Sunday, December 9, 2012

Researching and Writing a Novel


As you know from my past postings, I’ve completed the manuscript for a historical novel entitled The Reluctant Spy. During the thirteen years I’ve worked on this manuscript, it’s gone through four incarnations. The first version—written in the late ’90s and entitled “Who Is He for You?”—was a series of monologues spoken by the characters who peopled the Gospel of Luke. Friends described these monologues as “spiritual reflections” or a “devotional” book. No viable novel here.

Ancient Gospel manuscript page.

            In 2001-2002, those reflections became “almost a novel,” when I introduced a character named Ephraim. The twenty-seven monologues became its ribs. Ephraim’s crisis of faith was the musculature holding those ribs together.
            A wondrously kind editor, Susan Tobias, praised the writing, but turned down the manuscript, which was entitled “The Jesus Interviews.” She said that it was too predictable because most people know what happened to Jesus. Moreover, the manuscript too closely followed his life as an itinerant preacher.
            Judy Koll Healey, a friend and published historical novelist, helped me understand what I needed: dramatic tension. She noted that the manuscript was about a man finding his way with the focus on the way. To create a novel, I needed to focus on the man.
            It took me the rest of 2002 to understand what Judy was trying to tell me and to devise a plot that would put Ephraim squarely into a dramatic situation that would reveal the depths of his character and his struggle through a crisis of faith. To do that, I had to move away from Jesus and let the manuscript become Ephraim’s story.


            In 2003, while writing version three—“The Yeshua Spy: The Plot to Kill Jesus”—I had trouble with Jesus, whom I was now calling Yeshua (his Jewish name). He tried to take over the second half of the book. I had to wrestle the manuscript away from him in order to keep the dramatic tension and suspense provided by Ephraim. Readers know what happens to Yeshua, but not to Ephraim who is wholly fictitious. It was in Ephraim that I had to find the story arc that would keep readers reading.
            After completing this third version, I asked Vince Skemp, a professor at the College of Saint Catherine in Saint Paul, Minnesota, to read the manuscript and advise me as to its authenticity. While helping me realize how little I really knew of the first century and Yeshua’s Jewishness, Vince thoughtfully provided me with an extensive reading list. The books on that list impelled me to write the fourth incarnation: The Reluctant Spy.
            Wanting to steep myself in first-century Judaism, I spent most of 2004 and 2005 reading Jewish and Christian biblical scholars. However, The Reluctant Spy is a novel, and I’ve taken many liberties in presenting Ephraim the Pharisee, Daniel the Sadducee, Chaviva the Jewish wife, John the Baptizer, Yeshua of Nazareth, Hashem the Almighty, and Miryam of Magdala.

Icon of Mary Magdalene.

            One such liberty involves Hanina ben Dosa, a first-century Jewish Hasid. A real person, he was born about ten years after Yeshua. However, for purposes of the novel, I had him be a contemporary of Yeshua. Another liberty I’ve taken enables Ephraim to travel freely throughout the Galilee without worrying about the purity laws embraced by the Pharisees.
            If this manuscript—the fourth attempt to “get it right”—ever gets published, the biblical scholars I read may not recognize their own expertise. Yet what they wrote inspired me with a desire to show Yeshua as both Jew and human being: a man who walked the roads of the Galilee and believed that Hashem called him to proclaim the kingdom.
            My reading also dramatically changed the bias I’d always had against the Pharisees. The Gospels present them in a negative light because of the times in which the evangelists wrote. Modern scholarship has definitively shown that the ordinary people of Palestine in the first century of the Common Era admired and respected the Pharisees, a small group of devout Jews who sought to make holy their own actions for the good of their people.
            Among the books I read, the following proved most helpful in understanding the Pharisees, Judaism of the first century of the Common Era, and Yeshua as a Jew: Jesus of Nazareth: King of the Jews by Paula Fredriksen; Jesus the Pharisee by Hyam Maccoby; The Historical Figure of Jesus, Jesus and Judaism, Jewish Law from Jesus to the Mishnah, and Judaism by E. P. Sanders; and Jesus in His Jewish Context, Jesus the Jew, and The Religion of Jesus the Jew by Geza Vermes.
            For the Epilogue, I relied on Wanderings: Chaim Potok’s History of the Jews. In it, I discovered what might have happened to Ephraim late in his life. Several other scholars provided food for thought as I tried to put myself back in the time in which Yeshua lived. I also consulted multiple reference books for names, maps, Roman and Jewish culture, and biblical background.

The Galilee circa 50 CE.

            All this research took time. Writing, editing, and polishing the manuscript has taken more time. And now—in December of 2012, thirteen years after I began working on this proposed novel—has come the time of looking for an agent. 
             Next Sunday, I’ll share with you what searching for a literary agent entails and what’s happening with my own search, which began this past Monday. Are any of you seeking representation from an agent? If so, I'd so like to read what's happening in your search.

Postscript: I just reread last Sunday's posting and realized that I'd said that this Sunday I'd tell you about my spelling woes in high school. Oophs. When I sat down to write today's post, I totally forgot that commitment. So next Sunday, I'll post on spelling and the nun who said, "Stop putting me on, Dolores!" Then I'll return to researching background for novels and writing them.

All art and maps from Wikipedia.



20 comments:

  1. That Jesus sure can be grabby. He's managed to hold onto me for a long time.

    Love,
    Janie

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    1. Dear Janie. True. So true. I no longer think of myself as a Christian, but I still know that Yeshua is my dearest friend. He has taught me to embrace life. Peace.

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  2. So much work! I hope you get it published & one of the reasons is purely selfish--I WANT TO READ IT!!

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    1. Dear Fishducky, it has been a lot of work, but worth it because I've learned so much about writing and because the characters now truly "people" my life. I do so hope that one day you will be able to read it--but it has to get published first!!!!!!!!! That's the hurdle. Peace.

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  3. This is fascinating, Dee, and shows what dedication and commitment is required to be a writer. I hope very much that you can find an agent and get your novel published as I too really want to read it.

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    1. Dear Perpetua, I'm glad your found the information "fascinating." A historical novel takes so much time because to put oneself back into a different historical period and culture, the writer must not only read, but imagine and put his/her experiences against those of the characters and consider how, given that time and place, someone would respond.

      I do so hope the manuscript gets published because I've invested so many years of my life in it and I so want to share it with readers like you. Peace.

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  4. I do so hope that this manuscript becomes published, not only for you but for those whose lives it will touch. For whatever reason you have kept on moving this quest forward, and it deserves to be out there in the world. Blessings upon you during this holy season, Dee. :-)

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    1. Dear DJan, that's a wonderful thought--that what we write touches the lives of others. I never truly realized that until Dulcy's first book--"A Cat's Life"--got published and I received letters from many of its readers in which they shared with me how the book had touched their lives. That is a humbling moment. Peace.

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  5. I was spellbound reading this, and it makes me look forward with eager anticipation to reading your novel. What a huge amount of work goes into it, but I know it will bring enlightenment and blessings to all who read it.

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    1. Dear Shelly, let's hope that one day you and others will be able to read the "novel." That will happen only if I can get it published. I haven't wanted to self-publish it because I don't know how to get the word out about the book. If I had loads and loads of followers, I could post about it, but I don't have a large group who follow my blogs and so self-publishing means that not so many people learn that the book is available. It's a conundrum. Peace.

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  6. Dee, I am happy to read whatever you post, whenever you post it.
    I hope with all of my heart that you do find an agent for this manuscript, for you, for us and for me.

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    1. Dear EC, thank you for your hopeful heart. Like you, I want the book published because I want readers to meet Ephraim, a lovely man who's caught up in a crisis of faith, and Yeshua, who is so dear. Peace.

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  7. Dee,
    This manuscript sounds absolutely wonderful. And how intriguing about the Pharisees, since I too judged them harshly after reading the Bible so many times.

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    1. Dear EC, I suspect that most Christians judge the Pharisees harshly. The proof of that I suppose is that we use the word "pharisaical" to describe some people. Peace.

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  8. I hope your quest for an agent will be successful!! You have put so much time and effort into this novel. I'll be waiting to hear what is happening with the book. :)

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    1. Dear Rita, thus far no luck. I've heard back from three or four with no interest. I'll keep you updated! Peace.

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  9. Dee you are really taking on a quest. There are so many who believe they know a lot about the like of Jesus. That you chose him as a main character makes all of this super challenging. May your dream of getting this book published work out because you have certainly put a lot into it. Bless you for your dedication.

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    1. Dear Heidrun, it was a challenge. I've come to doubt that I'll be published in a traditional way. I will probably need to self-publish because I think that most agents will not find this idea/manuscript appealing. Peace.

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  10. I cannot wait to read your novel. I often think about the different versions of that paragraph you posted earlier. And I am hungry for more.

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    1. Dear Inger, you may have to wait a long time is I continue to try to find a traditional publisher. To begin I have to find an agent and they don't seem to be interested in either my writing or my manuscript!

      Your appreciation of my writing is such a gift. Thank you. Peace.

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