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Getting it Right the Twentieth Time:
One Novel’s Journey to Publication
Robert A. Heinlein, the Dean of Science Fiction,
had four simple rules for writing success:
write, finish what you
write, put it on the market, keep it on the market until sold.
Heinlein didn’t mentioned revision in
his list, but his stories often emerged fully formed--like Athena from
Jove’s head. For the rest of us mortals, revision might fall
under point two: finishing what we write. There are many different
levels of finishing: rough draft, semi-polished rough draft, and the complete,
neat final draft. But sometimes, the final draft doesn’t wind
up being final at all.
In the summer of 1998, Erin MacClellan
finished her first final draft of her story of Kara McKinney, a girl who
vowed her first day at St. Joan of Arc
School would be her
last. Later that fall, Erin collected her first full-length
rejection letter from an editor at Random House who loved Kara’s
over-the-top humor and her wonderful, supporting cast.
Erin attended the SCBWI France retreat in
April of 1999 for inspiration, feedback, and—not least of all--the
chance to revisit Paris where she spent time
as a student. When Erin read
her first chapter during the open mike session, I was one of the entranced
members of the audience who loved how Kara’s break for freedom was
foiled by a nun in tennis shoes.
I had the good fortune to eat breakfast with
Erin the next morning and hear the manuscript’s
history. I felt even luckier when she and a few other writers I’d
met there suggested forming a critique group. Over the next couple
of years, I had the chance to follow Erin’s
multiple revisions based on our suggestions and on the recommendations
of various editors and agents who sent more glowing rejection letters.
Characters were eliminated and events shifted, but Kara’s high energy
level remained the same. At a certain point, Erin
stopped sending us changes because we were so close to the story and characters
that we had lost objectivity.
Erin found
fresh eyes in a local critique group and a book doctor and revised several
more times to tighten the manuscript’s focus. After
enjoying a fun middle reader from Holiday House, she decided to send Kara
there, carefully noting the specific title and author in her query letter.
The result was editorial interest and then a contract. But it took
two more substantial revisions before RUN FROM THE NUN! was
ready to go to press. During my informal interview with Erin to nail down the timeline for her book, I joked that
I was going to call this column GETTING IT RIGHT THE TWENTIETH TIME.
“That’s about what it took,” she told me.
But was it worth it? Oh, yeah.
If you'd like to read about THE GRIFFIN's journey
to publication, visit Darcy Pattison's blog on revision here.
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