I’m thrilled to announce the next blog tour, this one by WOW(women On Writing). the tour encompasses numerous interviews and guest post essays. Check in on WOW for the first interview: Nicole Pyles with Catherine Forster

Sample:
Nicole Pyles: How did your memoir change from first draft to final draft?

CF: My first draft was a 700-page memory dump. I thought it was a book, but my first beta reader informed me it was at least five: a coming of age story, a parenting book, a travel book, an exposé on relationships, and a cookbook! Through her kindhearted counsel I discovered that the first draft was actually research. I started over. The second draft was three-hundred pages and radically stripped down, at least I thought it was. After another round of beta readers, I wrote draft three and sent it to a professional editor. Her response was devastating, “ It’s not a memoir, or even a book; it’s three books: coming of age, parenting, and relationship book.” Apparently, I’d only removed two of the five books.

When my daughter was born, I vowed she would not suffer at the hands of bullies––I would prevent it––but the bullying prevailed despite my efforts. During her twelfth year, we spent three weeks on safari in Africa. Africa awakened memories of my childhood confident and protector, Tarzan, and the bully who made my life unbearable. The manuscript shifted between Africa and my childhood memories and struggles with relationships caused by bullying. I thought draft three was a book on the long-term effects of bullying, but the editor found it to be a motley collection of experiences; well written, with a strong voice, but still not a book.

Feeling I’d embarked on a foolish journey, I put the book away, but it would not leave me alone. I re-read all the notes from beta readers and the editor, and began again. One comment by a reader stuck with me, “Why not take one storyline and dive deep, tell all of it. Don’t try and merge stories, just take one theme. When you’re done, then decide if linking the piece with another storyline is needed or if it stands alone.” I followed her advice. I chose the coming of age story, for the sole reason that reader after reader said they missed the child and the teenaged girl when she wasn’t the focus of the story. And I dove deeper than I ever thought possible, exposing incidents I’d long ago banished, tucked away in an impenetrable vault in my head. Only five chapters survived from the previous draft, but I’d found CHASING TARZAN. A further three drafts would follow, each sharpening but not altering the story.