The Agony of Writing

Photo by JE Theriot

LUCY BURDETTE: Since my holiday company has departed, I can turn my thoughts to the new year, wondering what I’ll write and how I’ll get it done. And get your suggestions of course.

First of all, I always have doubts! Every book. KILLER TAKEOUT will be my fifteenth published book and I still get stuck every time in the middle. Where is this book going??? What’s the point? Why is she doing this? Who will ever want to read this?

A few things help keep me sane in this situation. One is to keep writing. Apply butt to chair and write 1000 words a day. It also helps to write out a sentence or two the night before about what I will cover the next day. Another good tool is brainstorming with my writer friends. They are invariably generous, and fresh eyes can see paths out of my plot when I feel hopeless.

I also heard two wise quotes while I was at the New England Crime Bake in November that I plan to keep right beside my computer. The first from Elizabeth George:

“When your story stalls out on you, you’ve played your hand too soon.”

And Peter Abrahams/Spencer Quinn suggested when a writer gets stuck: "Think about the engine that drives the story."

How about you dear Reds? Do you ever have doubts when you are in the middle of the writing, or other non-writing projects? How do you get past them?

Photo by Anokarina

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: I have doubts ALL THE TIME. Seriously. But I just keep going. I'm  from the "chip on the shoulder" school of life, so I think of all the people who told me I couldn't do fill-in-the-blank and then say, "Yeah, screw you — I'm going to do it anyway. Watch me." I had this conversation with writer and neighbor, Alice Bradley, the author of LET'S PANIC ABOUT BABIES (http://alicebradley.net) . And we decided the two keys to writing are red wine and anger. We weren't really joking.


HALLIE EPHRON: I really don't want to talk about this as at this very minute I am in the pit of despond. I go into full panic mode daily. The only cure is writing. And then writing some more. And then fixing what I wrote.

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HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  Constant panic, all the time. And when I sometimes get that glimmer of...hey, this could be good! Then I freak, because maybe I am fooling myself. People say to me--how's the book going? I say--I have NO idea. And how can that be?
I think the middle is the most difficult, because it has to be riveting and fast-moving and meaningful, but it has to get seat-of-the-pants writer me to a place I don't know where is. Which is pretty funny!
I say to myself, every day: ADVANCE THE STORY. ADVANCE THE STORY.
I say: what would really happen? What would this character think? How would they feel? How would they react?
Then I say to Jonathan; I can't do this, I stink.
Then I get a good idea.
Always.
I hope.

RHYS BOWEN: What a bunch of neurotics we are! I wonder if there are any writers who just churn out book after book without worrying? Nora Roberts, maybe? Danielle Steele and her stable of secretaries? Obviously James Patterson. When I finish a book I always think Ill never have another good idea ever. Then I do... So keep believing, Hallie.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Always middle-of-the-book panic. Why did I ever think this was a good idea? No one will believe this story! And then there is always the underlying panic of "What about the next book? What can I possible write about?" Really, the only time I'm not panicked is when I'm actually writing and I'm in a scene and the characters start talking to me... Sometime around mid-book I have to stop and block out the rest of the book, or I am absolutely paralyzed. I don't know how seat-of-the-pants writers like Rhys do it. Although I guess we all have to figure out the same things, we just do it by different methods.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Pit of despond here as well. I picture me and Hallie slogging together through one of Dante's less pleasant circles of hell - maybe the one with all the cold rain and mud. I complain and complain about not having any time to write because of all the other things going on in my life, and then when I do sit down to the computer with a few hours, I think, "I have nothing to say. This book sucks. Why did I think this plotline was clever? My characters are cardboard." Etc. Etc.

My one consolation is the knowledge that every other time, I've managed to finish the manuscript and it didn't turn out too badly. Insert big-ampitheater rendition of "Don't Stop Thinkin' About Tomorrow" here...

What do you think Reds? Does this sound surprising? Familiar? Suggestions?

I've Got A Little List!

Hank Phillippi Ryan: Summertime! And soon…the summer reading lists will be out! But hey, why wait for the Times or the News or People--when we have the Reds? What are you reading--right now? (Come on, be honest.) and what're you reading next?

I'll admit it--I'm reading Dan Brown's Inferno. And okay, fine, it's a page turner. Irresistible! I'm also reading Joe Hill's NOS4ATU. Which is creepy as pie and just as delicious.  And Bruce DaSilva's new PROVIDENCE RAG. He's good! Sort of if Spenser was a reporterand lived in Rhode Island.

 Next is Jon McGoran's DRIFT. Or maybe ...Susan Elia MacNeal’s HIS MAJESTY"S HOPE.(She’s so terrific. I am hooked on her books!) And Catriona McPherson has a new one, AS SHE  LEFT IT. Sigh. And I SHOULD be writing!

 How about you?

LUCY BURDETTE:  I'm reading a romance by Nancy Herkness called TAKE ME HOME. It's about a woman who goes home to West Virginia from NYC and finds both a "whisper horse" (a horse who will listen to your troubles) and a romance with a sexy vet. It's light summer reading that seriously sizzles....

 And next up, KNEADING TO DIE, by our friend Liz Mugavero. And after that, Erica Baumeister's THE LOST ART OF MIXING. But really, seriously, need to be finishing MURDER WITH GANACHE...

HANK : Oh, me, too. (and Lucy, I cannot wait to read it!) LOVE Liz Mugavero!   Ah, I’m at 50,000 words—hurray! Of a book that has no title, boo. Soon, I’ll be coming to you to ask  for advice. How can you write a book that has no title? Well, I secretly  have one. (Is it: The Last to Lie? One False Move? No Good Deed? As Good As True? What do you think?)

Rhys is en route from London, Julia has a big deadline, Ro is doing something glamorous,  and Hallie’s writing, too, I know…and she’s just back from vacation.

HALLIE EPHRON:     My TBR pile is topped by Jess Walter's "Beautiful Ruins" -- I'm a huge fan since he blew me away with Edgar winner "Citizen Vince." Like Roberta I'm behind on my

deadline so reading for pleasure is on the back burner--temporarily at least. 

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING:  Hallie, I'm so happy to be (temporarily) able to read for pleasure! I'm still recovering from the Best Novel Edgars, and as such, I've been reading a lot of romance, womens fiction, etc. I just finished the latest Nora Roberts stand-alone, WHISKEY BEACH. Always a good read. When you're in a Nora mood, nothing else will suffice. 

I'm also backtracking to read Lee Child's THE AFFAIR; after I bought it in 2011, Ross grabbed it off my pile and read it and for some reason, I never got back to it. I want to catch up before NEVER GO BACK lands at the beginning of September. A couple of summer books I'm REALLY looking forward to laying hands on: William Kent Kruger's TAMARACK COUNTY and Paul Doiron's MASSACRE POND. Both faves of mine in the "Rugged men sleuthing in places that can kill you" genre. Seriously, I may have to hit up their editors for Advance Readers Copies.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Whew, Julia, now I feel a bit better (grovel, grovel) about admitting the fact that until now I had never read a Lee Childs' novel. Not a deliberate oversight--I've had two in my TBR pile for donkey's years-- just too many books... Anyway, I'm reading the very first Jack Reacher, KILLING FLOOR, while alternating hitting myself on the head for not having read ALL of them sooner.  Halfway through, I could write a dissertation on Reacher as the iconic hero in literature, but suffice to say it's a cracking good story.

Also part way through the 75th anniversary edition of THE HOBBIT (a birthday gift from a friend,) which I hadn't reread in years. And THE HOBBIT: THE CHRONICLES, a gift from my publisher--a fabulous coffee table book on the art and design in the film. Then a good bit more non-fiction: THE POSSIBILITY DOGS by Susannah Charleson (out yesterday!), THE TRAIN IN THE NIGHT by Nick Coleman (a book about music and hearing loss,) and THE MURDER ROOM, by Michael Capuzzo. Then more fiction; a galley of MIDNIGHT by Kevin Egan, who will be my guest on JR in July. And somewhere there is a new Jo Bannister novel, if only I could find it... I think we will all be buried in books...

(Oh, and I LOVE William Kent Krueger, so the new one is going on the pile, too.)

RHYS BOWEN:  I'm on a plane as you read this, finishing up Deb's No Mark Upon Her, which I had had on my Kindle for a year and never had time to read. I was interviewed by a woman who belongs to Leander Club so that was fun. And I'm no longer sure what lurks in the TBR pile at home. I know I have to blurb Hannah Dennison's new one, and definitely want to read Catriona's (she'll be our guest next week) and the latest Kate Morton is waiting for me and I confess, I'll have to read Dan Brown as I was just in Istanbul.

LUCY BURDETTE:  Could I just say that I was on the Edgar committee that chose CITIZEN VINCE as best novel that year? I was very proud of that one!

HANK: See, Lucy/Roberta? You know your stuff!  It’s very gratifying to be on that committee—ours picked Mo Hayder’s GONE. A fabulous book! I smile every time I see it in a bookstore.

So how about you, Readers? Tell us your then, now, next! We’d love to hear what you’re reading! There are SO many wonderful books!

(And yes, indeed! One lucky commenter wins the ARC of THE WRONG GIRL!) Yesterday's winner: Katie Baer! Email me h ryan at whdh dot com with your address!