What Are You Working On?
Writers on their works in progress

Anne Elliott

novelist

Anne Elliott (website) has performed her poetry, with and without ukulele, at Lincoln Center, PS122, Exit Art, and the Whitney Museum. Her fiction has appeared most recently in Hobart. She lives in Brooklyn.

 
I have two novels in progress. The first, "Starving Hysterical Naked," is the story of a girl who grows up as the school freak, but her high school fame backfires. Then it skips ahead to her twenties, and a conflagration of art/social events that reminds her of the traumas of her adolescence. The novel used to have three protagonists. Following the advice of trusted readers (and some helpful rejections), I cut the novel to two protags.

Now, under the advice of my agent, who is a seasoned book editor as well, I am making it a one-protag, singular-narrative novel. So it will have gone from 0 words to about 140,000 to about 70,000 in the ten or so years I've been working at it. This is definitely the project on which I have been learning basic writing lessons, especially about scaling back grandiose ideas. It has been a humbling experience.

The second novel has a working title of "Alma," and I'm about 50 pages into a first draft. It's about an aspiring actress coming to terms with her problematic family -- she's the only one not adopted, and the only white kid. I'm enjoying the way siblings relate to each other as adults. Adult siblings are rich territory. So are well-meaning liberals (I am one). Oh, and the dad is a minister, so they have the whole "PK" ["pastor's kid" -- Ed.] thing happening. Anyway, this novel is more of a meandering journey, and I'm enjoying that. One protag, but other than that, no hard plan.

 
You have worked on your first novel for ten years? How were you able to keep the faith through all that time and all those changes? How did you keep from getting discouraged?

The truth is I haven't really kept the faith. If you want to use the marriage metaphor, I've cheated with about eleven short stories and one other novel, not to mention journaling and other hobbies. For me, distraction is a much bigger threat than discouragement.

Maybe the key is to figure out new things about old material. If I'm not figuring out new things about the characters, then I put it away and work on something else. Then dig it out later with fresh eyes. This is what takes the patience, not the writing time but the waiting/seasoning time. Having concurrent projects helps.

 
What is different about this project from your work in the past? What are some choices you've made along the way?

Novel #1 (SHN) started out as a short story about a dam spillway I used to watch in Northern California. Then I started playing with the metaphor, retelling from multiple POV's, and tossing in people from other stories. This was my first attempt at book-length fiction, so I was clueless on structure, and went with the patchwork-quilt approach.

About halfway through my first big cleanup of Novel #1, I began to resent my outline. I didn't want to know what was going to happen. And I was mad at myself for trying to fit every idea I ever had into one work of art. So that's how Novel #2 came about: me saying the next one is going to be way, way simpler.

Novel #2 is becoming a voice-driven project. I've been enjoying that aspect of the writing -- chipping out the voice -- immensely. I'm also exploring religion as subject matter, bringing in my own memories, and auditing acting classes for research, to get a look under the hood of that artform. Also, taking a cue from Virginia Woolf and others, I'm playing with the character's consciousness as a means to spiral around different time periods. Every now is full of the nows before it. That's how families work too. And the actor's craft, to a degree. Moment-by-moment, with memory triggering behavior and vice versa.

 
What techniques or approaches are you using for the first time on this project?

For Novel #1 -- everything was a first! For Novel #2 -- no revision until I have a whole draft done. I hope this will help me (a) stay in the scene, and (b) not toss in too many ideas.

 
What is the most challenging thing about working on this project?

Cutting Novel #1. I've cut some favorite parts. Wah! And in general, my big challenge is learning when to follow advice. Trusting my gut does not come naturally. At heart, I'm too much of an obedient person, so I have to make myself pay attention to my inner ear in addition to my teachers and readers.

 
What is the most rewarding thing about working on this project?

I enjoy the moments of problem solving. Like when I see a parallel between one scene and another, or identify a main conflict between two characters.

Like all of us, I also enjoy those moments of flow, when I know it's hitting the page in pretty good condition. I love that feeling of being in tune with the characters and their universe and the voice all at once.

And too, I love talking to readers about it. The surprises of learning what they like and don't. Learning what's plausible and what isn't. Even when they tell me what I don't want to hear, I like the process of analysis.

 
What is the future for the project -- do you have a contract for the work, or what are your plans?

Novel #1 has representation, and pending this revision, I hope we can start submitting later this year. Novel #2 has been going in chunks to my writers' group, four encouraging, smart women who meet biweekly. The group deadline is invaluable.

Links

A 1998 interview with Anne Elliott by Bob Holman.

A short story, Read the Goddamn Poem.

See more What Are You Working On? interviews.

published 5 Aug 06 on Too Beautiful. email copyright 2006 Mark Pritchard, Bernal Heights, San Francisco