When Your Manuscript Just Really Isn't That Good

At the end of October I turned in my second book. This book was a tough write, for many reasons, and even as I hit send I knew that it still needed work. Fortunately (for me, maybe not so much for them) I have the world's most amazing publishing team on my side.

So while they got the fun job of reading my 100,000 not-quite-there-yet words, I had a fabulous time reacquainting myself with my husband and children, friends, overloaded to-be-read shelves and catching up TV programmes. Then came the developmental edits. These are basically where your editor tells you everything that is wrong/weak with your story and you get to work out how to fix it.

My (amazing) editor is a sandwich compliment guru. She opens by saying nice things, she closes by saying nice things, and then for the seven pages in between she manages to pull apart my entire book and make me feel okay about it while she does.

No matter which way I looked at it these were  BIG edits. Some of which were self-inflicted because of a brain that doesn't seem to like plotting which means I am generally working out my story as I'm writing it (I do not recommend this as a stress free writing strategy if you're on a deadline), some were because with ten months to go from nothing to completed manuscript I hadn't had the luxury of my usual two months pre-think time where I just mull things before I start writing, some were because I'd flat out underestimated the time required to research some of the aspects that I knew nothing about and others because of changes beyond me (like it's release date changing that means we're doing some rewrites to better fit with the season it's being released into).

Here's the honest truth. I love these characters but I have lived with them for the last ten months. Large scale developmental edits are kind of like having house guests stay for a loooong time, finally move out, then return with some friends.

As I mulled my editor's notes I was struck by two clear choices. I could stick to my guns, keep what was pretty much there in terms of plot and characters, but fix it up, strengthen the obviously weak parts, and it would be a perfectly okay book. It would take a lot of work, but it would be doable.

But the truth was that if what I wanted was for this to be a great book then tinkering around the edges, making some small and medium sized changes, wasn't going to cut it. A great book was going to require pulling the whole thing apart and rebuilding it from the ground up. In six weeks. Over my family's Christmas holidays.

Sometimes the dream is amazing. It's getting giddy over endorsements from your favourite authors, the first glimpse of your name on a book cover, and seeing first reviews come in. And sometimes it's knowing that it's time to put on your big girl pants, take all the photos down off your dining room wall, and (with the help of the world's cutest assistant) replotting your entire book using post-its :)

Kara Isaac lives in Wellington, New Zealand. Her debut romantic comedy, Close To You, is about a disillusioned academic-turned-tour-guide and an entrepreneur who knows nothing about Tolkien who fall in love on a Tolkien themed tour of New Zealand. It will be an April 2016 release from Howard Books. When she's not working her day job as a public servant, chasing around a ninja preschooler and his feisty toddler sister, she spends her time writing horribly bad first drafts and wishing you could get Double Stuf Oreos in New Zealand. She loves to connnect on Facebook at Kara Isaac - Writer and Twitter @KaraIsaac

My Writing Process

By Andrea Grigg

My husband and I (dear me, I sound like the Queen) were having a discussion about my writing.

            ‘What are you going to work on next?’ he asked.

            ‘I’m not sure,’ I said, ‘but I’m leaning towards the one about Anna and Ryan. Or maybe Sophie and Will. Penny and Finn? Oh, wait. Perhaps I should finish the one about Tom and Beth because that’s the sequel to A Simple Mistake and I’ve been asked so many times about what happened to Liam ... Why are you laughing at me?’

            ‘Because,’ said Geoff, shaking his head, ‘your writing is just like your knitting.’

He has a point. I start a knitting project, get a little bored, and start another. And then another. 

I do the same with my writing.

I currently have ELEVEN books on the go.

Not that I'm bored with any of them. It’s just that I get a new idea and I can’t resist the temptation to get started.

Some of them are much further along than others. Anna and Ryan’s word count sits at 21k; Sophie and Will’s, almost 23k; Penny and Finn’s around 30k; The Simple Truth, working title for the sequel to A Simple Mistake, 16k.

And I’ve used the same process for all of them.

Writers tend to fall into two categories: we’re either plotters or pantsers. A plotter researches and plans before getting down to business. A pantser gets an idea and simply starts, letting the story and the characters take them where they may. Of course, we can be a mixture of the two, but I think it’s safe to say we tend to lean more strongly toward one or the other.

Oh boy, am I a plotter!

An idea for a story arrives, complete with characters, and I mull it over for weeks, sometimes months. I think up a working title, make a folder on my computer, and off I go.

I make a character chart for my male and female protagonists: physical description, personality, family background, aspirations, things that have shaped them, likes/dislikes etc.

I research my setting(s) and collect images. I map out a plan in bullet points. (By the way, once I’m into the story the plan can change. Probably the only pantser part of me!)

I daydream while doing the housework and listen to conversations in my head. How I remember them I’ll never know, but I do. (Why can’t I remember to get everything on my grocery list?)

It’s only when I have a good grasp of my characters and where it’s all heading that I type ‘Chapter One’. You’d think I’d be on a sprint after all that wouldn’t you? But no. Once I’ve finished each chapter, my self-editor kicks in. I go over and over what I’ve written before starting the next one. There’s a word for people like me but I don’t think I should use it here! Maybe ‘pedantic’ will suffice.

I often say my stories take a while to ‘cook’. I’m working on writing faster, but it’s fair to say that if I was a kitchen appliance I’d be a crock-pot (no snide remarks thank you) rather than an oven and definitely not a microwave!

Like my photo? That's an original wedding present from 1984!

So, if you’re a writer, which cooking appliance best describes you?

And just in case you were wondering, I eventually finish ALL my knitting projects!

About Andrea Grigg:

Andrea writes contemporary romance. Her latest novel Too Pretty was released on August 1 by Rhiza Press. Her first book A Simple Mistake was a finalist in the CALEB Awards 2012

Andrea would love to hear from you via her website or Facebook page:
http://www.andreagrigg.com/
https://www.facebook.com/author.andreagrigg

  

Watching our babies grow

On 4^th March this year, our fourth grandchild was born—a little girl called Maxine. Of course, she is

gorgeous! She has lots of black hair, big dark eyes and lovely, milk chocolate skin, courtesy of her Ghanaian father. And now she has a beautiful smile that has become wider and wider and appears more often these days. We look forward to the next stages of her development too, which no doubt will include things like noticing her own hands and rolling over onto her tummy. At the moment, we can’t imagine her sitting or crawling or eventually walking and talking, but we trust all that will happen in due course.

I thought of Maxine recently, in the midst of writing my second work of non-fiction. This book was conceived towards the end of last year and is taking some time to develop. It is another memoir, but, unlike Soul Friend, it follows a particular thread of my journey from my earliest years to the present. As well, each chapter contains some teaching on one facet of that journey and some reflection questions for readers. At the moment, I am unsure if it will work—and whether it will even be considered suitable for publication. Some days, I want to forget about the whole idea, because this book is proving quite difficult to bring together in the shape I envisage. But I press on. After all, it’s my baby—it has a name already and I can visualise that cover even now.

I remember a time in 2005 when I was looking for a publisher for my very first novel Heléna. I had almost given up and shared my dilemma with some Christian women leaders at a retreat. As we prayed for one another, one younger woman prayed specifically that I would find a publisher and that Heléna would in fact be birthed safely. I was touched to the point of tears that she understood how this first novel did indeed feel like a real baby to me. It had actually gestated within me for years and years—and I longed for it to see the light of day. Later, she quietly told me she had seen an ad for a new Christian publisher in a magazine at her mother’s place and would send me the details. I knew she was a busy, young mum and doubted she would remember—but she did. Many months later, this was the publisher who released my first novel Heléna.

Yes, sometimes it’s exhausting work, coaxing those books inside us into being, helping them take shape in the way God wants. But I take heart as I watch our little Maxine develop more and more as a little person. As I put time and effort and prayer into this current writing project of mine, it will come together, if God wants it to touch others for the Kingdom. As I nurture it carefully and as God breathes life into it, it will grow and blossom, just as God has reminded me through our little granddaughter.

If you too are in the midst of wrestling with a writing project, may you take heart today and keep going. May God give you great joy as you watch that precious baby grow and develop—and eventually stand on its own two feet!

Jo-Anne Berthelsen lives in Sydney but grew up in Brisbane. She holds degrees in Arts and Theology and has worked as a high school teacher, editor and secretary, as well as in local church ministry. Jo-Anne is passionate about touching hearts and lives through both the written and spoken word. She is the author of six published novels and one non-fiction work, Soul Friend: the story of a shared spiritual journey. Jo-Anne is married to a retired minister and has three grown-up children and three grandchildren. For more information, please visit www.jo-anneberthelsen.com or www.soulfriend.com.au.