Behind the Scenes of Drafting “The Silence of Bones”
Hello friends!
We’re nearing November 21st, which is when my debut, THE SILENCE OF BONES, will be *five* months away from publication. I’m so used to only having three or four people reading my work at a time, so it’s hard to believe that soon it’ll be on shelves for everyone and anyone to pick up.
I have to admit, though, that debut year has not been easy as a new mom with a baby. I’ve always had an idea of how my debut year would look like: I’d create a street team and be more present on social media, promoting my book as often as possible. Of course, there are writing parents who DO all these things and more (and I admire them for this!). But everyone’s capacity is different, and I’m a person who easily gets overwhelmed and so can only focus on one or two things at a time. And my two things right now are figuring out how to be a good mom while writing the second book in my contract, the best that I can.
But!
While debut year has been challenging, in that I get moments when I’m disappointed in myself for not doing more, I’m slowly coming to accept that it’s OK. Instead of focusing on what I’m not able to do, I want to focus on the things I can do, and excel at it. And celebrate it!
Speaking of which, I’m so grateful to those that have opened doors of opportunity for TSOB. The first opportunity I *can* share about is that I’ll be appearing at the Winter Institute 2020, where I’ll be part of the Indies Introduce presentation and signing. So that'll be fun!
And lastly, if you’d like to support this book, the buy links are below, or you can add TSOB on Goodreads :)
Behind the Scenes of Drafting My Debut
When I first drafted THE SILENCE OF BONES, it was not a mystery novel…it wasn’t even a YA… it was not any of the things it is now, except for the first chapter. The first chapter was the only thing that remained relatively the same since I drafted this book back in 2015:
So, what kind of book was my first draft? It was (~drum roll~) a confused women’s historical fiction! It was about three women—a female servant, a lonely queen regent, and a treasonous noblewoman—and their unlikely friendships and betrayals.
As I mentioned, my first draft wasn't a mystery novel. While the first chapter opened with the scene of police officers inspecting a murdered woman, the rest of the story was about the life of a servant who embarks on a journey to self-discovery . When my friend read my first draft, I remember her trying not to offend me as she offered her critique, which was basically: I loved the mystery in Chapter One, and I thought I was reading a mystery novel, but then the chapters after that turned into something else and I’m disappointed. She then suggested, “Why don’t you write this book as a mystery novel instead?”
I was hesitant at first, afraid of writing a genre I adored but had never felt capable enough to write. In the end, I decided it wouldn’t hurt to try—because what could I possibly lose? My time? I knew it'd take me several years to get published, if at all, and so figured I had *a lot* of time to kill. My effort? I’d already spent 8+ years rewriting another book that ended up getting rejected by over a hundred agents, so I wasn’t afraid of the possibility that I’d write a second book that wouldn’t get me anywhere. My pride? All the crushing rejections had taught me not to tie my identity to my writing endeavors, so I was okay with the idea of failing again.
It took a lot of courage for me to finally give this ambitious project a try, and even more courage to (for the first time in years) let myself “write for myself.” I completely rewrote my draft, and this novel proved to be VERY challenging. I remember pulling at me hair, wanting to give up, and I can’t tell you how many times I just lay motionless in bed, overwhelmed by the mystery aspect of my book, and also the staggering amount of research I needed to do, and the Korean articles I needed to translate.
But this project was also very rewarding. Outline by outline, draft by draft, something strange and magical started to happen.
My main character, Seol, began taking over the story.
When I tried to write her as a cool-mannered and cynical woman in her 20s, I instead kept seeing this image of her as a teen, as a sweet and fiercely loyal character, totally clueless about the horrors awaiting her. She was just so charming and endearing that, in the end, I let go of my anxious grip over the story, and that was when Seol really came alive and steered the novel in a totally unexpected and poignant direction.
Artwork: Alexis Castellanos
If anything, I hope this behind-the-scenes look into drafting THE SILENCE OF BONES inspires you to see that—sometimes, not all the time— first drafts are far from being the story you want to tell. This might sound discouraging, but it’s not meant to be, especially if you’re like me and always feel panicked by how awful your first draft seems, as well as afraid that you won’t be able to do any better. Because that’s not true.
A first draft is often a series of one wrong turn after the next. And we need to write that ‘wrong story’ in order to figure out what the right one is.
So, for my debut, it took writing this book in the wrong genre, starring the wrong heroine, for me to find the book of my heart.
Thank you all for reading! I now have to go back on call for Baby Jo who is unfortunately sick :( Once she's recovered, I'm hoping to get back to writing the second book, which, technically, I don't need to really work on this month. I sent my editor the synopsis (she LOVED it) and the first draft, so I'll have to wait until she gets back to me to begin revising it. But I'm really hooked on this story, so for the time being, I'll be drafting new scenes that I'd like to add into the book -- or just writing about the characters just for the sake of getting to know them better. This isn't really work for me, but a much needed creative break.
Bye for now!
June
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For my fellow Canadians:
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