On Getting Help When You Need It: A Personal Writing Update

Aug 18

Today, I want to take off the ol’ book coaching cap and chat writer to writer, human to human, and share a bit of a writing update.

So you might know I'm drafting my first YA suspense/thriller. It's a new genre for me, so, of course, I'm trying to bend it and make it into a coming-of-age worldview shift and add a romantic subplot because, apparently, I like punishment, ha! Nah, that’s just where my heart is. (Think Girl, Interrupted meets Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects) Yeah … it's that dark. Anyhoo, I hoped to finish my first draft by the end of August so I could take some time away in the fall and start revision in January.

Ah, but you know what they say about making plans, right?

Despite the fact I was still drafting, I decided to take a summer intensive novel writing workshop with Donald Maass (author, lit agent, and damn lovely human) because I knew something wasn't right. I was forcing things in the book, and the workshop was an opportunity to learn from someone I greatly respect. If you haven't heard of Donald Maass, check out his books The Emotional Craft of Fiction, The Fire In Fiction, Writing the Breakout Novel, and The Breakout Novelist. All are excellent. He's also a regular contributor to WriterUnboxed.com, another fantastic resource for writers. He just wrote a great article about how to make your reader care about your story. Check it out here!

Anyway, I submitted my first fifty pages and immersed myself in the six-week course. I learned so much and at such a deeper level! Even if I hadn't submitted anything, the lectures would have made it well worth it.

I usually wouldn't send a partially completed first draft out for critique, but I needed some help, and I made it clear that I wanted developmental guidance with my protagonist's desires and agency.

Though it's a single POV, I have a very complicated plot with a lot of characters and I was struggling to make this book about my protagonist's journey. After four rounds of feedback, including Mr. Maass's, and several weeks of processing said feedback, I finally discovered why it wasn't holding together: It's not only Laurel's story, and one of the characters who I thought was dead is actually alive, and they need a viewpoint and arc. Also, I'm going to have to adjust my plot and eliminate a character as I add another.

In some respects, it's back to the drawing board: character work, research, and outlining. All messy and my brain is very unhappy as it very much likes to make a plan, stick to the plan, drive straight through, making zero false starts or do-overs. HA! Can you relate?

But this isn't about what my brain wants or the fact that I wanted to have a finished draft or that I feel like this is taking forever. It's about telling a great story, Laurel and Pen's story, and now I feel like I can get some traction. And I have to remind myself (like a lot) that my novel writing process and pace are mine. It’s not supposed to look like anyone else's and the most important thing I can do is remain curious about what I don’t know vs. being frustrated by it.

Don't get me wrong, there is a massive part of me that's like "DAMN IT!" I did the work upfront in hopes of avoiding this! But despite careful planning, we can't see everything. A book will take what a book will take, and sometimes, that's a shift in perspective, which is exactly what I got from the workshop.

And I'm not going to bullshit you; I also wanted feedback on how I was handling the voice, tension, and suspense. I felt like I was on the right track there, but I wanted to know if it was landing. I got that validation and a feeling of excitement because I can make it even better in revision! Full disclosure: I draft pretty clean (NOW) and SLOW, though not always. Sometimes, I bang out the words in sprint sessions and give my spellcheck an aneurysm. So for the workshop, I lightly cleaned up parts that were flat unreadable before shipping it off for review.

But this editorial feedback told me that the years spent studying the craft have paid off.

The writing works. The story…not yet. YET!

To me, and I hope to you as well, this is hard proof that if a person is willing to work for it, they can learn everything they need to write a novel they are proud of because I didn't know shit when I started. Zip. Like, what's a POV? What do you mean by dialogue attribution? What even is a character arc? Seriously ZIP. Nada. Nothing. And this novel is so much stronger than my last, even in its messy first draft form.

So, if you're like me or started out like me and feel a bit wobbly about this writing journey, take heart. You can do this. Roll up your sleeves, study the craft, read, analyze, and practice.

The only possible outcome is that you will learn, improve, and write books you are proud of so long as you continue and do it because you love it.

Dig in and keep digging till you find the gold inside yourself. It's there.

Promise.

My takeaway is that no matter how much I like to plan and figure things out ahead of time, I have to stay open and willing to change. And there is always more to learn! That is why writing is fun and amazing!

If you have to go back to the drawing board, it's not a failure. It's progress. Everything that came before matters, no words are wasted, and I would not be here, with the knowledge to make this story better, without all that I'm now willing to leave behind.