How to Restart Your Novel

Or, What to Do When a Story Just Isn't Working

Sunset? Symbolism? We’ll see.

My very first newsletter described a road trip I pursued for my second novel—a work-in-progress I began in January. Now, I am unlikely to use 98 percent of that material in my book.

What happened?

Simple: I listened to a nag in the back of my brain, set aside 120 well-written pages, and opened a blank Microsoft Word document.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that an author’s second book is harder to write than their first. Authors kvetch about this truth across countries and continents, online forums and scientific journals. Review enough Quora posts and you’ll find tons of reasons for this: deadlines and self-doubt, pressures and perfectionism, divine inspiration supplanted by capitalism’s cold embrace.

In my case, each of those factors holds a grain of truth. I started Book Two earlier than I would’ve otherwise because of my grad school schedule. I grappled with new eyes and expectations after signing a deal for my first book. I juggled writing Book Two with my full-time day job and editing and promoting Book One—hamstringing myself into, effectively, three jobs at once. Stress! Bad! Don’t recommend!

My therapist and I can go back and forth on why I dug so deep into an idea that wasn’t working. Ultimately, though, I think the why of this situation is less interesting than the how: How did I realize I needed to restart? And how did I figure out the exact pieces I needed to change?

I’ve boiled my experience down to five questions to ask if you’re struggling to translate your imagination to the page:

1.     “How well am I inhabiting my narrator?” Your narrator is your anchor: You have to be able to see their world entirely through their perspective in order to write their voice into a novel. If you notice your own perspective creeping in, or feel persistent distance from the narrator, it’s a sign you need to make revisions.

2.     “How present is my setting?” Stories are not satellites, floating through space. They happen in places—a word I use liberally. (An effective setting can be a city or a country, a house or a car, a year or an epoch…) But whatever place you choose to set your book, the reader must feel like they are there on every page. If you don’t feel immersed in this new place as you write, your reader won’t feel grounded as they read.

3.     “How engaging is the pace?” Effective pacing is hard to balance: Your story must be fast enough to establish momentum, but slow enough to let readers immerse themselves. It must carry the action forward while making room for key character beats. Ack!!! Falling into a trap of “one or the other” is all too easy for authors—i.e., you might race through plot beats at the expense of character, or spend so long with your characters that, well, nothing happens. Yet these omissions create holes readers turn into exits.

4.     “How are my readers reacting?” Not every author shares early drafts. (I usually don’t!) But if you’re asking any of the above questions, inviting another set of eyes to review can help. Set aside your ideas and intentions and listen to what your readers say. No, not every reader is a good fit for every book. But for this exercise, you should assume the reader is right. If they say something about the book feels off, go look for that on switch.

5.     “How hard is it to write?” Hot take: I love writing. It’s my favorite activity for my mind, body, and soul. That’s not to say it’s easy: I often want to pull my hair out. But fundamentally, I find choosing words and crafting sentences and creating stories fun. So if writing becomes so hard, I dread opening my Word doc—if tapping pen to paper brings me misery instead of magic—something is very, very wrong. Maybe with me. (Like I said, I’ve got a therapist.) But maybe with the story, too. 

Writing Book Two, I spent months asking these questions and avoiding their answers. Until I finally said: “Let’s try something else.” And I wrote 40 good pages in two weeks. Was it a bummer to restart? Absolutely. More than anything, though, it’s been a relief.

So let me reintroduce Book Two: It’s still a road trip. Still about women’s roles and families. Now, though, it’s set in the late 1960s. My narrator experiences her world through song. And her final destination will be San Francisco.

I can’t wait for you to see how she gets there.

Abby’s Pop Culture Pop-Up

Andrew Garfield and Amelia Dimoldenberg show the best chemistry can’t be created. It just is. The movie star and comic interviewer first met on a GQ red carpet in 2022. Their flirts reached new levels a few months later at the 2023 Golden Globes. Then, they avoided each other and their romantic fate for two full years until last week, when Dimoldenberg dropped Garfield’s long-awaited Chicken Shop Date.

To say the least: It lived up to the hype.

Here’s the thing: I recognize both Garfield and Dimoldenberg are performing. That fact is immaterial to me. Actors and comedians perform all the time without the kind of chemistry those two struck. I don’t know if they will, or should, date in real life. (I mean, I wouldn’t complain…) But let the internet’s fandom teach producers a lesson: People want vibes. Smirks! Banter! Mutual respect and curiosity! Those traits only occasionally correlate with societal standards of attractiveness or rank. Encourage people to treat each other as full people instead. You might just set off sparks.

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D.J.’s Digest

It’s weird to be a kid in an election year. On the one hand, everybody tells me the wrong vote could destroy our democracy. On the other hand, I can’t vote yet! Bubbe says there’s a lot I can and should still do—phone banking, canvassing, participating in fundraisers, and sharing my concerns with my community. To be honest, though, it’s hard to feel like those things matter. Who wants to listen to a kid? If our politics have become so dire, is it even possible to turn the tide?

Ugh, I’ve started using metaphors. I guess I’m asking you for advice. What kind of power do you think kids have in our society? How can we help shape the world into one we want to live in?

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Julie’s Jams Miri’s Music

“Ball and Chain” – Janis Joplin at the Monterey Pop Festival (1967)

Sittin' down by my window
Honey, lookin' out at the rain
Lord, Lord, Lord, sittin' down by my window
Baby, lookin' out at the rain
Somethin' came along, grabbed a hold of me
And it felt just like a ball and chain…

In all of human history, there has not been a better performance than this.

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A peek at the Hungarian Pastry Shop in New York City, walls covered by books people wrote there.

This Month’s Favorites

Coziest Coffee Shop goes to… the Hungarian Pastry Shop. A pillar of Morningside Heights in New York City for 60-plus years, Hungarian is my favorite establishment. No spot has better vibes, better drinks, or better food (get the cheese Danish and the lemon cake—trust me). It is the kryptonite to my writer’s block: I always write well there. One of my dreams is to get my book on their wall.

My Kind of Kidlit goes to… Casey McQuiston’s I Kissed Shara Wheeler. This book is magic: It subverted my expectations at every turn. If you like humor and joy and spikiness and stubbornness and activism and Garfield-Dimoldenberg level sparks, read this.

The Most Excellent Elephants goes to… A last-minute tie! I was sure this month’s clear winner would be the Great Elephant Migration, a world-traveling public art exhibition I was able to see in New York. It was, indeed, excellent. Then, my friend Kayla traversed the secondhand interwebs to find a set of elephant book holders I had been devastated not to buy at a local vintage store. Look at them!!! They are so beautiful and they can hold BOOKS!!!!!

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Announcements

Like I said, I restarted Book Two—and with help from my faculty mentor, I’m marching onward. (Or driving…? That verb feels less evocative, but it would be great to have a road trip metaphor here. Decisions, decisions. Hmmph.)

As for D.J. Rosenblum Becomes the G.O.A.T.: Many exciting small things have been happening! We’ve reached out to a cover artist. We’ve finished our sensitivity read and gotten some necessary sub-rights. And we’ve finished the first full round of copyedits.

I also wrote D.J. Rosenblum’s acknowledgements, a moving reminder of just how many people have helped me reach this point. God, I’m fortunate. Thank you, thank you, thank you.