While I could go on and on about how DIY MFA supports writers in their journey to publication, I figured you’d want to hear it directly from someone who has benefited in some big ways.

I sat down with Constance and asked her to share some insights she gained on the road to her debut book launch

[Gabriela] When you started out writing, what were you hoping for? What was your goal?

[Constance] I watched BBC’s TV series Tipping the Velvet, based on the debut novel written by Sarah Waters. Listening to an interview with Waters, she described her goal as to write what she wanted to read. It struck me to the core. I wanted to write what I wanted to read!

While my goal was partly to write something I wanted to read, I also wanted to inject a dose of youthful hope back into my middle-aged life. I defined it as hope for something really engrossing, revealing, redefining. Something fun! An escape hatch, possibly.

Immediately I started writing, working on the weekends and holidays, and tried to get it published starting in 2008. I had no idea what I was doing, and it showed. This first novel is still in my queue, and I have loads of ideas about how to rewrite it and get it published now. 

[Gabriela] What was your biggest challenge on the road to publication?

[Constance] Sticking with trying to publish long enough to figure out how to succeed, while writing through it. These were both big challenges, and both key to my success.

In 2012, I decided to start attending conferences, reading about the subject, hiring editors, mentors, etc. The years rolled by without success. The more rejections I piled up—thirty-three— the easier the actual rejection process became, but the harder it became to imagine success. That was a dangerous point. I got depressed and felt hopeless a lot, silly even. I’d come to regret telling my friends that I was trying to publish a novel.

But during that time, I kept writing and I kept submitting the novel. I believed in the book and I thought that with one more submission, I might succeed. With number thirty-four, I did.

[Gabriela] What was your biggest a-ha moment on the way to publication?

[Constance] My a-ha moment came after years spent working with three different professional editors, published authors, and mentors—of course, one of those being you, Gabriela. I was sure that I wanted to write what I wanted to read, but I didn’t even think about others. Not exactly “To hell with the reader!” More like, “What reader?” I was clueless.

Looking at Sarah Waters, I’m sure she writes what she wants to read, but I know she writes what others want to read, because her novels are award-winning, best sellers. The light bulb finally went on. Yes, a writer has to write what she feels, knows, and wants to read and write, but she also has to write so that the reader cares long enough to feel it and wants to read it. So, it can be done. A writer can write for a reader and herself. That was my a-ha!

[Gabriela] How did DIY MFA help you reach your goal?

[Constance] First of all, Gabriela, you gave me permission to call myself a writer. There I was, sitting in the audience at one of your DIY MFA talks, attending a writers’ conference, but I still wasn’t telling anyone I knew that I was a writer. I needed permission to acknowledge that I was a writer and you not only gave me that permission, but you insisted. I left that room a writer.

Then I started DIY MFA’s Pixels to Platform. Your mentoring moved me down the path from writing alone to publication. While I was taking the class and involved in the mentoring activities, more bricks were added to my writer’s house. I never could have created my blog without that class. Never. It added to my growing sense of professionalism. I now have an author’s platform.

And DIY MFA supports me still. I can turn back to the class materials and rejuvenate my efforts to make the platform stronger. DIY MFA continues to provide me with much needed and appreciated support as I face the next challenge—marketing the novel.

I am so excited for Constance and everything that she has accomplished. If you’d like to give her book a little preorder love, you can find it via this Amazon affiliate link.

Heroine Of Her Own Life

In early 20th century Belfast, working class Meg Preston struggles to accept her own sexuality and yearns for forbidden love.

Battling the customs and hardships of their time, Meg pursues a relationship with her childhood friend, Lillian Watson. But soon, tribulations of war, violence, and emigration threaten to tear everything apart.

Seeking refuge for herself, her love, and her family, can Meg find the courage to become the heroine of her own life?

In her debut novel, Emmett has created intriguing and wholly relatable characters who enter our hearts as soon as we meet them. Her distinctive craft makes itself known from the start and keeps the reader quickly turning the pages of this unique and endearing tale. 

Donna Russo Morin, bestselling author of GILDED SUMMERS

Constance Emmett

Constance was born in Brooklyn, New York, where her mother’s family landed after leaving  Belfast, Northern Ireland. Raised in the New York area, she grew up in the home of great readers, and became one herself. Writing detective fiction as a nine-year-old, she peppered the pages with snappy dialogue. 

She earned her B.S. and M.S. in Biology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston and worked as a biologist in research and development for nearly thirty years. She came back to writing after she saw a televised interview of novelist Sarah Waters in 2004 and she has spent the last fifteen years writing steadily. Her debut novel, Heroine of Her Own Life, is in the queue for publication by Creativia/Next Chapters.

Constance’s fiction incorporates her love of origins as well as journeys taken at a walking pace. The Irish family stories found a lifelong home in Constance, and formed her as a writer. She creates characters who feel  dislocation and regret but have the resilience common to all survivors.

A dual citizen of the U.S. and Republic of Ireland, Constance lives with her wife and their dog in the foothills of the Berkshires. Both women were raised in the city, but they love almost everything about country life.

To learn more about Constance and her writing, go to constancegemmett.com.

The post Case Study: From Beginning to Book Launch appeared first on DIY MFA.

Sounds like the perfect makings for a story, right? That’s why we’ll look at communication as a literary theme in this edition of Theme: A Story’s Soul. Using two books from different genres, we’ll see how character interactions can impact plot and story goals, and which elements can help us study communication in our own work.

Examples of Communication as a Theme in Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness (Science Fiction)

The Left Hand of Darkness chronicles Genly Ai’s efforts to convince the people of the planet Gethen to join an intergalactic trade coalition. Part of Genly’s struggles with this task is learning to accept the Gethenians, an androgynous race that assumes male or female characteristics depending on the lunar cycle. The other part is dealing with technological and interpersonal communication issues.

For his mission, Genly uses an ansible (radio transmitter) to show the Gethenians how they can send messages across space and communicate with other coalition members. However, Gethen’s top politicians show little belief in the device’s benefits. King Argaven of Karhide discards the recorded messages and rejects the invitation by calling Genly a liar (“A bag of tricks and a trickster. You want me to believe you, your tales and messages.… We want nothing from [the Ekumen].”) (41). Later, the Orgoreyn Commensals humor Genly to several meetings but decline his offers to demonstrate the ansible’s functions – only to take the ansible from Genly and send him into exile. As Genly learns from both failures, people aren’t always willing to communicate if they’re given the means to do so.

Notice how manipulation (perceived or real) taints those interactions. This happens throughout Left Hand, including between the Gethenians. When Pemmer Harge rem ir Tibe becomes King Argaven’s new adviser, he takes to Karhide’s radios to rally his nation to war against Orgoreyn. His speeches are “long and loud” and filled with “praises of Karhide, disparagements of Orgoreyn, vilifications of ‘disloyal factions,’… He wanted his hearers to be frightened and angry.” (108) In other words, Tibe speaks with the intention to deceive his countrymen and further his own ambitions. It’s also interesting that, like Genly with the ansible, Tibe prefers to deliver his messages via radio and not in person.

Examples of Communication as a Theme in Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Fiction)

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time isn’t just a novel about 15-year-old Christopher Boone playing detective when his neighbor’s poodle is killed. It’s also a story about a boy with Asperger syndrome, which impairs his social interaction abilities. It’s therefore no surprise that his troubles with communication allow it to emerge as a theme.

For example, Christopher struggles with nonverbal communication. He has difficulty with recognizing facial expressions and the many meanings that eyebrow-raising or sighing can have due to emotional context. This confusion mushrooms when Christopher meets strangers. He says they’re “hard to understand” and likens interacting with them to visiting France, “because if you went into a shop or restaurant or on a beach you couldn’t understand what anyone was saying, which was frightening.” (34 – 35) Imagine experiencing this kind of communication barrier on a daily basis. Overwhelming, isn’t it?

When Christopher interviews his neighbors – strangers to him – as part of his investigation, it’s clear he’s leaping out of his comfort zone. He makes the effort despite its challenges, though; and as he puts it, “… talking to the other people in our street was brave. But if you are going to do detective work you have to be brave, so I had no choice.” (35) People often need to communicate regardless of barriers and other issues, and doing so might demand courage or initiative on our part.

Misunderstandings also impact communications throughout Curious Incident. At one point, Christopher’s conversation with a shopkeeper escalates into an argument. Christopher, who interprets things literally, misconstrues the shopkeeper’s slang (“… I realized that he meant £2.95 when he said Two ninety-five.” (187)); while the shopkeeper grows irritated by Christopher’s pointed questions. This and other scenes remind us that how we send our messages (word choice, tone of voice, etc.) can affect how people interpret those messages.

Keys to Exploring Communication as a Literary Theme

Like with our case study on family, character relationships and interactions are instrumental in examining communication as a theme. Here are parallels from The Left Hand of Darkness and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time that aid in that examination: 

Communication Barriers:

Language, geographic distance, cultural differences (Genly and the Gethenians in Left Hand), and developmental disorders (Christopher’s Asperger syndrome in Curious Incident) are some of the obstacles that can inhibit a character’s ability to communicate.

Misunderstandings and Failures:

In both novels, communications between characters go awry due to misinterpretation, technological malfunction, and other reasons. These breakdowns show the consequences of unsuccessful interactions and add tension to the plot.

Methods of Communication:

Genly and Tibe use radio technology to send typed or spoken messages in Left Hand. Christopher’s mother writes letters to explain why she left their family in Curious Incident. What other means can characters use to communicate?

Honesty versus Dishonesty:

Consider the speaker’s motivations for communicating. Will he be honest or, like Tibe in Left Hand, deceptive? Also, does the receiver perceive or interpret the message as genuine? What would influence his reaction? For example, King Argaven refuses to believe Genly because he fears how Gethen will change by joining the coalition.

Nonverbal Communication: Remember how Christopher wrestled with understanding facial expressions in Curious Incident? Body language is essential in communication because it provides emotional context that words don’t always reveal, including whether the speaker is lying or hiding a secret.

Roles in Society:

Left Hand features diplomats, politicians, and royalty. Curious Incident presents a boy detective. All of these roles require communication (asking questions, debating, active listening, etc.) as part of their work.

Most importantly, communication arises as a literary theme when it’s integral to the story. Genly’s goal requires persuading an alien race to interact with the rest of the universe. Christopher’s struggles with socializing, on the other hand, hinder his ability to achieve his goal. A plot that relies on successful character connections can help you highlight what people can gain by communicating – and what they stand to lose if they don’t.

It’s Your Turn!

What stories have you read that explore communication as a literary theme? How does the author accomplish this?

Write a story in which characters need to communicate in order to achieve a mutual goal. What complications might these characters experience when they interact? How would this create conflict?

What kinds of communication breakdowns have you recently experienced? What could have been done (either on your part or on others’) to help that interchange be more successful?

What topics would you like to see featured at Theme: A Story’s Soul? Share your thoughts by commenting below or tweeting me at @SaraL_Writer with the hashtag #AStorysSoul.

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Sara Letourneau is a Massachusetts-based writer who practices joy and versatility in her work. In addition to writing a fantasy novel, she reviews tea at A Bibliophile’s Reverie and is a guest contributor for Grub Street Daily. She’s also a published poet whose works have appeared in The Curry Arts Journal, Soul-Lit, The Eunoia Review, Underground Voices, and two anthologies. Learn more about Sara at her personal blog, Facebook, and Twitter.

The post Communication as a Literary Theme: A Case Study appeared first on DIY MFA.