When I start writing the draft of a book or an article, the laptop is my constant companion. My fingers scramble across the keyboard to move and arrange my thoughts along quickly. It allows me to jump back and forth between paragraphs and pages, and, once completed, makes it far easier to read than my chicken scribble. I can switch fonts and change page layouts galore. But once the draft is done, the pages are printed; the hard copy combed over with a pen. According to an article from The Guardian, reading from a hard copy may allow for better concentration, while taking longhand notes increases understanding and retention. Not to mention, reading longhand is easier on the eyes and brings this writer closer to the feel and smell of a beloved book. My soul is more easily poured onto the pages with a pen, the words charged with emotion. Taking the time to physically write (and yes, scribble counts as writing) forces the writer to stop and think, take note, and decide what works and what doesn’t. Notes can be made in margins and notebooks to be considered later. These notes become a road map, leading the writer to invent the best possible way of reaching a conclusion and seeing all the various creative stages.

For this same reason, I write thank you notes in longhand. They just wouldn’t have the same impact and meaning for me if the words are typed and sent in an email. I’m old school that way.

When I had the privilege of appearing on an author panel with the wonderful Anne Perry, she informed us that she writes the entire manuscript in long hand and has an assistant do the typing. That could explain the success behind her books.

All this doesn’t mean a writer should do away with electronics when it comes to completing the manuscript, but for me, it means, using a combination of the keyboard and handwriting to propel the story we want written forward.

I recently read that the best type of writing advice gives you guidance rather than specific actions to take. For instance, I was once advised to delete a particular character. This came from a beta reader (a non-professional reader who reads with an eye to helping improve the work; I didn’t know such readers existed before reaching authorhood).

I considered the advice…seriously. Took out the character and didn’t like it. Back in the character went. For those of you who’ve read my book, you know I like a lot of characters. I want everyone to be a suspect to make the challenge of solving the whodunit greater. But believe it or not, I got rid of and/or combined quite a few characters before the manuscript reached The End.

My best critic never tells me exactly what to do. She says a chapter doesn’t feel right, which makes me take a hard look at it again and again. Or she’ll bring up points I hadn’t considered like: have you thought about inserting a sub plot? Or she’ll tell me a character seems wrong somehow or not entirely likeable. My initial reaction is WHAT? My writing’s not perfect as it is? I have high expectations that what I write should work the first time around. If I was a boxer in a boxing ring, I’d expect to knock down the opponent in the first round. It doesn’t work that way.

This type of inexact advice allows the writer to dig deeper into the well of ideas and intuition to bring forth something better. More satisfying. When something works, well, if you’re a writer, you know what that feels like. Almost euphoric. No drug induced state can compete (not that I would know). But when it doesn’t work, there’s always that nagging feeling nipping at one’s heels. When I feel that nagging, my first reaction is to push it aside. But when I make the effort to revisit the scene or chapter and try, try again, well, let’s just say it equals eating a whole coconut cream cake by myself without feeling full…or sick.

All of this said, I want to thank my wonderful beta reader, who really is the superstar of all beta readers for me. She reads and re-reads without any prodding. And has just the right insight I need. I’m very grateful to have her in my life. She knows who she is.

I’m often asked the same question by writers yearning to be published: How did you get started? I began by writing small. The full timeline for my writing journey appears below, but here’s the fast forward version:

I wrote short pieces, 500-1500 words, for small, and gradually, larger publications. At first, I met with rejection, but I pressed on and soon, publication became the norm. Local publications did not pay, but the larger ones did. I almost felt like a real writer.

Next, I took notes for a book of historical fiction. I turned these notes into a few chapters, the first of which I submitted to the San Francisco Writers’ Conference for a scholarship contest. I won, and attended. This was the turning point that made me think I could actually write a whole novel.

I started to write the novel. Not the historical fiction story, but a mystery, which was a lot more fun. I couldn’t believe I wrote 9000 words, then 25,000 and finally 90,000. It was a miracle. I wrote the first draft in nine months. It wasn’t very good.

For the next nearly two years, I rewrote and polished ’til my knuckles were sore. There was a lot of blood. And sweat and tears. A few tantrums and days where I trashed everything I wrote. All while working full-time. I finally finished. I sent out the manuscript, got an offer of publication from a small press out of New York and signed. Yippee! All that hard work paid off – my publisher changed nary a word.

Here’s the timeline for my journey:

1999: Wrote a teleplay and pitched to several movie studios. One bite, lots of chewing, but ultimately the project was spit up. I realized I wanted to write a novel, but where the heck was I going to come up with 80,000 words? And what kind of novel? The prospect was daunting.

2005-2009: Wrote and submitted short articles/essays/opinion pieces to local and national publications featuring escapades with my children, my animals, and my shift from city girl to country bumpkin. About 70% of the submissions were published.

2007-2009: Wrote a blog under a pseudonym about a subject I didn’t want anyone to know I was writing. I spoke freely and experimented. In retrospect, to my astonishment, a few posts were actually well written.

2009-2010: I tried to turn my blog posts into a work of non-fiction and created a proposal which I submitted to a few agents. I realized I didn’t like the subject matter. I focused on writing fiction. I longed to write a mystery!

2010-2012: I collected notes for a work of historical fiction. I submitted a chapter based on my notes to a small contest where an agent would review said chapter. I received brief, but positive feedback.

January 2012: I happened upon a contest for a scholarship to the San Francisco Writers’ Conference. I rewrote the first chapter of my historical fiction and submitted. I won! More astonishment. I attended (it was spectacular because agents thought I could really write)!

February 2012: Started to write the mystery novel based on my real life working as a newly minted lawyer in a movie studio. I dozed off often on the nearly autobiographical account. I changed it to a mostly fictional account and started to have fun.

November 2012: I sent my first draft to a few NY agents. All ignored me except one. He said the only thing he liked about my book was the title. I swore off writing forever.

January 2013: The major rewriting began. I took classes (thru the wonderful Guppies’ chapter of Sisters in Crime – a huge help), got beta readers and revised, revised, revised!

May 2014: Another incredible surprise – I was one of two national winners of the Helen McCloy/Mystery Writers’ of America scholarship award! I’d forgotten I’d even entered the contest. How marvelous!

October 2014: Finally finished and sent out the manuscript. Had a few agents interested, but signed with The Wild Rose Press as they offered me a contract! Hooray!

I left out all the rejections in between (I periodically sent out the manuscript in its various forms), as I have no wish to relive that part of the process. Most important is to forge ahead wearing blinders and ear plugs. The journey is a rugged one, but the destination is well worth it!