Lessons From My Children…(I Mean, My Books)

Anyone who has more than one child knows the amazement that comes when you’re faced with visible evidence of how different your children are. One loves to run around outside, the other one only wants to curl up inside with the book. One loves everything pink and sparkly, and the other one wears nothing but her Wonder Woman uniform. In the same way, no matter how many books an author has written, each one is a little bit different than the ones that came before. And each one teaches the author a different kind of lesson.

When I was writing The Hideaway six years ago, I had no knowledge of what anyone in the publishing industry wanted. I knew nothing about agents and editors. I’d never heard of Manuscript Wishlist (or #MSWL for those in the querying trenches). In fact, I wasn’t even sure what a query was. In many ways, I was blissfully ignorant, sitting on my back deck swing, hurriedly typing out as many words as I could during a two-hour window before the next kids’ activity or grocery store run.

Looking back, I know that writing experience was likely the most uncomplicated one I’ll ever have—unconcerned with the whims of the market, no looming deadline, and no one to please but myself.  

When I started writing Hurricane Season, I didn’t yet have an agent or publisher, but I’d gotten this idea about a couple on a dairy farm and two little girls and I knew it was a story I wanted to write. It was also a way to distract myself as I waited for responses from agents. As I hunkered down in my new 5-7am writing block (before the kids woke up and chaos ensued), I found it difficult to write with as much freedom and abandon as I had with The Hideaway. The main culprit? Twitter.

I’d joined Twitter with the sole purpose of following agents and editors who were vocal about the types of stories they were looking for, which was very helpful as I tried to narrow down my agent search. Unfortunately, it also made me privy to more of the ins and outs of the publishing industry, and sometimes that can hinder writing instead of help.

When you know just how many queries an agent receives in a day, and how many books are published each year, it can be easy to think your own small stories will never make a dent. I battled indecision for a long while, trying to decide if this story idea was the absolute best follow-up to my first novel. I finally accepted that perfect is the enemy of good, and I went with my gut, trusting that if I was invested in the characters and the story, other people would be as well. (And if they weren’t, at least I’d have written a story I believed in.)

When I began writing my third book, this one about three women living on a red dirt road in south Alabama, I felt a little more confident that there would be readers for this story, but the frustrating thing was I had to relearn all the lessons I’d learned on the previous two books.

I thought for sure an author working on her third book would be an expert (ha!) and would suffer none of the paralyzing attacks of fear, doubt, indecision, and writers block that a newbie author always feels. Suffice it to say, anyone reading this who’s written books knows that is nothing more than wishful thinking.

The biggest lesson I’ve learned throughout this adventure is that I have to trust the process. My process. That means remembering that first drafts are just that—a draft used to get to the final product. It means remembering that as I write, I learn more about the characters—their backstories and desires, their fears and voices—and it’s okay if I don’t know all those things the moment I start writing. It means remembering that there will be days when I feel like the story is going nowhere, that I’ve created terrible characters, that no one is going to read a word of my story.

Having done this a few times now, I know this is ALL part of the process of creating a story that has depth, substance, emotion, grit, humor, and grace. No one can get it right every time they sit down, and no one gets it perfect from day one. All we can do is take the chunk of stone that is our idea, and chip away at it until we’ve uncovered the beauty down deep.

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Lauren K. Denton is the author of USA Today bestselling novels The Hideaway and Hurricane Season. Her third novel, Glory Road, released in March. She was born and raised in Mobile, Alabama, and now lives with her husband and two daughters in Homewood. In addition to her fiction, she writes a monthly newspaper column about life, faith, and how funny (and hard) it is to be a parent. Though her husband tries valiantly to turn her into a mountain girl, she’d still rather be at the beach with her family and a stack of books.

Connect with Lauren on her website LaurenKDenton.com, or find her on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook

GLORY ROAD

Written in Lauren Denton’s signature Southern style, Glory Road tells the story of three generations of women navigating the uncertain pathways of their hearts during a summer that promises to bring change—whether they’re ready for it or not.

“Glory Road brims with faith and family, second chances, and new horizons.” —LISA WINGATE, New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours

The only thing certain is change—even in a place as steady as Perry, Alabama, on a street as old as Glory Road.

Nearly a decade after her husband’s affair drove her back home to South Alabama, Jessie McBride has the stable life she wants—operating her garden shop, Twig, next door to her house on Glory Road, and keeping up with her teenage daughter and spunky mother. But the unexpected arrival of two men makes Jessie question whether she’s really happy with the status quo.

When handsome, wealthy businessman Sumner Tate asks her to arrange flowers for his daughter’s lavish wedding, Jessie finds herself drawn to his continued attention. Then Ben Bradley, her lingering what-could-have-been from high school, moves back to the red dirt road, and she feels her heart pulled in directions she never expected.

Meanwhile, Jessie’s fourteen-year-old daughter, Evan, is approaching the start of high school and navigating a new world of emotions—particularly as they relate to the cute new guy who’s moved in just down the road. At the same time, Jessie’s mother, Gus, is suffering increasingly frequent memory lapses and faces a frightening, uncertain future.

In one summer, everything will change. But for these three strong Southern women, the roots they’ve planted on Glory Road will give life to the adventures waiting just around the curve.

“Rich colorful characters capturing my heart, combined with a story that kept me up till the wee hours, Glory Road is a perfect read. Lauren Denton has done it again!” —Lisa Patton, bestselling author of Rush and Whistlin’ Dixie in a Nor’easter

“Once again Lauren Denton brings her lyrical writing and compelling characters to a story that will enthrall readers from page one.” —Marybeth Mayhew Whalen, author of Only Ever Her and co-founder of She Reads, for Glory Road

“From the opening of The Hideaway, the reader is captured by the voice of a woman who has for too long kept a story that must be told, one the reader wants to hear. Denton has crafted a story both powerful and enchanting: a don’t-miss novel in the greatest southern traditions of storytelling.” —Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times bestselling author

“A poignant and heartfelt tale of sisterhood, motherhood, and marriage, Hurricane Season deftly examines the role that coming to terms with the past plays in creating a hopeful future. Readers will devour this story of the hurricanes—both literal and figurative—that shape our lives.” —Kristy Woodson Harvey, national bestselling author of Slightly South of Simple

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Category: Contemporary Women Writers, How To and Tips