What is the date you began writing this piece of fiction and the date when you completely finished the piece of fiction? I started writing THE OPERATOR in February, 2017, and finished the first draft in May, 2017. Then there were revisions and more revisions with my agent. It sold to William Morrow in, I think August (or September) of 2018, and then there were first pass edits, and second pass edits, etc. I’m the kind of writer who will continue to pick at and tweak the work until my editor says “no more – it’s off to print.” So, I was still making adjustments in May of 2019. I’d still make adjustments to it now, if I could.
Where did you do most of your writing for this fiction work? And please describe in detail. And can you please include a photo? I’m a homebody writer. All my writing for THE OPERATOR was done either on this living room couch (photo attached) in front of the TV, or this basement couch (photo attached), also in front of the TV – I have moderate-to-severe television addiction. I usually had Turner Classic Movies on mute in the background, which helped put me in the right mind-frame for the story. But there were also times it was The Golden Girls or Bob’s Burgers, which made no contribution whatsoever. I just love those shows.
What were your writing habits while writing this work- did you drink something as you wrote, listen to music, write in pen and paper, directly on laptop; specific time of day? Always on a 17-inch laptop, on a padded chill-pad. Always with a large glass of water on a side table, sometimes a mug of chai, and usually with a cat leaning against my legs. She’s an excellent writing mascot, and never tries to walk across the keyboard. She’s very respectful of the process. I wrote a lot late at night. For some reason, with this book, I was most productive between 10PM-2AM. Toward the end I sometimes snacked nervously on M&Ms while revising. There was something rhythmically soothing about all the crunching. I don’t recommend sugary snacks as a writing aid. I noticed my brain tended to crash afterward. I’m much sharper a couple of hours after a healthy-brain-food meal (organic spinach, eggs, sweet potatoes, etc).
Please include just one excerpt and include page numbers as reference. This one excerpt can be as short or as long as you prefer. In the hardcover, it’s page 145, Chapter 20
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Why is this excerpt so emotional for you as a writer to write? And can you describe your own emotional experience of writing this specific excerpt? A really important emotion for me is joy. I’m always seeking out things that make me laugh. This page has several moments of humor, from Vivian arranging to meet the PI in the library (somewhere she never goes), to her critical judgement of his PI skills. The line about absconscion/abscondance, in that particular scene, was one of my favorites. I had it as “absconsion.” Vivian has a limited vocabulary, and it sounded like a word she would have made up from the verb abscond, but the copyeditor said absconscion was actually correct. So I asked to change it, to make it incorrect. Are you noticing that this version of Word doesn’t think it’s correct? Either way, the sentence always made me laugh and improved my mood. Laughing is so underrated.
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https://www.harpercollins.com/blogs/authors/gretchen-berg-201912182652717
Were there any deletions from this excerpt that you would like to share with us? And can you please include a photo of your marked up rough drafts of this excerpt?
Gretchen Berg spent many years working in the fields of education and travel. Her parents had always encouraged her to write, but she waited until she heard “you are a writer” from more trustworthy advisors: a London psychic, and a taxicab driver in Athens, Greece. The taxicab driver also said they had been lovers in a previous life.
After writing a humorous memoir in 2010 Gretchen ventured into the field of genealogy, where she compiled narratives and research reports for clients, while also working on her family’s history. It was during her family research that she came across an interesting bit of information that, when expanded upon, became her debut novel, The OPERATOR (William Morrow/HarperCollins).
Most of the INSIDE THE EMOTION OF FICTION links can be found at the very end of the below feature:
http://chrisricecooper.blogspot.com/2021/03/stephenson-holts-arranged-marriage-is.html