Today, a mid-week treat for you: I’m thrilled to have Jenny Storm (also known as our own Devon Ellington), author if Dixie Dust Rumors, give us a primer on her novel-writing process. Many thanks to Jenny for sharing her tips and insights with us! It starts with characters that appear and lead her to the story…
By Jenny Storm
One of the most frequent writing questions I’m asked is what is the starting point for my work. 99% of the time, I start from character. A character appears and starts telling me the story. I take down the first draft, almost like dictation. Other characters wander in and out, telling me their sides of the story, adding or contradicting to what the original character presented. Sometimes, as the piece moves along, the original character fades back, and becomes a bit player in the overall book.
I usually have a vague idea of the plot, and jot down notes about points I want or need to hit along the way. About four or five chapters in, I usually have a solid idea of the ending, so I know where I’m headed, and I give my characters enough leeway to surprise me on the way.
In subsequent drafts, I tear everything apart and rebuild structure, logic, make sure events and sequences make sense, or, if there’s a fantastical element to it, at least make sure it works within the logistical confines of the book’s world.
DIXIE DUST RUMORS was a little different. I knew I wanted to write a middle grade novel set against horse racing. Since I love mysteries, especially in that age range, I wanted it to be a mystery. The character of Rose appeared, and her pesky but smart younger brother Simon. I still didn’t know what they were up to, but I knew it involved a horse their father trained called Dixie Dust. And I knew there’d be conflict at school between Rose and the richer kids of the owners of horses trained by her dad.
About a day or two after I started playing with these characters, a story broke where a so-called journalist with few credentials accused a jockey of impropriety in a big race. It was completely ridiculous and unfounded, but, of course, had to be investigated. I followed the story closely and was vocal on my opinions and the lack of ethics shown both by the writer (because that was no journalist) and the paper for publishing the story without checking facts. The jockey was cleared, of course, but his family, the trainer, the owners, etc., all went through a lot of unnecessary heartache — which is why I don’t name the situation or the jockey in any of my interviews! They’ve been through enough.
The situation started to fuse with my characters, so I found myself working simultaneously from plot and character. I wanted the emphasis to be on Rose, my protagonist, and how these charges affect her daily life, especially in school, rather than focus on the adults or the jockey. It’s middle grade, the emphasis needs to be on the character in the reader’s age range. I changed quite a few things around in the situation, got an idea of the type of person I imagined would write something like this (having no knowledge of the actual accuser, and purposely not doing the research on the actual person) and it continued to evolve.
Then, I needed to people Rose’s worlds. She has the world of the racetrack, which is busy and complex, and the world of school, which is also busy and complex, and she had to move between the worlds much more than an adult would. The racetrack requires seven days a week, every day of the year. And, since Rose’s mother died and her dad was a single parent, that put even more responsibility on both Rose and her younger brother.
The public schools and neighborhoods around the track are pretty diverse, and it was easy to reflect that in the characters. Justin’s appearance was a surprise, but once he wandered in, I realized what a good foil he was for Rose. They both don’t quite fit in, but figure a way to cope.
The tense shift in the book is the biggest risk, and time — and readers — will tell if I pulled it off. Rose is telling us (the readers) the story that happened only a week or two ago, not looking back on it from a perspective of months or years. It makes sense that, when she discusses how things are done at the track, routines, etc., that she would use the present, but tell the actual story in the past. I had more present tense in earlier drafts, but felt it was a bit jarring, so I smoothed it out a bit in the edits. I haven’t decided if I’ll make the same choice in DEAD MAN’S STALL, the next Rose book, set during the summer meet in Saratoga. I need to get into it a bit more.
It was wonderful and scary to shake up the process writing this book. So often, people are afraid to deviate from “their” process and process becomes a form of prison. I find that it’s important to let each book dictate its own process, discovering what works — and what doesn’t — as you write and edit. Otherwise, the writing becomes stagnant, in my opinion.
Visit the Jenny Storm webpage to read excerpts and keep up on Rose and on other Jenny Storm projects: http://www.devonellingtonwork.com/jennystorm.html, and visit her on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/jennystormya.
Jenny Storm publishes under a half a dozen names in both fiction and non-fiction. She’s been a fan of horse racing since she was seven years old, and collects juvenile mystery fiction from the early twentieth century.
Any questions for Jenny on the writing process?
Thanks so much for being such a lovely hostess!
Thanks for offering your expertise, hon! We’re pleased to have it!
Actually, I had a question – what made you decide to e-publish? What advantages would writers have over traditional publishing?
I wanted to see how life was in the new technology. I think there’s room for both print and epublishing, and I’m investigating the pros and cons of each.
Some of the pros of epublishing are that the houses are smaller, which means there’s more individualized attention. The turnaround time from acceptance to publication is also faster. You’re not dealing with production teams and print houses and shipping books, etc. The production process is quicker; the book gets out there quicker; and, when the customer purchases the book, it is downloaded immediately and the customer can start reading. You don’t have to wait for it to ship.
On the minus side, there’s still some stigma attached to ePublishing, that it’s not ‘as good” as print. There are plenty of authors in print who aren’t to my taste, and plenty of authors in digital-only markets who are great.
Also, again, because the houses are so small, even more the marketing burden is on the writer than there is at traditional houses.
How it shakes out financially is yet to be seen — I won’t know until I’ve got a couple of royalty statements.
I’m also curius as to whether children’s/YA fiction sells well in digital. The work I publish for adult sells well, but I’m curious as to the difference in numbers between adult and YA markets.
That’s a topic we can revisit in a year or so, when I’ll have some personal numbers to compare.
Great article, Jenny. I love the way you describe your process of finding and developing stories. Something I struggle with is plot. I write awesome dialogue, but I have a heck of a time finding a plot to hang it on. Any suggestions?
Kristen
Kristen, in the first draft, I trust my characters, and they lead me with dialogue. DIXIE DUST was a little different, because the plot formed with the characters, but usually my first drafts read more like plays than novels.
When I re-read them, I start seeing themes emerge, and then I pick the action that either supports or contradicts the themes.
I keep asking, “Why are we with these characters at this particular moment in their lives? What is pivotal about being here NOW?” and the plot emerges from that.
It has to be an important moment for them (or series of moments) in order to work dramatically.
But I usually work first from character and let the plot emerge, then shape it in subsequent drafts.
Do you ever work with character charts and plot lines, detailed before the actual writing?
I think I remember reading just a couple of days ago that you were thinking of writing another story for Rose even though Dixie Dust Rumors was written as a stand-alone. Now you’ve broken the news that you’re working on DEAD MAN’S STALL. When and how did you make that decision? Is it etched in stone? (I hope so. Sounds great.)
Georganna, if I write too much ABOUT the characters before I write the book, I lose them. I’ll often make plot notes, write a few chapters, and then figure out the rest of the book. I very rarely write much about the characters — I get to know them through the writing process, like I’d get to know a real person over a period of time spent together.
For series, I do keep detailed character and plot bibles, and update them once a final proof has gone off, and refer frequently to them while I write the next book.
Judy, yes, DIXIE DUST was conceived as a stand alone, but I got the idea for DEAD MAN’S STALL, so I’ve started that — fingers crossed my publisher likes it!
When you establish your characters, do you imagine them as friends or people you know. Do you ever post photos of people from magazines, etc. to help you visualize what they look like?
Hi Lori and Jenny – great post!
Jenny, was Dixie Dust Rumors written straight onto the PC, or was this a long-hand story that eventually worked into electronic form?
I appreciate the info. on e-publishing, thank you!
Thanks, Jenny, that’s really helpful!
Kristen
Sir John, because I worked for over 20 years in theatre and film, I don’t use photos for character references. I’m very aware of the difference between the actor as a human being and the actor as a character. If I’m writing a play or script for a specific actor (someone I know and work with), I take the actor’s cadence and physicality into consideration, but otherwise, no.
I’ve lived in the dressing room through too many incidents where people objectify actors and can’t separate them from the characters they play. I try not to objectify them the same way when I write (even if they never know it).
Characters seem like real people when I write them; I know them and get to know them through the process, so I don’t need photographs.
As I mentioned above, I do keep physical notes on characters for series, so that I can remain consistent project-to-project, especially juggling multiple projects.
Sometimes a real person will serve as an inspiration for a character, but, when I do my job properly, the character evolves into an individual very different from the inspiration.
Colin, although I often do first drafts in longhand, DIXIE DUST was one of the first pieces done directly on the computer. (And it was a PC at the time — just got the mac!)
Devon, I’m curious how you adapt your writing style for middle grades vs. young adult vs. adult fiction. Do you ever find yourself writing something that might be too complex for younger readers or does it come naturally to you?
I wonder how much of yourself finds its way into your fiction? Like the news story you mention, I’ll often read something and think, “This would make for good exploration for a story.” But I also find that my own life is so fascinating that I don’t really need to manufacturer ideas.
These are great questions! Devon, thanks so much for agreeing to hang around and answer q’s. It’s great hearing about the process from the inside.
Susan, because I write from character, the style for the age range stems from that. IE, DIXIE DUST is written in first person through Rose’s eyes, and she’s kind of a young twelve, emotionally, at any rate. If I was using the same plot elements for an adult story, I’d tell it either as Rose remembering it as an adult, or through one of the adults — her dad, Sophie, or maybe even the jockey — and the style would reflect that.
Even when I write in 3rd person, the character who drives the story affects the style.
Kathi, again, I write from characters who are distinct individuals. There’s a bit of me in everyone, including the villains — LOL — but they evolve into their own people. Because I usually get the idea for the character first and the character starts “telling” me the story, it’s the character’s story, not mine. Often, they’ll have some of my knowledge or charactertistics, or something I believe deeply. Loyalty and building family, two things that are important to me, tend to be recurring themes.
What’s great about being a writer is that anything we experience on any level becomes material. Sometimes, I’ll look back at something I wrote several years ago and realize how something in my life affected the course of the piece in a way I didn’t realize during the writing.
but I don’t write autobiography masked as fiction. If I want to write about my life — I’ve got the blog! 😉