Category: Writing

Friends frequently ask me how things are going with my book.  I do like to share my writing world with them, but most of the time I don’t have any terribly exciting news to share.   Even if I try to make it sound exciting: “Holy shit!  I really edited the crap out of chapter 7 yesterday!”  I suppose what they’re really asking is “How’s the publishing going?”  There’s usually a lot less to share on that front.  Last week I turned in a revised version of my ms to my agent for her review.  I’m hoping this is the last draft before we submit to editors in the new year.  Since then I’ve taken a little break from writing, which has actually felt quite good.  I was really pushing to finish the draft by Thanksgiving and it feels nice to have a little break.  As much as I love my writing life, I don’t love it as much under a deadline; even a self-imposed one.

I have been really looking forward to going back to my new project.  And I will.  Hopefully with some renewed energy and excitement.  In the mean time, here’s a really good post about separating your writing life and your publishing goals that summarizes a lot of what I was trying to convey above.  Enjoy!

I recently started reading A Girl’s Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank.  When this book first came out I poo-pooed it for its title despite a number of friends recommending it to me.  I’ve read the first 40 pages or so and I am really enjoying the way it’s written.  The author does so much with dialogue and action and the writing is really, really clean.  By this I mean there aren’t a lot of explanatory phrases or long dialogue tags or relentless adverbs.

Each word is carefully and specifically chosen and it shows.  Sometimes when people talk about the “craft” of writing I think it sounds really pretentious.  But that is how I would describe her writing; very well crafted.  It’s helpful to read and keep in mind as I hone and tweak my own writing.

This was part of some advice given to me by fellow YA Maine writer Deva Fagan.

Lately, it’s taken on new meaning.

As I’ve revised my book I’ve tried to make the main character drive the action more than she was driven by it.  I have tried to make her the cause rather than the effect. And I’ve found it makes for easier writing.  When you have a character who knows what she wants it’s easier to write than a character who is always just reacting to the circumstances around her.   It’s made me more sure of my main character and it’s even made me like her more than I did before.  I suppose I do prefer people and literary characters who are assertive and pro-active in their own lives.  It’s funny I didn’t realize this before.  I think that’s part of the value of having really good readers to help you in revision.

I loved the Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.  I found the words of Junot Diaz, the author who struggled to complete the book for seven years, equally inspiring.

“Because, in truth, I didn’t become a writer the first time I put pen to paper or when I finished my first book (easy) or my second one (hard). You see, in my view a writer is a writer not because she writes well and easily, because she has amazing talent, because everything she does is golden. In my view a writer is a writer because even when there is no hope, even when nothing you do shows any sign of promise, you keep writing anyway.”

(Read the whole article here.)

This may sound depressing to some, but if he wrote it… and then went on to write a fantastic Pulitzer Prize winning novel… well you get the picture.

For about 9 months now I’ve been in this strange limbo world of having an agent but still being in the process of revising.  I’ve received great feedback from my agent and I’ve struggled to balance the desire to be done, with the desire to make the book as good as it can be.

All along I’ve wondered, am I normal?  Does this usually happen to writers?  Part of me certainly thought once I’d landed an agent I was set.  Alas, not so.  Today I read a great post at kidlit.com about the agent/author revision process.  I especially liked this quote:

“These really do take as long as they take, and each project is different. I’ve seen them take a weekend, I’ve seen them take months. For me, I want them done in a timely manner but quality is much more important. My big pet peeve is seeing a revision that’s been expedited but is incomplete. Revision is a complicated process… you think, you stew, you gnash your teeth, you get ideas, you work and rework… it can’t be rushed.”

I wish I had seen this post 6 months ago.  I would have felt a lot more normal

One of my dearest friends is an architecture student and a historical preservation nerd.  The kind of person who likes to visit cemetaries and old houses on vacation.

Once after having the moldings or other period detail pointed out to me one too many times, my friend asked me if I looked at books the way she looked at buildings.  My first reaction was to blurt out “NO! Because books aren’t boring and buildings are.”

After I got over my initial prejudice I realized that  she’s absolutely right.  Since getting serious about writing a novel I read differently.  When I read a book I pay more attention to the structure of the story than I used to.  If an author throws me a whole chapter of back story I make a mental note about whether or not it worked.  I particularly pay attention to endings and how the whole denoument is handled.   If a familiar plot structure is used, I’m aware of it.  I still read for the pure pleasure of getting lost in a story, but now when I read I’m more aware of what the author is doing to create that experience for me, the reader.

And now, thanks to an observant friend, I’m aware that I’m doing it.  How has writing changed the way you read?

Which came first for you?

In writing my YA science fiction project, I had a very clear vision of the world my character existed in before I ever knew the character herself.  As a result, I think that finding her voice has been more difficult than if I had started with her first.  The world she lives in is clear and detailed and nuanced.  The world was my first love, the character came later.  Finding this character, her voice, her wants and ultimately her story has been the major work of my revision.  You have to have both or you really don’t have a finished product.