If April Was the Dark Night of the Soul

(and it was)

then May was Act 3: the climax (finals/recitals/end-of-year field trips) and denouement (summer break!). The children are all pleased to be done with school, and I am pleased to have them around more to entertain Willoughby, the Greater Swiss Extravaganza and Endless Attention Seeker.

What I’m Working On:

I’m still battling my way through rain and sleet and snow and hail to get to the end of The Second Greatest Thief in New York. I’ve deleted almost 12,000 words from the manuscript and written 16,000 new words. The ending, as it turns out, needs to be completely rewritten. I emailed my agent and told her I would not be getting the revised manuscript to her in mid-May, and she very kindly told me to take all the time I need. Here’s hoping I get it to her in June; HOWEVER,

The June MFA residency week fast approaches, and I am also busily prepping to lecture on novel endings (ironic, I know) and short stories which, Neil Gaiman suggests, are like the ending of a novel. By this he means that a short story leaves out or implies a lot of the backstory/character development/setting in order to arrive quickly at the climax. So, I’m rereading the short stories and novels I assigned and trying to decide what writing exercises I want the students to attempt during our week together. The week always goes far too quickly, and I am continually trying to figure out the best way to stuff the students with as much information and practical advice as possible.

What I’m Reading:

I’m about to wrap up Piranesi for the third time (yes, it’s that good) and am looking forward to discussing with the students how well Susanna Clarke times her reveals. I’m also rereading Gilead and am marinating in the characters and the comfortable, quiet pace. For an audiobook, I’m listening to The Falcon Thief which is one of those true stories that feels almost unbelievable. Who thought smuggling endangered bird eggs from Britain to the UAE was an acceptable vocation? Jeffery Lendrum, that’s who.

Writing Tip:

One of the things I’ve been thinking about a lot as I bring this manuscript revision in for a landing is reader expectations. When someone reads the first page or first chapter of your book, they’re going to form certain expectations about what they’re getting into, and it’s your job to figure out what those are and whether you satisfied them by the end of the story. In fact, one of the very best things a beta reader can do when they’re reading your manuscript is write in the margins the expectations that pop into their head as they’re reading.

For example, in one of the first drafts of The Sinking City, I had introduced a world with magical duels and spells galore, and my main character went from being a sheltered nobleman’s daughter to serving as a magician’s apprentice. Apprentices are not supposed to use magic, so what do we expect to happen? We expect her to break the rules and learn some magic. I had her doing a very small amount, but my editor informed me that everyone and their dog would be waiting for the moment where Liona busts out some very cool spells to help her overcome/win/escape. So, I wrote those scenes in, and they’re now some of my favorites in the novel.

(incidentally: I know that some people were really expecting/hoping/wanting Liona to go to the Seleni’s watery palaces, and while that would have been very cool, it didn’t fit the mood of the story I was wanting to tell. It would have felt like a sharp right turn into pure fantasy, and I wanted to keep the fantasy more on the outskirts of the tale.

As I’ve been trying to figure out the ending for Thief, I’ve gone back to the question of “what do the readers expect/want” many times. What would they think was really cool? What tools/abilities have I given my characters that they haven’t used or shown yet? What parts of the world could I explore a little more? It’s a great way to overcome writer’s block and get yourself excited about your story again.

That’s all for May! See you in June.

Christine