by Katherine Reay, @Katherine_Reay
The beginning of a New Year — a new decade — is a great time to start something new.
Of course, there is an app, a blank page or an itemized list system to help you accomplish that “thing” this year. But I’m going to suggest something different — alongside all those wonderful goals and resolutions.
As I begin a new novel this month, I am determined to change my process, just a little — and thought you might enjoy pondering this approach as well. My goal is to “let go” of the ideas earlier to “let in” more suggestions and input.
It’s hard to put your work out there and I don’t think that challenge gets any easier whether it’s your first, fifth or fiftieth manuscript. Forget that — at fifty, one probably has this vulnerable moment well-in-hand. Yet, working on my ninth novel, I still hold tight to early ideas and early drafts. It is not until I have a solid second draft that I let trusted readers weigh in with suggestions.
In 2020, I plan to share from the start. Next week, I will send a rough outline to my agent, my beta reader, my husband, and a couple friends. I may even send an early synopsis to my editor. I am going to ask for critiques much earlier and I plan to brainstorm ideas with a few writer friends — and I never do that.
Yet if I want a different energy within this story, I have to shake things up.
Now all this said, please understand the work I do and the work you do is very individual. Not all comments will be helpful. But I do believe that, if I am willing to listen, every interaction will refine my writing and create a strong story, whether I accept the advice or not. Because that is part of our crazy craft as well — learning what input to accept and how to recognize when suggestions are not right for our work. We better hone our voices when we defend them.
So, if you’re thinking of changing up your approach in 2020. I challenge you (and me) to let others join in the process.
And, as always, have fun!
Thanks for spending some time with me here today…
Katherine
Katherine Reay returns to the cozy and delightful town of Winsome where two people discover the grace of letting go and the joy found in unexpected change.
After fleeing her hometown three years earlier, Alyssa Harrison never planned to return. Then the Silicon Valley start-up she worked for collapsed and turned her world upside down. She is broke, under FBI investigation, and without a place to go. Having exhausted every option, she comes home to Winsome, Illinois, to regroup then move on as quickly as possible. Yet, as friends and family welcome her back, Alyssa begins to see a place for herself in this small Midwestern community.
Jeremy Mitchell moved from Seattle to Winsome to be near his daughter and to open the coffee shop he’s been dreaming of for years. Problem is, the business is bleeding money-and he’s not quite sure why. When he meets Alyssa, he senses an immediate connection, but what he needs most is someone to help him save his floundering business. After asking for her help, he wonders if something might grow between them-but forces beyond their control soon complicate their already complex lives, and the future they both hoped for is not at all what they anticipated.
With the help of Winsome’s small-town charm and quirky residents, Alyssa and Jeremy discover the beauty and romance of second chances.
Katherine Reay is a national bestselling and award-winning author of several novels, including Dear Mr. Knightley, The Printed Letter Bookshop and the upcoming Of Literature and Lattes. She has enjoyed a lifelong affair with books and brings that love to her contemporary stories. Katherine’s has also written one full-length nonfiction work, Awful Beautiful Life. She holds a BA and MS from Northwestern University and currently lives outside Chicago, IL with her husband and three children. Publishing credits also include Redbook, USAToday, Christianity Today and FamilyFiction. You can meet Katherine at www.katherinereay.com or on Facebook: KatherineReayBooks, Twitter: @katherine_reay and Instagram: @katherinereay.