The Many Stages
of Suck: Or How A Book (or at least MY book) is Born
Jenna Petersen
Very soon now you will be able to find my first single title historical romance out on the shelves (Scandalous from Avon in October 2005 as Jenna Petersen in case this is your first time here or I haven't pounded that into your head enough yet. LOL). And I'm sure you will be captivated by its beautiful prose and immediately put it on your keeper shelf (um, we all have to have dreams, okay!). But as you read the finished product, I hope you'll know that this is not how this or any book started. I think a lot of new authors get really overwhelmed when they read published books because they can't 'write like that'. When they read the chapter or book they just finished by their favorite author, they cringe and immediately let self-doubt overtake them.
But the thing about writing is that it's a lot like actors and actresses. Ever seen a really beautiful actress or supermodel without her makeup? Sure, lots are still stunning... but for many, it's a sight to behold. Pimples. Bags. Wrinkles. It takes makeup and lighting for them to shine. But you'd never know that just from looking at the spread in Glamour Magazine.
The same goes for writing. There are very few authors who are able to sit down and churn out a 100,000-word romance and have the first draft be perfect. There are some, yes, but most of us go through some kind of process that gets us there. Whether they edit as they go along, or at the end. Whether they write in order or in scenes and sequels in no particular way, they have a lot of stages that get them to the keeper shelf.
So in the spirit of full disclosure, I present to you, the stages of writing... Jenna Petersen/Jess Michaels Style. Perhaps you'll see some of your own stages of writing here:
Stage 1: Oh My
GAWD, I have the best idea EVER!!
Normally I get to this stage right
at the back end of whatever book I'm currently finishing. I think it's my mind's
way of moving on after being so invested in the WIP. It gives me new and better
ideas so that I'll be excited to work on the Next Big Thing. Anyway, the ideas
are always gems aren't they? When you get them, you think about how wonderful
they are and how this idea will be the one that sells or wins you the RITA or
whatever your current dream is. And you scribble it down (normally on a napkin of
some other wonderful scrap sheet) and clutch it to your breast. You can't wait
to start working on it because you know it's fantabulous!
Stage 2: Growing
a plot, meeting my characters and fluffing my scenes.
Once the glow of the fantastic idea has worn off, it turns out you kinda
have to work. This is the first 'tough' stage for me because I have to
turn a one or two line idea into enough information for a 90,000 - 100,000 word manuscript. There's
a lot of stuff you have to do to get there. At least if you're a plotter. I
mean, you have to meet your characters and
learn their motivations and the potential internal conflicts that will separate
them. After I know them pretty well, I dive into plot with the internal
conflicts in mind and add the externals. Then I write a synopsis and fairly
detailed scene sketches for at least one-third of the book. By that time, the
initial thrill has worn off and I'm pretty clear or not about whether that one
line idea will really work for a book.
Stage 3: I've got
to write! Let me write!
By the time I'm sitting in the living room with my lap desk (also known as a
lamb-y desk... but don't ask why, the story is too long) writing out scene
sketches, I'm chomping at the bit to write. It's usually been a couple months
since I finished my last book, did revisions, turned it in, etc and started to
plot a new book, so my hands are itching to touch a keyboard. I do my best to
sketch as much of the book as I can based on my synopsis outline but at some
point I almost always have to be FREE! I can't hold back any
longer and I sit down in front of a terrifying blank document and a blinking
cursor... and I GO.
Stage 4: The
Golden Pages
The nice thing about trapping that little muse for so long, though, is that
when I release it, it goes WILD. When I can sit down at my computer and write
only to look up and realize two hours and eight pages have gone by... that's
pretty cool. Those are Golden Pages. Pages that flow. And normally, the pages
that flow are pages that I end up keeping when it's all said and done. For
whatever reason the words and my brain and my keyboard connected and life is
beautiful for that all-too-brief period.
Stage 5: Umm, I
forgot about this part
And then... the gold stops. I mean, I hit pockets of it. Little gold rushes
at a time where it's all easy and pretty and flows. But about this time, it
starts to be harder. Sometimes I have to force myself to sit at that damn
computer all day before I reach my page goal for the day. And I check my email
more. I find little busy jobs that have to be done (these are days I pray
for the new RT so I can use the excuse of entering in the next month's
Historical releases and make their links). I'm not panicking yet, but I'm
definitely feeling the work involved.
Stage 6: Oh My
GAWD, I'm writing the worst book EVER!
Welcome to panic. At this point in the process, I am sure the book sucks. I
am sure I'm repeating myself over and over and banging the internal conflicts to
death with a ladle. My heroine is too stupid to live. My hero is a weanie. I
will never finish and if I do, it will be a miracle if anyone ever wants to read
this tripe. This is the point where I'm certain I have to go back and fix the
crap I've written. But I'm a 'head down' writer (Jennifer Crusie called it that
years go and it's a wonderful phrase that describes it perfectly). Essentially
that means I don't revise as I write. If I re-read sections, it's only get
myself in gear to write in the morning. I don't correct as I go, I just go. I
know I will fix it once I'm done.
This means that when I'm sure I'm writing the worst book ever, I have to ignore that voice and just move to the next sentence, the next word or even the next letter if it comes down to it. I pray for a few golden pages to make me feel better and I look for the light at the end of the tunnel that signals the end is near.
Stage 7: Well,
thank goodness that's over. I will clearly never work in this town again.
And then... it's over. I write the final sentence and write THE END (which
will be removed later, but I don't care, I write it anyway because it makes me
happy). A glow washes over me because I just did the thing I never knew I could
do in 1999 when I started seriously pursuing this career. Finish a book and
another and another and another. But the doubt is still alive and well. I pretty
much always close that completed document absolutely sure that this book is the
worst thing I've ever written and that if I present it to my agent or editor
that it will send them running into the street screaming and cursing the day
they ever agreed to represent and/or publish me.
Luckily, this stage is generally followed by stage 7A. A break. I catch up on email. I update websites. I read books that got neglected while I wrote. This down time helps me get refocused so that when I start to revise, I'll do it with a clean slate. It depends on how I feel about the book and how soon someone wants it, but I try (TRY) to take at least a month between finishing the book and revising the book. Sometimes that doesn't happen though. Sometimes I get curious and start revising after a couple of weeks.
Stage 8: Huh...
this ain't bad.
And then the day comes where I take the manuscript that I have printed out
and read it. You know what? I rarely hate it as much as I think I did when I
finished. I find parts I really like, which is wonderful. And I find places
where I could improve. But on the whole, I realize it's not the worst thing that
was ever written and I probably won't scar anyone for life once I submit the
piece.
Stage 9: Nails,
hair and lack thereof.
The final stage and in some ways the scariest. I finish revision, I get
whatever feedback I've asked for from critique partners or my literary agent...
and then I send it on. And wait. And hope. Oh yeah... and start the process over
again with a new book.