Not Like You came in fits and starts, a process broken up by travel, moving, and an extended stay in India. I wrote most of the first draft while on a three-week retreat at Hedgebrook, which is heaven on earth for women writers. My “Rejection Letters” file contains a dozen lovely letters from editors who read the first finished version. Their comments were fairly consistent, boiling down to: “Terrific writing; weak story.”

What could I do about a weak story? Years before, at the Port Townsend Writers Conference, author Bruce Coville had raved about a seminar on story structure with Robert McKee. I now registered for the New York seminar, booked a spare bed in my aunt’s apartment, and sat for three fascinating days listening to McKee explain the elements of great stories.

After that, I tore apart my rejected manuscript and rewrote the entire book. I made sure every chapter built or released tension, delved deeper into each character, and heaped more pressure on my protagonist. Three months after my agent sent the manuscript out again, it sold to Clarion, where my brilliant editor Jennifer Wingertzahn worked closely with me to create not one, not two, but five more drafts before we agreed the book was done.

And so I keep on writing. I still talk out loud in my characters’ voices, but now that I get paid to do this, I think my mom has stopped worrying. I can’t imagine not writing, and I’m thrilled to be doing something that I have always, at heart, wanted and loved to do. Best of all, it’s great to have an excuse to daydream and make up stories. How many other jobs let you stare out the window, talk to yourself, or meander for hours, lost in your imagination, and call it work?

End