Putting a Notion into Motion
This weekend, I had the privilege of participating in a panel discussion at the Amelia Island Book Festival. Moderated by the author and artist, Donna Overly, we tackled the topic of how to get what is inside of us out onto the page and into a book––without getting waylaid by the many obstacles we face.
I was joined by published local authors Kristine Ochu, Julia McDermott, and James Bruner, who shared many helpful and instructive tips for optimizing writing success. While we didn’t use prepared remarks, I wanted to share the notes I used to get ready to address the the big questions of “What inspired your current book?” and “What strategies and techniques did you use when stuck?”
RELUCTANCE
Initially, I did not want to write my story. I’d lived it, was traumatized by it, and just wanted to forget about it.
START WHERE YOU ARE
An author/historian friend of mine, Christopher P. Moore, insisted I had a story to tell and kept encouraging me to do it. I refused.
Then he interviewed me for a play he was writing about 9/11.
When I came home, I wrote 20 pages that felt like an involuntary regurgitation. That was 2011!
GET SUPPORT
The very first step I took after that was to attend the Friday Night Write-Ins offered by Gotham Writing. There, they give a prompt, everyone writes for 15 minutes and then can read their work aloud––only positive feedback allowed.
The discipline I imposed for myself was that whatever the prompt, I would write about my life. The purpose was to see if I could get comfortable exposing myself in that way.
At first, I could only do it in the third person, and never with a name—always an anonymous “she.”
KEEP AT IT
I began with a one day intensive on Memoir, learning about the genre.
Then I took a ten week introductory Memoir course where participants submitted and critiqued one another’s work. Over the years, I progressed to Memoir II and Memoir—Book Length courses.
But my ability to move forward with writing was dependent on my willingness to do my personal work focused on coming to terms with myself and my experiences. That included therapy and personal development workshops.
TAKE A BREAK
I took a four year break when I started dating my now husband…I wanted to live in the moment and was sick of looking back. That was 2014.
TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS
I returned to the project when I was at one of those personal development workshops and woke up from a dream with a scene in my head. Synchronistically, that workshop leader was about to offer a writing studio intensive.
I got serious in 2019, but I still wasn’t convinced I would finish, or that I wanted to finish, or what I would do if I did finish. That writing studio intensive showed me a way forward without committing to an outcome.
Be open to resources and opportunities that appear when you need them.
MANY WAYS TO PROGRESS
I inched forward, shuffling, dragging my feet.
I joined the Works In Progress critique/writing group here on Amelia Island—one of the best decisions I made.
Together with writing classes I took online (Character, Plot, Book Proposals, The Courage to Complete, How to Write About What You Don’t Remember, to name a few), I honed my craft, improved my writing, got comfortable telling my story.
If you can’t write, you can edit, organize, research, take a class, join a group, make an outline…
INVEST IN YOUR PROJECT
Time and money and attention
I was stuck for a long time with a “murky middle” and hired one of my writing teachers to read the entire manuscript (at that point, over 200 pages.) Her feedback and suggestions allowed me to complete my full first draft, nearly ten years after that initial 20 pages.
Inspired by the diligence and success of my writing group partners, I began to say “when” I finish, not “if” I finish. I polished up my manuscript sufficiently to submit to the Florida Writers Association’s Royal Palm Literary Awards and won the Gold for unpublished memoir in 2023. This further encouraged me to rewrite, using the fantastic feedback from the RPLA readers.
After that, I hired yet another writing teacher for manuscript doctoring, leading to even more revisions and an improved draft close to 300 pages.
I’ve had a variety of beta readers who have also given me invaluable feedback.
I am still writing, editing, and polishing, but now I am ready for the hard work of finding an agent and publisher.
