Wednesday, December 25, 2024
Editio Books
Uncategorized

The Author as Gardener: 7 Novel-Writing (and Gardening) Suggestions

Every novel, like every garden, has its own idiosyncratic consciousness. Both endeavors reward the artist’s attention, observation, and occasional neglect. These novel-writing suggestions emerge from my career as an author, and 25 years of gardening in different geographies, from Paris, France to upstate New York, to my current home of Southern California.

Showing Up

There’s a saying that the best fertilizer is the gardener’s shadow. Going outside once a day, senses alert, to observe, you develop an active relationship with your place. In writing as in gardening, there’s no substitute for attention. 

You’ve heard it before, because it’s true: Writing for as little as 20 minutes a day is a reliable method to get a book started and keep it growing. This growth happens both on the page, where you can see it, and in your subterranean self, where the roots of your novel sink into your unconscious. 

Being present with the work of your imagination signals an uncanny force that attracts ideas, suggests harmonies, and proposes solutions, like the happy garden attracts butterflies and bees. To be erratic in your visits too early in either a novel or a garden, you risk your seedlings dying, your vision drifting away.

Occasional Neglect

It’s different, however, when you’ve established something. A completed manuscript, a garden with deeply rooted beds. Whether your draft is kinda good-ish or borderline nonsensical, as long as it’s complete, stop hovering. 

Ignore your book for a while. Let your heart and brain rest, refresh. Later, when you return to the landscape you’ve created, you may be struck by things it was easy to miss when you were focused on details like snappy dialogue. You’ll see big fat mistakes. Storylines in dire need of nurturing. But your heart may skip a beat when it recognizes a few things you did exactly right. 

In the garden, the equivalent is returning after a vacation and thinking woah, this jungle is thriving. So many flowers—so many creatures—so crowded I can barely move! I need fewer plants. Wider paths. And a shady spot with a small fountain where I can sit and work on my book.


With a growing catalog of instructional writing videos available instantly, we have writing instruction on everything from improving your craft to getting published and finding an audience. New videos are added every month!

Patience

Novels and gardens evolve over time. Hours, weeks, years. The author-gardener’s consciousness changes constantly. You experience illness, longing, good fortune. Seasons, phases of the moon. Despondency, elation, political unrest, holidays, crushes, family dysfunction—all the things that make a life. Don’t rush. Your artwork may gain nuance, even wisdom, when you let it unfold without hurrying. 

In the garden, plants communicate with one another through their roots. Relationships form. In the novel’s underground it’s the same. Over time, connections evolve, establishing a web of life that becomes eerily independent of the author-gardener. 

Ideally, the novel starts telling you what to do. How to improve it. And your project develops subtlety and depth as days and years go by, becoming more interesting in every season, in every light.

Don’t Force Things to Grow Where They’re Unhappy

There were periods in gardening history when it was considered sophisticated to grow plants in places to which they were unsuited. To do this, the gardener creates an environment that mimics the plant’s geographic home, amending with fertilizer, heat, water, pesticide, time, energy, and sometimes a great deal of cash. 

Forcing things to live where they’re uncomfortable is indeed a commitment. Most environmentally aware gardeners today agree that it’s easier on you and better for the planet to grow specimens that are native to your climate, and support the birds, bees, and microorganisms that depend on them.

But gardening, like writing, is a personal, emotional experience, and sometimes, you’re aching to grow a tropical fruit tree in your icy Montana backyard. In writing, an equivalent desire is to write like someone whose work you admire. In either case, no one can stop you from trying. 

For me, it’s challenging enough to write a book that says something meaningful in my own voice, let alone a voice I wear like a mask. Then again, sometimes it’s fun to wear a mask. Fun to grow a fig tree in Alaska. Only you know what’s worth your time and effort. Just try to stay aware of when you’re forcing something. And be conscious of how dispiriting it can be to work against nature.

Create an Inviting Path

You’ve completed a draft of the novel you’ve been stewing on for all those years and it’s a magnificent universe with oceans of detail and it’s 1,200 pages long and you’re ecstatic. Then you give it to a trusted reader who says, I’m sorry, but I couldn’t tell what was going on. I couldn’t keep track of all the characters and storylines. I got lost.

Imagine you arrive at a 120-acre botanic garden with thousands of varieties of plants. You’re giddy about the adventure until you realize there are no paths. It’s overwhelming, wading into the tangle with no idea where you’re going, where you are. You might flee. And so might your reader, if you don’t give them a clear path through your world.

In practical terms this means staying aware of when you’re bombarding readers with information they can’t use. When you’re being vague and mysterious just because. In a great garden, there are reveals, reversals, places to stop and enjoy a new perspective or surprising view. 

Imagine someone walking through your book. Every time they turn a page, they take another step down your path. Readers need to trust that you won’t let leave them stranded in the wilderness.

Chop It to the Ground

Never be afraid to set aside a cumbersome, unwieldy manuscript and rewrite your book from scratch. Trust the vitality of your initial vision—it’s in your project’s roots, which you’ve been feeding by showing up. Specifically, this can mean moving an early draft crazed with exuberant growth into a folder labeled “Early Drafts,” which I’ll call your compost pile. Rotting organic matter is nourishing, quivering with life, essential to the health of many gardens. What you’ve done so far was not a waste; it was an essential step in growing a robust book.

I labored over my second novel for several years before I archived it, opened a new document, and rewrote the whole thing from memory. That time, unburdened by anything extraneous, the story sang, and sold to Random House at auction. Often in my garden, when I chop dead-looking shrubs to the ground, they return more vibrant than before.

On the flip side, a warning not to throw away early writings before you have a complete manuscript. That’s a different thing—the inability to tolerate your work while it’s ugly. Ugly writing can be perfectly functional as you build your first draft. In the garden, the equivalent mistake would be impatience. Ripping things out by the roots once the bloom has stopped, or the aphids invade. Most living things are surprisingly resilient. Nurture your projects through periods of stress before you give up on them.

Check out Sarah Lariviere’s Riot Act here:

Bookshop | Amazon

(WD uses affiliate links)

Trust

Trust is critical to creating beautiful books and gardens. It’s a cliché, the power of the seed, the acorn that unleashes the oak. But it’s true. Trust your inspiration, that hot sensation you experienced when the vision first appeared—that character, feeling, or fragment of dialogue is the spark that lights the fire that keeps you writing. When you take care of your seed, its world will reveal itself to you, and, eventually, to the many readers who accept your invitation to enjoy it. 

34 thoughts on “The Author as Gardener: 7 Novel-Writing (and Gardening) Suggestions”

  • Hi there all, here every person is sharing these knowledge, therefore
    it’s fastidious to read this website, and I used to pay a quick visit this website everyday.

    My blog post: Filip Vítek

  • An impressive share! I have just forwarded this onto a coworker who was conducting
    a little homework on this. And he actually
    ordered me dinner because I found it for him…
    lol. So allow me to reword this…. Thanks for the meal!!
    But yeah, thanx for spending time to discuss
    this topic here on your blog. https://bookmarkize.com/story17586189/d%C3%A9coupe-laser-plus

  • Undeniably consider that which you stated.
    Your favourite reason seemed to be on the web the easiest
    thing to take into account of. I say to you, I certainly get annoyed even as folks consider issues that they just don’t understand about.
    You managed to hit the nail upon the top and also outlined out the whole
    thing without having side effect , people can take a signal.

    Will probably be back to get more. Thanks

  • When some one searches for his necessary thing, therefore he/she wishes to be available that in detail,
    thus that thing is maintained over here.

    My web page; 출장안마

  • Hi there, just became alert to your blog through Google, and found that
    it’s truly informative. I’m going to watch out for brussels.

    I will appreciate if you continue this in future. Numerous people will be benefited from your writing.
    Cheers!

    Also visit my web page :: http://www.mallangpeach.com

  • Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I’ve truly enjoyed surfing around your blog posts.
    After all I’ll be subscribing to your feed
    and I hope you write again soon!

  • Mostbet https://mostbet-bk.pl to platforma hazardowa, ktora oferuje graczom profesjonalne wsparcie i pomoc w zakresie gier kasynowych online, dzieki zaawansowanemu systemowi obslugi klienta.

  • The attractive welcome bonuses offered by Mostbet Casino https://mostbet-bk.in have made it a popular choice among Indian players, who can start their gaming journey with a significant boost to their bankroll.

  • First of all I want to say awesome blog! I had a quick
    question that I’d like to ask if you don’t mind. I was curious to know how you
    center yourself and clear your head prior to writing.
    I have had trouble clearing my mind in getting
    my ideas out there. I truly do enjoy writing however it just seems like the
    first 10 to 15 minutes tend to be lost simply just trying to figure out
    how to begin. Any ideas or hints? Appreciate it!

  • I’ll immediately take hold of your rss as I can not find your e-mail subscription link or
    e-newsletter service. Do you’ve any? Please allow me recognize in order that I may just subscribe.
    Thanks.

  • Hi to every body, it’s my first pay a visit of this blog; this website consists of remarkable and really fine data in support of readers.

  • Attractive section of content. I just stumbled upon your weblog and in accession capital to
    assert that I get in fact enjoyed account your blog posts.
    Any way I will be subscribing to your augment and even I achievement
    you access consistently rapidly.

  • Hi there! This blog post couldn’t be written any better!
    Looking through this article reminds me of my previous roommate!
    He continually kept preaching about this. I am going to forward this article to him.
    Pretty sure he will have a very good read. I appreciate you for sharing!

  • Hi there, I enjoy reading through your post. I wanted to write a
    little comment to support you.

  • Thanks for one’s marvelous posting! I truly enjoyed reading it, you’re a great author.I will make sure to bookmark your blog and will often come back later in life.
    I want to encourage yourself to continue your great work, have a nice weekend!

  • Magnificent web site. Lots of helpful info here. I’m sending it to some pals ans additionally sharing in delicious.
    And obviously, thank you to your effort!

  • Nice blog here! Also your web site loads up fast! What web host are you using?
    Can I get your affiliate link to your host? I wish
    my website loaded up as fast as yours lol

  • It is the best time to make a few plans for the future and it’s time to be happy.
    I’ve learn this put up and if I could I desire to suggest you few fascinating issues or advice.
    Perhaps you can write next articles regarding this article.
    I want to learn even more issues approximately it!

    Feel free to visit my web page :: Mostbet

  • Hello my family member! I wish to say that this
    article is awesome, great written and include almost all important
    infos. I’d like to peer extra posts like this .

    Feel free to surf to my webpage – Mostbet

  • Hello There. I found your blog using msn. This is a really well written article.
    I’ll make sure to bookmark it and come back to read more of your useful info.
    Thanks for the post. I will definitely return.

    my web blog :: Mostbet

  • My brother recommended I might like this web site.
    He was totally right. This put up actually made my day.
    You can not consider just how so much time I had spent for this info!
    Thanks!

    My website … Mostbet

  • May I simply just say what a relief to discover
    a person that truly knows what they are discussing over the internet.
    You actually realize how to bring an issue to light and make it important.
    More people need to read this and understand this side of
    your story. I was surprised you are not more popular given that you surely have the gift.

    Feel free to visit my homepage; Mostbet

Comments are closed.