Ask the Author: Marylee MacDonald
Answered Questions (18)
Marylee MacDonald
Hi Nicole, Thanks for reaching out! I haven't poked my nose into Goodreads for a couple of months, mainly because I've been trying to help some other authors get their books finished up. I love your channel. The info on how to interact with beta readers is especially valuable and something every writer needs to know. It was interesting to hear you discuss the different types of beta readers you have, from those who interact with your Google doc to those who give you detailed feedback.
Marylee MacDonald
Since I sort of blew past summer and am now almost at Thanksgiving, I guess I should confess that I read almost nothing this summer, apart from the books I am trying to finish. When I spend the entire day at my computer or editing the various drafts of a book, my eyes are fried. Actually, I need new glasses, but I haven't dared go to an optometrist to get an updated prescription. Maybe Ill celebrate the new year by doing that.
Marylee MacDonald
Hi Rose, Gosh, I didn't even see this until today. You probably forgot you'd even asked the question. That novel was written from a "place of pain," namely the place of having had an experience that is soul-searing yet that had the potential to be "transmogrified" into art. I view art as redemptive, a way for us to look at, and reflect on, the human condition. Art is an extension of our capacity for empathy, and literary art (as opposed to theatrical art) allows us to enter the head space of a person who might be very unlike us. I just finished writing a book that is very similar to MONTPELIER TOMORROW. It goes live on Amazon on Nov. 19. It's a memoir--SURRENDER. I think of the Anne Rice quote about "go where the pain is." Both books have that in common. They were written by a writer trying to "go where the pain is," and confront that pain--meet it head on. Like MT, it was searingly difficult to write. I put on about thirty pounds, actually, because food is always the "go to" place for me when I need to soothe myself. But, oh well. The book is out, and soon it will have a life of its own. In a way, I s'pose, lit'rature is an offering to the world. The author is saying, "This is the way I see life. This is my truth." And, because we keep so many things hidden from ourselves and from those who are our spouses or our children, I suppose it is only in literature that we can be our highest and best selves. Perhaps, our least trivial selves.
I apologize for taking so long to respond. It was very kind of you to ask me a question, and I hope I haven't been too long-winded in my reply.
I apologize for taking so long to respond. It was very kind of you to ask me a question, and I hope I haven't been too long-winded in my reply.
Marylee MacDonald
No, I can't because I am not the least interested in horror stories, and I have more important tasks that take up my psychic space.
Marylee MacDonald
No, actually. But, let me qualify that.
It's not that I don't like a good romance. I've written plenty of love stories myself, and I am a huge fan of Diana Gabaldon's OUTLANDER series. When the writing and storytelling are of a high caliber, then love stories have high stakes--our happiness!--and hence provide a satisfying reading experience. What I don't enjoy are formulaic bodice-rippers. So, yes, give me MADAME BOVARY any day.
It's not that I don't like a good romance. I've written plenty of love stories myself, and I am a huge fan of Diana Gabaldon's OUTLANDER series. When the writing and storytelling are of a high caliber, then love stories have high stakes--our happiness!--and hence provide a satisfying reading experience. What I don't enjoy are formulaic bodice-rippers. So, yes, give me MADAME BOVARY any day.
Marylee MacDonald
Gosh, that really varies. I do work with beta readers in the sense that I have three or four people who are willing to give thoughtful attention to a manuscript that is not in final shape, meaning they'll have to read a pdf or Word file of whatever I send them. There may be places they stumble or that seem inconsistent. Over the many years I've been writing, I've been a member of two critique groups that had qualities I valued. There was general agreement about the kind of books we enjoyed reading, and there was a commitment to "showing up," even when it wasn't our turn to have a manuscript critiqued. Those groups provided feedback on all the aspects you mentioned. However, it is hard for a critique group to do much about the story arc as a whole. For that kind of feedback, a developmental editor can be a great resource--someone who will look at the book as a whole.
Marylee MacDonald
Hi Vickie, I'm so sorry it took me so long to get back on Goodreads. I've been really preoccupied trying to get my memoir, SURRENDER, proofed and out the door. I hope the article is still pertinent enough for you. I actually have a couple that might be helpful. https://wp.me/p7nsfn-a and https://wp.me/p7nsfn-1Kb. Please contact me any time via email. We can set up a phone call, and I'll see if I have specific information that can help.
Marylee MacDonald
Danielle, I owe you a book review for Scirocco. I loved the way you captured the danger hovering over your narrator's childhood.
Marylee MacDonald
I love that idea of coming up with the ending first. I usually try to come up with the ending when I'm about a third of the way through the book. By then I will have a bit more understanding of my character's personality. It's only by putting a character into action or by facing the character with some kind of threat that I "see what they're made of." Here's a blog post that explains what I try to do. http://maryleemacdonaldauthor.com/sto...
Marylee MacDonald
Hi Theresa,
I am happy to give you that information because this young man does an amazing job of capturing the emotions in my books. His name is Evan W. Staley, and his website is ewsfilms.com. You can contact him via the contact page. Evan is a film student at Columbia College in Chicago, and he has an amazing ability to transform words into images. He's a storyteller and will ask you questions about your work, and then he'll come up with a rough draft. He's very reasonable and easy to work with. http://www.ewsfilms.com/contact/ or http://www.ewsfilms.com/about (Look on the bottom of the page for his email and phone number.)
I am happy to give you that information because this young man does an amazing job of capturing the emotions in my books. His name is Evan W. Staley, and his website is ewsfilms.com. You can contact him via the contact page. Evan is a film student at Columbia College in Chicago, and he has an amazing ability to transform words into images. He's a storyteller and will ask you questions about your work, and then he'll come up with a rough draft. He's very reasonable and easy to work with. http://www.ewsfilms.com/contact/ or http://www.ewsfilms.com/about (Look on the bottom of the page for his email and phone number.)
Marylee MacDonald
Hi Savannah, Your questions made me pause. I tried to think if I've ever begun a story or book knowing the plot in advance. Never. Usually, I start with a bit of dialogue or a paragraph that describes the setting. Often, these snippets come from my writing journals, from eavesdropping, or from friends' gossip. Sometimes, my stories have started because I'm obsessed with something. My emotions-->emotions I hope to recreate for readers. I view the first draft as a "discovery" draft, meaning that I am trying to write my way into the story. When I have a first draft finished--and that means finding out how it ends--I go back and see what has to happen to make that ending plausible. The "system" I use (if that's what you call it) is the "seat of the pants" method. In the lingo of fiction workshops, I'm known as a "pantser."
There is another way to write a novel, and that method uses a structured approach. A book that explains this method very well is Story Structure, written by Larry Brooks. Larry is very attuned to story structures used in films and in genre fiction: sci fi, fantasy, romance, or mysteries. For new writers, Larry's approach makes a lot of sense. It will give you a comfortable way to make it from the beginning to the end of your book. But that still hasn't quite answered your question.
No doubt you want to write a book like the books that really grab you. Why don't you take a look at your three favorite books? What happens in those books? What obstacles does the heroine face? How does she overcome them? COPY THE PLOT, but put your own people in that plot. Make the story happen in a different time and place.
If that seems too hard, then go to fairy tales. I've occasionally used Grimm's Fairy Tales or those by Hans Christian Andersen as the basis for a story. Then, I ask myself, "What if?" For instance, "What if the Wicked Witch of the West was simply trying to get back at the smarmy Glenda?" Well, there you would have the musical "Wicked."
Take the plot of a book you love, and say, "What if?" Or, do as I do, and start with only a vague idea of where you're going. Write about a character. Give that character a burning desire to do something very particular (same her brother; become a great magician), and then place obstacles in her way. Make her situation worse and worse till the end.
Does that give you some ideas? If you let me know what kind of novel you'd most like to write, I'll try to write a blog post about to give your more specific guidance.
There is another way to write a novel, and that method uses a structured approach. A book that explains this method very well is Story Structure, written by Larry Brooks. Larry is very attuned to story structures used in films and in genre fiction: sci fi, fantasy, romance, or mysteries. For new writers, Larry's approach makes a lot of sense. It will give you a comfortable way to make it from the beginning to the end of your book. But that still hasn't quite answered your question.
No doubt you want to write a book like the books that really grab you. Why don't you take a look at your three favorite books? What happens in those books? What obstacles does the heroine face? How does she overcome them? COPY THE PLOT, but put your own people in that plot. Make the story happen in a different time and place.
If that seems too hard, then go to fairy tales. I've occasionally used Grimm's Fairy Tales or those by Hans Christian Andersen as the basis for a story. Then, I ask myself, "What if?" For instance, "What if the Wicked Witch of the West was simply trying to get back at the smarmy Glenda?" Well, there you would have the musical "Wicked."
Take the plot of a book you love, and say, "What if?" Or, do as I do, and start with only a vague idea of where you're going. Write about a character. Give that character a burning desire to do something very particular (same her brother; become a great magician), and then place obstacles in her way. Make her situation worse and worse till the end.
Does that give you some ideas? If you let me know what kind of novel you'd most like to write, I'll try to write a blog post about to give your more specific guidance.
Marylee MacDonald
I'm interested in people, in what makes them tick, why they behave the way they do, why they love one another and then fall out of love. Also, why we mourn so deeply the loss of our loved ones and still have to pick ourselves up and get on with our lives. I am fascinated at the way stories can help us make sense of the random events that constitute real life. Perhaps writing helps me confer meaning on what might otherwise seem meaningless. Writing is a compulsion. I spent many years working construction, but even then, I was always scribbling away whenever I had a free moment.
Marylee MacDonald
I am picking a cover for my forthcoming short story collection, BONDS OF LOVE & BLOOD, and I'm trying to get back to my historical novel, THE VERMILLION SEA. I need to write two more scenes, and then I will have the first draft done. At that point I'll begin the painful and embarrassing task of reading through the manuscript from start to finish. It is so great to have one book published, another ready to go to the publisher, and a third that I hope readers will be as excited about as I am.
Marylee MacDonald
Copy (with a pen or pencil) passages from your favorite writers. Look at one scene or one stretch of dialogue. Let their words seep into you. Carry a cheat-sheet of your favorite sentences. When your work feels lame, get out the cheat-sheet and plug in one of your words for theirs: adjective for adjective and verb for verb.
Marylee MacDonald
Hearing the characters speak so clearly that you feel like you're channeling a greater wisdom
Marylee MacDonald
When I was a freshman at Vassar, my English teacher, Mrs. Elizabeth Blackburn, gave us some assignments where we could tell stories instead of writing typical college papers analyzing some dead writer. She praised the stories I turned in and put them in a box in the library where other students could take a look at them.
In a funny coincidence I spoke with one of my freshman-year dorm mates yesterday, and she recalled one of those stories I submitted. It involved a black swimming pool and a father who made his daughter swim in it. It wasn't a full story, just a scene. Back then I had no idea what constituted a full story. I actually thought I had written one, but I had not.
For me and many other writers, stories begin with a single image. The image of the girl in the swimming pool--very autobiographical, unfortunately--became the core of a story I wrote fifty years later: "The Pancho Villa Coin."
William Gay picked the story for the Yalobusha Review's Barry Hannah Prize. The odd thing is, I didn't remember writing that story when I was a freshman, but it must have been submerged in the unknowable, murky depths of wherever stories come from. It floated to the top.
In a funny coincidence I spoke with one of my freshman-year dorm mates yesterday, and she recalled one of those stories I submitted. It involved a black swimming pool and a father who made his daughter swim in it. It wasn't a full story, just a scene. Back then I had no idea what constituted a full story. I actually thought I had written one, but I had not.
For me and many other writers, stories begin with a single image. The image of the girl in the swimming pool--very autobiographical, unfortunately--became the core of a story I wrote fifty years later: "The Pancho Villa Coin."
William Gay picked the story for the Yalobusha Review's Barry Hannah Prize. The odd thing is, I didn't remember writing that story when I was a freshman, but it must have been submerged in the unknowable, murky depths of wherever stories come from. It floated to the top.
Marylee MacDonald
The idea for MONTPELIER TOMORROW came from direct experience caring for an ALS patient. I had begun to publish short stories when a loved one fell ill. Caring for this person was the most stressful episode in my life. That's saying a lot because my life had already had its share of dramatic, stressful events. As I was sadly to learn, these losses were nothing compared to the painful awareness that there was nothing I, or anyone else, could do to stave off the nerve death caused by ALS. I thought that if I wrote about the day-to-day, I could deal better with my resentment at being pulled away from my own life. Writing this book was a way to transform grief into art.
Marylee MacDonald
Writer's block happens to every writer, and I'm no exception. Every day we stare at a blank page and have to come up with something, but good gracious, what should it be? I have two strategies. One is to never let more than two days go by without working on my manuscript, even for fifteen minutes. That keeps the story alive in my subconscious. My second strategy is to take a nap every day. Yes, like a toddler! It's not so much that I'm lacking sleep, but I take naps because whatever I've tucked away in my subconscious rises to the top and floats there, waiting for me to put on my glasses. Often, my subconscious will hand me a plot complication or a bit of dialogue. I happily head back to my desk with new information about what's going to happen next.
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