Friday: Writing & Publishing Q & A
Skip the scene that’s holding you back and start somewhere completely new—a much, much later part of your story. Don’t worry about what happens during or after the scene that’s stumping you and write something completely different.
I pants’d my novel for this very reason. I was stuck for days (months?) with what happened the day after the accident. So I moved forward to what I did know. Jake and his mom were bugged by each other and what did that look like. That’s something I could envision and I started writing those scenes instead.
How did you design the cover for The Things They Didn’t See?
I worked with Damonza, a company that specializes in quality covers for self-published books. They’d made some mock-ups with wind chimes, a lake, mountains, etc.
We’d had a little back and forth, but then I saw an Instagram post about a local artist showing in an upcoming show near me. The painting was a car driving a wet mountain road lined with pine trees. You’re looking through a rain splattered windshield that has just been cleared by the wiper. It was Jake driving to the lake. The rain was the storm but also his tears. Matt’s drives to the lake were also a vulnerable time for him.
The painting said everything I wanted to say in a picture. I got to the art show early and ran to talk to the artist, Shelly Coleman, full of jangly nerves. She agreed to a commission and the three of us—me, Shelly and Damonza—collaborated on the final result. I chose to take the cover scene to the lake instead as it better represents the story.
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| Image by Shelly Coleman shellycolemanart.com |
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