Kath came next, followed by Ally. I wrote a couple paragraphs on the story arc of each. Except for the braid, hat and gloves, there is very little about their physicality, ages, or even their writing. The journal entry does contemplate the fivesome doing something together, but that something is actually training for a road race.

LG: What most surprised you as you wrote?

MWC: What surprised me most was how very fun The Wednesday Sisters was to write; I think that’s in part because I had the spirit of my own closest friends with me as I worked.

LG: Experts say that writing is rewriting. How many rewrites did The Wednesday Sisters go through and what were you trying to accomplish in each one?

MWC: As Brett says in the novel, “What is a draft, anyway?” I’m only guessing, but I’d say at least twenty. One entire draft focused on making Brett and Ally more memorable. I did a dialog draft, looking only at dialog lines to make the voices distinct. But most drafts were just generic making it “better” passes.

Some didn’t necessarily improve the novel, either. At one point, I returned to a draft from six months earlier, did a redline of all the changes since and – starting from the earlier draft – picked the few good changes and left everything else on the cutting room floor.

LG: You bring characters and feelings to life with precise language that flows. Any tips for doing that?

MWC: I do think much of that particularity and flow comes in the rewriting for me. I try to focus on what Oakley Hall (The Art of Fiction) calls “sensual particularity.” I like to pause on each scene to think about what each of my characters is seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching. Even when they share a moment, they experience it differently.

I do think about the language, too: Is there a livelier verb I might use? A word that would make the sentence flow? Semicolon or a period here? As Willa Cather says, “There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened.” I think much of what makes new tellings appealing is the writing itself.

LG: I love that the women in the story say what they love before they criticize a writer’s work. What else makes a writing group work? How did you find your critique group?

MWC: The folks I turn to for critique now are my Nashville writing group, which was an offshoot of an open-to-the-public group that met in a local library. We miss meeting over coffee once a week, but we’ve found our long-distance marriage is better than any new love we might find closer to home.

The key for us is careful respect for each other’s work: our willingness to spend time reading closely and critiquing honestly. It’s a tricky business, forming a group that works. We did find once or twice along the way that a new member just wasn’t working. And one personality that doesn’t fit can blacken the whole beautifully boiling pot.

LG: How did The Language of Light influence The Wednesday Sisters?

MWC: I learned how to write on The Language of Light. The hard way. Ten years. A gagillion drafts. One of the things I learned was that it’s nice to have an idea where I’m going pretty soon after I set out. I don’t have to end up there, but having a map is comforting and oddly liberating. I can peek down a side road, and follow it if it looks interesting, knowing that I can always backtrack to the original path.

LG: It’s so useful to hear about process from an author with your skill. What are you working on now?

MWC: I’m in the mucky middle of writing “The Ms. Bradwells,” a new novel I’ve just sold to Ballantine. It’s another friendship story, with four women who first meet in law school coming together years later. I’m not sure I’ll know exactly what it’s “about” beyond that until my writing group reads it. That’s part of what my writing group does for me: helps me understand what I’ve written.

LG: What a wonderful tribute to your writing group. Thank you for sharing these details about your journey.

If you are a writer, a woman, or a creative person, do not miss The Wednesday Sisters. Read it slowly or rip right through and start again.

You can learn more about the book, the author, and the wonderful discoveries that writers make at www.megwaiteclayton.com.

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