The Secret Sauce

Or, How (Not) to Write a Novel

I didn’t know what was missing. All I knew was that when I worked on “Diana on the Hunt,” I floundered. I was hopeful that the subplot Donna and I came up with would be the magic elixir that brought the novel back to life for me. And it helped. A little.

Last week Donna was generous enough to read the 150-or-so pages I’d rewritten to fit the new subplot. I thought I’d written really well. But this is why it’s important to have monthly meetings—I found out I’d missed the mark several times.

If Donna and I hadn’t met, and if those pages hadn’t been read by a pair of well-trained eyes, I would’ve continued down that path toward a cliff. It’s hard to hear in the moment that the writing’s not as stellar as imagined, but it’s better in the long run.

And it’s been a long run. I’ve been working on “Diana” for a year. Sigh. But during that time I’ve also written 100+ poems, published several, and put together two chapbooks and most of a collection. But that’s part of what’s at issue with “Diana.”

At the end of our meeting, Donna gave me the key to novel writing. It’s not like she’s been gate-keeping. Donna has taught me everything I know about novel writing—a huge amount. But Thursday she shined a light on what’s been missing from “Diana.”

Focus. My focus. My focus on writing this novel. My focus on the characters.

Here’s the secret sauce I hope Donna doesn’t mind my sharing. She told me that intense focus on a novel is the only way to live in the moment while you write. And living in that moment is what brings the characters to life in the writer’s mind.

And when the characters become alive, their lifeforce takes over the writing.

She warned that lively characters can take the action out of the writer’s outline. But the discovery of what the characters want to do brings the book to life. And she thinks (actually, she knows) this is what’s been missing with “Diana on the Hunt.” Focus.

Donna knows because she’s been with me through those dozen-or-so unpublished novels I’ve penned. She’s seen how fast—6 months!—I can write a novel when I write like that. I know too. And it felt good—to have the characters and novel alive in my head instead of going back every few weeks to perform CPR on them.

To achieve that focus, I used to get into what I call “boxer-training mode.” Boxer-training mode requires a disciplined routine. Waking at 6, mediating, stretching, and writing like a horse wearing blinders until quitting time. That’s the focus I need back.

Because Donna’s right—this intense focus is the only way to get “Diana” written. And I’d love to get her done so I can move forward on publishing these “Gods on Earth” novels myself.

Let me know if this dose of secret sauce helped your writing this week. If you need me, you can find me at my desk. I’ll be the workhorse wearing blinders.

For the next little while, this is what will be my go-to fashion accessory.