I did write two novels.
You asked what happened with my fiction foray. Yup, I wrote two novels. I queried agents for both; the first minimally, the second like a boss. I got one request for more pages with the first, for the second, seven. Reaction, in brief, “Good field, no hit.” That famous baseball scout line translates into fiction as, “Some beautiful writing but insufficiently compelling story-telling (not enough happens, stakes not high enough, etc. )”
I put the first book aside after ~30 queries because, having started the project with absolutely ZERO understanding of how to write fiction, I ended it once I’d read several craft books, joined a critique group, taken fiction-writing webinars and generally figured out that the story, about an older woman and a younger woman who become friends as they survive the vagaries of working in tech, was never going to be commercially viable unless I gutted the story and rebuilt it altogether.
So, thinking it would be easier to start with a more compelling premise, with a genre-specific structure. I wrote a romance.
I mean, it was upmarket romance, not the kind with photos of a couple in an embrace on the cover. A woman in her 50s loses her older husband after the long decline of Alzheimer’s, has to take a job at a Williams Sonoma-esque store, meets both a handsome Russian millionaire AND a charismatic alcoholic millennial and struggles to make a friend and a lover, loses the friend and the lover due to her guilty secret, and then regains them for a happy ever after.
This second book was better. The characters are pretty good. Prose is not bad.
But in the end, two things get in my way.
- In my own life I find the first moment one opens the door in the morning to be as extraordinary as a whale breeching. Which is to say I am apt to experience as an explosion what many hear like gravel falling on cement. It’s tough for me to write Big Events, because everything feels so big.
- My imagination is reactionary. By which I mean, sitting alone, I don’t gravitate naturally to making up stories. Instead, I sink into my perceptions like I’m becoming part of a very salty ocean, and I imagine in response. Fiction mostly requires creating something from whole cloth.
So now what?
I don’t know.
Maybe I’ll self-publish the second as-is, and post a link here for anyone who’s curious. Maybe I’ll hire an editor to help me raise the stakes and give agents another whack, adding small presses into the mix. Maybe in the middle of the night I’ll be seized by a plot uprising in which the story itself tells me where it needs to go and I’ll get up and edit in a frenzy. We shall see.
At the moment, I’m thinking I’ll just write a third book. But this time, rather than aiming for commercial, I’ll go wild. I have an idea, in which I combine my teenage years at a California boarding school in the early 1970s with a fantasy a bit like N.K. Jemisin’s TheGreat Cities trilogy. Natively wild, add magic. I dunno.
I don’t regret one iota of the time I spent in this attempt. My goodness I learned a lot. If you’ve always loved fiction, and get the bug to try your hand, go ahead. And I think I had to do it this way, i.e. write one book to discover what I didn’t know, and another to try out what I learned. You might be more sensible, and start with the learning. If anyone wants a list of resources, just comment and I’m happy to point you to the places I found useful.
Whatever happens, it will have to wait until 2026. For now, my time is absorbed by, in order of increasing dedication:
- Learning Spanish. Duolingo plus a free class at the local community center is working! I can speak in fractured sentences and confuse people!
- Peer grief counseling. The USA is very bad at death, and loss, and I have found a way to be helpful. Sturdy Gals like to help.
- Volunteering with Swing Left (midterms are underway already)
- Keeping up some modicum of physical fitness. Strength training is my fave. Lift those little weights, booyah!
- Managing the garden, the house and the feeding of its inhabitants
- Helping my daughter to plan her wedding. 3+ months to go, and we are getting there
Finally, on a completely different subject, as we contain multitudes, I am selling these 2018 Chanel ballet flats. Size 37. I’ll take them to the local consignment store this week, but, thought I’d offer them to readers here first. Looking at the RealReal, I think these qualify as somewhere between Good and Very Good condition, meaning they sell for between $600-$750. The soles are scuffed and the heel a little worn, there’s a teeny nick at the toe (not on the soft upper leather but on the part of the sole that shows and it would be easily covered,) the insoles have marks, there are very faint scuffs and a few light wrinkles on the sides of the shoes that face each other, if that makes sense. I have never done anything to these shoes (cleaning, polishing, resoling) other than put my feet into them and wear them on pavement.
I have the box, the dust bag, and the little Chanel info that comes with. You can see them here, which was about when I bought them. Karl was still in charge. As the RealReal says, this style typically runs narrow and a half size to a full size small, and they have never fit, so I’ve worn them maybe 4-5 times. Also here. My feet hurt despite my smile.
$475 for the pair, to someone who will enjoy them as they deserve. I will ship in the USA for free. Let me know at skyepeale@yahoo.com today or tomorrow, if you can. Payment in advance via Venmo or PayPal.
Two things. Don’t buy expensive shoes that don’t fit you, and thanks for asking about my book. Have a lovely weekend everyone!
23 Responses
I admire you so much for writing two novels. I have thought about writing a novel, but I am still (after many years) still in the thinking stage.
I have a penchant for buying dresses which are too large instead of shoes which are too small.
Thank you. I have to say, it’s true that to write a novel you just have to start writing. Do it every day for a couple of hours. The first draft, as I have experienced and see it happen, is just you telling yourself the story.
You made me laugh about your dresses;). I hope they are easy to tailor.
I’d love to read that expansive third novel. And if plotting fiction still bedevils you, how about non-fiction where your unusual perceptions and descriptive talents would shine. Research and journalistic skills might be too much work to develop in retirement, but maybe not. (Perhaps there is an alumni version of John McPhee’s famous Princeton class on nonfiction. )There is a little shimmer, click of exactness, and quiet surprise in your writing that makes me think of Tracy Kidder or Katherine Schulz. Go Lisa. Maybe next year.
Wendy, sadly, McPhee taught only every other year, and the year I could have taken his class he was off. I have wondered what would have happened if things had been otherwise. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your description of my writing. By no means always but when it goes well, I feel exactly a click. I am so happy it’s audible. Research and journalism does feel like too much, but maybe something else will happen.
Or maybe I’ll just keep writing here, grateful to be read.
Wendy mentioned John McPhee’s course – here is a new book about his writing:
Looking for a story : a complete guide to the writings of John McPhee
by Rubinton, Noel
Your writing is very interesting – keep going!
Wonderful that McPhee has been written about like this. Thanks!
Hello Lisa, I applaud you for committing two novels to paper. While advice from agents or other experienced readers can be valuable, I would be wary of finding a single formula for a publishable book. Some novels are driven by lots of plot, with nothing really important happening (think P.G. Wodehouse or E.F. Benson, or for that matter, Agatha Christie), while others are more cerebral and get into the psychology of the character or the times (think Henry James or perhaps Samuel Richardson). Both kinds are good to read. Also, lots of great novels are partially auto-biographical–a fun example is Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream House, by Eric Hodgins.
When I read novels I am going to start considering what writing elements make it a success for me. Your next effort will be interesting when you take your “beautiful writing” and find a new way to energize it. Also, let me second Wendy’s comment above. I love non-fiction, and your writing in this blog shows your consistent aptitude for approaching real subjects.
–Jim
p.s. I would deep-six the magic element–that is too common now, and whimsical besides.
Jim, I agree, there is no one formula. That said, in this era of short-form video on social media, streaming TV everywhere, etc., the divide between literary and commercial fictions seems to have widened. To write literary fiction, you sort of have to either have an MFA or be eccentric and unusual enough to be newsworthy yourself. Commercial fiction is increasingly “marketed,” and choosing a genre and the tropes you incorporate are selling points.
Thank you for the encouragement toward long-form non-fiction. I did once write up a proposal for a full book on High WASPs. I only showed it to one agent though, as I knew even less than I know now. I feel the time for that book has passed. But maybe another one will manifest itself. Point of fact, however, I do love a bit of whimsy;).
Jim says: “I love non-fiction, and your writing in this blog shows your consistent aptitude for approaching real subjects.”
So well put [which means I agree with you, Jim!]. And in this same vein, I’d put Lisa together with Susan Faludi in this genre all day long.
California boarding school tinged with magic sounds so intriguing! Honestly far more so to me than a Russian millionaire, but I surprise myself all the time with what I end up loving when it’s written beautifully. Please go wild and keep writing. You genuinely have a gift for beautiful expression — and from what I’ve seen, you’re at your very best when reflecting on your own life like you do in your more introspective posts here… I would be excited to see the rich inner worlds of your fictional characters too. Any and all of them. And yes, as Susan said, go you for being brave and dedicated enough to have already written not only one novel, but two!!
The US (at least the part proximal to me) is indeed so bad at death and loss. I don’t know if it’s really just me, but it makes me feel totally alone that I hate the pressure on the bereaved to perform publicly as if nothing is wrong in the immediate wake of something so devastating. The huge gathering where everyone’s all smiles and you’re expected to be perfectly okay; the many expenses and pressured sales pitches… It feels absolutely horrible. Surely we can do better. Thank you for doing good work in the world by helping others feel seen and supported.
And, oh dear, yes to being careful with shoe sizes. I’ve never worn anything as expensive as Chanel, but additively I’ve lost that much many times over on mistakes. I will say that I’ve noticed the little cap on the toe (particularly the stitching going across there) means they can’t stretch in the forefoot over time like I expect shoes to do. I think my feet may be the same size as yours.
Have a beautiful weekend, and please do share more of your writing with us!
You are reinforcing my impulsive to write wild. Once my daughter’s wedding is over of course;). I am very very sorry that you have not had and do not have support in your grief. From what I’ve learned, the grieving need to tell the story of their loss, share the stories of their loved ones, and hear from others going through the same process.
Poorly-fitting shoes will find so many way to bedevil us;)
You said it best: “Poorly-fitting shoes will find so many ways to bedevil us.”
How can I have missed the connection between too-tight shoes and too-taut writing?
Goodbye shoes – now go and write WILD!
Thank you, Flo! Thank you so much!
You know how much I enjoyed reading a draft of your first novel and I still have the temerity to argue with those who are guided by certain market economies of scale and the prevailing winds governing popular themes, genres, etc. But also I truly admire your focus on the process, what you’ve gained from it in terms of learning —and of the sheer pleasure of writing.
And the balance of having many other interesting activities to keep you busy while your writing mind has some down time, lies fallow for a bit.
Happy weekend! Xo
Ah, happy weekend to you too, Frances! It was such a lovely time, albeit COVID-affected. I loved writing that book with you as a critique partner. I think essentially I came to the understanding that there’s no point in my trying to write from a market perspective, as you feel, except to learn the landscape in which I might write wild.
I have an identical pair of Chanel flats that I scored on eBay several years ago and I will NEVER sell them!
They are true classics. Perfect design. If only they fit me, sigh.
Writing a book is no small task. It takes lots of determination and commitment.
I’m interested to hear where you go with this.
Thank you. Study Gals major in commitment;)
Lisa,
I applaud your writing accomplishments. Two complete manuscripts!
But even more, I am heartened that you appreciate the writing process — the going-through is the heart & heat of it. Well done!
Thank you so much! You are a writer yourself, so, I am guessing you speak from experience:)
Learning sounds like a good place for me. I’d love a list of resources, thank you!
My pleasure! No matter the genre you want to explore, I recommend joining Women’s Fiction Writers of America. Very inexpensive membership and so many free resources! If that group doesn’t feel like your cohort, Manuscript Academy draws a much younger crowd. Videos and podcasts from The S*** No One Tells You About Writing are great.
As for craft books, I like Donald Maas, The Emotional Craft of Fiction and Lisa Cronin, Story Genius. Many love Save the Cat. It didn’t resonate with me, but that’s because I don’t enjoy plot all that much – to my own disadvantage it turned out. Good luck! Have fun!