In my last post (here) I told you a little about my path toward writing my debut novel. Who could have predicted that bits of praise and encouragement from teachers and loved ones, not to mention an occasional prize–I’m not going to lie, I like to win–would launch a writing career of over forty years?
In case you didn’t read the last post (and may I ask, why didn’t you?), let me connect the dots. I wrote my first story when I was a first grader. I kept writing fiction until I took up with journalism. Then, after a few years of writing and editing for our town’s newspaper, I left to concentrate on child rearing.
But, I never stopped writing.
Years after I wrote some dramatizations featuring “dead” people standing on their gravesites, telling their stories to people touring Oak Grove Cemetery, I knew I wanted to do something special with this body of work.
But What?
Yeah, that’s what I asked myself.
What can I do with these luscious characters who have their lives rooted in history but their personalities firmly planted in imagination?
Well, I did what all artists do–looked for something to steal. Had anyone else written something that involved dozens of characters? What anthologies could I read? What about a collection of short stories that had a thread of connectivity?
I didn’t have to look too far or think too hard. One of my favorite books was published in 1915–Edgar Lee Masters’ Spoon River Anthology. It’s a collection of two hundred short, free verse poems that tell the story of the fictional town of Spoon River, Illinois. The characters’ monologues are given from the grave.
Perfect! My people were dead too! And Kentucky borders Illinois! Lots of exclamation marks popped in my head as I dreamed of a new, “modern” twist on Masters’ remarkable achievement.
Just One Little Thing
As I tried to imitate Masters, my exclamation marks grew limp. They curled over and wilted into a pile of unachievable literary dreams.
I couldn’t get it to work. For one thing, all of my characters lived across decades. So, I couldn’t easily link them like Masters had.
I thought about using a common theme or making their stories overlap in a way only the dead could see. But I just ended up with a smashed nose as I ran into closed doors.
So, what about bringing in a character to act as a guide? For the cemetery dramatizations I used the character of Irvin Cobb to introduce and connect the characters who had “returned” from death.
Enter Mrs. Minerva Place
Mrs. Place–Minerva to her close friends (of which she has exactly two)–arrived fully formed in my mind. Her name came first. Minerva Place is the name of a street I often drive by, and I had always thought it would make a great character name.
As I wrote and got to know this character I found her distinctive voice. Turns out Mrs. Minerva Place is a bit prickly, very opinionated, and has a standoffish air. But she is also tender, vulnerable, and just a little broken.
Minerva has a lot of contradictions in her personality, and I had so much fun exploring the complex terrain of her life. The more I wrote about her, the stronger her voice became. Instead of being a guide to introduce other characters, Minerva took over.
My vision for the book took a sharp turn. Now the Oak Grove Cemetery characters were there to tell Minerva’s story.
And so began a long journey into rewrites.
Lots of rewrites.
One More Thing
Recently I pulled out my old copy of Spoon River Anthology and guess what I found? There’s a character in Masters’ book named Minerva, and she is the town poetess. My Minerva is a writer too! And the similarities don’t end there. What fun serendipity!
In a future post I’ll tell you more about the novel’s transformation and my experience in the query trenches.
Though I’ve been a writer all of my life, I had to learn so much about crafting a good novel. I attended writing seminars, joined writers groups, developed critique partners, learned about beta readers and developmental editors, and much, much more. Undoubtedly, my foray into fiction has been the most fun part of my writing journey yet.
If you have any questions about my writing, please feel free to ask. I love to talk about this craft that has enriched my life so much.