a writer's journal

 Sunday, August 17, 2003

Strange week. Tucson Winter came back from the agent and Being Jericha Mize from the editor who had had it since late February. For the first time in over two years, I have no manuscripts out, no anticipations that today just might be the day. The strange part is how relaxing it is, not living for the mail.

Both the editor and the agent said they'd like to see the manuscripts after rewrites. I don't want to interrupt work on the current novel for that, though. Still, the feedback on those (plus some of the Robert Olen Butler lecture notes from IUWC) have me rethinking a couple of aspects of the new novel. Are characters reacting to situations, or do main character yearnings drive the action? Do primary and secondary plotlines work together, playing off each other thematically? And are is the main plotline layered with complications, rather than tangled with too many secondary plots? It's difficult to write new pages until I'm comfortable with the answers.

Wednesday, October 15, 2003

Hard to believe it has been nearly two months since I've update this writing journal. But the dates are real, so I guess it's been that long. Besides the writing quandaries I mentioned in my last entry, I've had some health things get in the way. The good news is, those have cleared up, and I'm back at it with gusto!

I've rewritten the opening scene with some subtle emphasis changes, ones that I'm hoping will notch the narrative up a step or two. Right now, the two versions are being reviewed by my face-to-face critique partners. I'm eager to hear their reactions to each. With no indication from me which is the 'prior' and which is the 'new and improved' version, the feedback should be truly unbiased. I should get a good read on whether the changes work as intended. The goal now is to get those first twenty-five pages (or so) in shape for the P&W 2004 Writers Exchange Program. It's a long shot, but worth the try. Worst that can happen? I've got a fresh start, a better start on the still untitled novel.

Monday, November 17, 2003

Another month, and I've let the journal slide. Dang! This time it wasn't for lack of writing progress, though. In fact, things have been going well with the novel, which for a couple weeks was called Brighty Creek. That looks to be temporary.

First, the feedback on the two versions of the opening scene was most helpful. There was a spit of opinion, and I ended up using a hybrid of the two. With that scene set, I revised the remainder of the first three chapters so the characters are consistent, intending that this would be my 25-page entry for the Poets & Writers 2004 Writers Exchange Program. I sent the chapters to four reader/friends for feedback. This resulted in a bit of tweaking for clarity. Interestingly, the two predominant comments were asking (1) for more details on timing of past events and details of a plan being hatched, and (2) suggestions that I not dwell on such things in the interest of keeping the pace brisk. Beyond that, there were a couple of dialogue things that did not ring true to readers who know the dialect and region, and there was some confusion over character motivations. The first paragraph still seemed 'clunky' to two readers, and I changed it slightly. It may still be a problem, but I'm at a loss right now to do much further. And finally, the title, Brighty Creek, was seen as a distinct negative, summoning expectations of old-timey Appalachian fiction, which this clearly is not. So--the hunt for a suitable title continues.

Anyway, my contest entry is in the mail. Now I'm moving on another revision of the pages that follow those twenty-five, trying to get a balance of two storylines, to move reader interest willingly from the desk drawer contents to the unfolding story of LeAnn and her affair. The temptation is to create something unique for this story turn, but I'm wondering if it might be the wrong place in the novel to take a major chance, if it might be better to write something less original and concentrate on writing it well. And if that sounds like a bunch of generalized, evasive gobbledygook, I'm sorry. Honest, I am. I don't want specifics in my journal constraining me in any way as I write the manuscript. Hope that makes some kind of sense.

Wednesday, December 10, 2003

Things are progressing apace with the novel. We're making real progress. I mentioned above about my concern about keeping a good balance between storylines. Well, the problem is solved (he said hopefully), not by downplaying the one, but by inserting two small scenes written from secondary character viewpoints in the midst of earlier scenes. These first establish reader awareness and concern about this other, developing storyline, then remind the reader of it twenty pages later, all this before the first storyline fully plays out. With these small scenes added in, the balance feels right, and page count stands at 110 and going up.

One pattern I've fallen into with scenes is to end them with a positive emotional thrust, a little 'aahhh' moment. Not bad to do once in a while, but too often saps tension. In Elizabeth Dewberry's sessions at IUWC this past summer, she warned against ending short plays with characters dancing, that is, a clichéd sweetness. I think the same must apply to scenes in a novel, or else the forward impetus of the story gets sapped of energy at every scene break. So I'm looking at scenes that start with much conflict and end with less, trying to vary the types of conflict, but increase one kind (physical, situational, emotional, environmental, etc.) whenever another type of conflict is diminished or resolved.

And, after a week of thinking through and free-writing about a rather complicated choreography of characters and events in the upcoming five or six scenes, I'm ready to write forward again, to add new pages.

Monday, December 22, 2003

The novel continues to progress, 122 pages (35K words) or so of reasonably good draft. I'd hoped to get my second big event/scene written within 125 pages, which is obviously not going to happen now. Not sure how it will work in overall story balance, coming later than this. I'll need to look at that and maybe move things around once I get through with it, which may be another 25 or 30 pages.

One thing I've noticed is something Robert Olen Butler talked about at the IU Writers Workshop last summer, and that is the image of turning compost. In writing a novel, the process is less about adding new things to the story after it's up and running, say sixty, eighty, or a hundred pages. It is more about re-using, recycling things already there. The author finds that a rusty pocketknife he mentioned in passing on page twelve becomes the key to solving a plot problem on page one-eighty. An image of wood ashes used on forty-four becomes a recurring image that enriches later pages. The stranger mentioned in an early scene as a dark shape at the boat rail holds the secret to a character's distant past. In short, it's not necessary to keep introducing new elements throughout the novel. If the writer searches what he's written already, he'll find wonderful aspects returning in a natural and harmonious way to enrich even more of the work. This is not some new age ranting of divine forces aiding working writers. This is Butler's thought on composting, and I've seen it play out many times myself, seen these unexpected gifts circling back into the manuscript, re-enriching it as I write. 

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