Survey Results! Part 1

As I mentioned in my previous blog, I recently sent out a survey question to several prominent writers of fiction and/or nonfiction, most of whose names you’ll recognize. There were three choices from which to choose, and each of the following three blog entries are based on those three answers.

I enjoy hearing HOW writers work. As you’ll see, different writers have different ways of writing a successful novel. Some like BJ Hoff do not outline. Others, like Mindy Starns Clark find outlining crucial to their story. And yet both BJ and Mindy chose answer number three below. Go figure. That’s what’s so fun about hearing how writers work.

Most authors were clear about their choice, however when they wavered or were not clear, I chose for them, based on the entirety of their answer.

Here was the question and the answers follow.

When you’ve turned in a final draft of a new book, how different is it from your original vision for the book when you began?

1. I usually have a pretty firm idea of what the book will be when I begin writing. The final draft is very close to that original vision.

2. I try to stay close to the original vision for the book, but invariably there are significant changes along the way that I never anticipated at the beginning.

3. I begin with a certain vision for the book, but when the final draft is finished, I’m astonished at how different the book has turned out from how I originally envisioned it. Comments from authors who chose number one follow:

Cecil Murphey (primarily non-fiction): I’m between one and two, but I’d say, FAIRLY close because I do extensive research first. I remain open and generally I add only illustrations to explain what I’ve already planned

Brandilyn Collins (fiction): #1 for me. I tend to write differently from a lot of my colleagues. I write each page the way I want it as I go along. No quick first draft for me, then fixing it. So my “first draft” is the draft I turn in to the editor. Yeah, I go back and read through and do a little editing before turning in, but it’s minor sentence structure stuff.

Bill Myers (fiction): Coming from a screenplay background where you only have 110-120 minutes to tell a story, every scene is crucial, particularly in suspense thrillers. No time to head down rabbit trails or meander . . . so for better or worse, I’m #1 guy. I work from a detailed, scene by scene outline.

Camy Tang (fiction): There are small things that might change, like I might change a minor character or add a couple scenes to reveal a clue to the reader, or delete a scene that I later decide is redundant, or alter a scene in order to make it work better logically with the events of the story.

Before I begin writing I usually have an extensive synopsis and sometimes I have a detailed scene index that lists out what each scene should be and what I need to accomplish in each scene. The synopsis and scene index usually takes more time to create than the actual writing of the manuscript. However, my editors appreciate the detailed synopsis because they know exactly where I’m going in terms of pacing, plot, and character, and I don’t deviate much from the synopsis.

P.K. Hallinan (non-fiction): I usually change my books about 10% from the original draft.

Ellen Gunderson Traylor (fiction): I am close to Number 1. However, sometimes the characters take over and direct the book in unanticipated ways. Since so many of my books have been historical novels, the plot is predetermined, to a large extent. The surprises happen more in the contemporary or more fanciful stories.

Clint Kelly (both fiction and non-fiction): Of course there are twists and turns I never anticipated – a manuscript needs to be a living, breathing thing so as not to come off rigid and immune to improvement. But typically I’ve carried the essential framework in my head for several months before ever putting words to paper. By then, it has become “the story” and my job is to stay true to that story before it has a chance to evaporate.

Colleen Reece (fiction): I plan carefully so the story itself usually remains pretty much on course. However, knowing where I am going permits me to make intelligent decisions when the story or characters want to deviate. If new events and insight fit the overall plan, I include them and enrich the story If they detract, I reject. The difference between the two versions is that the final is much deeper and meaningful.

The key word here is usually. Once in a long a plot idea or character clamors so strongly to be written that before doing outlines and character charts, I simply start. Note: I’ve also discovered I need to draft the first chapter before brainstorming the rest of the book.

You will get a laugh out of what happened with my first published novel, The Heritage of Nurse O’Hara. I couldn’t see taking months to write a book that might never sell so I dashed off the first chapter and sent it to Avalon Books. Biiig mistake. Three days later I got a letter from the editor praising it and asking for the whole manuscript! There was a happy ending. I told her the work was “in progress,” as it was. Avalon published it and years later it was picked up for a LP Library Edition hardback.

Now I threaten dire consequences to my students or anyone who even considers taking such a shortcut. Good did come out of my experience– a “Write Smarter, not Harder ” workbook; i.e., “pre write, don’t rewrite.” Lauraine Snelling and others have used the motto and method in their writing and teaching for decades.

Authors who chose number one without comment include James Scott Bell (fiction) and Mary DeMuth (for her non-fiction).

Read on to part two below.