I reaching a strange point in my writing journey: most of my ideas are best explored in a science fiction format, but I don't enjoy reading science fiction (lack of humor, humdrum prose, etc.). So I'm writing scripts for comic books. The 20-page, 6- issue arc is a structure that is very helpful for me. I can lay it out and say, Yes, 3 pages to introduce this character, 6 pp to heighten this conflict. And then the rest of the space, I can use how I want. Haven't sold one yet, but whatever.
I love that, Jim! I think our job, as I heard Steve Almond say at AWP, is to outlast doubt. Along with writing things that amuse or move us (or both) - that's the only sure reward.
The industry shares one characteristic with trad publishing: It's always on the verge of collapse. And its creators are MUCH less helpful than people like you and other prose writers -- years of weird chicanery have given creators a "pull the ladder up when you reach the treehouse" mentality. But I'm from Detroit. I'm stubborn. I will survive, and only use pipebombs as a last resort.
I've never understood that mentality and it really chaps my hide. But it's more prevalent, I'm sure, than many of us want to think. There's also a phenomenon called the pink curtain - which is used to describe situations where women don't help other women out, esp. in a career-related situation.
I'm so glad you suggested this topic, Yasmina, and I Hope the winter, despite the cold weather and the election cycle, will be a lot less stressful than last summer/fall.
Thanks for this extremely interesting look into your writing process, Christine. Always inspiring. Since retiring from medicine, I find myself with many full days in a row to write and am having to struggle against the urge to procrastinate until late afternoon (although, I'm often very productive them). There's no magic forumla, that's for sure, but it's time to try early morning writing again, per your example.
It's true, Frank - the only thing we can control is how often and how well we write, and I have been feeling more grounded since I started writing early in the day - otherwise as many days as not, I wouldn't write at all because there is always so much else to do. Happy Thanksgiving to you - hope you are having a good week (i think you're in Virginia?)
It fascinates me that you have written ten full novels (plus significant partials) that remain unpublished. Maybe fascinates in a somewhat horrified way. If I found out a favorite author had multiple manuscripts stashed away, I would sure want at them. What do you think of the posthumous publication of works by well-known writers?
My early novels are in need of a lot of work - or should never be published at all - but the later ones that I haven't published, well, my agent tried but we were dogged by my midlist author sales track. And the other novels I never finished, most of those are from earlier in my career too. I really have thought of my fiction-writing as a job as well as a calling.
If my first 4 published books had sold better, there'd probably have been a corporate press publishing a book of mine every year or two. (I've slowed down in the last few years though--out of disappointment as much as fatigue). I modeled my own practice on Updike's and Stephen King's who simply get (or in Updike's case, got) down to it, one day after another.
My husband and I are both writers. His job was writing, legal writing, explaining the law to non-lawyers, mainly. Not long before he retired, his salary climbed into six figures. Now that he’s retired, husband doesn’t write. I am at the opposite extreme. I am a poet. Poetry doesn’t make money. In fact, poets typically pay out — in reading fees, contest entry fees, classes — more than they ever garner. I have hella unpublished verbiage. I do publish regularly, though rarely in high prestige journals. I don’t keep office hours dedicated to writing, daily or otherwise, though for a poet I am generally considered prolific. Depending on poetry to pay a bill would be, in my case at any rate, madness. I cling to the notion (delusion?) that I am toiling in favor of a higher calling. I am free from the demands of the market. I guess? I pretend I am writing for the ages, that someone will care about my poems past my lifetime, but it is most likely my efforts will evaporate like the efforts of the vast majority of us when I am no longer around to keep them sweaty. A favorite author since childhood is L. Frank Baum. He wrote the Wizard of Oz. Baum was a King-Updike-esque professional in that he wrote a lot and made his living that way. I am currently reading some work he cranked out for newspapers. Long out of print, it is , sadly, bad writing. But there are enough people like me who fell head over heels for Baum’s good writing that, when we run out of it, will scrabble in the bin for a tad bit more, even if we end up disappointed.
In Sean Singer's The Sharpener newsletter, he sent out an essay on Saturday about the difficulties of making a living as a poet - very apropos to what you've written above. One of the problems is that the main distributor of books, Ingram, essentially has a monopoly on distribution to bookstores, and small presses can't really afford the big cut Ingram takes on each book. The list price of the book is discounted 40% for the bookseller too, so most presses only make a couple of dollars per new title sold, if that (and earn nothing on used book sales).
This is terrific - I'm starting a...novel? book of short stories? linked stories? now and it's both exhilarating and terrifying to be diving into something new, after 8 years with the same set of characters. I love your dinner party metaphor! And the Enright quote. One of my favorite quotes, from Clarice Lispector: "I write and that way rid myself of me and then at last I can rest."
Thank you, Barbara! Btw, I'm using your NOVEL IDEAS text in my Stanford Contg Studies class this winter quarter - maybe you'd be willing to be a virtual guest and talk to my class? I'll see if I have your email - I think I do (SCS offers a small honorarium too).
I reaching a strange point in my writing journey: most of my ideas are best explored in a science fiction format, but I don't enjoy reading science fiction (lack of humor, humdrum prose, etc.). So I'm writing scripts for comic books. The 20-page, 6- issue arc is a structure that is very helpful for me. I can lay it out and say, Yes, 3 pages to introduce this character, 6 pp to heighten this conflict. And then the rest of the space, I can use how I want. Haven't sold one yet, but whatever.
I love that, Jim! I think our job, as I heard Steve Almond say at AWP, is to outlast doubt. Along with writing things that amuse or move us (or both) - that's the only sure reward.
The industry shares one characteristic with trad publishing: It's always on the verge of collapse. And its creators are MUCH less helpful than people like you and other prose writers -- years of weird chicanery have given creators a "pull the ladder up when you reach the treehouse" mentality. But I'm from Detroit. I'm stubborn. I will survive, and only use pipebombs as a last resort.
I've never understood that mentality and it really chaps my hide. But it's more prevalent, I'm sure, than many of us want to think. There's also a phenomenon called the pink curtain - which is used to describe situations where women don't help other women out, esp. in a career-related situation.
Maybe it's thinking there are only so many seats in the boat, and they are not giving them up. A scarcity model.
Yes, for sure.
Thanks for writing this, Christine. Summer/Fall 23 were pretty tough for me, so I just got around to reading this. So helpful . Thank you.
I'm so glad you suggested this topic, Yasmina, and I Hope the winter, despite the cold weather and the election cycle, will be a lot less stressful than last summer/fall.
Thanks for this extremely interesting look into your writing process, Christine. Always inspiring. Since retiring from medicine, I find myself with many full days in a row to write and am having to struggle against the urge to procrastinate until late afternoon (although, I'm often very productive them). There's no magic forumla, that's for sure, but it's time to try early morning writing again, per your example.
It's true, Frank - the only thing we can control is how often and how well we write, and I have been feeling more grounded since I started writing early in the day - otherwise as many days as not, I wouldn't write at all because there is always so much else to do. Happy Thanksgiving to you - hope you are having a good week (i think you're in Virginia?)
It fascinates me that you have written ten full novels (plus significant partials) that remain unpublished. Maybe fascinates in a somewhat horrified way. If I found out a favorite author had multiple manuscripts stashed away, I would sure want at them. What do you think of the posthumous publication of works by well-known writers?
My early novels are in need of a lot of work - or should never be published at all - but the later ones that I haven't published, well, my agent tried but we were dogged by my midlist author sales track. And the other novels I never finished, most of those are from earlier in my career too. I really have thought of my fiction-writing as a job as well as a calling.
If my first 4 published books had sold better, there'd probably have been a corporate press publishing a book of mine every year or two. (I've slowed down in the last few years though--out of disappointment as much as fatigue). I modeled my own practice on Updike's and Stephen King's who simply get (or in Updike's case, got) down to it, one day after another.
My husband and I are both writers. His job was writing, legal writing, explaining the law to non-lawyers, mainly. Not long before he retired, his salary climbed into six figures. Now that he’s retired, husband doesn’t write. I am at the opposite extreme. I am a poet. Poetry doesn’t make money. In fact, poets typically pay out — in reading fees, contest entry fees, classes — more than they ever garner. I have hella unpublished verbiage. I do publish regularly, though rarely in high prestige journals. I don’t keep office hours dedicated to writing, daily or otherwise, though for a poet I am generally considered prolific. Depending on poetry to pay a bill would be, in my case at any rate, madness. I cling to the notion (delusion?) that I am toiling in favor of a higher calling. I am free from the demands of the market. I guess? I pretend I am writing for the ages, that someone will care about my poems past my lifetime, but it is most likely my efforts will evaporate like the efforts of the vast majority of us when I am no longer around to keep them sweaty. A favorite author since childhood is L. Frank Baum. He wrote the Wizard of Oz. Baum was a King-Updike-esque professional in that he wrote a lot and made his living that way. I am currently reading some work he cranked out for newspapers. Long out of print, it is , sadly, bad writing. But there are enough people like me who fell head over heels for Baum’s good writing that, when we run out of it, will scrabble in the bin for a tad bit more, even if we end up disappointed.
In Sean Singer's The Sharpener newsletter, he sent out an essay on Saturday about the difficulties of making a living as a poet - very apropos to what you've written above. One of the problems is that the main distributor of books, Ingram, essentially has a monopoly on distribution to bookstores, and small presses can't really afford the big cut Ingram takes on each book. The list price of the book is discounted 40% for the bookseller too, so most presses only make a couple of dollars per new title sold, if that (and earn nothing on used book sales).
How cool that you're using the book! I'd love to be a virtual guest. barbshoup@gmail.com
Thank you, Barb - will be in touch soon!
This is terrific - I'm starting a...novel? book of short stories? linked stories? now and it's both exhilarating and terrifying to be diving into something new, after 8 years with the same set of characters. I love your dinner party metaphor! And the Enright quote. One of my favorite quotes, from Clarice Lispector: "I write and that way rid myself of me and then at last I can rest."
I love that quote from Clarice L too! I’d never seen it before - thanks for sharing it.
Writing requires an ordinate amount of chutzpah—especially over the long term.
Yes! Faith and lunacy. Great post
Thank you, Barbara! Btw, I'm using your NOVEL IDEAS text in my Stanford Contg Studies class this winter quarter - maybe you'd be willing to be a virtual guest and talk to my class? I'll see if I have your email - I think I do (SCS offers a small honorarium too).
Another excellent installment of Bookish. Thanks so much for sharing your writing process for these three novels -- all of which I loved -- with us.
Thank you, chère Sheryl!
Excellent.