Book Review

Novel Ideas: Contemporary Writers Share the Creative Process

by Barbara Shoup and Margaret Love Denman
Alpha Books
Indianapolis, Indiana
CAN $25.95

Reviewed by Terence Carter

Novel Ideas is, itself, a novel idea: a book about writing a novel that does not instruct the reader on how to do so. In the authors’ own words: 

Novel Ideas is a guide to help you through the novel you want to write. It is not a how-to book: As you’ll see when you read the authors’ discussions of their writing process, there is no formula for writing the novel. Each book is unique in its needs, limitations, and possibilities; only by living with it, struggling with it, will you finally discover how to make it come alive on the page.

The book includes interviews with 23 writers of contemporary fiction. What I had expected, and thankfully was missing, was a group of published authors perpetuating the myth of the gifted writer: "I sit down and polish off two manuscripts over the weekend. Revision? Why? It comes out perfectly the first time." Disheartening, to be sure, for those struggling to write their first book. Instead, the interviews reveal authors who, like most writers, struggled with their work and did the best they could. Sometimes lightning struck them, and they produced hundreds of pages of text with ease. At other times, the words came slowly and laboriously. Where one author would revise along the way, another would not touch anything until the book was completely finished. Yet another claimed to scrap the entire first draft and start the book over from scratch, claiming that the first draft only served to tell him what his book was about, and to put him in a position to finally get down to the real writing.

Herein lies the true value of Novel Ideas. Reading my manuals on the creation of fiction — and believe me, I own many! — led me to believe that there were only a few ways to tackle novel writing. It now seems as if there are as many ways to write a novel as there are novels on the shelves. Not only are the techniques of each writer unique, the demands of each book that they set out to write are different. The same author may approach the writing of two books in two totally different ways. Often, the approach they first attempted would have to be abandoned, and they would start over. Whether the project took months or years, the amount of time seemed inconsequential; the amount of effort put forth to complete the project made the difference.

While some of the featured writers enjoyed instant success, others struggled for years in anonymity until they were discovered. Their stories are as different as their books. This uniqueness is reflected in their approaches to writing, and in their individual writing techniques. While all of the writers likely learned the same basic steps to create their stories, somewhere along the line they realized that they could not be expected to write like every other writer. They learned that writing is a solitary, individual process — a process learned only through experience.

While each of the interviewed writers is unique, they do share some similarities. The authors of Novel Ideas are themselves published novelists, but they also teach writing at the postsecondary level. The selection of authors would have us believe this is the norm. Of the 23 writers interviewed, 19 of them are college or university graduates with an M.A., an MFA, a B.A., or a degree in journalism. A whopping 22 of the 23 authors interviewed taught writing at one point in their careers. Whether this reflects the writing world, or whether these writers were specifically sought out, I’m not sure. Perhaps those who have the determination, discipline, and tenacity to pursue and complete higher education are more likely to stick with a writing project that could conceivably take years and gain them nothing.

Through the featured interviews, Novel Ideas illustrates the traits of the successful writer. Writers must have a love for words and language, not monetary gain. They must have the strength to continue to write, even when they feel like packing it in. For most of the interviewed writers, writing was a part-time affair aimed chiefly at self-fulfillment. The novel was a medium for self-expression, which could not be contained within the 15- or 20-page limitation of the short story. They considered writing a basic need, like food. Most continue to write today because, in the process of writing, they discover more about themselves, new truths to be explored. This constant self-discovery keeps them going. The deeper they dig for new material, the more raw ore they find within themselves, begging to be refined and polished.

Novel Ideas is also laden with exceptional quotes on writing, both from the interviewed authors, and from authors from days gone by. Who better than a writer to coin a clever turn of phrase? But their profound nature and intrinsic value surprised me. The quotations are not only interesting to read, but provide little nuggets of wisdom that any writer would be wise to hoard in their cache of knowledge.

If you want to learn how to write or how to be published, Novel Ideas is not the book for you. But if you’re interested in knowing how a book gets written, the angst and pain that writers suffer for the sake of their art, and the heady delirium they experience upon the novel’s completion, read Novel Ideas. No matter who you are or how you like to write, one of the authors’ stories is sure to ring true to you. You may suffer alone in your basement, ceaselessly typing page after page, but you are one of many doing the same thing. Knowing that you are part of a larger community, that other authors have felt the same way about their work as you have about yours and have gone on to get published might be all you need to find the strength to continue slogging it out. The inspirational value alone makes Novel Ideas a must-read for any aspiring writer.

Terence Carter is a computer technician who has thrown himself wholeheartedly into Fantasy novel writing. Two years and six hundred pages later, he has discovered that not only is writing extremely hard work, but that eating, sleeping, and working to support himself are annoying diversions that keep him from his true passion.