My second novel (WHEN I’M HER, which is now available for preorder!) has been accepted by my publisher. It still needs copyedits and typesetting edits, but these are much less intense than developmental edits. For all intents and purposes, the book is now out of my hands and wending its way toward publication.
Being (mostly) done with my novel is satisfying, not least because creating it wasn’t easy. Best of all, now I get to jump into my very favorite part of writing: idea development!
“Where do you get your ideas?” is the ur-cliche of author interview questions, but I actually don’t mind it. Every writer has their mountains to climb that are extra high, the skills they feel they are less good at, and we all tackle these things in different ways. Some make a methodical plan to improve, then follow their plan to the letter. Some avoid certain tasks until the last possible moment and half-ass them, then half-ass them some more, until the thing is finally whole-assed and done for this project, then panic all over again when they have to do it for the next one. I am, as in most things, somewhere in the middle. (I used to have a coworker who would call out “Liiiibraaaaaa!” from her desk whenever I expressed indecision about anything, and yanno, she wasn’t wrong.)
Anyway, getting ideas is not my mountain. I have enough high-concept premises to last me the rest of my book-writing life (one of my mountains is resisting Shiny New Ideas when I’m supposed to be drafting). Notice I don’t say these ideas are good; just that there are a lot of them. And as anyone who’s gotten an offer to write someone else’s amazing book idea and split the “profits” 50/50 knows, ideas are worth very little.
They’re also personal. One person might think “What if the great gatsby, but camping?” is nonsense. (“Camping Gatsby” is the title of an actual document I have in my actual idea folder, which gives you a sense of the average quality in there!!) Another could see it as the jumping-off point for something great.
(If you want to write a retelling of THE GREAT GATSBY set in an RV park, you have my permission. Not that you need it, because ideas aren’t copyrightable!)
So in preparation for writing my next novel, I’ve been strolling through my idea orchard—which is at the base of Mount First Draft—and plucking some apples. Some of these have been ripening for literal years, and some will end up going back on the tree to ripen some more (these are magical idea apples, not actual apples, so they can do that).
I’ve been daydreaming scenes between my main characters and adding songs to my WIP playlists. (I cannot overstate the importance of music in creating the right energy.) At this stage I don’t worry too much about craft aspects like structure or POV or narrative momentum. I’m coming up with questions about character motivations and secrets, about causes and effects, but those questions don’t need to have answers yet.
This space is both super fun and a little dangerous because the book is still perfect in my head. I’ll see effortless scenes, visually or in prose. A plot might roll itself out, complete with inciting incident, stakes, and resolution, or it might be mostly vibes—but those vibes are immaculate. I could stay here forever. Of course, if I did that, I’d never finish another book.
So after a few weeks spent vibing and daydreaming and coming up with character names (I am not one of those writers who can get through an entire first draft without ever naming their main character! What witchery even is that!) it’s time to figure out if this is a book I can actually write. This is when I type up a rough synopsis of what I have so far and email it to my agent like “Is this a good idea or nah?”
Obviously what is or is not a good idea will be completely subjective, even when it comes to deceptively measurable criteria such as “how many copies could a novel based on this premise potentially sell?” The characteristics of a “good” idea, much like the characteristics of “good” writing, change with time and trends. (If you don’t believe me, ask yourself if Pride and Prejudice could get published today. Too slow! Where’s the hook? There isn’t even any fake dating!)
My agent is an angel because she will never tell me my idea is bad or even that the market for it is iffy. Instead, she’ll come back with questions that throw me a little bit off course while opening my mind to possibilities I hadn’t considered. Critique partners/groups are also good for this! The point is getting external input. If the idea can survive being poked at, it’s usually a good indicator that it could go somewhere.
Still, it’s always a little sad to have the bubble burst. It gets me to pull back on my initial emotional investment (which is good when I need to think about things like pacing) but I never quite return to that original head-in-the-clouds giddiness. The drafting and editing stages are more satisfying, but nothing will ever be as much uncomplicated fun as a new idea.
Author updates
WHEN I’M HER is less than nine months away from publication! (Whaaa?)
The premise:
How far would you go to get even with the woman who ruined your life? In this electrifying thriller, a young woman gets everything she’s ever wanted—and everything she doesn’t—when she swaps bodies with her sworn enemy.
If this sounds like something you’d be into, I’d love for you to add it to your want-to-read list on Goodreads or consider preordering! Both of these actions help build more buzz, which gets more marketing and publicity support (always a challenge for non-debut novels).
Cover reveal coming soon!
Florida residents!
If you’re a registered voter in Florida and believe all Floridians should have the right to bodily autonomy, please sign the petition to put a constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights on the ballot. We need to collect almost 900,000 signatures from at least half the state’s congressional districts by Feb. 1, 2024.
Reading/watching/listening
GOOD NEIGHBORS by Sarah Langan
I’m between shows at the moment, but I recently watched the 1982 Annie with my daughter and I had somehow forgotten that Tim Curry was in it?!? It’s well worth revisiting for him and Carol Burnett alone
Mother Earth’s Plantasia by Mort Garson
If you enjoy my ramblings, you might like my book! NPR said The Other Me “resists categorization, blending the impossible with the probable with the downright plausible.”
Out now in hardcover, paperback, audiobook, and ebook!