Christa Miller

Dark Fiction & Children's Fiction

Streets of Abaddon

Planner, Pantser, Plantser

christammiller–Featured, Writing Process–

I first came across those terms in 2016, when I got involved in my first (and, it turned out, last) NaNoWriMo. “Planners”: self-explanatory. They outline their plots, they work out detailed character descriptions, they worldbuild intricate settings. The idea is that, when they’re taking 30 days to write a 50,000 […]

A second look at an unfinished story

christammiller–Fiction, Writing Process–

When I first started to write Possum Kingdom, I admit that racial issues were not a big part of the story that was forming. My focus was on economic and class issues, and the allegories I was constructing, as well as honoring the different cultural and historical influences on Boston […]

Writing from the outside looking in

christammiller–Musings, Writing Process–

On Twitter not long ago, Jenna’s Truth author Nadia King tweeted a link to a wonderful short post, “The Detachment of Writers,” by Scottish YA author Abigail Shepherd, who summed up my own lifelong experience: “I often see the more intense parts of my own life as though I’m watching […]

Notes from the NaNo Sausage Factory: Week 3

christammiller–Fiction, Writing Process–

I ran into a brick wall this week. Things went great Saturday, but Sunday morning, I started to feel like something wasn’t quite right. My progress toward the climax I’d envisioned had slowed, not because I’d overplanned and my plot didn’t match (which has happened before!), but because the story […]

Notes from the NaNo Sausage Factory: Week 2

christammiller–Fiction, Writing Process–

It’s been an interesting week, to say the least. I found I struggled to write, in part because I’ve been tracking reactions to the US election and in part because heading towards the end of Streets of Abaddon, I’ve struggled with tying all the different ends together. I’m not really […]

Notes from the NaNo Sausage Factory: Week 1

christammiller–Writing Process–

One of the great joys of writing Possum Kingdom was the process of discovery it took me on between August and November of last year. It quickly grew into one of the longest works I’ve ever undertaken without a plan. I knew nothing about the characters or the journey they […]

NaNoWriMo is extremely f*cking nigh

christammiller–Writing Process–

Props to those who got the reference in the title! I’ve never participated in a NaNoWriMo. I’ve attempted it, but until now lacked the fortitude or knowledge to make it work. Things always got in the way: day jobs, small children, my own self-doubt. It’s arguable that I still don’t have […]