Heading for the Finish Line
By Juliet Marillier | September 4, 2008 |
I’m due to deliver my novel Heart’s Blood to the publishers (one Australian, one English, one American) at the end of November. Over my next three monthly posts to WU, I’ll be sharing the countdown to that deadline.
Ideally, by now I’d have finished the manuscript. I’d be setting it aside for a few weeks before coming back to it with fresh eyes for a final revision. But this has been a tricky book to write, and I still have a way to go. However, failing some cataclysmic event, I will have the ms finished to my satisfaction by November 30 and submit it on time.
This is my second book for Roc (Penguin) in the US – my first novel for this publisher is Heir to Sevenwaters, coming out in November. Prior to this 2-book contract I’d never been given a maximum word count for an adult novel. My editor at Roc requires the ms to be between 140-160,000 words, significantly shorter than any of my previous adult books. Heart’s Blood has quite a complex story in which the protagonist, a scribe, unravels a mystery via a collection of old papers. The narrative is in first person, but relies considerably on the device of documents such as letters, journals, botanical notebooks etc to tell a past story that runs parallel with the present one. The plot involves a family curse that has shadowed four generations. Telling the story in 160,000 words is a challenge.
So where am I currently? At 137,000 words, with two or three chapters to go – just entering the race-to-the-climax, tie-up-the-loose-ends stage of the book. My chapters come in at around 10,000 words. I’m on Chapter 13.
If it shocks you that I seem to be still working on the first draft with the deadline looming, note that I don’t write a series of complete drafts of any book. There is no set process for writing a novel, no requirement to produce a certain number of drafts. Some writers do thirty. Some do one. I can’t tell you what draft I’m on. After the control freak planning stage, which includes writing an outline, synopsis and chapter plan, my process involves almost continuous revision.
I work a few chapters at a time, writing then revising and polishing. Write Ch 1-3. Revise Ch 1-3. Tweak the plan. Write Ch 4-6. Revise Ch 1-6. Tweak the plan. Write Ch 7-9. Revise Ch 1-9. Tweak the plan again, and so on until the ms is finished. Then one big editorial sweep through the whole book, usually after a complete break. As you can see, most of the ms will have had numerous revisions by the time I’m writing the final chapters. The initial planning takes time but makes the later stages of the writing much quicker. So it’s not as horrific as it seems that I still haven’t written the end of this book. Chances are, those earlier chapters won’t need much revision.
That’s not to say I’m completely calm about the situation. I’d like the ms to be closer to completion at this point. Here are a few rules I’m following to help myself get it done:
1. Impose a word count. I’m currently working to a set page count per day.
2. Move away from the PC and write with pen and paper for part of the day. Word process after thinking time. The animals believe I should sit on the couch or out in the sun to write. This means they can lie right next to me, or on me, and impart a sense of calm. A switch between writing methods or a change of physical setting can spark creativity.
3. Disconnect the PC from the Internet while writing. Saves masses of time.
4. Reduce television viewing. Not so hard for me as I don’t watch much anyway. If I’m satisfied with what I’ve written during the day, I may watch a program later as a reward.
5. Keep fit. Get good sleep. Take time out, even when desperate to work on your manuscript. I’m especially proud of having joined the gym and maintained a regular exercise routine for the last few months. Animals provide a model of how to relax. The picture shows Outlaw and Sonia, both aged 14, enjoying some quality time together.
On the first Thursday of October I’ll report on my progress. My aim is to have the last chapters completed and be ready to begin a revision of the whole ms.
Juliet Marillier has written twenty-four novels for adults and young adults and two collections of short fiction. Her works of historical fantasy have been published around the world and have won numerous awards. Juliet’s most recent series was Warrior Bards, of which the third and final book, A Song of Flight, was published in 2021. Her collection of reimagined fairy tales, Mother Thorn and Other Tales of Courage and Kindness, had its trade release in 2022. Mother Thorn is illustrated by Kathleen Jennings and published by Serenity Press.
Juliet is currently working on a two-book fantasy series. The first book in this duology, The Amber Owl, will be published by New Dawn in February 2025.
When not writing, Juliet looks after a small crew of rescue dogs.
thanks for sharing a window into your working routine that bring success. and i love the picture of Outlaw and Sonia.
Wow, Juliet. That’s a pretty ambitious time-table.
Kudos for remaining calm.
“A switch between writing methods or a change of physical setting can spark creativity.”
I’m I big believer in the power of the pencil, too. My stuff is scribbled all over the place. And it offers the bonus of mobility.
I haven’t yet had the emotional fortitude to do #3. :-)
Thea, Outlaw and Sonia usually don’t rest in such a cosy position – it was one of those felicitous moments! They are both lovely, sedate old animals. It’s the other two who create most of the drama around here.
Kath, a lot of the time I’m not so calm, but having a plan helps me keep my focus. I floundered in the middle of this book. To get out of the slump, I tried writing in more of a pantser mode for a bit, which went against all my natural inclinations. That got the flow going, but I wasn’t happy with what I had written and axed most of it.
The final book is going to be far, far different from the original synopsis I wrote about two years ago. Which just goes to show (I hope) that the planning method doesn’t necessarily stifle creativity.
Juliet – Thank you, so much, for sharing this. I work much the same way, writing then revising, and then revising the revising, and so forth. I thought perhaps I was the only writer in the universe that revisited their work in that manner. I take heart from your words as I have not yet been published as a novelist. Perhaps all the painstaking will in the end pay off.
I’m glad it was useful, Nora. I reckon rather than straight out planners and pantsers, we’re all somewhere on a continuum between the extremes. You and I are close to the arch-planner end of the line. I hope it works for you!
Instinctively I started doing 1-5 too, and I’m finding a huge upswing in productivity. Best of luck finishing on time!
Thanks Kristan – I’m on target so far.
When revising, is it hard on occasion to stop revising? I believe that I would have that problem, being obsessive compulsive when it comes to writing, the endless possibilities of how you can end this chapter, what certain event leads to another to another; Things such as this would drive me mad if I were to write a book.
Maureen
I’m sure that depends on the individual writer, Maureen. Some people do revise obsessively, and some books take a lot longer to write than others.
I don’t have that problem. I’m almost always writing to fulfil a contract, with a deadline to meet. I hate being late for anything. That means that, although the period leading up to the deadline can be somewhat fraught, as now, I make sure my manuscript is finished and polished in time. I’m reasonably efficient about editing because I have to be.
Of course, after the ms deadline there’s another phase when the editor’s report arrives, no doubt full of further suggested revisions. I’ll share that experience here in January, the month in which I will be working on that report.
Just curious: Did you always use the planning method? Was that the method you used on Daughter of the Forest?
Had you published anything prior to DOTF such as a short story?
Samira, Daughter of the Forest was planned out in advance, but my writing method was a lot less organised than it is now – that novel was written part time over three years, while I had a full time day job. The fairy tale The Six Swans provided me with the framework of the novel, and I did know exactly what I planned to do with it right from the start.
I did write quite a lot as a student, and had one or two short pieces published (I haven’t retained copies.) However, in the 30 years or so prior to writing DOTF I wrote almost no fiction, short or long, and didn’t submit any for publication.
My reason for getting published so late in life wasn’t that I tried and failed to be published. It was more that I wasn’t ready to write seriously until then.