Dear Reader,
Here are the official achievements of “All Novel, All August” (and a bit on Sept. 1).
I’ve tried not to add any spoilers which is kinda a pain and a bit dry, sorry. Give me a little more time and I can give you more of the flow of the story. Probably. Just not sure when the reveal should come. Word Raccoon says now, now now, but I try not to listen to her too much.
A tiny bit about the novel: it’s a literary mystery/campus novel. If you know how much I love Possession, you can probably see why this particular literary-mystery territory appeals to me. (WR and I LURVE that novel!)
Reaccessioned, my novel, is set on a small Ohio university campus, and the action begins when a time capsule is found during the clock tower’s demolition, potentially confirming one rumor and bringing to light secrets that have remained underground for over a hundred years.
The race is on to find the historical items hinted to exist that just might save this modest liberal arts institution from a very twenty-first-century identity crisis.
WR is howling because she wants to tell, tell, tell! But no, no, no! Not yet!
At any rate, though we could say more, we are still working on it.
Here are the highlights, because the actual list is frankly way too long!
During All Novel, All August, I:
- Wrote and revised my way to 75,000 words. (Added 7K back after initially condensing it.)
- Completed substantial drafts of ALL of the novel’s major story threads.
- Assembled previously separate threads into one manuscript so I could finally read the book as a book rather than as several related stories. Whew!
- Completed a full read-through and generated a revision list that ballooned past 50 items. I later weeded out everything I had already solved, superseded, or decided the novel didn’t need. Then we did a happy dance.
- Wrote a significant amount of entirely new material, including scenes, letters, journal material, and connective tissue. (Covering WR’s mouth so she doesn’t give anything away just yet.)
- Accidentally wrote the ending of one major thread and didn’t realize it was the ending until I tried to continue and discovered there wasn’t a next thing. Fun and sad!
- Solved or substantially clarified who creates, possesses, preserves, hides, discovers, and eventually inherits various pieces of evidence. (That can be TRICKY!)
- Worked out or strengthened a complicated historical chronology spanning well over a century. (Yes, my head is spinning!)
- Solved several things that had felt like plot devices by discovering the emotional reasons the characters themselves would actually make those choices.
- Reworked a major historical relationship so that it became more complicated and less easily labeled, which turned out to be much more useful to the novel and feels fair.
- Figured out that I didn’t need to settle every historical ambiguity. In some places, the ambiguity is the point.
- Developed a system for tracking documented history, fictional invention, interpretive choices, and altered chronology so I can eventually write an accurate author’s note.
- Did a ridiculous amount of historical research into letters, biographies, contemporary accounts, clothing, travel, education, etc. that may occupy three words in the finished novel. And with all that, I will still probably make mistakes.
- Created timelines for important historical correspondence so my invented material doesn’t accidentally contradict surviving evidence.
- Started paying closer attention to the physical lives of documents, not merely what they say: how they’re folded, addressed, stored, moved, hidden, damaged, preserved, or mistaken for something unimportant. Fascinating and tactile.
- Decided that a historical scene needs to change a relationship, understanding, decision, or possibility, not merely contain fascinating information. Dang it.
- Cut several research questions after realizing that I simply don’t need to know. I mean, I need to know because my curiosity is insatiable, but the novel doesn’t.
- Thought much more carefully about privacy after death, who has the right to tell another person’s story, and whether preserving something necessarily gives someone permission to disclose it.
- Became much more ruthless about leaving placeholders such as (CHECK THIS) and (NAME IT) rather than interrupting a live scene to spend 45 minutes determining which magazine arrived on Saturday 100 years ago.
- Learned that not knowing exactly where a scene belongs does not mean I shouldn’t write it.
- Began thinking about the eventual revision pass for physical embodiment, making sure characters exist as bodies in rooms. Alas, Rebecca still does not have a hair color assigned to her. I have no idea why not. 😂
- Resisted doing the final copyedit approximately nine thousand times because the book is not ready for a final copyedit so STOP IT! (WR was happy to stop that. It’s tedious.)
- Submitted work from the novel as the writing sample for a residency application. Tried not to panic.
- And, perhaps most importantly, moved from “I have novel pieces” much closer to “I have a novel that now needs revision.” While I don’t have in my head exactly how all of the remaining scenes will go, I know enough about the characters and the plot now that I am confident I can write them (even if I likely won’t know until the words are coming out what I am typing).
Soon WR and I are getting away for a few days. I think we deserve it, don’t you?
Then it’s on to September and do we have the ideas!
Drema