Friday: Book Q & A

Friday Author Q & A!

Did your story change much from when you first started writing until the final draft?

Originally, my opening sentence was the four short sentences of everyone “needing Jill” all at once:

“Mom, did you pack my hat?” 

“Jill, where should we store the extra drinks?” 

“Babe, can you hand me the sunscreen?” 

“Mommy, sit by me!”

 

I loved starting off showing how a mother wears so many different hats and needs to be everything to everyone all at once. 

But in workshops, because readers didn’t know anything about the family or even where they were when the scene begins, nothing made sense. Learning the problems starting off this way was all part of the process of me learning to write well. 

In a master class I spent days reworking a better opening sentence. Literal days—hour after hour working on one sentence! Even a single word can change a meaning or the cadence of how its read. At one point it sounded like the lyrics to a bad country song. Finally, I started much earlier in the action and it all came together. 

 

What was the hardest scene to write?

The first chapters with a fun day on the lake and then the storm and the accident were challenging to determine how much to describe. When I started, I overwrote, describing every movement and detail. I think the first chapter was originally 35 pages! Workshopping in classes and receiving feedback was crucial for making improvements.

I moved on, wrote the rest of the book, then reworked the first chapter over and over, in every class, and on my own for literal years. I often thought, if everyone would just make it past this first chapter, the rest of the story is really good. I continued to refine, never giving up, until I got it just right.

If you have a question, I'd love to answer it! 

Send your questions to me through my contact form on my website.