Jerri Corgiat

JERRI CORGIAT’S NEWSLETTER
November/December 2005
www.jerricorgiat.com

CONTENTS:
Note to Readers
News
Feature Article: The Proposal
Best Book(s) I’ve Read This Month

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Dear Readers,

I’m sending out my newsletter mid-month hopefully so you have time to read it before you’re caught up in the holiday bustle! Here’s wishing you and yours a warm and happy season of joy!

Jerri
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NEWS:

BORDERS REGIONAL AUTHOR PANEL
Saturday, November 19, 2:00 PM
Borders Bookstore
91st & Metcalf, Overland Park, KS

Featuring:
Timothy Shaffert: The Singing and Dancing Daughters of God
Whitney Terrell: The King of Kings County
Evan McNamara: Superior Position
Carrie Kabak: Cover the Butter
Karen Brichoux: The Girl She Left Behind
And Me! I’ll be the starstruck one—what a talent line-up!

ONGOING...
I’m online at least monthly (sometimes more than monthly depending on how much I’m procrastinating on my real work) at the NAL Authors web site, and would love to see you there. Chat with me and other NAL authors: Visit http://nalauthors.com/forums/. Browse around, see what’s cooking. There are lots of discussion threads, as well as ongoing contests listed under (who’da thunk it?) “Contests and Games.”
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FEATURE ARTICLE: THE PROPOSAL

Oh, God... it’s that time again. Proposal time. Yow. This is where I present a story idea and my editor decides if she wants to pay me to write it. No big deal—just my entire career (and how much I’ll earn) riding on whatever I submit.

So, what is a proposal, anyway? It’s different things to different people (“people” meaning “editors”... who are people, too, no matter what anyone says). Some editors give the nod after a phone pitch. Others ask for three paragraphs. A few want a bit more. Mine... Mine wants fifteen to twenty-five pages. Along with the first two chapters, or three.

God love her.

But I’m not complaining... at least, not too much. My editor is a mull-er. Which I understand as I’m a mull-er, too. Writing the proposal gives me plenty of time to mull; reading it gives her time to mull, too. It helps me (and helps her help me) clarify exactly what I’m about to do: it’s a warm-up to the Real Deal. And since my editor is (usually) delighted with my prose, I don’t have to polish the pages within an inch of their little lives.

But it’s still hard to do. Primarily because until I’m actually writing the book, I don’t know exactly what will happen next. I’ve done the research, I’ve thought about the characters, and I’ve developed definite plot ideas *... But it’s not until I’m at the end of the thirteenth chapter that I have any real clue about what will happen in the fourteenth.

So before I write the proposal, I write the opening chapters. The first scene usually explodes onto the page without any struggle, these early pages presenting the ideas I’ve been doing that mull-thing with the longest: I introduce the protagonist. I show the event that puts that protagonist at a crossroads. I ground the reader in the setting. Then, the next few events usually fall into line.

And by the end of the first two or three chapters, I’m actually headed in a particular direction. I think. So I stop and write the proposal, following my current ideas along a story arc to a possible conclusion.

And how accurately does the proposal reflect the finished product...? Usually not much.

For example, in SING ME HOME, Jon’s nasty ex- makes a surprise announcement about two-thirds of the way through the book. I had no clue Belinda was going to spout what she did until she actually spouted it. Her little revelation not only changed the entire course of the rest of the book, it required massive revision to the first two-thirds. (Told you she was nasty.) In HOME AT LAST’s proposal, the climax involved a fire with a dramatic rescue. In the final version, there’s nary a spark in sight.

So, what’s the point? First, my editor can be assured (and better yet, assure the publisher) that I’m not delivering THE HOBBIT when I promised her GONE WITH THE WIND. Second, she can voice objections to any story elements she finds “icky.” (“Icky” is editorial lingo for... icky.) Third, if she spots any plotting devices similar to ones I’ve used before (unoriginal) or that are overused (cliche), she can warn me.

And finally—and of utmost importance to me—it’s the point where she decides to pay me for what I write.

And then requests a check.

*Previous newsletters on these subjects are archived on my web site.
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BOOK(s) I’VE READ IN THE LAST TWO MONTHS:

THE GIRL SHE LEFT BEHIND, by Karen Brichoux
A young woman returns home to face past mistakes. A coming-of-age story that’s powerful in its understatement.

JIMMY’S GIRL, by Stephanie Gertler
High school sweethearts’ lives intersect in middle age.

SHOUT DOWN THE MOON, by Lisa Tucker
Juggling conflicting loyalties and coming to terms with a hard-luck life, a young woman finds the strength to stand on her own. Hard to put down.

COVER THE BUTTER, by Carrie Kabak
Flashbacks trace the life of a 40-something wife and mother finding the courage to put herself first. A fresh, warm, oft-times humorous read.

KATHERINE, by Anya Seton
Written in 1954, this historical novel of the love affair between Katherine Swynford and the Duke of Lancaster, set against fourteenth-century England and based on truth, has lost none of its compelling magnetism. A tremendous read.

Happy Reading!
Jerri