Writing IS Research

Take heed, children, because this may well be the most important post on my blog so far!  (I'm not trying to patronize, I just liked the way that phrase sounded.)  But in all seriousness, I'm kicking myself at this moment for how short-sighted I was during my initial research process.  I am truly baffled by the fact that, aside from doing a quick internet search here and there when I needed more information on a topic, I did not see the need to get an in-depth overview of the period in which my novel is set.  

I find my decision particularly baffling because I love to research.  And I certainly know how to do it - I read upwards of twelve books before attempting to write a 20-page article published in a legal journal.  So why did I shortchange myself when writing a 400-page novel?  The only logical explanation I can come up with is that I naively viewed novel writing (period novel writing, no less) as a largely creative endeavor, not a fact-based one.  But what I dumbly failed to realize is that the era in which my characters exist would and should color their lives on an almost daily basis.  And this cannot be successfully accomplished by throwing in an occasional piece of trivia via the front page of a newspaper or a cocktail party conversation.  

Looking back over my Brilliant Editors' critiques, I see now how my lack of adequate research fatally affected my writing.  A couple BEs thought I lost the "feel" of the 1920s in places throughout the book; one asked, "How is your novel relevant to today?" and another said, honestly, "I was expecting more from the story."  Aside from the characterization issues I plan to work on, I think a lot of these problems could have been (and of course, still can be) solved by proper research.  

At the moment, I am reading Only Yesterday, An Informal History of the 1920s by Frederick Lewis Allen.  As the Amazon reviews indicated, it is proving to be an incredibly well-written, entertaining, and informative book.  But what really peaked my interest when I was shopping for research material is the fact that this book was first published in 1931!  So the author, a reputable journalist, is writing about an era which he and the world had only just lived through.  Finding such a fresh synthesis of the decade, unclouded by modern-day analysis, was a true gold mine, and had I stumbled across this book sooner, my novel may have taken very different turns.  But of course, all is not lost ... that's what re-writes are for!

POTENTIAL NOVICE WRITER SIN:  (That's right, I brought the Draconian terminology back for this one ...) Unless you are writing complete fantasy or an autobiographical novel, do not pick up a pen or tap a key on your computer until you have read several books about, talked to a number of relevant people about, or gone and experienced first hand the events/place/time period, etc. in your book.  There is no substitute for adequate research.  (As you can tell, I feel quite strongly about this.)  If you cut corners during your initial writing phase, you're just going to have to go back and deal with the holes in your manuscript later, so you might as well tackle the research in the beginning.  Besides, the extra work will be well worth it, as it may answer questions you're grappling with re character motivation and plotlines, saving you a lot of revision time down the line.

Revised Revision Plan

So here's the plan (I wanted to update my original revision plan now that I have a better sense of the task at hand):

• Finish the chapter on characterization in my how-to book by the end of this week.
• RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH.  My cursory internet trolling while writing the novel didn't cut it, so I have ordered a number of books that I think will greatly aid me in fleshing out the essence of the time period.  Several of my Brilliant Editors felt that my novel lost some of its 1920s feel in parts, and could have been taking place in modern day.  That's not good!  My challenge is to maintain a steady and unmistakable Jazz Age backdrop, without seeming gimicky.  I also plan to visit the local historical society library in the next week or so to get a better flavor of this particular region during that period.  My research will likely be ongoing, and I will continue to trudge forward with the next steps while I'm reading.
• Storyboard each viewpoint character's narrative.  This is going to be a time-consuming and incredibly valuable endeavor.  I need to chart the storylines for all 6 characters, paying special attention to their motivations, personality traits, and dynamic interactions with one another.  This will be the first time I will be reading my book with a "slash-and-burn" mentality.  In other words, I'm not going to be approaching my manuscript with a pencil for tweaking lines here and there.  It's bold red pen time!
• Storyboard a new narrative plan.  I'm already committed to re-writing my whole novel.  I believe that not only will the characters benefit from this, but my style and tone in general will benefit.  That's not to say that I won't lift passages from my first draft, but at this stage, I'm beginning to see my first version as a 400 page character biography.  It provides an excellent road map for the task I'm about to undertake, but it in itself is not a publishable product.

FIGURING IT OUT AS I GO:  Get a game plan, and don't be afraid to revisit and rework it.  Staying organized is what enabled you to finish your novel, and it's going to be the only way you're ever going to navigate through the murky world that is novel revision!

Anything to help inspire ...

This post doesn't really deal directly with revision, but could theoretically be applied to any stage of the writing process.  In short, be original in your means of seeking inspiration.  Along those lines, I wanted to share some "artwork" I did early on in my novel writing endeavors.  Some of you may be thinking, why on earth would a writer waste her time gluing together a collage (okay, two collages) as part of some fantasy that her manuscript actually had a cover jacket?  Well, there's your answer - a little fantasy goes a long way in the inspiration department when you're writing creatively.  You'll see that the first version is rather busy with people; this did wonders for my ability to visualize my main characters interacting during one particular scene early in the book.  

As I reached the halfway point of my writing, I began to feel a cooler, sleeker vibe from my protagonist - she was now no longer a country girl, but a city pseudo-sophisticate.  So I 

cobbled together Jacket Cover #2 to reflect this transformation.  

Who knows what cover art I'll come up with once I start actually revising my novel!

POTENTIAL NOVICE WRITER SIN:  Don't be stifled by the conventions of creativity ... sure, free-writes are wonderful, but if you feel like composing a song to your writing, baking a cake your protagonist might make, or slapping together a jacket cover collage, go for it!  Getting all your senses involved can only help your writing.

Backstory and Full Speed Ahead ...

I know I said I wouldn't be doing this everyday, and ultimately, I won't be.  But I'm finding this whole blogging process incredibly relaxing, as well as clarifying and motivating in regard to the task at hand.  My husband asked, "Shouldn't you just use the time it takes to write your blog to actually revise your book?"  I, of course, ignored the question.  ;-)  I really do believe this serves a valid purpose, because it's enabling me to put my revision goals into concrete terms.

More on that in a minute ...  But first, in case this blog ever gets any readers, I feel I owe those readers a bit of backstory on the novel itself, so that I can speak in short hand in the future about the changes I intend to make.  So here goes a brief, rough pitch:

"The Whitaker Boys" is a period novel set in upstate New York and Manhattan in the late 1920s.  The book is told in 3rd person limited through the eyes of 6 characters whose lives are all somehow intertwined.  ...

So you're probably thinking, "Well that pitch sure could not have been more vague," and you're right.  I'm not intentionally trying to hide anything, but the truth is, I'm not exactly sure how to describe the plot.  Seeing as this is not a "Pitching to an Agent" blog, I won't pursue this discussion at the moment.  However it does segue nicely into one of the first points I have taken away from what I've read so far in Manuscript Makeover by Elizabeth Lyon.  The reason I can't easily launch into a plot summary is because I have two distinct plot lines which, though interconnected by familial relationships, each has their own climax and resolution.  Let me try to summarize both and see if I have any luck ...

The novel follows headstrong Lila Payton on her quest for freedom, stardom and, more elusively, fulfillment. Meanwhile, Lila's reclusive aunt Cora struggles to maintain secrets which have given her tortured life some appearance of normalcy.

Ok, not only is that lousy writing, but it still sounds so horribly generic and uninviting.  I'm not going to beat up on myself for failing to master the perfect pitch (there will be plenty of time for working on that later).  But what my stumbling and hesitation tells me is that I may indeed have committed a POTENTIAL NOVICE WRITER SIN which the revision book addresses.  It says to have no more than than 3 developed characters telling your story.  As painful a pill as this is for me to swallow, I think it is a very valid point.  The real question now (and which I will have to present to the 5BE) is "Is my use of 6 vantage points daring and innovative or a glaring beginners' mistake?"  TBD ... !

(Ok, here's a new feature I'm going to add to the blog - a "practice tip" series, if you will ...)

POTENTIAL NOVICE WRITER SIN:  "Too many viewpoint characters, which for many novices is more than three, can mean that story lines cut one another off. ... Use as few characters as will accomplish the needs of your story and genre, and increase their relatedness. ... Employ as few developed viewpoint characters as possible."  Elizabeth Lyon, Manuscript Makeover, p. 77.

What I plan to accomplish with this blog

Ok, so this is starting to sound a little like a high school research paper already ... I promise to curb that quick!  But I do want to lay out the purpose and general structure of this blog, for my own benefit, it no one else's.  As I think I alluded to yesterday, I'm doing this as a way to motivate myself to stay on track with my novel revision process.  I had no problem staying motivated while writing, but that was because it was all so creative.  This feels much more like work to me for some reason.  (Hopefully once I'm in the thick of it, it will feel creative again.)

The plan for this blog:  

• To chronicle my novel revising journey by offering others helpful tips and lessons-learned -the-hard-way on how to go about it.  My goal is to blog at least once a week, because let's face it, nobody is going to want to read a day-by-day account of this process!

The plan for revising my manuscript:

1. Read the relevant chapters of the "how to revise your novel" book that my mom was so considerate as to get me.  I probably would not have even considered such a thing had she not thought of it, and I'm hoping it will make this whole process seem a bit more approachable and cohesive.  And by relevant chapters, I mean the stuff that I think applies to my particular writing skills (and lack thereof).  After receiving a substantial amount of feedback from my amazingly sharp friends, I have come to learn that I definitely have certain strengths (relatable characters, plot, pacing, structure) but I also have clear weaknesses (tendencies toward predictability, tone, scene-setting, and my biggest challenge ... showing not telling!)
   
2. Go back and do more research.  Because I'm working on a period piece, this is, of course, essential.  While I did a multitude of research while I was writing (any time I had even a vague doubt as to the accuracy of something, I researched it), most of that was done on the internet, with only a few calls to local historical societies and the like.  My next step is to plant myself in the county historical society one morning and not emerge until I have stumbled upon some previously unknown gem of information.  I also plan to browse the historical magazines that 2 members of my 5 Brilliant Editors team have recommended.
3. Now is a good time to explain the role of my 5BE team.  I have five dear friends who have taken the time to not only read my book, but to patiently provide me with detailed feedback on what they read.  They have also agreed to help me through the revision process by acting as a sounding board for my new ideas.  Which leads me to step 3 ... I will periodically be emailing the 5BE team questions based on the feedback they have already provided, as well as whatever new inspiration pops into my mind.
4. Re-read my manuscript with a thick red pen in hand.  This step is pretty self-explanatory.
5. Start revising.  Hopefully what this actually entails will be clearer to me once I come to this step.

You may have noticed that I have not created any deadlines.  This goes against my nature somewhat, as I was all about strict deadlines when I was writing.  I've decided to approach the re-write a little differently.  Of course I have to get started and stick to it, but I'm going to give myself a little breathing room if I feel I need it.  That's another reason why this blog is useful ... if I find myself writing "Not much to report" for 3 weeks in a row, I'll be shamed into getting off my lazy bum and doing something blogworthy the following week!

Day 1 of thinking about revising my novel

Hello and welcome to the blog I have created to stay motivated to revise my 400 page novel over the next 12 months!  Here's a very brief backstory on how I arrived at this point:  I've wanted to be a writer since I was 5 years old and did a retelling of Snow White in orange crayon.  Fast forward 26 years (and past several graduate degrees in professions that involved writing, but not novel writing) when I suddenly found myself laid off and with a lot of time on my hands.  My husband and I began spending more and more time in our upstate NY fixer-upper and less and less time in the city, and I found myself becoming very inspired by the rolling hills and old farmhouses and steeple churches all around.  My imagination led me back in time to the 1920s and "The Whitaker Boys" was born.  I wrote diligently from February to June of this year, and then sent my work off to my very literate friends, who have begun giving me constructive feedback.  While the book seems to be a crowd-pleaser, there's no getting around the inevitable - it still needs a lot of work.  And while I felt relatively comfortable with the writing process, having gone through it 2x now (I wrote my first - unpublished - novella the year before this one, while I was still working fulltime), I have yet to attempt a rewrite.  And I'll be perfectly honest with you ... I find the thought of the whole thing more than a little daunting.  That's why I'm starting this blog ... so I have an outlet for my frustrations, because I'm sure there will be many, and maybe, just maybe, someone out there will be going through the same thing, and can offer me words of wisdom and encouragement (and hopefully I can do the same!)  So stay tuned as I start pacing myself for one of the more strenuous mental marathons I have engaged in to date! ...