From the Hat Box Files

Let me start with a story. (Hey, we’re storytellers, aren’t we?)

It takes place in the past—over 100 years ago, back when both men and women wore hats. And those hats were often stored away in hat boxes. (Note: The hat box doesn’t come into the story quite yet. But just wait, it will.)

The protagonist of this story is a writer. A lady writer. She had written a book—a novel—but every single publisher she sent her manuscript to returned it with a printed slip: NO THANK YOU. Nobody wanted her book! So, she took the manuscript and tossed it into one of her hat boxes. She shoved the box into the back of a closet. Enough! On with her life.

Two years later …

Our protagonist was cleaning. She pulled the hat box from the closet and … What’s this? Her abandoned manuscript! Well, enough time had passed to take away the sting of those rejections. She took the manuscript out of the box, sat down, and started to read it.

That’s when she realized … this book was GOOD!

After making a few tweaks to the story, our protagonist put the manuscript in the mail (snail mail … remember, it’s 100 years ago) and sent it to one more publisher. And that’s the time when a publisher finally said …

YES!

The Hat Box Files …

I love this story. Not just because it tells about how one of my favorite books came to be published, but it’s a reminder to me that, sometimes, a story may need a hat box. And that’s why I created a file on my computer called “The Hat Box Files.” (No, I don’t use a physical hat box!) It’s a place where I put stories I’m working on that need something, but I don’t quite know what that something is.

I do think that giving a manuscript time away really helps you with your writing. It gives you that distance to come back with a critical eye. Does this story still resonate with me? Every so often, I go through my hat box file folder and pull out a story. It’s time to revise and breathe some new life into the story.

One of My Personal Hat Box Stories

A few years ago, I had an idea for a story that involved a photo of a man and a woman with shaved heads due to cancer. I wrote the story about Aunt Holly and her hair. In the story, Aunt Holly always comes to visit her niece Leesa. Then one day, she comes wearing all these funny wigs, only to reveal that she lost her hair due to chemo. I wrote it. My critique partners read it. It was ready to send off to magazines. I was certain this one would be snatched up. But … it wasn’t.

Three rejections in a row was enough for me to file this one away.

Then a few months later, I revisited the story. It WAS good. But maybe it needed some tweaks. I decided that maybe it’d be easier to have the person with cancer be one step removed from the characters in the story. On giving this new story life, I switched up the names. Aunt Holly became Tia Raquel. Leesa became Bianca. After another round with my critique partners, I sent it off one more time. This time I got my YES! The editor loved it.

So … How do you give new life to a dead manuscript. Let me share some ways that I found helpful. And I hope you’re able to use them in your own writing.

My Tips for Revising a Dead Manuscript …

1) Critique partners are critical. Usually, a story becomes a hat box story only after other eyes have first critiqued it. Review what they’ve said about the story in its current form. Write down (on a piece of paper or in a notebook) what seems to be the main problem with the story and why you think it isn’t quite working. (I find writing in long-hand better for this type of thing.)

2) Try writing or re-writing a pitch. What are the stakes? What is the main character (MC) trying to accomplish? Why does it matter?

3) Put away your old draft. Now, try writing the story from memory. Compare the before and after. What elements made both versions? (Hint: those are usually what you need to keep!)

4) Try changing your characters’ names to give your story a fresh start. (Remember, you can always go back to the old names later.)

5) You can also try switching up the verb tense. Are you writing in past tense? Try present tense. Writing in third person? Try first person. If you’re working on a novel, just do this for a few chapters.  (Again, you can always go back. The key is to try something a little different.)

6) Hold a BRAINstorming session. You can do this by yourself or with your critique partners. Downloadable Resource >>> Here’s a PDF of some questions and prompts that I use to help me when I brainstorm.

 

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This post was written for #KidLitZombieWeek, hosted by @6and_MANuscript on Twitter. All the best to everyone who is bravely taking out stories from their own Hat Box Files … breathing some new life into their stories.

Now, I have to go and do some re-writing. What about you?