Guest Post & Giveaway: Not My Daughter by Barbara Delinsky

Please welcome Barbara Delinsky on her blog tour for the paperback release of her latest novel, Not My Daughter.

BARBARA DELINSKY is the author of more than seventeen bestselling novels with over twenty million copies in print. She has been published in twenty-five languages worldwide. Barbara lives with her family in New England.

{author image © Mark Bennington}

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How DO I get my ideas? Answering some of those writing questions…

The most common question I’m asked is “where do you get your ideas?” Well, lots of places. But my newest novel, Not my Daughter, is a perfect example of a plot that comes from the news. Two things happened during the summer of 2008, when I was fishing around for a good book idea. First, from Gloucester MA, came reports of a reputed pregnancy pact formed by 17 high school girls. It turned out not to be a pact. The high school’s principal actually lost his job after calling it one.

The second thing that happened was Sarah Palin. Soon after she arrived on the scene, we learned that her teenaged daughter was pregnant.

Between these two events, there were lots of headlines. How could I not think about this subject? Here we had Gloucester, a working class town. And Sarah Palin, head of a not-so-working-class family. And celebrities like Jamie Lynn Spears.

And so Not My Daughter was born. I conceived of a pregnancy pact involving a small number of girls – four actually in on the plan – and they were good girls from good families, good students who were headed for college. They were the last girls you would imagine doing this. But they had their reasons, each a little different from the other, and once done, it was done.

Where would the story go? This is where my imagination kicked in. As with all plotting, the question becomes, What plot twists will raise the stakes for my characters and truly engage my reader? It’s the WHAT IF game, and I played it then.

What if the pregnancy pact wreaks havoc in the homes of each of the girls involved? What if the mother of one of the girls is the high school principal? What if she’s a single mom? What if she was pregnant at 17 herself and now finds the hopes and dreams she had for her daughter – dreams of a different experience, a better one – torn to shreds?

You see how that works? One thing leads to another, sometimes taking me places I hadn’t planned to go. In this case, I found myself intrigued by the moms of these girls. Each has a different story. But each wants to be a good mother. And there you have it – the overriding theme of Not My Daughter. It’s THE GOOD MOTHER issue, addressed in ways it may not have been since Sue Miller’s excellent novel of that name. If you’re thinking of writing a novel or short story, why not take an idea and see where it leads you? Just try writing up a brief synopsis—it doesn’t have to be anything fancy or even—gasp—an outline!

Which brings me to the next question I’m most frequently asked: “Do you work from an outline?” Well, my answer depends on what your definition of an outline is. When I first started writing, I just … sat down and wrote. Those books flowed – actually, spewed from the heart. The more I evolved as a writer, though, the longer I spent on each book, and the more complex they grew. Winging it became precarious, what with all those plot threads needing to be seamlessly woven in. My agent suggested I work from an outline, as another of her clients, Ken Follett, did so successfully. She sent me the outline for The Key To Rebecca – remember that early Follett? The outline alone was 125 pages long, and it was riveting. I could understand how, based on that outline, he got a phenomenal book contract, a huge advance, and from-the-get-go hype that made that book the success it was.

So I tried it. I spent four months researching my next book and writing an outline. Mine was 75 pages long. I thought it too was riveting. My agent and editor did not. Both suggested, for reasons that to this day I do not understand, that it wasn’t the right book for me at that time. I should have been devastated. But I was actually relieved. I felt I had already written the book – known the characters, experienced the plot twists, lived the emotions. If I’d then had to go back and write the book, I’d have been bored.

Do I work from an outline now? Yes and no. At the start, I outline the emotional arc of each main character – because emotions are my stock-in-trade. Do I outline events? Well I know my opening – in the case of Not My Daughter, I knew (1) that I would open with my protagonist Susan Tate being worried about her daughter Lily, because something about her just wasn’t right. I knew (2) that Susan would take Lily out to dinner in the hope that, on neutral ground, Lily would tell her what was wrong. I knew (3) that Lily would in fact blurt out that she was pregnant, that Susan wouldn’t believe it because it was so against everything she’d taught Lily, and that she would spend the night fearing that Lily had uterine cancer, or something else that was messing up her cycle. I knew (4) that the doctor would confirm the pregnancy the next day. I also knew that in the mother-daughter argument following that, Lily would cry, “Well, it’s not just me,” at which point I would transport my readers to the homes of Lily’s two best friends, one after the other.

I wrote those opening pages. Then I outlined the next few chapters, in which those two other families learn of two pregnancies, those two other moms are as devastated as Susan, etc etc (I don’t want to spoil the plot!) I wrote these chapters, then outlined the next few. And there you have it: Outline as you go. That’s my M.O.

So do I know how the book will end when I start it? Absolutely. I may not know the details – who says what during that final climactic scene or even where it will take place. Nor do I necessarily know exactly how I’m going to get there. I know point A. I know point Z. Everything in between is a work in progress. I just whittle away, shaping the book a few chapters at a time. Every writer has her own process. I’ve learned through trial and error what works for me—and I hope it will help you some, too. Or just satisfy some of your questions!

Giveaway:

{November 17 - November 30, 2010}

5 lucky entrants will win a copy of one of the following books from Barbara Delinsky's backlist:

Family Tree

The Secret Between Us

While My Sister Sleeps

• Only residents of the U.S. or Canada are eligible to win
• Winner will have 48 hours to respond to email or a new winner will be chosen
• Giveaway copies will be sent directly to winners from the publisher 
• Up to 5 copies will be available depending on entries.
• Winners will be randomly selected using random.org and contacted via email. 

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