The Writer - 04.2020

writermag.com • The Writer | 15

Jane Smiley

Every novel is

a quest: “Novels

are not about

what you know

but about what

you learn and

what you want to

learn about a sub-

ject that interests

you. Every novel,

for the author,

even one based

on the author’s

intimate lived

experience, is a

quest and an

exploration, not a

statement. Curios-

ity is your friend.”

Mark Sullivan

Discover your

novel as you

write: “Novel

writing is a thrill-

ing process of

story discovery

and the sharpen-

ing of a vision.

Both discovery

and sharpening

are most likely to

occur during the

course of multiple

drafts.”

Peter Nichols

Trust your

intuition: “Your

guide to all stages

of writing a novel,

to knowing

whether it’s work-

ing, or not,

whether it’s the

right size, insuffi-

cient, bloated, or

running amok in

the wrong direc-

tion, is intuition.

Intuition, for me,

is the final arbiter.”

Caroline Leavitt

Don’t get hung

up on revision:

“Part of the prob-

lem with revision

is that every

writer knows they

can make it better,

no matter what

stage it is. I’m

always haunted by

that, and the only

way I can get

beyond it and to

let go is to imme-

diately hurl myself

into a new work

to worry about.”

Mindy Mejia

Know your

audience: “The

most important

thing to under-

stand in your final

revisions is your

audience. Who

are your readers,

and what do they

want from the

story? Knowing

your audience will

give you all the

direction you need

to put that final

polish on the

book. You’ll know

where to linger

and what to edit.”

TIPS

FROM

THE

PROS

rising throughout and that I’ve written

a surprising yet inevitable ending that

creates a feeling of satisfaction within

the reader, a sense of completeness.”

In the final revision stage, Mejia’s

focus is on theme and subtext. “Each

metaphor and description should

somehow reflect the stated theme.

Even the blank spaces, the things

unsaid, should be unspoken for a rea-

son,” she says.

In achieving completeness, Mark

Sullivan, author of mystery, suspense,

and historical fiction, trusts his process

of continual refinement – from draft to

draft, revision stage to revision stage.

“Novels always evolve as you work on

them,” he states. “It’s true that some

longform narrative fiction comes out

of a writer in big bursts while other

stories go on the page at a plodding

pace. But as I work on whatever story

it is in rough and subsequent drafts,

I’m looking to make the voice clear, the

plot tight, and the characters full and

human.” In the final rewrites, he

focuses on theme, “which always

seems to emerge through the redraft-

ing process.” He also works to polish

the voice further, “deepening and

broadening the range of the voice.”

When these various elements are han-

dled to his satisfaction, he’s ready to

submit his work for publication.

Dealing with too much and/or too little

At any point in the drafting process,

you might well encounter two prob-

lems: excess and deficiency. Excess:

overblown, inflated, bloated. It’s simply

too much. Deficiency: unfulfilled,

skimpy, too lean. It’s simply too thin.

Either of these two problems – or even

both of them – can occur anywhere in

your draft, with plot and character

development, setting description, or

with the novel’s language in general.

There are two key questions to

consider here: What is absolutely nec-
essary to the telling of your story. and
how can an author know this?
“When I write early drafts,” says
Leavitt, “I know there is overdevelop-
ment, but that’s OK because to me the
fun is paring things down and finding
out what is essential.”
“I think you know, or will soon find
out, if a novel is bloated. Or anemic,”
Nichols says. “First of all, your early
readers and editor will let you know.”
But, as he sees it, you can also depend
on your own intuitive grasp. “If you
even suspect once that a scene or epi-
sode is superfluous or unnecessary,
then it is. Try cutting it.”
As far as too little, “If the book feels
insufficient, or skimpy, it probably is,”
says Nichols.
“The story has to be an emotional
labyrinth, a forest or maze you find
your way through. If it’s been a swift or
Photos by Elizabeth Sullivan (Sullivan), Frank Zauritz (Nichols), Jeff Tamarkin (Leavitt), Jessica Mealey (Mejia) easy trip, it’s too slight,” he says. “For