Editing the Book
Spring House was reviewed chapter-by-chapter by my editor Lillie, and the complete draft was edited several more times, by both me and Lillie. Then I sent the manuscript out to other readers for review and critique. The first readers (who are acknowledged in the book) gave input from various perspectives (educator, historian, young adult, writer, and others). Dennis Kulvicki, President of The STAR DAY Foundation, found an error in my description of a historical event, and other readers asked questions and pointed out areas of confusion. Their feedback made the book much better.
Of course, I’m still learning, and I expect Adam’s Daughters to be better and the future books in The Westward Sagas to be even better.
Starting a Book
When I started Adam’s Daughters, I was surprised and pleased to discover how much more prepared I am now than I was when I started Spring House. I had tons of research, and I was ready to tell everything I’d learned. But I didn’t know anything about writing and wasn’t even clear on what I was going to write; the book started out as a nonfiction family history.
The previous post describes how I came to write fiction, but I had a lot to learn. I took some classes and attended some conferences, which were helpful. But the most valuable thing was to get feedback on my work from an objective source that could help me improve my writing.
I read a short e-book, Preserving Memories: How to Write a Family History, that I found helpful so I hired the author Lillie Ammann as my editor. As I finished the first draft of each chapter, I sent it to Lillie. She made suggestions and returned the edited chapter to me. It was a thrill to discover that each chapter had fewer suggestions and changes than the last as my writing improved.
A Brush with Death Leads to The Westward Sagas
Although I had been researching the family history for years, a close call with death in October 1998 led me to do something with my research. A serious motorcycle accident made me realize that I needed to do something to ensure that our family history was passed down to my son, daughter, and three grandchildren. I had thought before about writing the family history, but two things held me back: I didn’t know anything about writing, and, as a successful business owner, I didn’t have time to learn – or to write, for that matter. Of course, I had time to ride my Gold Wing Touring Motorcycle, but I didn’t intend to give that up for writing.
However, I had plenty of time on my hands during my three-year recovery from the accident, and I could no longer pursue my bike-riding hobby. Writing my family history became my new avocation. I took some classes and started writing nonfiction about the history of the Mitchell family. Unfortunately, while the stories preserved the family history, they didn’t maintain the interest of readers, even my own family. So I decided to use a fictional format so I could embellish the facts with imagined dialogue and scenes of what might have happened to fill in the gaps in history.
I found more time to write when my daughter Sherri, who has been diabetic since childhood, underwent a pancreas transplant. I carried my laptop to the hospital and typed my stories sitting in the lobby waiting through her surgery. Sherri is facing some new health challenges now, and I hope I won’t be writing Adam’s Daughters at the hospital.
Every family has a story worth telling – for the family members if not the world. It took a brush with death to motivate me to tell my family’s story. I’m thankful that I got a second chance, and I hope you won’t wait for such a dramatic incentive.
