In 1978...My first Novel's journey

In 1978 I took a creative writing class at the local Junior College and wrote a short story.  The instructor, Jackson Connelly, wanted me to do more with it, but I wasn't interested.  Honestly, I really didn't know what more to do with it. 

Fast forward thirty-eight years and I still have that story in my drawer.  Looking for something to fill the void between remodeling the house, dropping hundred foot trees in the yard and babysitting grandchildren I decided to join a writing group or two in my area, here in Washington state.  

I presented my short story to the groups.  Low and behold, they suggested that I do something more with it after blooding it with red ink in critiques.  Another two years has passed and I no longer have a short story.  I have a novel of 80K words.  Month after month chapters still got bloodied with critiques.  I have say, less red ink than in the beginning.

Funny thing is writing a coming-of-age story set in the mid-thirties was about the last thing I thought I would do as my reading preference is Sci-fi and fantasy.  Go figure.   Nevertheless I learned a lot.  Here are some of the things I figured out.

1. I can write about anything.  Now, with that said, it doesn't mean what I write is accurate or interesting  But it is to me.  If I want my writing to be accurate that's where research comes into play.  One thing about research I found is I cannot rely completely on memory.  Many of the components in my book stem from what I observed of my parents and grandparents that lived in the period.  I can tell you my recollection is faulty with facts, but not feelings.  As far as interesting goes, that is subjective.  You will like my story, or parts of it, or not.  That is the artistic side of me coupled with skill to project a story that isn't full of all the goofs that put the reader off.
2. I find there are as many ways to construct a book as there are people writing them.  Some plot and lay out every minutia of the story in outlines, spreadsheets and other story generating software.  Some write to perfection each paragraph before moving to the next.  Some write out of order, I suppose as inspiration hits them; then they stitch it all together in the edit.   You get the idea.  Here is what I did.
1. I had a short story to prime the pump, so to speak. 
2. I wrote the story in order.  Only once I shifted a later chapter to an earlier point to remove it from its flashback status and reworked it to real time.
3. I invented characters as they appeared in the story.  The side-kick and mentor to the protagonist appeared.  After writing the first encounter, I broke off and spent a couple days developing the side-kicks backstory.  With that in place I could develop depth to his character as the story developed.  I did that with every character in the book, and to a lesser extent the flat/minor players.
4. I had an end in mind.  There were times I wondered if I was going to reach that end.  But I did, even though the climax or the event everyone was looking forward too came much earlier than the finish.  
5. I had an underlying message or theme that acted as the compass to the development of the story.  In this case, it was positive, hopeful and that not all things are as they seem. 
6. I found that even though I wrote myself into a corner I had only to wait for the paint to dry to write my way out of it.  That took me about six weeks to figure out how to avoid a premature climax.  During that time, I hardly wrote anything other than a few flash fiction pieces for fun.
7. Breaks help.  Beside what I wrote in f. above, I took a month off to vacation across the U.S. and didn't write anything during that time.  When I settled down at the keyboard I was able to pound out another 30K  in the following month and finish the book.
8. I'm not good enough to write in a vacuum.  I need feedback, critiques, and the encouragement I get from the two writing groups I attend each month.  Some authors in the groups present perfect prose most the time.  I strive to do the same and fall short every time.  Yet, with them setting the bar so high I have had to stretch.  That has improved my writing leaps and bounds.
3. Finish.  At least the first draft from the opening sentence to 'The End'.  Several people in my writing groups are on second and third books.  Others, fizzle.  That's okay.   We all lose interest in something our heart really isn't in.  So, write something else.  There have been skilled story mentors in the group, that their sage advice has merit and has improved my storytelling when I've taken it.  Yet, they have never finished anything - in years.

There, that is where I am at the present.  In the editing mode.  Starting to send feelers out to agents.  I know it's a long haul.  I don't attend conferences.  My efforts are part time, because of things I mentioned earlier; that means my results will be protracted or never come to fruition.  The last I hope to avoid.

I have three more chapters to present to the groups for critique.  Then I'll be nearly done.  The beta-reading phase is needed where I can get feedback from skilled eyes on the whole work, not just chapter by chapter over a couple years.  Although the grammar isn't too bad, it needs a going over by an editor for that, content and readability.  I know I’m too close to it.  There has been to many times when I thought I was presenting some of my best writing only to get slapped severely about the head and shoulders by the ruthless gang of critiquers.   I simply need help.

Thanks for dropping by.

E.J. Hall