Faculty Voices with Laura Ruby: A Lot of Rewrites

A few weeks ago, one of my students asked me how many times I rewrite a book. My usual answer is something like “umptyjillion” or “HAHAHAHAHA.” I’m only being somewhat facetious. I honestly don’t have any idea. All I know is that it’s a lot.

Pictures of the “Alot” ©  Allie Brosh
Hyperbole and a Half

Many people believe the primary work of a writer is getting that first draft down. Even professional writers believe this. Drafting can be so painful and take so long—months, years. Who could bear to imagine that the first draft is only the beginning? Who could stand one more holiday with your dad saying, “Are you still working on that thing? When do you get paid for this stuff? Somebody’s going to pay you, right?”

So, as we’re drafting, we don’t think about revision much at all. We can’t. (I can’t). Instead, we tell ourselves: “This is working really well!” and “I’ll just have to fix this little thing here or there!” and “I love this story sooooo much!”

©  Allie Brosh
Hyperbole and a Half

 These little tales are a defense mechanism, stories we tell ourselves in order to survive the drafting process. Because if we didn’t tell ourselves stories about how much work our books don’t need, all the rewriting we likely won’t have to do, we might scoop out our own eyeballs and use them as martini garnishes.  

Which is why critical feedback from readers, advisors, agents & editors can be such a shock, and why this feedback can make us feel so frozen and resistant. If you’ve talked yourself into believing that the hard part is done, that the only thing your book requires is a few minor tweaks, it’s devastating to hear that your whole plot is bananas (and not in a good way).

Here’s what people like to imagine revision is:

·         Correcting and/or defending one’s charming little grammar idiosyncrasies

·         Futzing around with a line here or there

·         Reworking that one annoying chapter in the middle of the book

·         Spellcheck!

·         Cutting adverbs and/or the words “sigh” and “shrug”

·         Giving your main character an interesting pet (a hedgehog named Amelia!)

·         Futzing around with a few more lines

·         Swapping out the interesting pet for an even more interesting pet (a quokka named Coughdrop!)

But this is polishing, not revising. This is what you do with a manuscript that’s already been revised.

Here’s what revision really is:

    ·         Starting the book in a different place

·         Ending the book in a different place

·         Ripping out entire characters or plotlines

·         Amping up conflict in every scene

·         Building a tangible world using all five senses

·         Deepening characterization across the board

·         Reordering scenes and events across the narrative for maximum effect

·         Recasting the book in a different tense or POV

·         Keeping the characters but inventing a new story

·         Keeping the story but inventing new characters

·         Identifying and focusing in on primary themes

·         Rewriting the opening chapter till your fingers bleed

·         Chucking the entire first draft and starting fresh

·         Doing a whole bunch of other stuff I can’t even think of right now because YIKES 

Tackling any of the above work is difficult, but not as difficult as simply accepting the idea that any of this work must be done.

Plus, complicating the revision process is the fact that you will get conflicting feedback. One reader tells you that he loves the voice of the piece but thinks the plot is wonky. Another reader says that the plot is amazing but the voice is off-putting. You revise the plot to please the first reader, and then he comes back and tells you the voice is off-putting. What are you supposed to do with this except to conclude that everyone, everywhere is insane?

When you first start out as a writer, you try everything people suggest. They say the beginning is slow? You speed it up. They say the ending isn’t earned? You rework it. But Neil Gaiman said: “When people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.” (Well, maybe not your Hamline advisors, ahem).

When I was working on my latest novel, my agent told me that she really wasn’t that keen on Roza, one of my point-of-view characters. She didn’t like Roza as much as she liked Petey, another POV character. Maybe I should cut Roza, she suggested, and write the whole book about Petey. My dear friend Anne, on the other hand, told me that Petey was taking over the whole book and that maybe Petey should be cut back.

Needless to say, this was confusing.

What I had to do was take in this seemingly contradictory advice and drill down to the essential issue. Why would these two amazing readers have such strong opinions about these two characters? Why favor one character over the other? And the issue, I decided, was one of balance. Roza’s voice was so quiet that her chapters couldn’t stand up to the passion of Petey’s. To solve the balance problem, I had to amplify Roza’s voice as well as dial up the drama in her chapters. I took Roza’s chapters out of the narrative and completely rearranged and recut them (at least four different times). In a sense, I took the advice of both these readers, but I found a way to solve the issue that didn’t conflict with my vision of the book.

I call this the 13^th way. 12 people will identify 12 different problems, but it’s up to you to find the real problem underlying most of them. Then you have to find your own unique solution to that problem.

You do that for each of the problems identified. Over and over and over again, times umptyjillion, HAHAHAHA.

Revision is a ton of work. And it can be exhausting. In an interview with NPR, the late Kent Haruf said, “It doesn't seem to me there's a scarcity of talent among students who want to write. But what there is a lack of is a talent for work, that it's so difficult to write and it takes so long to learn how to write well that most people give it up before they get good enough.”

So, tell yourself all the tales you need to as you draft. But when it’s time to revise, do not give up before you get good enough. It often takes many sweeps through a manuscript, many drafts before you find the real story you needed to tell all along.

This is Jacqueline Woodson on her Tumblr, relating an exchange she had with her daughter about her National Book Award Winning novel BROWN GIRL DREAMING. 

The 12 year old: Mommy, how many times did you rewrite Brown Girl?

Me: I stopped counting after 31.

©  Allie Brosh
Hyperbole and a Half

Some revision links:

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/oct/23/how-to-write-fiction-mj-hyland

http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/articles/snowflake-method/

http://www.darcypattison.com/revision/shrunken-manuscript/

http://www.amazon.com/Self-Editing-Fiction-Writers-Second-Edition-ebook/dp/B003JBI2YI

http://store.savethecat.com/collections/products/products/save-the-cat-the-last-book-on-screenwriting-you-ll-ever-need

http://www.mckeestore.com/Robert-McKees-book-STORY_p_11.html

Meet the Grad: Araceli Esparza

On July 20, 2014, the final day of the summer residency, the MFAC program will have a Graduate Recognition ceremony, honoring the men and women who have just completed their studies and will receive an MFA from Hamline University. Between now and then  we'll be posting interviews with many of the grads. Araceli Esparza is today's grad; she lives on the second floor on a tree-shady lane in Monona, WI

What do you do when you’re not working on packets?

I’m a mother, Tia (auntie) wifey, nieta (grand-daughter) sister, friend and local supporter. I teach for the local district. I also teach creative writing and Spanish literacy class for young children at local libraries.

How did you hear about the Hamline MFAC Program?

I had been looking for a MFA program that was unique and could fit into my life-schedule. I still remember when I saw the essay question about diversity; it was then that I knew—yep, this is the place.

What was your writing experience prior to entering the program?

I’ve written on walls and paper since my teens, and seriously performing for about 7 years--both slam and poems.

What do especially remember about your first residency?

[MFACAlum] Peter Pearson telling me about Alexi Sherman’s NPR interview! I thought if this guy is in this program and he’s super smart--well then I gotta do it! Basically, I’m a true believer of osmosis.

The veil had been pulled…and still I needed a view…

Yep, first res left me twitching!

Have you focused on any one form (Picture book, novel, nonfiction; graphic novel) or age group in your writing? Tried a form you never thought you’d try?

First semester, I went over my hands and feet and dove into a graphic novel. If Swati [Avasti] in her wisdom hadn’t pulled it from my bloody grip, I would be still writing it! She suggested I do a picture book so that I could see through a story to the end. I’ve been hooked since; 700 words have never been so hard and fun to work with.

Tell us about your Creative Thesis.

All of the pieces have some tie to Latino culture in one way or another. Some are tied just by how I see the character, otherwise you might not get the connection. One is Purple Leaves, which began as a poem and grew into a story about self-confidence and speaking up/out about what you know is true! The others are more obvious through language and setting.  I wanted to create family stories in any setting: modern middle class home, urban barrio, airports, gardens, jail, living room, school, and under a slide in a park. Any and every place my own children have had to go to. The picture book about jail is a personal one for me. In my research, I only found five picture books written for children with parents in prison or jail. The best one was Visiting Day by Jacqueline Woodson. The illustrator and author notes for that book encouraged me to write the story my way.  

What changes have you seen in your writing during your studies?

It’s like I’m empty. For years I have written to exorcise my daemons, and now I’m empty enough to see and take a moment to describe fully what I see.  I can tell that my writing is clear, my poetry has elements of child’s play in them—which I love. Has it gotten easier to write: No WAY! There’s still no time, I still scratch on little pink slips from work, I still stay up way-late at night to get shit done. And my poems still only come in the moment. I have become patient with myself and less critical of my work and focused more on my killer taste (Thanks for the video! Ira Glass!)

With packet deadlines removed as an incentive, do you anticipate it will be harder to keep writing?
 I will continue to write. In fact, my whole family finally understands this is my work. So if I stop now—I can’t stop. For my family, for other Latino children, for me--I can’t stop.

Any plans for your post-Hamline writing life?

After Hamline, I will cry and be sad and then probably go back to teaching my community about Latino children’s books through the library programs that I have started.

Any thoughts for entering students or for people considering the program?

If you are a writer of color, writing is hard. Coming to terms that you are a writer wasn’t easy. Neither will this program be easy, but I promise you, there will be nothing that you will value more than all the work you put into it. I say that I didn’t choose writing, writing choose me, from all mi abuelita’s stories down to my daughter’s imagination--I have a need to tell a great story, to hear the joy of a poem.  At Hamline I have been able to do that.

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The public is welcome to attend the graduate recognition ceremony on Sunday, July 20, 3:30pm, (Anne Simley Theatre, Drew Fine Arts Building). Vera Williams is the speaker.