Where have all the ideas gone?

Plus two upcoming events

Hi friends,

On the business side, I want to share two upcoming events for Endpapers that I hope you can join me for! I’m very excited to read and chat with these two incredible authors.

*Virtual*
THIS Thursday, March 2, 7:00 p.m. EST
Joint reading and conversation with Marisa Crane
A Room of One’s Own Bookstore

*In person (NYC) and live-streaming*
Sunday, March 12, 3:00 p.m.
Joint reading and conversation with Margot Douaihy
Bureau of General Services—Queer Division
Room 210 (2nd floor)
The LGBT Community Center
208 W. 13th St.
New York, NY 10011

As I move into the week, I’m aiming to make good progress on final revisions for (this stage of) my novel-in-progress. Last week I began tackling my agent’s notes in earnest, and it was quite painful at times because the main things I need to address are the things I haven’t been able to address successfully through multiple drafts. The ideas wouldn’t come then, and they certainly weren’t coming last week.

I tried some of my usual tricks: writing through it, trusting the solutions would come as I put one word in front of another (they didn’t) and brainstorming throughout the day (but my mind kept wandering).

Then, over the weekend, I sat down with my notebook and read through notes I’d made over the past year or so. Notes I’ve read through multiple times. And finally I saw them! The ideas I need to complete my revision, sitting right there in front of me, in my own handwriting. While earlier I’d abandoned them for one reason or another, suddenly they made perfect sense.

So what happened? I remembered something my AWP mentor, Amy Wallen, once said when I asked her how you know when you’re done writing a novel (or at least my interpretation of what she said). If you find yourself putting things back in that you took out along the way, you’re probably close, because you have a clearer understanding of how the pieces fit together.

Even though these old ideas of mine had never technically made it into the book, it felt the same way to see them sitting there in my notebook. I finally understood how they fit into the story — and even why they’re crucial to it.

So it’s back to work for me. There’s still a lot to be done!

This week I hope you find ideas sitting right under your nose. And I hope to see you, either online and/or in person, this Thursday, 3/2, and/or Sunday, 3/12! It would be wonderful to meet those of you I haven’t.

Until next time,

Jen