Our “Dear Willow” video:
(Note on production value: I live in a remote farmhouse with 19th century wifi, so please bear with the slightly dodgy quality of this feed. We’re working on it….)
Willow’s Question:
“What is your process, each of you, for taking a novel-length work from First Draft stage to the submission stage?”
Dear Willow,
I stare at the page until my head bleeds, bite all my nails off, snap at my children and swear I’m the tiredest person in the world, and then I send it off to my agent with failing hope and rising grief. But I think you want details, so here they are:
My process is the same whether it’s a full length novel or a chapter of In Judgement Of Others which I’m serialising here; same methods and processes, all that separates them is time. I’ve a novel doing the rounds which has taken eighteen months to go from first draft to submission. For perspective, my first novel took ten years to travel the same distance, while each chapter of In Judgement Of Others takes about a week. Not that it’s at first draft stage, but it is taking editing, and I use an identical set of techniques before I’m ready to press publish.
Getting a piece of work ready for submission is essentially one of bloody-minded repetition. The first thing I do once a first draft is written (and getting that down is a whole other conversation) is to stand back and take a 30,000 foot view. What’s it about? What story am I telling? What’s the feeling of this book that I’m trying to convey with words? That first question, and really it’s the most important one for me, I try to answer in one sentence, partly for the simplicity of it, and partly because it will be asked a million times. “Oh, you’re writing a book. What’s it about?” And anything longer than a sentence will lose the listener, they’ll glaze over and this, though upsetting, is a harsh but useful marker as to whether I’ve got to the heart of the story right. If I can say it in one sentence, I can write it in 70,000 words.
Three, or maybe four drafts later, a macro and micro edit under my belt, I’ll send it to my agent (if you’re not rep’d, then read beta readers, those trusted people who’ll give you honest, helpful feedback), who’ll send it back with notes at which point I’ll cry and start again. Do not be tempted to micro edit before you’ve solved the big, macro stuff that is structure, plot, theme, tone. And when you do launch into another micro edit, that is the small, intricate stuff of character, meaning, description and feeling, do not stop until you’ve got to the end. If you begin another micro edit before you’ve completed the last one, you’ll find continuity of tone will be totally messed with, and you’ll find yourself going round in circles. Beginning to end every time. No exceptions.
Lastly, two methods I use which a draft has to pass before I think it’s ready to submit:
I print out a copy and read it in my hands, making notes in the margin.
I read the whole thing aloud to myself, every word, sentence, chapter, the whole novel until it trips off my tongue without stumble. More than anything else, this technique will show up problems in the text that are hidden from the silent, laptop reading eye.
Finally, remember Good enough is fine, but I don’t let any sentence out the door until it’s reached that standard.
My agent gave this particular novel the green light for submission at fifth draft, and to put it in context, my first novel took somewhere between fifteen and twenty drafts to be ready (I’ve blocked it out, it was harrowing.)
Hope this helps.
Love,
Eleanor
Here’s a link to Mary’s answer….
p.s.: Mary has a full course that she introduces here—the link is for you to take a gander—it’s free….
If you missed our launch post, take a look at Write it! and This Writing Life.
Each person is different. Mostly each process involve humiliation until they get down to work. This stage involves day-dreaming.
Eleanor! Mary! What an absolute gift to writers this conversation is. I can't wait to hear more from the two of you.
Fantastic question, Willow. I'm working toward completing a first draft on a memoir, and it's comforting to know other writers are in similar process with similar queries. It is, on one level, such a solitary thing, writing. Remembering that, on another level, the point is community--to share what we've created--and so community (including beta readers and wisdom from disparate sources) is an invaluable part of the process.
So, thank you to all three of you!