Four years ago on a dark and stormy night, I started writing a dark and stormy memoir.
Can you believe it? What was I, meshuganah?
Do you know when you write one of those you have to write about other people, not just yourself? And when you write about yourself and those other people you can’t pick and choose what you share? And you have to 100% honest? Well, it’s true (just ask James Frey). So, since I wasn’t willing to do that in that way, the memoir idea tanked and the pages of my 72K word manuscript called Every Other Weekend went into the never-to-be-seen file.
What did I learn from abandoning that project? That I liked writing long form. I was a journalist, PR writer, columnist and essayist. And now I wanted to write something with — you guessed it — chapters! A few brave writer-friends suggested I try fiction. I laughed. I slapped my thigh. I couldn’t even make up bedtime stories when my kids were little. I fancied myself without much imagination. But, I wanted to write so I clicked on my discarded manuscript and changed the names. Not enough. I refocused the plot. There ya go, fiction! Ok, it was roman à clef, or, thinly veiled fiction. I figured if The Devil Wears Prada was a smash and no one was sued, I’d just call mine The Devil Wore Spandex and we’d be in business. No such luck. I was so caught up in matching up people and things and actions and reactions from the fiction back to reality that it made me feel like I was in a Chinese restaurant choosing dinner components from Column A and Column B.
Slowly I abandoned 99% of the traces of truth from the manuscript as I had best writer epiphany of my life: Just make it all up.
And so I did.
In the interim, as I deleted, revised and rewrote, the middle of the book became the beginning and the beginning became a memory. The end of the book became the middle which left me without a middle or an end. It also left me without a title, with characters who didn’t fit their names and plot points that made no sense.
Making things up is good. Making no sense is bad.
When I finally typed The End on a real live, women’s fiction manuscript it was called Starting From Scratch and the main character’s name was Tracy and she opened a bakery as a way to start a new life (get it? from scratch? ha!). She was pretty much a goody-two-shoes with a spatula.
Gag. Me. Now. And use the spatula.
Then, the cliché police knocked on my door. The reality-check police were close behind.
I rewrote the novel. Tracy became Evie (I pronounce it Eh-vie, short e.) Her best friend Bev became Beth because face it, you can’t have an Ev and a Bev. Well, you can, but you shouldn’t. Evie became a math teacher instead of a cupcake baker although she does bake cookies for her kids (I have sweet tooth, what can I say? And I so imagine cookies as part of my future book promo). I can’t do math or bake so they were both fun characteristics to write. The main character’s motives for change became a little more self-centered, realistic, palpable. The title became The Glass House, because, well, it’s not that anymore so it doesn’t matter. I typed The End a few more times before I queried and once more before I found my agent. Then I typed it again and will so again soon. The story which started as a memoir and evolved into full-blown fiction bears very little resemblance to the book I started about four years ago or the one I finished a year and a half ago. Since then, it’s been a matter of making the book-as-is as good-as-can-be.
What have I learned from the journey of my women’s fiction manuscript? That what you start writing might not be what you end up with. That starting point may not be anything near what you’re supposed to write. Don’t be reluctant to write the story you have in you right now at this minute and then allow it to change. Or, make it change. Make it different. Make it up. Don’t play it safe. Change names, arcs, plots and titles until it fits and flows. Don’t be stubborn, be persistent. Reach high — women’s fiction readers deserve books that read true.
Why am I reminiscing on the origin of my novel? Because I’m working on a final round (I hope) of revisions for my agent and as I write some new scenes I realize how far the book has come and how the characters of the now-titled The Glass Wives (don’t you love it?) have evolved; how my writing has improved; how my story-telling has intensified.
And all because of a misbegotten memoir. And a little Spandex.
“Don’t be reluctant to write the story you have in you right now at this minute and then allow it to change. Or, make it change. Make it different. Make it up. Don’t play it safe.”
I’ve been writing and publishing for ages, and I still get those “duh” moments when I realize how I can make a clunky story zing if I don’t feel I have to stick so close to the truth of life. Emotional truth is what we’re after — and with fiction — the rest is total freedom! If only we could rearrange our real lives so easily!
If only!!!
What a great post. And you are absolutely right: women fiction readers deserve books that ring true. I love your humor and your honesty.
Thank you, Kate! 🙂
Amy
Cute post! One I can relate to. Like Twain said,”“The time to begin writing an article is when you have finished it to your satisfaction. By that time you begin to clearly and logically perceive what it is that you really want to say.” Mark Twain
I’ve never read that quote before, Laura, but how true!
🙂
Amy
Great post, wonderful insights and I love the epiphanies! I hope to see your book in print before too long and get to read it sounds interesting and I love the path you took to write it.
Cheers,
Ardee-ann
Thanks, Ardee-ann! 🙂
This is such a truthful post! And energetic and positive. Great way to start my morning. And I completely agree with taking a risk to hit the delete, change change change, and see what comes of it.
Hi Kat,
I’m more or less risk-averse so taking chances on fiction has been a real learning experience for me.
I don’t even jay-walk!
😉
Amy
Here’s the thing about memoirs, they’re memories as THE WRITER recalls them. Doesn’t mean they’re true or false just so long as the truth isn’t stretched into make-believe, such as Frey did. For instance, in an Eng. Lit. class I took a few years back the prof had us write a mini-scene-memoir. One kid wrote about his six-month sentence in a maximum security prison in upstate NY. The kid totally stretched it into make-believe; criminals in NYS aren’t sent to maximum security prisons for sentences less than two years. How do I know this? Uh…I just do.
What does that have to do with women’s fiction writing? Nothing. LOL But memoirs are in vogue these days and every time I read one I keep in mind that it’s the writers version of recall and not necessarily the way things truly happened.
Great post. People don’t realize that writing a book is one of the world’s biggest challenges, next to child birth. 🙂
Memoirs ARE in vogue, Kath, you’re right. I think many more are written than are ever published, because people think their situations are unique when they’re not…
The thing with fiction is we can make sure (hopefully) that those stories are unique!!
Great post! I’m heading into my WIP’s 3rd draft in which I’m making huge changes AGAIN. So, this post hit home and is helping me push past the self doubt that shouts– “Are you nuts! Now you’re completely changing secondary characters and changing the main external conflict!”
No, I’m not crazy. It’s all part of the process to get into the meat of a GREAT story.
thanks,
tina
Gotta push past the self-doubt, Tina. It’s a struggle for me to do that — but if I don’t, nothing gets done. I figure it’s like the cliché: nothing ventured, nothing gained. Or should I say: nothing written, nothing published!
🙂
Amy
My debut, A Bitch Named Karma, is very different than where it started. And one of my WIPs is in the changing process now..and it’s already gone through major changes. It’s funny what you think is fab one day becomes garbage the next! 🙂
Love the title, Stephanie! I’ll be sure to check it out!
🙂
Amy
Love the new title. It conjures up so much: fragility, beauty, things shattered. Great post, Amy, and all of it rings true with me.
Thank you, Susan. That means a lot. Sometimes things sit right in front of us and we have to trip over them before we see them. This title is quite obvious – of course that’s only now that I’ve thought of it. 🙂
Amy
Isn’t change delicious? When I think about the first draft of my WIP, I blush with embarrassment. Then I rejoice at the progress I’ve made and remind myself I will continue to evolve as a writer. I think spinning a story is the most delightful task in the world. The possibilities are endless. There’s no better challenge for a writer than to rise up and meet the most impossible options witin those possibilities. Did that make sense?
Anyway, I totally get where you’re coming from and look forward to THE GLASS WIVES.
Jocosa,
I think spinning a story is the most delightful task in the world.
I concur!!!
🙂
Amy
What a winner of a post, Amy! Your topic speaks not only to “what you start out with is not what you’ll end up with,” but also to “writing too much ‘reality’ into fiction can be bad!” I read a post by author Randy Susan Myers (probably last fall) where she talked about how your creativity can be stifled when you try to write fiction-based-on-too-much-fact.
Um… I agree, because I’ve been there. Did all the things you did. Changed names, locations, made shit up … but I felt shackled to the real-life versions of these characters. Starting from complete scratch is much easier and feels so much more liberating. I don’t feel like I’m looking over my shoulder all the time, either (that is a total drain on the creativity). Plus I don’t need to worry about being sued :-).
Can’t wait to hear more about your work – and, more specifically, when it’s picked up by a publisher! Woo hoo! (Thanks, also, for the laugh about the cliche police and reality-check police. Love your “voice” in your blog).
Thanks, Melissa. I feel a certain element of real freedom when I am able to work on my WIP — because there are no stings attached to the past of my writerhood at all. I have a manuscript under my mattress that I also feel that way about…it may never see the light of day again but it showed me that I have come a long way…that stories can indeed begin with a seed born solely of imagination.
Thank you for your good thoughts and wishes!
Amy
My YA novel has undergone eight full revisions. And, I have no doubt, there’s still room for improvement. Great post, Amy. And, for the record, I’m so damn proud of you!
Back atcha, Deb.
We have come a long way, baby.
LOVE the title!!!!!!! Reading this kind of makes me want to save an old manuscript, but I can’t decide if that’s because I can’t seem to find an idea I like right now. You’ve given me a lot to think about.
What a great post! I have the same problem when I sit down to an empty page…I start writing about the people in my life. Then I feel like they’re holding me back from the real story that’s there. It’s hard to move past that, but thanks for showing me it can be done!
Anna, it can be done but it’s almost like you have to change your thought process from what happened to what COULD have happened that didn’t.
🙂
Amy
Save everything. You just never know.
🙂
Amy
Thanks so much for this post! This has been me over the last two days. Spent 2 years (gulp!) on first draft of my very first story. Knew it had problems. Got advice from expert. Diagnosis? It’s all over the place! Which genre? How many story lines? One of the characters was based on me. I knew I was trying to fit too many actual events into a novel. Had to distance myself from the work. Besides, I’m boring. Livened it up with fiction!
Reworked in today. Never had such a brainstorm. Much better, more concise and one genre. Well, maybe two 😉
Sounds familiar! 😉 Good for you for weeding through and figuring it out. Just don’t give up, ’cause that never works.
I love this story! And I absolutely LOVE the title! I don’t know how you did so many rewrites but it’s inspiring. It just goes to remind us all to stick to the stories of our hearts.