The Secret to Writing a Novel

The Secret to Writing a Novel

My dear friend (and former neighbor) emailed this week to ask my secret to writing a novel. Flattered, I smiled as I read her questions and promptly responded, promising that I would divulge my “wisdom” this weekend in a blog post, per her request.

While washing dishes, folding laundry, or making supper, I thought about how I would approach the topic: would I mention writing out the details for each of my central characters, or the book that really helped me get a firmer grasp on the process of understanding my characters’ motivations?

Oh, the range of possibilities was endless!

Then, on Friday, I received a very kind but thorough email from my publisher, stating that my fourth novel, concluding the Alliance series, needs extensive revisions.

I didn’t quite know what to do after I received that email. I stared at the computer a while, and then I went outside and sat on the outdoor couch, staring out over the field as my husband and two young daughters–all three of them wearing brown leather boots–checked on the raspberry plants.

I got up, walked down the hill to my family, and told my husband about the email. We talked about it for a little, and then the four of us sprawled across the grass because, when it’s 70 and sunny in April in Wisconsin, that’s exactly what you do.

We stared up at the clouds as the incessant, molting rooster crowed, and I thought to myself—I’d rather give birth than rewrite that novel.

Later that night, after our girls were in bed, I left the dishes in the sink, the laundry on the line, the floor unswept, and my husband and I sat on the couch and discussed the various ways I could approach the story, making the plot threads of The Divide as tight as The Alliance.

The next morning, he watched our girls while I went to Amish greenhouses with a friend. I loaded the back of her truck with trays of fragrant perennials and annuals, and then came home, put on a floppy green hat, and tucked those plants in the dirt with my eldest daughter.

A few hours later, my husband and I went out on a date with two friends. As we sat outside, basking in the sunshine while eating pizza, we talked about our journeys and our lives, and I could suddenly see that – not only would I indeed be able to revise this novel – but this setback is an opportunity for growth.

Just as my spiritual journey is not completed, and will not be completed until I meet my Savior face-to-face, my characters’ journeys are not completed as well.

That might sound strange, but my stories are always just extensions of my own narrative arc, and it’s through God’s mercy that I’m forced, in a way, to surrender my writing life back to Him. Otherwise, there’s really no book, no plot device, no quaint methodology that can make a novel work.

I know I can’t revise The Divide on my own strength. But I know the One who is the Author of everything, and He can revise in me that which needs revising, and through Him, I will be able to expound that message in my characters, one sentence at a time.

For artists who may be overwhelmed by a project:

1. Take a step back.
2. Go outside.
3. Plant something.
4. Pray, pray, pray.
5. Talk to your spouse.
6. Talk to a friend.
7. Get a change of scenery.
8. Take time to study your surroundings.
9. Be grateful.
10. Look at setbacks as an opportunity for creative and spiritual growth.

We can do it, friends! I’ll be right there, pressing in beside ya. Or else, I’ll be in the garden, digging in the dirt. 😉

Hugs, Jo