Welcome back to Out of Practice! Thanks for being here.
Tomorrow, the day I post this newsletter, will be Halloween, which I am struggling to wrap my head around. It’s basically November which means it’s basically December which means it’s basically 2025. We’re all doing a great job not panicking, congratulations everyone.
Reading List:
I loved loved LOVED Intermezzo. It’s my new favorite Sally Rooney, now ranking above Beautiful World, Where Are You (my former #1), Conversations with Friends (now #3), and Normal People (which I do love, but which has always been at the bottom of my personal ranking). I think Rooney is doing really interesting things with point of view and voice in her latest novel, and I was extremely invested in the character dynamics, which were beautifully, painfully anchored in the tension between the two grieving brothers. Rooney writes relationships in a way that just suck me in every time. If you read Intermezzo, please let’s talk about it.
I’m also reading and very much enjoying Housemates by Emma Copley Eisenberg (I’ve been savoring this one, I think it’s a little different than I was expecting but not in a bad way). Another current read: Acts of Service by Lillian Fishman.
October Writing Progress
I’m about halfway into this revision of WASP’S NEST, and feeling like I’m finally back in the zone. It’s a relief, it feels like coming home. I’ve missed being so close to these characters!
Most of what I’m working on now is refining motivations and teasing out interpersonal tension—in other words, the good stuff. It’s definitely been challenging, and will continue to be challenging, but nothing makes me feel more alive.
November Writing Goals
Now that I’m deep into the draft, I’ve set detailed goals for the remainder of this revision. I want the book back in my editor’s hands by December 15th, if at all possible.
Here’s my page count goal breakdown week by week:
The last two weeks, where there’s a blank space in the righthand column, are reserved for finishing the more substantial edits—I have a few chapters I’m either going to cut or significantly rework, and I think by the time I tackle the smaller-scale changes and read through the whole book for the millionth time, I’ll have a much clearer idea of how to do that. Am I insane for proposing this schedule during the busiest time of the year? Probably! But I based these numbers on past performance from similarly busy times, so it’s not too far off base.1
Practice Chats
Two years ago this month I packed up my laptop, my notebooks, my sleep mask, a hot water kettle, and my best walking shoes, and drove to Cape Cod.
I’d been working on WASP’S NEST for almost two years at that point, and was very close to finishing a full draft.2 I had a romantic idea of finishing the draft in the place the book was set, which is primarily the Falmouth area. While I didn’t finish the draft until two weeks later, the notes I took during the trip definitely improved the book as a whole.
This was my second trip to Cape Cod. I visited twenty-some years ago when I was a kid, and certain memories from that visit did make it into the book—an outdoor wedding, a large white tent by the bay, blue hydrangeas near the house. I think those impressions are part of what formed the character of Tess, one of the titular WASPs who grew up spending summers on the Cape.
The other two point of view characters, Peter and Mitch, are outsiders to Tess’s world, so visiting as an adult meant looking at my surroundings through their eyes. They also have significant differences in their perspectives—Mitch is from Missouri, and Peter is from Baltimore. Mitch hasn’t visited Cape Cod before, and Peter has, several times. They notice totally different things and are attracted to different details and locations. My notes are a mix of things I observed, things the characters themselves would notice, and the conclusions they’d draw.
I planned the trip for mid-October, when the book is set, to make sure I had the weather details and general vibes right. I took a similar route that Peter and Mitch take on their roadtrip. And, in the spirit of life imitating art (or vice versa), I asked my friend Fern to tag along—Fern was familiar with the book and the characters already, which made the trip even more fun.
Prior to visiting Cape Cod, I spent a lot of time on Sotheby’s website gathering inspiration for the primary locations of the novel—you can keep your Zillow stalking, I dream of houses I’ll never be able to afford and populate them with insufferable but still (somewhat) lovable families. I had a list of addresses I wanted to check out (three were inspirations for Tess’s family home in Falmouth, one for her aunt’s home in Provincetown), so I built the agenda around that. We could only get as close as the gate, or a view from across the bay, for a couple of them. One of them seemed to not exist on a map. Hazards of writing about rich people! It definitely reinforced the inaccessibility of Tess’s world without an invite.
I took dozens of badly composed photographs to catalogue what items were available in boutique grocery stores (and how much they cost), and the assortment of flyers in local coffee shops advertising lightwork healing centers and free youth ballet classes, book clubs featuring local authors, and meetings for the League of Women Voters.
Ultimately, it was a lovely getaway but what I took from the trip also enhanced the version of the book I queried and then sold, giving it a real sense of place—it’s something my publisher immediately responded to, and I’m extremely proud of that!
If you’re planning your own research roadtrip, here’s what I recommend thinking about:
Will you need a car? We drove all the way up and around the Cape, from Falmouth to Provincetown, but if we were planning on staying in one location or could have easily gotten around using public transport, a car would have been less essential.
How much time will you spend writing and how much time will you spend exploring? I’ve done a few DIY writing retreats at this point and I usually prefer to take a solid 4-6 hours in the morning to write, sometimes adding a session later in the day. This trip was more focused on sightseeing, so I prioritized that agenda over writing.
Do you want to bring a friend? I always appreciate help navigating, and a second set of eyes will catch things you might miss on your own.
Are there any hours of operation or restrictions to be aware of? Something we considered doing and couldn’t was visiting Martha’s Vineyard (it’s not an actual location in the book, but it would have been good worldbuilding research). But given the time of year and the ferry schedule, it wasn’t feasible in the end.
Will there be space for you to comfortably write? Unless you like to work from bed (in which case I’d recommend a lap desk), you’ll want to make sure your accommodations have a desk or table of some kind.
Before You Go
Have you ever taken a research trip or done a DIY writing retreat? Tell me about it! I’m hoping to take another one in the spring for Campus WIP, if I can get away.
Now I’m off to return my mail-in ballot and make sure S and I have all the necessary witchy accoutrements for trick-or-treating.
Thanks for reading! Until next time,
K
