Susanna Calkins, Author
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The proof is in the proofs...

6/17/2012

9 Comments

 
Picture
The other day, I experienced one of my odder moments as a writer. When I came home from work, I found a much anticipated package containing the page proofs for A Murder at Rosamund's Gate (that's not the odd part, that's the extremely thrilling part).

Picture
the inside cover page
At this point, I can only make very minor edits. A word here and there, typos, minor grammatical changes--that's about it.  The book is nearly ready--all 340 pages of it. A heady and strange mixture of emotions regularly accompany this realization.

But the odd thing? Later that same evening, I happened to be poking through some old files and I came across the very first handwritten draft of this novel, which I began in 2003.  All scratched up, full of non sequiturs and dangling thoughts, somehow this mess became an actual novel. Holding that handwritten draft alongside my proofs was definitely a surreal moment, and it was hard not to compare the original version with the final.

To be sure, some things were different.  My heroine was originally named Abigail, although somewhere along the way, she became Lucy. Another main character saw his name changed several times too, from Thornton to William to Adam.  I also had a prologue then (which I've since eliminated, as I've mentioned before), and even more interestingly--I had an entirely different adversary than the one who crept into the pages later. In fact, the main crime was different, although I had written emphatic notes to myself--'Must take place during seventeenth-century plague and Great Fire of London.'  So the setting never changed, nor did my original inspiration.

The book took me ten years to write. Honestly, I never thought when I began this story that I would even finish it, let alone that it would be out in the world.  But the proof, I guess, is in the proofs.


9 Comments
Debbie
6/17/2012 10:30:31 pm

This is just so inspiring! Knowing that the road is long and winding helps it feel a lot less intimidating. One day! One day!

Reply
Susie link
6/18/2012 02:22:25 pm

Thanks Debbie. I also think there are many paths to finishing and publishing a book--many people are much quicker, that's for sure! Just like running though, one step after the next!

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Jeff Porten link
6/18/2012 12:07:19 am

Handwritten? Yeesh. I only handwrite things that I never want to read again. It's a form of encryption.

I started a new novel over the weekend on a bus trip, which is part of the reason why the other three are in various stages of unfinished. But I suspect that part of the problem is that I'm unwilling to rewrite as much as you did—killing your darlings is crucial to getting to the end. And hey, anything you excise is fodder for the next one, right?

Reply
Susie link
6/18/2012 02:27:04 pm

Jeff, I have many many MANY drafts of novels that I started over the years. It took a while to find the one that stuck. I don't think you should be afraid of rewriting--killing your darlings can be quite liberating! On the other hand, maybe you shouldn't worry about re-writing while you're still getting the first draft done?

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Jeff Porten link
6/19/2012 01:04:13 am

Yeah, that's exactly the problem. I'm very good at plotting beginnings—not so much endings. Usually I'm in rewrite when I'm trying to figure out what the hell should happen in Acts IV and V.

Jennie
6/18/2012 12:59:14 am

That must have been amazing to receive your page proofs and compare them to your originals notes. It's really fascinating to follow your journey on here Susie! :-)

Reply
Susie link
6/18/2012 02:28:40 pm

Thanks Jennie. It's fun to share the journey--I didn't know if people would want to come along :-)

Reply
Shyanmei
6/18/2012 01:24:15 pm

wow wow wow. Congratulations and hurray to your manager in chief!

Reply
Susie link
6/18/2012 02:30:30 pm

Thanks Shyanmei! It is exciting!

Reply



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    Susanna Calkins

    Historian. Mystery writer. Researcher. Teacher.  Occasional blogger.

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  • Home
  • Lucy Campion Mysteries
    • A Murder at Rosamund's Gate
    • From the Charred Remains
    • The Masque of a Murderer
    • A Death Along the River Fleet
    • The Sign of the Gallows
    • The Cry of the Hangman
    • Death Among the Ruins
  • The Speakeasy Murders
    • Murder Knocks Twice
    • The Fate of a Flapper
  • Short Stories
  • Blog
  • News & Events
    • Event Photos
    • Archived Guest Posts & Interviews
  • The Roaring Twenties
  • 17th c. England
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