The Process of Writing a Novel

Pat said...
What is your process for writing a novel?

Thanks for your question, Pat. I thought it would make a good post. I've been asked this many times and must say that the process evolves. I begin with a journal of the book where I write notes and ideas. I've begun tabulating the journals into categories: characters, storyline, symbols etc. I begin the journal for a book as I am writing the pages for the one before it. Luckily, by the time I have completed a novel, I am ready to begin writing the pages for the next. It has been a good flow for me.

While I am writing the pages, I have diagrams and notes taped all around the work space so as I work on the computer, I look around to make sure I am where I need to be with character development, storyline, symbolism etc. It can be messy in my office at times, but the system works for me! When I feel I am ready to "let it go," I give it to at least three editors for feedback. I have found that the opinions of multiple editors give me a broad range of suggestions. I choose the editors knowing that each will probably get something different out of the experience, and have suggestions based on their expertise or perspectives.

I say "let it go," because finishing a book can be an extremely emotional experience for many reasons. I always need to be sure I have done justice to the characters and to the ideas of the story. I also need to be ready to receive the feedback, which can be an emotional process. But also, I need to be ready to come out of the womb of creation that I have been gestating in for so many months (years.) Emerging from the creation of a novel is like giving birth to yourself. You go through the process as the parent and the child. What a miracle and a blessing. Molly Brogan

General Comments

Welcome to the blog created for readers of Molly Brogan books. All are welcome to post comments and all insights are appreciated. If you have a general comment or a question about a Molly Brogan book that does not relate to any of the posts below, post your comment here. Thanks for stopping by, your time and consideration are most appreciated. Feel free to contact me if you would like me to participate in your book club discussion of a Molly Brogan book.

Journey of Spirit

Michelle said...
I have a question about your book of poems but did not know where to post it until I found the archives. You might want to have another general post on the mainpage. Where do the poems in "A Blaze of Light" appear in your books? Have the poems in Shadow Dancing been published elsewhere? Why were they included if that book is not published?

Many thanks for the good suggestion, Michelle. I will follow this up with a new welcome post.

The poems in my book, A Blaze of Light, are all from my trilogy of novels. It is true, the third novel, Shadow Dancing, is a work in progress and not yet published. At the time that I considered publishing a book of poems, I was far enough along in the writing of Shadow Dancing to have several wonderful poems ready. I thought that the series of poems was enough to adequetly portray the journey of spirit of the main character of the trilogy. When Shadow Dancing is finally published, it may have more poems than those included in A Blaze of Light, but the poems already included will not be changed or left out. My hope was that the book of poems might pique interest in the third novel, and I will have anticipation for its release. Thanks for asking. Molly Brogan

Transforming Shadow Into Possibility

Linda said...
What happens when shadow emerges? Why does it happen in our closest relationships?

Good questions, Linda. I think the answer can stand as a new thread on the nature and importance of our shadow. Here is a short poem that sums it up well:

As I was going up the stair
I met a man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
I wish, I wish he’d stay away
- Hughes Merns

That man is our shadow, and our ego instinctively looks away because shadow holds our limited portions of personality and habits developed in the past that no longer serve and are not part of conscious awareness. Our dark shadow holds repressed negativity while our golden shadow holds our repressed potentiality.

The shadow can also be comprised of portions of our collective psyche. This comes up as circumstances or emotions that separate us as a group. It can also present as external fascination or spectacle that holds our attention, and thus keeps us from accessing internal resources and connecting with the group in spirit.

We usually project our shadow into places where it is “safe” to show this side of us, like our closest relationships. We instinctively know that the people we love the most give us the best chance to transform our shadow aspect by recognizing it, and then initiating and sustaining expanded awareness. This transformation process removes limitation and allows us to release what no longer serves, having recognized that it does not fit the “big picture” of integration and unity.

Molly Brogan

Fulfilling the prayer for love

Catherine said...
I will read that part of the book over again, but it sounds like you are talking about getting in touch with an archtype of love, by creating a prayer for love. I wonder if connecting like this with ourselves doesn't "attract" others with those qualities into our lives. Just thinking out loud...

Catherine,

Your comment encompasses so much more than a section of my book, I thought I would begin another post. By thinking out loud, you bring up the concept of how we create our lives. I have more of a “feeling” for this than a theory that I can articulate. So much has been written about this, including portions of the bible. I am currently reading Thomas Troward, 19th Century mystic, who does a pretty good job of giving us an outline of the process as he sees it, without becoming terribly “religious.”

He begins with the concept of Alpha and Omega – the entire series of causation from the first originating movement to the final and completed result. Everything has its origin in an idea, a thought, and it has its completion in the manifestation of that thought in form. Many intermediate stages are necessary, but the Alpha and Omega of the series are the thought and the thing. This shows us that in essence the thing already existed in the thought. Omega is already potential in Alpha.

Like Greg Braden, Troward thinks that it takes thought and feeling to create prayer. He says thought creates form but it is feeling that gives vitality to thought. “It is this indissoluble union of Thought and Feeling that distinguishes creative thought from merely analytical thought and places it in a different category… it is that entering into the Mind of the Spirit.”

This leads us to the idea of the prayer including archetypes: “Now the images in the Mind of the Spirit must necessarily be GENERIC. The reason for this is that by its very nature the Principle of Life must be prolific, that is, tending to Multiplicity, and therefore the original Thought-image must be fundamental to whole races, just what Plato meant by archetypal ideas. This is the perfect subsistence of the thing in the thought.”

Troward on the relation of the prayer to the manifestation: “This specialization can only take place through the individual himself, it logically follows that the Life, which he thus specializes, become his own life. This self recognition through the individual cannot in any way change the inherent nature of the Creative Sprit, and therefore to the extent to which the individual perceives its identification with himself, he places himself under its guidance, and so he becomes one of those who are 'led by Spirit'. Thus he begins to find the alpha and omega of the Divine ideal reproduced in himself, in a very small degree at present, but containing the principle of perpetual growth into an infinite expansion of which we can as yet form no conception.”

There is so much trendy information today about the Law of Attraction and how it can get us what we want in life. I think much of this info misses the point that Troward hits right here, and that is, that the will that makes manifest is Divine Will. Our self will must be in agreement. Unless our prayers connect with the archetypical ideas, and our egos detach from the “things” coming into manifestation, how can our prayers be fulfilled? This is the crux of “Thy will be done.” We direct our thoughts and feelings to the universal, or archetypical, place ourselves in the flow of infinite expansion, and have faith that what will come from it, will be just what we need, to allow us to be led by spirit on our beautiful journey.

Thanks for the conversation. Molly Brogan

Wishing a joyful 2008 to my readers and supporters

Dear Readers,

As we begin the New Year, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who purchased my books, followed my blogs and joined in discussions. The conversations have been rich, and I have been greatly illuminated by them. I feel as if 2007 launched a new beginning for me, as I published four books and moved across the country to start again, with a sharper focus on my writing and relationship with my readers. I would like to especially thank my beloved husband Jerry, whose continued support inspires me to take flight with my own company, and discover new ways to express the vision we share.

As I wrote a book about a relationship that develops through the written word and across a distance, it never occurred to me that I would eventually get to know hundreds of people from all over the world in just this way, by sharing ideas on my blogs and web pages. I have been blessed to have the ability to connect with humanity this way.

I am elated daily, as I read your comments and participate in conversations about life and living. Please feel free to continue to post or email me with your questions and ideas as they arise. The computer translation tools aren’t perfect, but they do allow us to understand and encourage each other. With one click, my blog is translated and readers all over the world are included in the dialogues. What a miraculous world we live in, and I am infinitely grateful to share it with all of you.

Best wishes for everyone in 2008. I look forward to your words.

Much love,

Molly Brogan