Story Ripening by Annette Dashofy

Over the years, I’ve picked up tidbits of writing advice from hundreds of sources. Whether it’s an organized writing conference or workshop or merely an informal lunch with fellow writers, I always walk away with something. 

I’ve carried around one such tidbit for decades and wish I could remember who to credit it to. The speaker compared starting a book with growing tomatoes. The story starts as a bud. The idea blossoms and begins to bear fruit. The author said the idea would grow but advised against putting words to the page until the idea was fully ripe, bursting from its skin, demanding to be told. 

I understood the sentiment. Back then, I even managed to apply it. But then publication happened and along with it, contractual deadlines to be met.

While I never completely forgot the tomato metaphor, I no longer had the luxury of letting an idea simmer long enough to be considered “ripe.” More often than not, I’d type Chapter One on the page and hope the ideas would come. They did, of course, but they often didn’t reach ripe status until multiple revisions.

And that's okay. When there's a contract and a deadline, we have to be professional enough to get the work done regardless.

Currently, I’m well ahead of schedule with my only contracted novel. A new series proposal that my agent has been shopping has garnered some lovely rejections. (I focus on the “lovely” part, but let’s face it—they’re still rejections.) So, it’s become clear I need to come up with another proposal. 

Part of me thinks the rejections of the previous proposal might have to do with the characters not being fleshed out enough in my mind and therefore on the page. 

This time, I’ve slowed down (probably much to my agent’s chagrin) and have been allowing the characters to fill out. I’ve been letting the story simmer in my brain. 

I’ve been letting the whole thing ripen on the vine.

Yes, I’ve been putting words on the page. Scribbled notes in my journal. A character list in Excel. The villain’s backstory in a Scrivener folder. But I’ve resisted opening Word and typing “Chapter One.” Wait, I’ve thought. It’s not quite ripe yet. 

Side note: I do have a garden and I do struggle to wait until the tomatoes are fully ripe there too. I blame the groundhogs and the hornworms. It’s maddening to finally pick that beautiful red tomato only to find it half-eaten. But that’s for another blog. 

Last week, I couldn’t hold back any longer. I knew the story was ready. If I waited even one more day, that tomato’s skin would’ve split wide open. I typed “Chapter One,” hit enter twice, and the words poured onto the page. It was amazing.

Does any of this mean I’ll find a publisher for the new proposal any sooner? Probably not. If it happens, you’ll hear about it! Either way, I don’t think I’ll be able to blame the rejections on having rushed the story or the characters. 

What about you? Do you start without a clear idea of what’s going on? Or do you allow a new project, writing or otherwise, to ripen before diving in?