding bouts of writer’s block? Especially for such a big project?
Something Like Possible is structured around a student government election, so when I started writing, I printed out calendars and noted when election milestones would have to happen in the narrative. Of course, the details have evolved as I’ve made revisions to the book, but this early framework helped me plan the book in a general sense.
My writing habits change based on what else is happening in my life, but in some seasons I’ll use National Novel Writing Month (or Camp NaNoWriMo in April and July) to keep me on track for word count goals. At other times, I use Passion Planner’s free Daily Habit Tracker, and set a goal of writing 3-4 days a week (at least 500 words to count). What I especially love is Scrivener’s “project targets” feature. I set a deadline, an estimated word count for the completed project, and choose the writing days each week. Scrivener then calculates how many words I need to write in one session in order to meet that deadline. I love the chime when I’ve finished that day’s goal!
In terms of writer’s block, it’s so important to have times when you’re committed to not writing—when you are refilling your creative well and don’t have to feel guilty for not working all the time. For me, it’s important to give myself time to research, because I learn all sorts of information that I can then incorporate, as well as time to read unrelated books... and time to be outside, to be with friends, to take care of the rest of my life so when I sit down to write, I’m not stressing about whether I remembered to refill my prescription.
9. Could you describe your typical day?
I have a day job, so most of a typical day is spent at the university where I work. After work, I come home, make dinner, and maybe watch a TV episode simultaneously with a non-local friend. Then I write! I don’t write every night, both because the rest of my life has its own demands on my time, and because it’s important for my process to take breaks and have time to read, rest, and be inspired by other art.
10. What advice would you give to aspiring student writers?
Write. Keep writing. Edit. Rewrite. Find other writers who share your goals and can offer a new perspective on your work and trade writing with you. It’s critical to have feedback on your work—although you don’t have to use every piece of advice—but remember that not all of your family or friends really have the desire to edit your work, or the skills to offer you useful feedback. If you can, it can be good to have a mix of early readers who write in your category or genre and outside of it.
11. The mission of our speaker series is targeted towards high school students and reaches a global audience. Could you name the titles of any three books you would recommend to the viewers?
Where the Rhythm Takes You, by Sarah Dass
Not Here to be Liked, by Michelle Quach
Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun, by Jonny Garza Villa
