It’s
a pleasure to be here with Writers Who Kill. Thank you for having me.
Although I am a mystery writer, I released a lighthearted memoir, The Reluctant Farmer of Whimsey Hill, that I co-wrote with my husband, Brad, and daughter, Lynn. Our other daughter also participated but did not wish to be credited. The question I keep getting asked is how does it work writing a book with three writers? Since the question is applicable to any genre, I’d like to share our process in case it helps other writers.
Lynn
and I first wrote as screenwriters. In screenplays, multiple writers are
common. There are those who write in partnerships and those who are hired to
replace writers whose work has been
rejected. Some movies can have as many as 13 writers even though only three or
four are credited. As you can imagine, the movie often ends up a mess. The
vision, the theme, and the heart of the story disappear - a classic case of too
many cooks. Partnerships, however, can work very well. A general process for
partnerships, even though they vary widely, is to do a detailed story and
character outline and then each write alternating scenes. Then the partners
smooth and polish the scenes together.
For
my family’s memoir, we approached it both similarly and differently. Brad,
Lynn, and I had weekly lunch meetings at the Cheesecake Factory in Beverly
Hills near where Lynn worked. The people there were wonderful and always gave
us a quiet table in the back room. We’d discuss the homework established at the
last week’s lunch, followed by anything that occurred to anyone during the week
between. Finally, we’d agree on next week’s homework. For example – title ideas
and log lines or ideas on a specific chapter. Many times different jobs were assigned
to each of us.
Our
original concept was to gather our family stories, have Lynn, Brad, and I write
separate short stories, and end up with an anthology. We quickly found that
that left the book with a confusing timeline and storyline because the stories
had three different, jumbled points of view and frequently overlapped. It just
plain didn’t work.
In
the end, we settled on creating a spine for the stories, telling the story from
Brad’s fish-out-of-water point of view. That worked. In keeping with the spine,
we picked the theme that “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” (Neale
Donald Walsch)
We
reorganized the stories to follow the new spine for the book. It traces Brad’s
agreeing to live on a farm against his wishes through to his decision that he
loved the farm and the animals.
But
here’s how we physically handled the writing. We wrote chronologically as fit
the spine. We’d choose the story and bring all we had written about it and any
thoughts we had about it to meetings for discussion. Next, Lynn and I would
interview Brad for his version of the story and his word usage. Brad and Lynn both had full time jobs, so I
was elected to do the first draft. Brad would go over my draft, rewrite and give
notes. I would do a second draft, Brad would again rewrite, and we would pass
it to Lynn for her notes and a rewrite. As we went, new things would be
remembered, discussed, and added. It actually got very easy as we went along
and fell into a rhythm that worked well. When we finished, we all read the full
book many times with notes and rewrites on different sections. Then the book
moved on to a group of dear friends, some with and some without writing
experience, for them to beta read. When the beta reader’s notes came back, we
discussed them and made decisions. I’d do another draft, followed by Brad and
Lynn, and around again if necessary.
The
readers, of course, will be the final judges, but I felt that the writing
stayed in a consistent voice, even though it was a blend of the three of us. And
the narrative had a flow and direction. It was not the most conventional system
to write a book, but it seemed to work for us.
NANCY RAVEN SMITH grew up in Virginia where she ran horse sport
events. On her farm, she, her husband Bradford M. Smith, and their two
daughters rescued horses, dogs and cats. They are advocates for animal rescue.
Later in California, Raven Smith traded her event experience for film work. Her
screenplays have won numerous major awards. When a mentor suggested she write
one idea as a novel, she discovered a passion for writing mysteries. Raven
Smith is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and Romance
Writers of America. Her debut mystery, Land Sharks – A Swindle in Sumatra
was chosen as an Amazon/Kindle Scout Selection Winner.
http://www.NancyRavenSmith.com
http://www.Facebook.com/NancyRavenSmithWriter
http://www.TheReluctantFarmerofWhimseyHill.com
The Reluctant Farmer –
http://Amzn.to1XoblsP
Land Sharks –
http://Amzn.to/1JuIHku
