When Your Favorite Novel Takes a Long, Long Time to Write
By Guest | August 28, 2023 |
We’re thrilled to welcome back multi-published author and long-time Writer Unboxed supporter/community member Stephanie Cowell today! Stephanie has been an opera singer, balladeer, founder of Strawberry Opera and other arts venues including a Renaissance festival in NYC. She is the author of Nicholas Cooke, The Physician of London, The Players: a novel of the young Shakespeare, Marrying Mozart, Claude & Camille: a novel of Monet, The Boy in the Rain and The Man in the Stone Cottage (a novel of the Bronte sisters, forthcoming 2025). Her work has been translated into nine languages and made into an opera. Stephanie is the recipient of an American Book Award and has lived in New York City all her life.
Stephanie’s latest novel, The Boy in the Rain, might be a recent release, but its journey spanned half a lifetime.
“The Boy in the Rain is a love story of the highest order, so powerful for advancing important issues from a historical perspective in Edwardian England, but more significantly for vividly and elegantly capturing the passion, beauty and despair of a forbidden (at the time) affair between two men….The writing is exquisite, capturing their every feeling and breath. …makes one feel a spectrum of sensations, that challenges the mind, that creates characters as real as fiction can be, and shows us the great joy and intoxication of astute and descriptive writing.” – Jim Alkon, BookTrib
We are so happy for our friend’s triumph and to bring her story-behind-the-story to you today. You can learn more about Stephanie and her novels on her website and by following her on Facebook.
The story of my novel haunted me for 39 years from the first scribble to the published book. The obstacles in myself and in my world seemed insurmountable and yet it turned out just as it was supposed to be.
Of course, I cannot claim I wrote only one thing for all those years. I wrote a lot of historical fiction drafts and published five novels with good houses to some success. I made a nice career, but the most loved story remained in a cardboard manuscript box on the top shelf of my closet. It was a love story between two young men in Edwardian England and I called it The Boy in the Rain.
Most of us begin writing because we have burning stories inside ourselves, fragments, a glimpse of a profile, a character whispering, “Make me real.” Voices wake us up from our sleep and drive us to the keyboard, our bathrobes barely fastened, our desk lamp the only one burning in the nighttime house. Because though the characters in your novel are vivid inside you, they can only come to full life in a crafted novel. That is the only way they can go into the world.
Now a question about your novel. Do you have fragments of one inside you that you love more than anything? One in seventeen different drafts? Do you have a finished novel to be shown? And if you have gathered the courage to show it, and have agents and editors returning it, saying, “You’re a gifted writer but this sort of thing won’t sell,” or “It’s not good enough” or “It’s too hard to market. People won’t understand it. Write about this or that…that’s what editors are looking for. Write me a mystery! Write about WWII!”
But suppose you aren’t good at mysteries and are not drawn to war? Some people are drawn to those things and their books can be wonderful but not mine.
I loved my story about my two Edwardian men so much. It grew and grew. I gave it to friends; I listened to everyone. I did not take everyone’s advice, but if three people said the same thing I listened more intensely. But as hard as I worked, I always knew I still hadn’t done with the book what I wanted to do.
I think readers go searching for books. The book hidden on your hard drive may be something that someone else is desperately wanting though they don’t know it. A friend wrote a precious book whose characters have taken up permanent residence in my mind. I want it published and living on my shelf, so I can open it and step inside it when I want to, like dropping over to the house of old friends.
The Boy in the Rain was born one day when I was walking down rustic wood stairs outside a country house. I saw a vision of the men; they were slightly opaque, one a little older, both wearing Edwardian clothes. When I turned, they were gone. A story about them began to form which I confided to friends. These friends made me a wager to write it down, which I did in a short, clumsy draft. Within a year I had left my singing career and threw myself into writing. “I’ll finish this soon,” I said. “I’ll make it good enough.”
But it took a long time.
Along the long way, some people asked me, “Why this book? You’re not a gay man. Why this story?
I don’t know. Characters come and find us. They choose us. I believe this.
Every handful of years I’d take the novel down from the shelf, call up the file on my computer, and revise it. I added scenes. I deepened relationships. In my personal life, I fell in love and married, and my husband became the greatest supporter of the book. “When are you going to publish it?” he always asked with a sigh. But large and medium-sized houses did not want it. They did not know how to market it. The publisher for my previous book, Crown Random House, said they would be interested in seeing another book.
The pandemic came in 2020. New York City, which has always been my home, was for a time the world epicenter of the virus. Ambulance sirens rose every day through my apartment window, coming wincingly closer and echoing down the street a long time after they left. Many lives were cut short. Alone a lot, I thought about my writing career. I knew that if there was one novel I could finish and see into print, it would be The Boy in the Rain. One dear friend who had read it called me and said thoughtfully, “I think this is a niche novel and belongs in a small house.” He suggested I submit it to his publisher, and I did at once. They fell in love with it and offered me a contract.
It did all turn out for the best. When the few words of the original story came to me, I couldn’t begin to understand its complexity: the joy and danger and crushing poverty of England 1901, the great houses and palaces, the pull of art and socialism and bohemianism and the middle of it, the love of two men who could not let each other go. All the things I experienced in the many years of writing went into it. My family came to support me at my first book reading. The other day I heard a marvelous English narrator read the audiobook.
Some things take a long time.
And now about you and your book.
Know What Is Most Important to You in Writing
If I were absolutely truthful about my desires, I would like the moon: great book sales, awards. But knowing the way the world and publishing is, I hope for a decent number of readers who will love the characters as I have loved them. I already had the best things to help me, which many of us have: the time and peace to write the drafts, and friends to hold my hand. And during the years when I still had a day job, I had to squeeze in writing, but the friends were there.
I think it is important to ask ourselves, every now and then, why we are writing. Why spend thousands of hours creating a story? What do you want from it? To pay your rent? That’s honorable. But if you don’t need writing to sustain you financially, it is most important to write what you want.
Give Your Novel to Friends and Colleagues for Comments
You can build a wonderful collegiality of readers. One novelist friend changed the trajectory of my whole novel with a few words. Every now and then when I read parts of it, I can say, “Mary suggested that, or Renée.” I love the acknowledgment section of other writers’ novels. For though you are the writer, some of the richness comes from the help others give. One kind gay reader of an early draft offered to share intimate advice. “Now, what can I tell you about gay sex?” he asked, crossing his legs matter-of-factly. I managed to stammer some questions and he answered seriously. I also learned about emotional aspects from my own bisexual birth father. He told me frankly about his long-time-lover and what the man meant to him.
Find a Publisher
Here we also should ask for the help of friends.
It doesn’t matter how you get your book out there, just do it. And try to get into the hands of some of the people who would love it. They in turn will talk about it to others. My first novel was found at a church supper. Two women in the parish had read it (and maybe half the parish as well) and began to talk about it to the stranger at their table who happened to be the office manager of my first publisher W.W. Norton. He gave it to his favorite editor. Two weeks later she called me. Share your book with everyone. You never know where a door will open.
Publishing has changed utterly since I published my first book thirty years ago. It’s no secret that the larger houses acquire novels they think will sell well and won’t be too hard to market. I thought for a long time that a large house and a good advance was the only way. It’s not.
If a larger house won’t take you, try a smaller one. If the smaller ones don’t have room for your particular individual story, try a hybrid. If Emily Bronte had not dug into her meager savings with her sister Anne and paid a hybrid to publish them, both Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey would have remained in a trunk in the house in Haworth.
If a hybrid’s vision does not include you, publish it yourself. Precious books were first published this way. Some shelves need your story badly. There is a spot on them only you can fill.
Market Your Book
Even though our field is very overcrowded, you and the book you want to read but haven’t found yet are like friends trying to find each other in a very crowded party. The internet, though so crowded, is a great equalizer. It’s not easy, but you will find some of the people your book was meant to find when it first formed on the page. And they will tell others. And before you know it, the book you so struggled over and loved will sit on the nightstands of strangers.
Be a Good Literary Citizen
Support other writers. In turn they will support you, finding you a place to advertise, a book club to read at. Like my friend who in a few words changed the trajectory of my book and sent me to my new publisher, give help to others. It will come back a hundredfold.
Again I ask:
Do you have fragments of a novel inside you that you love more than anything? What is the story of that story?
Good luck with your writing and your books, however long they take. And let me know how you do!
Many thanks to today’s guest.
You can read more WU guest posts by visiting this link.
I’ve never bought a book so fast. I read the first ‘see inside’ page of The Boy in the Rain’ and was enchanted. And thank you for your inspiring advice to forge on with writing over long periods of silence. It’s a lonely business but always worth it.
I am so sorry… Veronica, I am so unused to writing from this device because my computer is broken,
Thank you so much, Virginia, it is a lonely business but no one the world can write your special book but you. And the friends we make on the journey are priceless… and the friend we are to them.
I loved Stephanie’s beautiful BOY IN THE RAIN novel as well as this insightful article about her creative process. Thanks for publishing. It helps all of us to learn the nature of a colleague’s struggle and eventual triumph. (On a personal note, I should add that nobody helped me more with my own newly published novel. Stephanie is always generous with her time and support.)
Stephanie – I so needed to read this today. As you know, I have one of those precious books, one I knew I was meant to write since I was EIGHT, and the fact that it hasn’t found a home yet is a huge weight on my heart.
I was over the moon when I heard THE BOY IN THE RAIN had a publisher at last. I remember you talking about the story when I visited you back in 2015 or so, and was anxious to be able to read it. It was worth the wait. Such a beautiful novel and, in some ways, quite timely as well. Hugs to you!
Kim, it was your gorgeous novel i was thinking of when i wrote this, publish it please,
I fully intend to, Stephanie. I have a few tweaks I will be making since it is really more literary than women’s fiction. I’ll let you know when it is ready. Thank you again for offering to help me!
I think those stories that haunt us until we give them life are those that touch on our shared humanity. If we are lucky, a character reveals himself to us and whispers that he can shed light on the human condition, on hope, on understanding. And he lives with us, grows with us, until we share his meaning. We both have to be ready, but it is a story worth waiting for.
Brenda, I so loved what you said, I still can’t believe its out there. Good luck with yours,
I love and relate to every word of this, Stephanie, and I’m ordering your book today. Thank yu for thie beautiful and encouraging post.
Brenda, thank you for your lovely words and for ordering the novel, All bright fortune for yours,
Susan forgive me for using the name of the commenter before you, my pc is being fixed and i am writing on my ipad, not the best for me,
Love this post. And your tenacity and belief in your story. Some of us live with a novel until it’s time to give birth. As they say in medicine… I’m late, I’m overdue. Thanks for the “push”!
Elizabeth, thank you so much, it was indeed a very long labour but worth it,
Your column couldn’t come at a better time as I labor over a story that relentlessly calls me. It’s not so much a “labor,” as work I thoroughly enjoy visiting. How best to structure and present it is more the labor part. Your words have inspired me to seek out The Boy in the Rain, which sounds like a book I’d enjoy.
Leslie, structure is the hardest part for me too, it’s a real struggle.good luck with yours, i hope you enjoy mine,
Thanks, Stephanie, for sharing the story of your story, and for your advice. And for this line: “But as hard as I worked, I always knew I still hadn’t done with the book what I wanted to do.” — That’s definitely where I am with a manuscript I’ve been writing and revising off and on for a quarter-century now. Just this past week received notice that it was being rejected by a smaller independent publisher to whom I had submitted it recently, a publisher whose fiction (and whole approach to fiction) I so highly respect, and wanted to be a part of. This was a true disappointment for me, but then earlier this morning (before reading your post) I realized how much I genuinely WANT to give this manuscript further attention, to make it stronger, richer, better. Your post was such a confirmation!
Oh that is so hurtful, I am so sorry, this phrase i heard ages ago returns to me: “Just say ‘I will no matter what,’ and then find out what it takes to do it.” You can do it, Good beta readers help, And then remember that all editors and agents won,t be open your voice. The more novelists I know well, the more i can emotionally manage the publishing world, love your story until it takes on a force of love of its own.
Thomas, as someone who has had eyes on part of your story, I must chime in to encourage you onward. You are a genuinely gifted writer. Keep on keeping on, friend.
Thanks for this, especially the reminder that the best novels take TIME and (if we keep at it), turn out “just as they should.” Can’t wait to read this book!
Carol, thanks so much, i loved this novel so i couldn’t let it go. I am sure you feel that way about yours. Let me know how you like it and good fortune (and patience) for yours,
Thank you for this beautiful and encouraging post, Stephanie! And huge congratulations to you, my friend. You are the example of perseverance we all needed. Write on!
It was a joy to post it here,
What a great story of the story, Stephanie — thanks for sharing it! My second standalone, Blind Faith (written as Alicia Beckman), got its spur long before I was a writer, when I gave a new girl a ride home my senior year of high school — and never saw her again. Every few years, I’d wonder what had happened, who she was, where she’d gone — and I knew I’d never know if I didn’t tell the story myself, to myself. It took four years to write (between other projects) and more than two years to sell — and 45 years of life. I am so proud of it.
Some stories are like that.
It sounds like the most marvelous journey,
What a wonderful and inspiring story. Reading it I kept thinking about my novel, Evelyn Evolving, that is based on my mothers life. From the time I was first seriously writing, at about age 19, I decided I wanted to write about Mother’s life. I’d learned about her being in an orphanage with her sister. I’d started seeing the burdens Mother carried because of how she’d been treated, and I was finally understanding why she was an abusive parent who didn’t seem to know how to be a mother. I also realized that despite her illiteracy and her failings as a mother she was an incredibly strong woman.
I have several notebooks filled with my attempts to write her story, but I could never get past a certain point and I never knew why. I still don’t.
But fast-forward to years later after she died, and not long afterward a new beginning to her story came to me while I was in the shower. I was able to write the whole book that year and found a small publisher who accepted it.
The books sells decently, but it hasn’t made me rich. That wasn’t the point. And I am so incredibly happy that people are reading her story and helping me celebrate her life.
The great thing is that you wrote it and others will find it, cheers,
Stephanie, I loved reading about your persistence with Boy. I, too, have story people who will not leave me alone and so… “Every handful of years I’d take the novel down from the shelf, call up the file on my computer, and revise it. I added scenes. I deepened relationships.” That’s what I’ve done for the past 20 years. I’ve only published one novel because it came to me in one fell swoop. And lots and lots of nonfiction and short stories. But I’m a reluctant novelist and no matter how hard I try, some stories defy being short so I must do what the story demands. Thank you for sharing your story. How amazing that you tell stories via music too!!! Just yesterday, our musical director for Sweet Adelines told us to tell us the story…and boy, did the song come alive!!!
Music knits story and character together for me, thank you for your generous words.