You might be wondering what I am working on when I talk about all the work I am (mostly not) doing. I do have a first draft of a book that I had every intention of rewriting and I’m not saying it’s not going to get re-written at some point, but, with apologies to my agent, I don’t know when. There are a number of reasons why I am hesitant to approach the book. I would say at the very least it is because it is written in first-person, and, after two character-driven first person books in a row, I am a bit weary of it. At the very most this book is extremely personal, more than ever before, and I’m not completely convinced now is the right time to be putting this kind of material out there.
Instead I am messing around with something new right now, a novel-in-stories. My first book, Instant Love, was novel-in-stories-ish. I mean, when I wrote it, my intention was for it to be a linked story collection. It occasionally got reviewed as a novel. After having written two novels and knowing what goes into making that kind of book work, I can tell you that I definitely I was not approaching IL as a novel, but sometimes things turn out better or bigger or different anyway than you expected.
But I really would like this new book to work as a novel, yet have each chapter feel separate and distinct, so that you can pull it out of the book and have it live on its own terms. I’m not sure if I’m going to succeed at this, but I’m going to give it a shot. It’s a tricky thing, to have a story exist in its own right but still be a part of the architecture that holds up a roof of a novel. Some stories are going to have more beams than others, I suspect, but they all have to have some beams or they don’t get to be a part of the book.
How to write this then? Write it as a story first, and then go back through and connect it thoroughly? (This is mostly how I approached my first book.) That seems like it would be leaving too much too chance, so this time around I already know, for the most part, what’s going to be happening in this book. Which is to say I already know the major plot points, which has never happened before. (I usually start a book by hearing a character’s voice and writing from there.) I’m totally opening to everything changing, but it feels good to have some sort of safety net. It frees me up to focus on making the story as strong as possible.
I’m still banging my head against the wall a bit in terms of voice. I’ve spent the last four years writing in first person, and now, suddenly, I have all the freedom of third person, plus I’m focusing on a different character in each story, although eventually all the characters will make repeat appearances and I won’t have to invent any other new voices. It’s exhilarating to have all this authorial voice all of a sudden, after having to speak to your characters through the mouths of other characters for so long. But I’m also trying to find the balance between my critical eye and the soul of the character.
I had a really nice run yesterday though, where it felt like I was taking a step somewhere new, but also being purposeful in service to the story. So there’s hope for me yet.
Yes, I do realize this will all be different in six months. But what if it all went according to plan? What if.
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I won a big prize the other day.
