When In Doubt, Look Around
By Matthew Norman | June 29, 2021 |
Two summers ago, I was having a hell of time getting my forth novel, ALL TOGETHER NOW, off the ground. For me, starting a book always feels like struggling to get a kite in the air. You take a deep breath and start running, hoping and hoping, but then, over and over, the damn thing nose dives and you have to start all over again.
I had the beachy setting all dialed in. I’d outlined the plot from start to finish. I had the characters drawn out nicely in my head. The problem: I couldn’t figure out the tone. I just didn’t know how the book should sound.
In ALL TOGETHER NOW, which came out on June 15, I tackle the most serious subject matter of my writing career. A dying thirty-five-year-old billionaire invites his three best friends to their beloved Fenwick Island in Delaware to say goodbye and to try to repair each of their battered lives. I know, heavy, right? But I didn’t want the book to read like “a big, serious novel.” Sure, I understood that sadness and sentimentality were inevitable, but I wanted it to be funny, too. After all, I’m a comedic novelist, right? <Insert laugh track here>
My initial attempts—freewriting, mostly—were far too depressing. I’d take breaks from reading my own paragraphs to lay my head on the closest flat surface and sigh. My next attempts were worse. Like a study in overcorrection, I found myself writing what sounded like four amateur standup comedians riffing and wisecracking incessantly. I needed to somehow strike a balance—and I was failing miserably.
And then one morning my wife and I took our dogs for a walk on the beach.
We happened to be in Fenwick Island at the time, which was convenient. Fenwick is just a few hours from where we live in Baltimore, so we spend a lot of time there. As our idiot dogs chased after each other, I noticed something odd maybe fifty yards off in the distance. When I went to investigate, I found an abandoned, partially deflated smiley-face beach ball tipped sideways in the sand.
I’m a devout follower of pure randomness. I don’t believe in signs, and I don’t think things are ever “meant to be.” But when I looked down at that poor, pathetic ball, a clearing formed instantly in my mind, because I knew that it represented the exact tone I was going for.
I took a picture with my iPhone and spent the next day staring at it. It was funny, but there was melancholy there, too, along with a hint of darkness in those low-lit clouds. It was a seemingly happy thing that had been knocked on its side. It was beaten and dirty and damaged and it was quickly losing air…but it was doing its best to look on the bright side. I mean, my God, it was perfect.
When the book was mostly finished and my editor and I were working through late edits, I sent her the picture I’d taken, and I gave her an abbreviated version of the above story. Since I’d actually written the busted beach ball into the novel (it appears twice), she thought it’d be a good idea to send the image to the creative team for possible cover design inspiration. As you can see, it clearly worked.
The takeaway here is a reminder of something that we all already know and have each undoubtedly experienced many times. Writing a book is difficult—writing anything is difficult—and there are problems at every, every turn. So often, though, the solutions to those problems won’t be found at your desk.
Talk to People…And Listen
Writing is the ultimate echo chamber, particularly fiction writing, because, at least presumably, the characters are make-believe products of your own imagination. The fact they come from you alone makes them vulnerable to being limited to your own personal perspective, worldview, and sum of experiences. Breaking out of those guard rails can be as simple as a chat with someone who isn’t you—and who actually exists. There’s no literary crime against running your premise, your conflict, and your characters’ behavior by another person. Listen to what they have to say. They may surprise you—and they may help you discover things you never would’ve found on your own.
Read, Watch, Look At & Listen to Art
I read an interview with Stephen King once in which he said that many of his ideas over the years have actually been bounces off of other artists’ work. I love that word in this context—bounce—because it denotes something sudden and unpredictable. How many times has this happened to you? You’re reading a great book or watching a great show or listening to some fantastic song by a talented band, and an idea suddenly hits you. It’s a wonderful feeling, right? Don’t get me wrong; I’m not talking about copying, and neither was Mr. King. I believe that when you’re experiencing art, the creative parts of your brain are fully active and alert. This is particular true for me when it comes to music. For example, if Jeff Tweedy, the lead singer of the band Wilco, had never sung the lyric “I’m worried, I’m worried, I’m worried, I’m always in love,” my debut novel, Domestic Violets, would never have existed.
Go Outside and Look Around
When all else fails…go outside and see what’s going on out there. Take a walk. Go for a drive. Marooned beach balls. A little girl with a pink shovel helping her dad clear snow. A rainbow reflecting off pooled motor oil on the pavement after a storm. A young couple arguing beside an idling Uber. A dog sticking its nose through a hole in a fence to say hello. I could go on and on, and so could you. If you keep your eyes open, there are fantastic things to see everywhere—things that’ll inspire you, jumpstart your next project, and solve your most frustrating creative problems. My advice: when the world shows you one of these things, take a picture. You might get a cover out of it.
Have you ever been struck by unexpected inspiration? Do you have a go-to activity when you’re feeling creatively blocked? Is there an art form you turn to for inspiration: novels, music, the visual arts? Over to you!
Matthew Norman is the author of five novels. His latest, Charm City Rocks, is out now from Dell. His debut novel, Domestic Violets, was nominated in the Best Humor Category at the 2011 Goodreads Choice Awards, and his second novel, We’re All Damaged, was an Amazon bestseller. His upcoming novel, Grace & Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon, will be out in October. He lives with his wife and two daughters in Baltimore and holds an MFA from George Mason University.
Thanks for this great post, Matthew. It’s so important for us as writers to pay attention to the world around us. We never know what random detail will inspire us and trigger a story. Stumbling upon something like that beach ball is pure gold. Also, we need to read and follow what’s going on in the world. My second novel was inspired, in part, by an article in The Boston Globe many years ago about the dying practice (forgive the pun) of having wakes for the dead in the home, rather than in a funeral parlor. And, you have gained my total respect by quoting Jeff Tweedy’s lyrics. I am a huge Wilco fan and often listen to their music in my earbuds when writing fiction. I must check out your first novel. Thanks again for sharing these helpful insights.
Hey, CG. Wilco is just the very, very best. They were a huge inspiration for my second novel, too. The fact that their album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was rejected by their label is so astounding to me. Jeff Tweedy was hurt by it, but he believed in himself and his band, so he persevered and kept making music.
Well done piece, Matthew! The craft books are great, journals too. but sometimes we gotta get away from the laptop and the words
and notice what’s outside. Thanks for the reminder.
Hey, Rose. Agreed. Sometimes it’s fun to forget everything we know. It’s very therapeutic.
Love this column. Spot on. Thanks for the reminder,.
Hi, Kathleen. Thanks, and you’re very welcome.
Thanks for the great story and reminder. I’m in the midst of staring at a hairball of information on story structure, characterization, etc. etc. as I prepare to begin my first novel, and this was a breath of fresh air.
Hey, Todd. Thanks. Good luck with the novel!
Wonderful, informative, and useful article. Coincidentally, I am about two-thirds through All Together Now, and loving it (stayed up way past my usual bedtime last night to keep reading!). This is my first introduction to your books. Now, I’m going to go back and read the others. Thanks again for the practical advice.
Hi, Donna. How wonderful. So glad you’re liking the book. Thanks. Sorry I kept you up late. (Actually, I’m not sorry at all!)
Matthew, this post resonated at multiple levels. First, I know the challenge of trying to write funny-but-serious. Or is it serious-but-funny? It’s a balancing act, which I have by no means mastered. But when an author pulls it off, it’s freaking great.
But I also love the beachball metaphor, and the fact that you were so open to it. I lean toward the “there are no coincidences” philosophy, so I think it’s crucial for writers to keep their eyes open for signs that the universe (or whatever) puts in front of us.
I’d never heard the “bounce” reference about Stephen King before, but it’s SO true. I just got my latest idea by reacting to something said by a writer who could not be more different than me: Salman Rushdie. I was listening to his MasterClass (highly recommended, by the way) when he said something that sent me off on a tangent I would NEVER have pursued had I not been listening to him. Yup, I got bounced by Salman Rushdie. Heck, I need to put that on a bumper sticker.
Good luck with All Together Now – I look forward to reading it. And keep staying open to the way the beachball bounces. (See what I did there?)
Hi, Keith. Thanks. I saw Salman Rushdie in a bookstore in NYC once, and I totally embarrassed myself by pretty much staring at him nonstop until he left. So smooth.
I, too, am “a devout follower of pure randomness” and have written several blog posts of my own… but this one proves your point, because its fresh perspective is a great reminder that getting out of my head and listening to others is the best way to find inspiration. Thank you! Can’t wait to read your novel(s).
Hey, Carol. Thanks!
Tone. That is exactly what I am looking for in my newly developing project. So far I have put 1950’s gum-snapping slang into the mouth of a Junior League narrator. I like the effect yet I’m not confident it will work all the way through a lost-girl-in-Paris story with a dark crime underbelly.
I have nearby beaches to walk and that may help, but so may some bouncing off the art of others. The painting of the time (1953) was Abstract Expressionism. The music was be-bop. Mickey Spillane was selling millions of paperbacks. Got more miles to walk and what I appreciate most about your post today is the reassurance that finding tone can take time. Thank you!
Hey, Benjamin. Thanks. Yeah, so, so often I really struggle to find the right tone. It’s so tough to pin down, and even tougher to keep consistent in early drafts. For me it sometimes takes a full draft or two for it to start feeling natural.
Matthew, I loved your story about the beachball and how it came together even on your cover. I no longer believe in coincidences, just God-cidences. As for creative revival–reading, singing, picking flowers, cooking, taking a walk with my dog, napping with my cats, all work for me.
Hey, Vijaya. Yes, dog walks are the best. I have two dogs, and they’re both glorious idiots. I also get a lot of ideas when I’m driving. Not sure why.
I don’t get out much, and then not far (I ride my Airwheel S8, a bicycle seat on a hoverboard around the retirement community campus and out a bit on the greenway), but my touchstone for serendipity is words. I’ll be working on something, and come across the same word in completely different contexts several times in a day or two – and the right thoughts are triggered.
I can’t tell you how many times it has happened. They are always odd words I didn’t expect to see at all except maybe in my own writing – and there they are, confirmation that I’m on the right path with this one.
I should write them down – but I’m afraid to tamper with the working system.
Glad your cover people listened to your photo.
Hi, Alicia. That Airwheel S8 looks awesome! I just googled it.
Matthew, a few years ago, a friend excitedly told me that he’d received an email from someone that described a long icicle that had formed from her roof to a bush below, saying, “It swirled all the way to the shrub.”
He decided that would be such a great (?) title for a novel, and that we should collaborate on it. Me, twenty times, “Uh, well, nah.” Him twenty times twenty: “Yes, we can do it.”
So we did it. The Shrub turned out to a bar in Prohibition Boston, and a fine place to have a tipple it turned out to be.
Beachballs are everywhere. Best success with the book!
Hey, Tom. I love that–a perfect example!
Oh man, I love that kite analogy. It’s so perfect.
As is the picture, and the way it helped you coalesce your thoughts and feelings for your story. Thanks for sharing!
Hey, Kristan. Glad you liked it. Thanks.
“For me, starting a book always feels like struggling to get a kite in the air. You take a deep breath and start running, hoping and hoping, but then, over and over, the damn thing nose dives and you have to start all over again.”
I just had to say that line sums up my process so perfectly and painfully. And I loved your whole story behind the story. Thanks!
Hey, Gwen. Yep…that damn, stupid kite. Why won’t it just fly?
Terrific post, Matthew. Unexpected inspiration is always a joy to get and many of my short stories came from seeing someone in a particular circumstance and having a story jump into my head. The three stories in my collection, The Wisdom of Ages, came to me that way. Luckily my husband didn’t mind that I spent most of the drive to our anniversary get-away writing Maybe Someday. We’d driven past an old black man sitting outside his rural home under a mimosa tree, and I wondered what he thought of the cars going down the country road. That wondering led to three hours of writing his story.
Hey, Maryann. That’s great. Yeah, the spouses and partners of writers definitely need to know what they’re in for. :)