So my other question for you is kind of related to that. How has it been killing your darlings?
It’s been hard. Sometimes painfully hard. But I haven’t had to abandon any parts of the story that I loved. So in that case it hasn’t been an issue of killing my darlings, it’s been more like performing extensive reconstructive surgery. The book is stronger, healthier, and prettier as a result. It will have a better life, and I hope it lives longer because of it.
Would you recommend to people to start with a project like this or should they try something smaller in scope? What do you tell your students when you teach?
I would absolutely recommend that people start with something simpler. Don’t follow in my footsteps. I’m not a role model.
Plus, I think a lot of people underestimate how difficult it is to tell a simple story well. You can learn a lot doing that. There’s nothing wrong with writing a good, honest, 300 page novel.
When I started my book, I didn’t know what I was getting into. I didn’t even know the word “metafiction” meant. As I result I bit off WAY more than I could chew. Hell, it took me 12 years to chew it. That’s not really the best way to learn your craft. It’s certainly not the best way to get published.
That said, I do recommend that people write the book that they really want to write. The book that rides close to their heart. The book they can’t stop thinking about. If that book tends to be a little more complicated than boy-meets-girl? A little longer than 300 pages? A little genre bending? Well…go for it. If you fail you’ll learn a lot. And if you succeed, you’ll hopefully have a story that’s different and kinda cool.
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