I am working on Halloween costumes for my granddaughters (fairy dresses with “ice cream cone hats,” as ordered). As I was tweaking the pattern for the dresses, I realized how similar my process is in both sewing and writing.
When I was a beginning seamstress, I did exactly what the pattern directions told me. Now, the balance of power has subtly shifted. I have a picture in my mind of what I want the finished dress to look like. I use the pattern as both a jumping-off place and a shortcut, but am no longer confined by it. My skills have taken me beyond imitation and into the realm of creation.
When I first started writing, I read every “how-to” book I could get my hands on. I also read every children’s book in the particular genre I wanted to try. (You should see the stack of early chapter books I went through before writing Dragon Dilemma.) From both types of reading, I learned the rules of story making and followed them as diligently as I once followed pattern directions. Lately with my writing, however, I am finding that I am more willing and able to “adjust the pattern” if my vision demands it.
For instance, in my new YA historical novel, The Book of Dove, conventional wisdom says that a story must have conflict from the outset in order to grab the reader. The book starts with Dove telling how she washed ashore on Iona as a baby, all alone in a small boat. So far so good. However, Dove isn’t terribly angst filled over her mysterious beginnings because:
- She has good and loving foster parents.
- This conflict isn’t, as the book progresses, the major conflict of the plot.
- Dove is a very spunky character. Fretting about her past isn’t at all in keeping with her personality.
All good reasons to branch off from the established pattern. But, I wasn’t confident enough when I first started sending out the manuscript to stick to my guns.
First there was an editor who really liked the manuscript. She sent me two pages of notes that said, among other things, that Dove was too complacent and needed more tension and there was too much detail in the first chapter. Getting a two page revision letter is, as any of you writers out there know, a very BIG DEAL. So, I rewrote the manuscript, adding a rather contrived scene in the first chapter where young Dove agonizes over her abandonment. I also cut a lot of details, or moved them to farther on in the book. The editor said she liked what I’d done but ended up turning down the manuscript.
Then, an editor at a conference critiqued the first chapter and said Dove seemed more upset than the situation warranted, and I should put in a lot more details to help ground the reader. In other words, she also wanted me to follow a certain pattern, but one that was the exact opposite of the first editor’s suggestions.
Totally confused and feeling damned if I did and damned if I didn’t, I put the manuscript aside.
I told a writing friend of my frustration. She asked me to read both my old first chapter and my new one out loud to her. When I was done, she said the voice seemed truer in the old version, and pointed out that Dove’s voice is the real strength of the story, which I agree with totally.
So, I sat down, threw out all the patterns, and simply wrote what felt right. The first chapter is now closer to the old one in that it is more telling than showing and the conflict is understated. I’ve “killed my darlings” by the drove, though–I condensed three chapters into one– and the writing is much cleaner and tighter than before. Most importantly, Dove’s authentic voice comes through loud and clear.
Will I be successful with this attempt to color outside the lines? In a commercial sense, perhaps not. Only time will tell. But, in an artistic sense, yes, I think I have succeeded. I stayed true to the needs of the story rather than following the rules of the game and have a manuscript I feel really good about.
But–and this is very important–I learned the rules thoroughly and practiced them diligently for years before taking such a risk. So, learn your craft. Learn it well. Then be brave enough to adjust the pattern if that’s what your vision demands.
Happy word stitching! Let me know how you do.
