Hard Choices

Last I left you, dear reader, I had submitted my first fifty pages, query and synopsis for critique, to a NYTimes bestselling author and I was awaiting her notes. In the meantime, my husband had knee replacement surgery and I lost what was to be my bountiful writing time. But hey, life happens…

And it happened to the author / editor I was waiting for. She was busy promoting her latest book and then fell ill, but remained in touch so I always knew what was happening. While I waited, I played around with ideas for my new novel, re-read writing books, bought more writing books. And a surprise book showed up. At first, I thought maybe I lost track of my purchases, but then remembered the author saying she wanted to send me this book.

But I was in limbo. Do I forge ahead with my new novel while I wait? Keep working on the old novel even though I don’t know what she’s going to say? I was very specific in what I’d asked her for, and also clear that I didn’t want to rewrite my whole novel. I wanted advice on where to start my novel and suggestions on fixing my query and synopsis.

The author came back to me with the following suggestion: Maybe I should put this novel aside and focus on my next novel. Many writers do. And she gave me choices on what services should could offer me instead, including giving me my money back.

I’m pretty hardened to critiques and I didn’t feel emotional about this. Her comments weren’t off. I’d written a “quiet novel” but not necessarily a literary novel. I told my husband, It’s time for me to move on.

But I wanted to sit with it a bit before making a choice on what to do. The longer I sat with it the more I realized that I didn’t want to set my novel aside. It is a quiet novel, but it is still the story I wanted to write. Maybe it doesn’t have an audience. I’ll find that out in due time. But I still stand behind my story, even if it needs more work.

In the end, I asked her to go ahead with the critique of my first fifty pages. I would later decide how much time I wanted to spend fixing the novel, or maybe I would hire an editor to help focus things. Or maybe I would end up giving it up all together.

While I waited, I attended a Women’s Fiction Writers Association (WFWA) meeting of southern Ontario writers. I shared my experience and they all cheered me on, saying not to drop the novel.

And then the author came back with her comments and everything became clear as to the issues I needed to address. I already had notes from a beta reader, and some notes from a substantive edit that I was trying to work into my novel. Between the three sources, I saw exactly what I needed to do to draw my reader in. (Okay, not exactly, but I know what I need to work on.)

And the author had words of encouragement and some sage advice: “That said, you’ve GOT THIS. You know how to write a scene, you know how to describe characters, you know how to write dialogue. SO I give you my most common, most hated piece of writing advice, and I have it on a post-it on my own computer: Good writing comes last. Story comes first.”

After reading my first fifty pages, she had more hope for my novel. I also attended a workshop through Centered at Sarah Seleky’s writing school, by Francesca Lia Block, 12 questions to structure your writing. Her workshop was full of good advice and certain parts seem to speak right to me.

Now I’m energized to go back to my old novel and fix the beginning, hone in on my climax, and then finish fixing the writing. The great thing about all of this is everything I’m learning will also help in structuring my new novel.

And to top it off, my husband’s knee is on the mend and he’s back to driving which means I now have the writing time I was craving. But of course, Christmas is coming…

Writing a novel is a long process. The learning never ends. But neither does the inspiration. If you find yourself stuck, remember to reach out and take a workshop, read a writing book, hire an editor. Figure out what you need when you’ve gone as far as you can on your own. Then keep going!

Happy Reading, Happy Writing