Obsession: Is It a Key Ingredient to a Story’s Success?
By Therese Anne Fowler | June 19, 2023 |
Therese (Walsh) here to re-introduce you to former WU contributor Therese Fowler, who–happily for us–is returning to WU as a regular contributor! Therese will also join us as a community session leader at this year’s Writer Unboxed UnConference. Welcome back, Therese!
Greetings, all. It’s been a minute (as they say) since I’ve posted at WU, and I’m pleased to be rejoining the community. I’m known here as “the other Therese,” a label I wear happily.
To frame today’s subject matter, let me first give you a little background about me: I’ve been making my living as a novelist since 2007 and am now seven books into a career that’s had some wonderful highs (three NYT bestsellers and a TV-series adaptation, to name a few) as well as some crushing lows (my third novel, Exposure, was DOA in hardcover and sold so poorly that the publisher decided not to give it a paperback release). I’ve written women’s fiction, biographical-historical fiction, and general fiction, first with Ballantine Books, then with St. Martin’s Press. All of which is to say that I’ve been swinging my pickaxe at the rocks for a long time, now.
Here’s something I’ll bet you already know: for most of us mortals, writing a novel is hard. It’s damn hard, and it usually takes a long time, even if we’re able to work on it daily for hours at a stretch. Months of work. Years, sometimes. Maybe we’ve had rejections or disappointments with previous efforts, which makes choosing and writing a new novel even more challenging. How best to do it? This issue has been on my mind for a lot, lately, and came up in a conversation I had with Therese Prima—i.e. Therese Walsh—this spring. We are both currently “between books” and were discussing what it takes to make it through the long and arduous journey from premise to (ideally) publication.
As many writers do, I find story ideas everywhere I go and am forever making notes for later reference. Interesting people I’ve seen someplace form up as interesting possible characters. Interesting situations I witness become intriguing plot possibilities. When I am in between books, I feel itchy, unsettled. I need to know what’s next for me. So I’m perpetually exploring new story prospects—even to the point, sometimes, of drafting ten or twenty thousand words derived from the initial spark of interest, hoping for flames. In the process, I evaluate the prospects and try to determine whether they seem to be the “right” next book for me. And because I make my entire living from my novels, “right” has to take into account factors like publisher expectations, reader expectations, and career trajectory, as well as being sufficiently intriguing to me.
The course of my career has seen me writing from what’s felt like divine inspiration as well as from “Oh, shit, my deadline is looming, better come up with something soon.” I am capable of writing a publishable book from a place of what seems to be a “logical right choice” and have done so, but time has taught me that my best successes each arose from a place of real passion. Actually, more than passion: Obsession.
If you’ve experienced this, you know the feeling: it’s as if the story has chosen you and not the other way around. As if you’ve been enchanted. When you’re writing, you disappear into the world you’re rendering. Hours pass without your being aware of it. You emerge from the work confused for a moment as to where and when you are. Sure, you’re still capable of dividing your attention and tending to other necessities, but all the while the story’s perched on your shoulder whispering into your ear, and it simply doesn’t ever leave you alone. When I was writing my novel Z, I often felt as if I was taking dictation from Zelda Fitzgerald herself.
And here’s the thing about that kind of obsession: it can be rocket fuel—I wrote the first draft of my 2020 novel, A Good Neighborhood, in just five weeks, and it went on to debut on the NYT list at #5 and was an NPR Best Book of the Year. But it can also be long-haul fuel: the journey from proposal to delivery-and-acceptance for my 2018 novel, A Well-Behaved Woman, was 28 months, which is about four times as long as I usually take, and that novel was a NYT bestseller as well as a finalist for the Southern Book Prize for fiction.
So I want to offer some advice, for whatever it’s worth to you: if you have any choice in the matter, put your energies only into stories that obsess you. Not only will it fuel the writing journey, however long it may be, but those stories will be the ones that resonate with readers. Your best writing, the stories that you’ll want to define you as an author, will start in your brain but will emerge from that deeper place inside you.
What are your experiences? In writing from a place of interest versus from obsession, have you found that there’s a marked difference for you, too?
Therese Anne Fowler is the New York Times, IndieBound, and USA Today bestselling author of multiple novels including Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald, which was adapted for television starring Christina Ricci. She has been a finalist for the Goodreads Choice Awards and the Southern Book Prize for fiction. Her articles and essays have appeared in The Week, Harper’s Bazaar, the Telegraph, and elsewhere. Therese earned a BA in sociology/cultural anthropology and an MFA in creative writing, both from NC State University. She lives in Raleigh, NC, with her husband, author John Kessel.
Great post,Therese! I agree with your assessment: obsession is key. I’m curious about your writing of A Good Neighbor. Did you charge through those five weeks, mainly plugging in the bones of the story with very little revision along the way? What was the approximate word count for that draft compared to where the finished manuscript ended up? Thanks!
Thanks, Tori!
I don’t really do “quick and dirty” drafts; I always use a rolling-revision method of assessing the previous day’s work, making changes, then pushing forward. With A Good Neighborhood, I just did this very quickly, and very efficiently. If I remember correctly, that first draft was around 85k words, and then I built it out a little more when I revised after getting notes from my agent. The final word count was about 89k.
Interesting! You were clearly on a mission. Thank you!
How did you know? It makes such a positive difference – one can tell by how you write about your books.
I was planning to write intellectual mysteries with an interesting detective (sorry, Thea!) when I retired.
Instead, I’ve been writing Pride’s Children, a mainstream literary trilogy ABOUT ‘obsession, betrayal, and love’ since it was vouchsafed to me, all in a piece, in 2000. A confluence of ideas has made it impossible to put down or stop, with one of them being how a reclusive writer acquires an obsession, and what she does to manage it – because the thought of indulging it is anathema: she is convinced it would hurt the person she is obsessed about. She locks those feelings away – from herself.
The first volume took me 15 years – I’m an extremely slow writer due to disability – the second, 7. I am now wrestling with the third – hope to finish in under five years this time. And the obsession with the story has never waned.
It’s a long time to live with a single story. It has given my life focus and purpose since real life took it away in 1989. Haven’t learned marketing quite yet, but the long erudite reviews from some of my target audience keep me going. And smiling.
Alicia, what you’ve shared, here, makes me examine the *elements* of this kind of obsession, which I hadn’t really thought about in that way. Embedded within it are meaning and purpose. I’m so glad you’ve had that ongoing experience with this story, as well as the encouraging feedback, and wish you good luck as you continue on.
For me, the grip of a WIP is not immediate. It grows as the story does. It’s like falling in love. The initial attraction gives way to a deeper connection, which leads to questions to which I want the answers and discoveries that surprise and delight. Also, stubborn fences that the characters erect. As I go, I read favorite scenes on repeat, like new songs that I like. I set challenges for myself and tackle the tough parts with anticipation. I’m going to learn something new.
So, obsession? That sounds unhealthy, difficult, borderline crazy. That’s not how I experience it. Writing a novel is the best thing I do. The most fun. The most satisfying. The most rewarding. I don’t even care if anyone ever reads the stuff. I’m not out of control. Instead, writing fiction sets me free.
I think I understand why you’d say obsession “sounds unhealthy, difficult, borderline crazy.” That’s the word’s negative connotation, and it’s commonly used that way.
We don’t know each other, so you’ll have to take my word for this when I tell you that I’m an entirely grounded, rational person. Logical almost to a fault! What’s more, I feel exactly as you said: writing a novel is also the best thing I do, the most fun, the most satisfying, the most rewarding.
Interesting, isn’t it?
Glad we’re having a similar experience writing. Maybe “obsession” just isn’t the right word? Absorbtion? Nah, sounds like paper towels. Immersion? Sounds like therapy in warm-water isolation tanks. Addiction? Well, no. Sigh. I do agree that when a story gets a grip on us, it’s a mission, a quest, a flow, a high…oh heck. Back to writing.
I enjoyed reading this very much, Therese. Yes, indeed the stories that won’t let go, the stories I’m still learning to write have a great hold on me and one of my greatest joys has been to be able to finish and publish a few of these. However, my commercial success has come from the other kind–the ones that interest me. Having limited energy means I choose what’s best in the practical realm. But having limited time on earth means, I must not let those heart stories languish. What will I say to my Maker when I die? I want to hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Thank you for reminding me that I should pay more attention to those heart stories.
I’m glad this served as a good reminder to also tend those stories, Vijaya, whether or not they’re ever commercially successful.
Welcome back, Therese.
Wow, what a journey you’re having. Bestsellers and a DOA . Just wow. I’d love to hear how you dealt with that and kept moving forward in another post.
I had to think about “obsession” and consider it before I responded. I have stories that I’ve written and loved the process. Couldn’t wait to get back to it, to get words on the page whether dinner burned or not.
OTOH, I’ve been in an on and off love/hate relationship with another story for more than a decade. Just putting that into words makes me feel anxiety and a desire to give another look, one more draft… just one more time. I’m torn between tossing it into the proverbial “drawer” and also believing that the story has purpose and needs to be out in the universe. I suppose, for me, that’s obsession. A belief that if I care so much about these characters who have changed me, others will care and be changed too.
Looking forward to you being back with us, Therese.
Thanks, Deb.
Your examples demonstrate both the fast- and slow-burn experiences of storytelling. And you’ve reminded me that I, too, have an unpublished story that I’ve been tinkering with off and on for several years. Maybe it’s time to sort it once and for all!
I like the idea of writing a post on the subject of overcoming career failure(s). Stay tuned. :)
Loved your article/insight into your writing process! Totally agree with you. At first I was fascinated with the subject of my main book back in senior year high school, through the 1990s, and into the New Millennium, on author Ernest Hemingway. Then I gave a presentation on my findings and research to the Hemingway Society in 2004 where I got a standing ovation. But then I met and befriended Hemingway’s granddaughter author Lorian Hemingway that week, and when I shared my findings with her, she called me a “prophet”. That experience turned my book into an obsession and after all these years it’s written and edited down to 515 pages with the story at 445 pages. Grateful for your kindness and pointers not long ago on publication. I submitted my book to two more agents end of May and again this past week. Hoping I get some interest. One agency in January loved my book but rejected it only because the subject of Hemingway has been overwritten at this point and they said it may be hard to find a publisher. Time will tell.🤞🏼 🍀 🙏🏼
Therese, hi! Loved your article and agree with your insight. My current book on Hemingway began as a fascination with him as a writer, and as an adventurer and travel writer, starting in senior year high school English as he was required reading that year, and by 2004 it had become an obsession to write my book. That year I gave a presentation to the Hemingway Society in Key West, and got a standing ovation. Also met his granddaughter author Lorian Hemingway who I befriended and when I explained and shared my research with her, she told me I was a “prophet”. That to me meant I was on the right path with it. All these years later my nonfiction book is written and edited down to 515 pages with the story coming in at 445 pages. Submitted to two agents between end of May and last week. 🤞🏼 🍀 🙏🏼 Will let you know how it goes. Your time you took to show me options in publication were most welcome. Thank you Therese! Stay tuned! Sincerely, Scott.
Scott, this is definitely an obsession project for you, and I admire how doggedly you’ve pursued it. I hope you get representation and publication before too much longer!
Yes, yes, yes, I have had the same experience once with passion that turned into obsession. Thanks for sharing your experience with this. I feel like inspiration is flying around us all the time, just looking for the right person to bring it forth in the world. It seems like I get my most intense inspiration for an idea when I’m already writing something else. Your novel Z was so fantastic. It inspired me to write my novel about the age old story of women who have been dismissed. I have a real passion for that subject. Anyway, thanks for writing the article. You inspire me for sure!
I love the visual I get from “inspiration flying around us all the time, just looking for the right person to bring it forth in the world.” That’s how I imagine Zelda Fitzgerald “found” me. :)
Many thanks for your praise! I’m honored to have inspired you.