Guest Author: Will Allison [ Edited ]

[Brandi_R]

The guest-author-palooza continues here in the Writing Room!

I’m thrilled that fiction writer Will Allison, author of the novel What You Have Left  and the recently released Long Drive Home, will be joining us this week, beginning Tuesday, 21 June. Here’s a bit about Will--in his own words--from his website:

i was born in columbia, south carolina, and now live with my wife and daughter in south orange, new jersey. in between, i've lived in charlotte, cleveland, columbus, cincinnati, indianapolis, and elsewhere; taught creative writing at the ohio state university, butler university, and indiana university-purdue university at indianapolis; and worked as executive editor of story, editor at large of zoetrope: all-story, editor of novel & short story writer's market, and as a freelance editor and writer. i've also been on staff at the community of writers at squaw valley. i received a b.a. in english and political science from case western reserve university as well as an m.a. in english and an m.f.a. in creative writing from ohio state. i'm the grateful recipient of grants, fellowships, and scholarships from the indiana arts commission, arts council of indianapolis, ohio arts council, and the bread loaf writers' conference (including a 1996 work-study scholarship and the 2008 allan collins fellowship in fiction). my first novel, what you have left, was published in 2007 by free press, an imprint of simon & schuster. paperback and audio book editions were published in 2008. a paperback reissue came out in april 2011. my second novel, long drive home, was published by free press in may 2011.

Here’s a short video of Will talking about Long Drive Home. More information and links will follow  soon.

[Brandi_R]

About Long Drive Home:

Life can change in an instant because of one small mistake. For Glen Bauer, all it takes is a quick jerk of the steering wheel, intended to scare a reckless driver. But the reckless driver is killed, and just like that, Glen's placid suburban existence begins to unravel. When Glen realizes no one else saw the accident, he impulsively lies about what happened--to the police, to his wife, even to his six-year-old daughter, Sara, who was in the backseat at the time of the crash. But a tenacious detective thinks Sara might have seen more than she knows, or more than her parents will let her tell. And when Glen tries to prevent the detective from interrogating Sara, he finds himself in a high-stakes cat-and-mouse game that could end in a lawsuit or prison. What he doesn't see coming is the reaction of his wife, Liz--a panicked plan that threatens to tear their family apart in the name of saving it. But what if the accident wasn't really Glen's fault? What if someone else were to blame for the turn his life has taken? It's a question Glen can't let go of. And as he struggles to understand the extent of his own guilt, he finds himself on yet another collision course, different in kind but with the potential to be equally devastating.

The book is getting a wonderful reception. Since it’s publication in May, it’s been on the New York Times Best Sellers List (Hardcover Fiction) and Publisher’s Weekly Best Sellers List. Here’s what O Magazine has to say about it:

“While wondering whether Glen will get arrested is what keeps you turning pages, Allison’s eye for the details of marriage and fatherhood, and his deconstruction of what can happen when a good guy makes one false move, are what will break your heart.”

Links!

Check out an excerpt of Long Drive Home at Booth.

“My Editor, My Wife,” an article at Slate.com, gives a glimpse into Will’s writing process and details his experience of having his wife as his editor.

“Atlas Towing” is a staggering short story published in Zoetrope: All-Story that later became a chapter in his first novel, What You Have Left.

[Brandi_R]

Will,

Welcome to the Writing Room! Thanks for joining us this week.

In your article “My Editor, My Wife” you discuss the process of writing and revising this novel and some frustrations that grew out of the length of time it took to write:

"In September—after a scorching, testy summer of rewriting—I turned in the manuscript. My publisher gave me permission to continue revising as the book went into production. That was the good news. The bad news was, the book was still half-baked. I had until January to basically rewrite a novel I hadn't been able to properly finish in four years."

What specific challenges did you face in writing this book? What made that earlier version "half-baked" and how did you approach those concerns in revision? 

[Will_Allison]

The biggest challenge I faced in writing LONG DRIVE HOME was having a deadline--the book was already under contract.

I should have known better, because one thing I do know, from 20+ years experience, is that I'm a slow writer if nothing else. V-e-r-y, v-e-r-y s-l-o-w. M-a-n-y, m-a-n-y d-r-a-f-t-s.

But the lure of a contract was too strong. I've promised myself I won't make the same mistake again, not with something as big and unpredictable as a novel (even a short novel like mine).

So it's not that I had any specific concerns during revision. It's just that I knew I needed to do a lot more revising than I had time for.

On the other hand, the deadline did get me to finish the book. :-)

[shadowcat80]

Welcome to writing room Will Allison

I was wondering since you were mentioning deadlines, do you use any form of brain storming to help get through the deadlines?  Like example free writing, or outlining, etc...

[GS2991]

Welcome!! I have asked others but I'm curious do you use a typewriter? And do you have trouble writing specific parts of a book like first chapters or the last chapters?

[Will_Allison]

With me beside you, you are doomed. I don't know the crooked road, as it always seems to be rerouting itself, and I don't know how to find the light, which likewise seems a moving target. Seriously. I know only some idiosyncratic bumps along the way (as I'm sure you do too). I find outlining to be very helpful in writing a novel. I find free writing to be very helpful in general, or free talking--I spend a lot of time in the car, productively blabbing into a hand-held digital voice recorder. I find there are things I say into the recorder that I don't think of at my desk, in the same way that I find it useful to revise moving back and forth between the computer screen and hard copy.

[Fleetfoot]

Do you set parameters for your work, knowing just what needs to be done, or do you just let the ideas flow? 

[Will_Allison]

For me, all parts of a book are equally hard. I don't know. Maybe if I've done my job, the ending is easier than what came before. I feel like I need to have written more than two books to know.

I haven't used a typewriter since my early years of college, 1988 or so. And I don't write longhand. I compose on the computer. But I find it very helpful to revise/edit on hard copy. I catch things on the page that I don't catch on the screen, and vice versa.

The most useful thing for me about writing on the computer is the freedom it gives me to plow ahead, even when I don't know where I'm going. With the typewriter, I was sometimes paralyzed by the fear of discarding an idea I might later wish I hadn't, forging ahead in what would turn out to be a wrong direction. Composing on the computer has eliminated that fear. I just copy the passage in question into a second file named Outtakes and plow ahead, knowing that whatever I discarded is still there if I need it. Interestingly (to me, at least), I've found that I almost never refer to that outtakes file. It's just a safety net that lets me keep going.

[Will_Allison]

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Fleetfoot wrote:

Do you set parameters for your work, knowing just what needs to be done, or do you just let the ideas flow? 

---

That's a good question. I think if I knew just what needed to be done before I started a book, the book would be dead on arrival. At the same time, I worry about going down a thousand blind alleys, or finding myself with a book that really wants to be three books. I guess I think it's a balancing act, being open to the flow of ideas while at the same time having some intuitive sense of what the boundaries should be, given the story you want to tell. In a first draft, though, I'd be more inclined to just let the ideas flow.

[Darkkin]

Have you ever created a character that never did what they were supposed to, that forged paths through your plotline, taking it in directions you never intended to go?

[Will_Allison]

It's past my bedtime. Thanks for the thoughtful conversation and good night.

[Will_Allison]

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Darkkin wrote:

Have you ever created a character that never did what they were supposed to, that forged paths through your plotline, taking it in directions you never intended to go?

---

Sometime, yes. And I'm usually grateful when it happens. I believe plot should be a function of character, not vice versa. In other words, I think what happens in a story should be determined by the characters--who they are, what they want, what their strengths and weaknesses are. My characters are usually DOA if I'm just shoe-horning them into some preconceived plot.

But if one character seems to be taking a story in what seems like a wrong direction, that's sometimes a hint to me that the character belongs in a different story of his or her own. 

[chad]

Hi Will- Welcome and thanks for joining the board!

I'm not sure if you ever considered the infamous sequel, but as I did (and I'm not even finished my first novel) I realized that "character" is the problem with any sequel that you may want to write. That is, so much is tied to the characters in the first novel, that it's very difficult to not write anything different for the second novel, because the sequel usually includes at least a few of the same characters that you created in the first (I think very few sequels include a completely different cast of characters, but there have been those few).

The other thing I came across when I was creating my characters was that the character has to be somewhat defined for purposes of story, plot, theme etc. But defining "character" is obviously what people do in real life, and many people they're right to do so- scary.....well, Mark Twain, comes to my mind, on this point....

Chad

[Will_Allison]

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chad wrote:

Hi Will- Welcome and thanks for joining the board!

I'm not sure if you ever considered the infamous sequel, but as I did (and I'm not even finished my first novel) I realized that "character" is the problem with any sequel that you may want to write. That is, so much is tied to the characters in the first novel, that it's very difficult to not write anything different for the second novel, because the sequel usually includes at least a few of the same characters that you created in the first (I think very few sequels include a completely different cast of characters, but there have been those few).

The other thing I came across when I was creating my characters was that the character has to be somewhat defined for purposes of story, plot, theme etc. But defining "character" is obviously what people do in real life, and many people they're right to do so- scary.....well, Mark Twain, comes to my mind, on this point....

Chad

---

Hi, Chad.

As it happens, I just decided to write a sequel to Long Drive Home, my new novel. So could we take up this question again in 3 or 4 years?

But seriously: I think I see what you mean about the difficulties of bringing back the same characters in a different story. I don't, for instance, think I could swing it with the characters in my first novel, What You Have Left. I feel like I covered so much of their lives that I'd end up repeating myself.

But with Long Drive Home, I feel like I have a lot of unfinished business. I know a lot more about the characters than I was able to fit into the story, stuff I wanted to write about. So I'm looking forward to using that material in the sequel and further developing/exploring the characters.

Good luck with your novel!

[TylerAE]

Welcome, Will!

I was wondering how you formed the initial idea for Long Drive Home, and how did you create the characters' personalities, etc.? I have trouble with characterization in my own writing.

[Will_Allison]

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TylerAE wrote:

Welcome, Will!

I was wondering how you formed the initial idea for Long Drive Home, and how did you create the characters' personalities, etc.? I have trouble with characterization in my own writing.

---

Hi, TylerAE. Thanks for your questions.

One morning about five years ago, I went out to get the paper. I live in a neighborhood very much like the one in the book: suburban northern New Jersey, quiet tree-lined streets, lots of kids, joggers, people walking their dogs, etc. As I was bending down to get the paper, I heard a car coming down the street very fast. Maybe 50 mph (in a 25 mph zone). That drives me crazy. Picking up the paper, I was tempted, for a split second, to toss it into the street, even toss it at the car's windshield, to scare the driver, to get him/her to slow down. And a split second later, when I thought better of it, I realized what a disaster I could have caused, and was so relieved that I hadn't acted on impulse. But then the fiction writer in me starting asking questions: What might have happened? And what if no one else saw? That was the seed of the whole novel.

How did I create the characters? As I understand it, character is at the heart of fiction, more important than plot, theme, etc. I don't think readers are going to care about a story, no matter how good the plot or anything else, if they don't first care about the people in the story.

So I hardly know how to answer the question, except to say that everything I do, first and foremost, is geared toward developing character.

If you're having trouble developing characters' personalities, maybe that's a good starting point: treating character as the most important element of a story, looking to your characters to determine the plot, and not vice versa. The way I've always phrased it is, plot is a function of character, not vice versa.

Good luck!

Will

[Brandi_R]

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Will_Allison wrote:

One morning about five years ago, I went out to get the paper. I live in a neighborhood very much like the one in the book: suburban northern New Jersey, quiet tree-lined streets, lots of kids, joggers, people walking their dogs, etc. As I was bending down to get the paper, I heard a car coming down the street very fast. Maybe 50 mph (in a 25 mph zone). That drives me crazy. Picking up the paper, I was tempted, for a split second, to toss it into the street, even toss it at the car's windshield, to scare the driver, to get him/her to slow down. And a split second later, when I thought better of it, I realized what a disaster I could have caused, and was so relieved that I hadn't acted on impulse. But then the fiction writer in me starting asking questions: What might have happened? And what if no one else saw? That was the seed of the whole novel.

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That's really interesting--to have such a specific moment in real life that inspired the book. What about your first novel, What You Have Left? What were the intial sparks of inspiration for that book?

[Will_Allison]

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Brandi_R wrote:

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Will_Allison wrote:

One morning about five years ago, I went out to get the paper. I live in a neighborhood very much like the one in the book: suburban northern New Jersey, quiet tree-lined streets, lots of kids, joggers, people walking their dogs, etc. As I was bending down to get the paper, I heard a car coming down the street very fast. Maybe 50 mph (in a 25 mph zone). That drives me crazy. Picking up the paper, I was tempted, for a split second, to toss it into the street, even toss it at the car's windshield, to scare the driver, to get him/her to slow down. And a split second later, when I thought better of it, I realized what a disaster I could have caused, and was so relieved that I hadn't acted on impulse. But then the fiction writer in me starting asking questions: What might have happened? And what if no one else saw? That was the seed of the whole novel.

---

That's really interesting--to have such a specific moment in real life that inspired the book. What about your first novel, What You Have Left? What were the intial sparks of inspiration for that book?

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Hey, Brandi.

Yeah, it's the only time I've ever been able to point to a specific moment and say, "That's where the idea for the story started."

What You Have Left started as a series of short stories, all of which in some way or another drew on personal experiences or things that happened to people in my family. For instance, the first story/chapter I wrote involves a guy trying to deliver some divorce papers before a hurricane hits the coast of South Carolina. During grad school, my next door neighbor was a lawyer, and I sometimes worked for him as a process server, delivering divorce papers and other documents no one wants to receive. And when I was a kid, we used to vacation at the beach in South Carolina. And that's where my grandmother told me the legend of the Gray Man, which also figures in the story. And so forth and so on. So the story drew on these and other elements of my personal experience, but I wouldn't say any of the stories were autobiographical; the characters and plots were made up.

I once heard a quote I liked that I'm now going to butcher. It was something like, "Fiction is born when personal experience gives way to imagination."

How about you? Where do your stories usually come from?

[Will_Allison]

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Will_Allison wrote:

How about you? Where do your stories usually come from?

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I meant also to say, it's important for me to have at least some personal tie to the material to keep me connected to the story, engaged in writing it. Is this true for anyone else on the message board? And on the opposite end of the spectrum, is there anyone who writes stories that have _no_ connection to their personal lives or experiences?