by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
I was so happy at finishing my most recent book on Thursday that my sigh of relief might have been heard miles away.
This book was the sixth book in a series and my 20th book altogether (not counting the box sets). But this book was a reminder to me that sometimes it doesn’t get easier as we go. Or, really, that each book is just different.
It was the hardest book to write (aside from Hickory Smoked Homicide in 2011…a book I nearly deleted in frustration several weeks before deadline). And it was the book I’ve run behind the worst on. I’m releasing it a month later than planned. It needed a lot of extra time to make it a really solid mystery. I’m happy with it now, but there were many things that made the writing of this book complex:
Writing something different. I’ve never tried writing a cold case before and it was trickier than I thought. Incorporating the past in a meaningful and interesting way (while using an amateur sleuth, though she is a gifted amateur) made it a real challenge.
Writing independently after writing this series for Penguin-Random House. This was the first book in the series since I got the rights to my characters back. I’ve wanted to make sure that the transition for readers was fairly seamless–I didn’t want them to even know or notice that I was publishing the books myself. I wanted the story to be just as good, the editing just as careful. The one big change is the cover, which had to be different since the previous designs were copyrighted by Penguin.
Writing totally solo where before the series work had been collaborative. My editor for this series always worked really well with me–bouncing ideas, easily seeing what the story needed more of. It’s been weird working on this book without her input. I’ve tried to look at the book through her eyes and think about the kinds of things that she would point out.
Writing something personally affecting. I’ve decided that, in the future, it’s probably not the best idea to base any of my characters on living people or pets. It wasn’t very easy writing the dog into the book as a living character when my corgi passed away around about chapter two.
But…what’s good about difficult books? They help me realize I can make it through the toughest projects and craft a good book at the end, despite the hurdles and the days of mediocre writing. It took longer to clean the book up this time, but I felt amazing when I finished the book yesterday.
Do you remember your writing experience specific to particular books? Were there some that caused you more trouble than others?
As a separate note, I’ve heard from many writers who’ve subscribed to my blog posts that they’ve had problems receiving posts this year. I switched to a new plugin and have had some issues…issues I hope are straightened out now! Welcome back to the email subscription, if you’ve been out of the loop for a while…and my apologies for the problem!
On writing difficult books: Click To TweetImage: MorgueFile: butkovicdub
Sorry you lost your dog while writing the book.
Sometimes it’s little things that make a story challenging. Like writing in third person but from only one character’s perspective when I’d normally done it from two or more. You really have to think hard when you realize that one character needs to be present every time something happens.
Alex–Thanks!
And, that *is* really challenging. I’ve gotten now so that I don’t shift POV at all within a scene, but I used to head-hop all the time. Like you’re saying, the change was really tough! Good example.
So sorry for the loss of your corgi. In reading your post, it sounds as though you have grown even more as a writer and overcome the new hurdles that you came upon. That tells me as a reader your book will be strong, engaging and hard to put down. Congratulations on finishing the book!
Mason–Thanks! That’s a good way of looking at it. I think I did learn a lot during the experience.
I’m very sorry, Elizabeth, to hear about your corgi’s passing. That’s really difficult. And just that can make it all that much harder to write. Sounds like this book really represented some big changes for you, so I’m not surprised that you found it difficult. I admire you for sticking it out and finishing something that’ll be good. Oh, and by the way, I’m glad you didn’t delete HSH. It’s a great story!
Margot–It was. At first, it was just sad because the *day after* her death, I was still writing scenes. Then, after the sadness had waned a bit, it was just …odd. It really did hamper my writing the book, but I sure wasn’t in the position where I could kill off the poor dog in the story (that would *not* be a cozy book). Besides, the dog is part of the hook and is always on the covers. Ugh. I’ve learned a lesson, for sure.
And thanks for the kind words about HSH! It ended up being one of my favorite books…after I nearly trashed it. :)
Hi Elizabeth,
Sorry about your dog!
I’ve only written 4 books (not 20! Wow!), but so far, every book has been a very different struggle. This gets back to you post a couple weeks ago about pre-orders and timelines for indie writers with out the extra padding trad pub build in, too. I’m glad this wasn’t the book you set a hard deadline for with an early pre-order, though you probably would have wisely built in enough room to account for that extra month.
Anyway, congratulations on (finally) finishing it!!
Rebecca–I’m *so* glad this wasn’t the pre-order book!
Howver, now I’m a week behind on the pre-order book because of this release. Ugh. Fortunately, I’ve got an easy project, solid outline, should be a fast book to write. If life doesn’t happen in the meantime!
And thanks!
Book V of my series kicked my butt, mostly because the main character IS a pain in the butt. Of course, that turned out to be the best of the five.
I’m sorry, I didn’t know you had a Corgi. I bet he was a good dog. My best friend has had three corgis and loves the breed.
Diane–That *would* make it hard to write, but fun to read!
They’re a great breed. At some point we’ll get another one..maybe next year.
Very sorry about your dog.
Congrats, though, on getting the book done! Yes, I’ve been there. The first four full-lengths were a breeze, but the last three (including the one with my editor right now) were all unique hassles. For the first of that batch, I was really excited about integrating politics into my series, but then I had to go back and make things less “wonky”. (Lesson: sometimes writing what you know isn’t a great idea.) For the second, I was writing about something I have no experience with but which has bothered me for a long time: organized human exploitation. I had to go to my happy place a lot when writing that one, but, feedback was good. (Lesson: most fiction readers don’t need to become an expert in your book’s subject matter; this may be a corollary to Lesson One.) The third one- my current WIP- is a murder mystery that literally the entire city wanted to commit. On top of that, I have two main characters, one the detective who’s trying to solve the case and the other someone who’s trying to protect the murderer. Teasing out who didn’t do it and getting to the motive and making the reader see the final straw without putting a neon sign over it is what’s killing me now. No clever lesson; I think that’s just standard mystery writing :-)
Deb–I know just what you mean. I feel all I do is research and then I really don’t need the actual research…I just need to know the stuff so I don’t mess up and write something that’s *wrong*, crime writing-wise.
Your current WIP sounds fantastic! Maybe a little sleight of hand with the clue? Something very distracting that happens right after that? A fight between two suspects, something that seems like a bigger clue right afterward (but is a red herring instead?)
Ooh…I have the detective and one of the early suspects getting into a fight, but I like the idea of some sleight if hand, and I think I know just where to put it. Thanks!
Deb–Great!
Sorry to hear about your Corgi! Sounds like a tough time.
Thanks for sharing though, it’s a good lesson for those of us writing but not yet published that each book is different. Your blog is great, I’ve been going through and reading all the older posts.
Fenella–Thanks and thanks for coming by the blog!
They’re just all so very different…maybe someone’s book one could be the hardest book ever, but the next couple fly. I remember I felt so incredibly confident after my 4th book, but the 5th one was a disaster. Maybe a reminder to myself to be neither cocky nor discouraged. :)
So sorry about your dog! That’s really hard. Did the rest of the book become the grieving process? I’ve written some really depressing drafts doing that, and didn’t catch it until later.
I think each new book is its own unique difficulty. I’ve got two in draft that I’m dreading going back through, because they were such beasts to figure out. I have an even nastier plot staring me in the face–the apocalyptic ending to my urban fantasy series. Apocalypses are HARD.
Kessie–Interesting point! Yes, I think writing the book definitely expedited the grieving process. But the tricky thing was making sure that didn’t leak into the book–cozies are getaway books. They can’t be depressing at all. Writing her nearly every day meant that she still *was* there…very disconcerting. I ended up making the dog a hero of the story–wouldn’t likely have done that before my dog’s own personal story took a twist. So I more honored Chloe in the book than gave serious undertones to the story, but gosh, that took work. And I think it just made me a lot more used to adjusting to life without her through the stark demand of writing her.
Apocalypses *are* hard. I wrote what I call a “cozy zombie” book and ended it somewhat ambiguously…main chararcters okay, signs of hope, but no world-ending or world-beginning type of closure. I get at least one email or message from Wattpad each month asking for a sequel. But I think…how do you write a sequel to the end of the world? I’m thinking I won’t. :)
I like to write difficult books. It’s one of the reasons I write so few of them. I like to have a lot more in the book than any one reader will catch, partly because it gives every reader a chance to connect to different aspects of the book. But the one thing I don’t want is for it to be a difficult experience to read the book. I like it when readers don’t know the book was difficult to write. But that just makes it all the harder to write. (Sigh.)
I suppose that’s why I have trouble writing simple books: because that’s how I want my complicated books to appear — so the simpler it is for the reader, the more complicated I end up making the job for me.
As for depth — that is, what I sometimes call “emotional resonance” — that does also make things difficult, but it also can make the story more rewarding to write, and more engaging to read.
I’m doing family history right now, instead of fiction, and boy does that turn out to be a complicated story to put together. It’s like a 20 million piece puzzle. Except I don’t know exactly how many pieces there are, and a great many of them are missing, and every piece I do find transforms the whole story.
Camille–Yes! Yes, absolutely, you nailed an important part of this that Kessie also alluded to. It can’t be a hard book to read. Not in my genre. These books are escapes. Maybe it wasn’t an escape *writing* it (it was grueling), but I worked hard to make it a light read for puzzle mystery fans. That could be a big reason why the thing was just so darn hard to write.
Family history…eek! Could be fascinating, could be rife with landmines. :) Keeping the scope narrow or more of a saga?
You have to go where the evidence takes you. But ultimately, you end up researching both the saga and the small personal stories, because each influences the other.
Oh, Elizabeth, I am so sorry about your doggie. Their presence is so missed once they’re gone. Congrats on finishing a difficult project. It must be immensely satisfying, though.
Karen–Thanks so much!
Definitely a relief … yes, satisfying, too…hadn’t thought of that!
Hi Elizabeth – so sorry about your Corgi – a regal connection I see … but interesting to see the difficulties you had with various aspects of the book – always good to learn and read the challenges. Overcoming things is just getting on with it – getting up for a walk and coming back renewed with diverse ideas …
You must be chuffed to have completed this one … cheers Hilary
Hilary–I think I’ve *thought* about this book more in my off-times than any other book. Couldn’t seem to get away from it. But challenges make for good learning, for sure!
Ohh, Elizabeth, my heart goes out to you about your Corgi, Chloe. I lost both my dogs together on the same day on April 13– my Aussie had recurrence of cancer, my German Shepherd could no longer walk after a year of treatment for spinal stenosis. I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been for you to write about her after she was gone. I’ve been in a deep depression since losing my two, only managing to work on edits and formatting of some re-issues. Even still, my mind isn’t fully functioning and I find I’ve missed errors. I’m glad I don’t have a deadline.
Gillian– I’m so sorry! Losing two babies on one day…I can’t even imagine. I can completely understand how difficult it may be to write after that. And it hasn’t even been a month for you.
It got better for me over time, but I did get so very far behind that I was practically pulling in NaNoWriMo-style word counts by the end of the process. I do feel, as completely upsetting as it was to write poor Chloe after her death, it was somewhat therapeutic for me. But incredibly difficult at the same time. Hugs to you!
I’m keeping track of your blog posts using Bloglovin, so I’m no longer missing your posts.
Sorry about your Corgi. I know how that feels. Congratulations on finishing your book under new (and trying) circumstances.
Ken–Oh good! Glad that you’re keeping track of me that way. :)
And thank you! I appreciate the kind words.
Hi Elizabeth, and congrats on finishing your difficult project. And on its being an indie book. Someone who’s done as much as you have for other writers deserves to reap the rewards.
My biggest problem has to do with finding a gun-for-hire editor that I am convinced is right for me and my work. I’ve worked now with three, and each brings something valuable to the table. But two are heavily biased in favor of kinds of genre fiction that I’m not trying to write. They want me to make changes that will make the book more compatible with their biases, rather than considering the book on its own merits, and guiding me to make it the best it can be. The third is a better fit, but he takes forever, and is very expensive. So it goes.
Barry–That is definitely tough. I’d either keep looking or else I’d use one of the commercial fiction editors, disregard their global edits, and just use them for the line editing/continuity stuff. That would be harder, though, if they ask to see corrections.