I’m truly delighted to have author Tracy Chevalier on the blog today discussing her writing journey. Some of you will recall Tracy’s Girl With a Pearl Earring which catapulted her into the ranks of best-selling authors and has sold well over one million copies – if you haven’t read it, now’s the time!
Tracy has written 12 books. She was born and grew up in Washington, DC, took a BA in English at Oberlin College and moved to London in the mid-1980s where she worked for several years in publishing as a reference book editor. Eventually, she left publishing to do an MA in Creative Writing.
MKT: How do your more recent novels differ from earlier novels, particularly the first few novels you wrote?
Tracy: The main difference between my older and newer novels is probably voice. My first four novels were mainly told in first person, whereas my more recent novels have been in third person. I found first person much easier to pull off, as you can characterize someone with their voice and what they choose to see or not see. I always thought writing in third person is much harder, for the more “mature” writer, as you have three things to cope with: the characters, the narrator, and yourself the author.
Writing successfully in third person requires navigating the space between those three things. That is, sometimes the narrator is close to the character, sometimes close to the author. Keeping that consistent is hard. I guess I am now a “mature” writer. Having said that, my next novel is in first person!
How has your writing process evolved since your first years as an author?
When I was working on my first novel, The Virgin Blue, which was half contemporary half historical, I would write, then stop as I uncovered some new bit of research, and go back to the beginning and rewrite. It was a really inefficient way of writing! I was a novice at historical research and didn’t know how to do it.
I learned over time to do a lot of research at the start – a good six months of reading, going places the book is set, talking to experts, looking at art from the period, reading books from the period, all the while taking notes but not starting the novel itself. During that research period characters and story lines formed in my head, and eventually I was ready to write them down without having to stop and restart so much.
I also learned it’s important that once you start writing, you keep going, writing consistently so that the momentum is maintained. Readers can feel that momentum when they read; conversely, they can also feel if there’s a gap when I’ve stopped writing. So once I start, I keep going till I finish the draft. Then I redraft, and redraft, and again and again until I don’t know what more to do to make the book better. That’s when I hand it to my editors, and they tell me what’s wrong and make suggestions. And then more redrafting starts.
I didn’t draft so many times in the first books, but now it’s a good 7-8 drafts, though by the end it might be just a change per page – the heavy lifting comes in the first drafts. The hardest is going from rough first draft to second draft, as there’s a lot of big changes to make.
Has your readership changed over time? Do you have any insights on why your readership has or has not changed?
My readership has remained pretty steady: mostly women, mostly 40 and over. There are of course exceptions; for instance, Girl with a Pearl Earring has been taught in schools, and I often get teenage girls or women in their 20s getting dog-eared copies of that book signed. I’m not surprised by the demographics. In general, men read non-fiction more than fiction, and if they read fiction they often choose male authors and protagonists. My novels usually focus on women’s stories. So I’m never going to draw male readers in. As for it being older readers, I think it takes time to appreciate the importance of the past. Younger readers likely want to see themselves reflected in more contemporary settings. That’s fine – it’s why there are so many different authors in the world, to cater to different tastes.
How have changes in the publishing landscape affected your writing or your success?
You catch me at a watershed moment in my career, I think. I’ve been published for almost 30 years, I’m in my early 60s, and I realized recently that I am kind of an elder stateswoman in the business now: respected, and also no longer the flavor of the month. I have an established readership, but younger readers are not really going to reach for my books. Because of that, the changes in the publishing landscape don’t really affect me so much – for good and bad!
Has there been a fork in the road that changed your writing? Some event, person, book or whatever that has changed what you write?
It was a poster of the painting Girl with a Pearl Earring that hung in my bedroom. I had already published one novel, The Virgin Blue, which was half contemporary half historical, and had written another that was completely contemporary (and awful – no one will ever see it!). I was looking at the poster one morning and thought, “I wonder what the painter did to her to make her look at him like that.”
It was a simple question, and a complicated answer, and somehow writing it set in 17th-century Holland didn’t feel like a chore. That was what made me think I do my best work in settings in the past.
Have you tried a different genre? If so, which genre and to what effect?
I’ve only tried one different genre outside of historical fiction, as a kind of experiment. I was asked by a publisher to write a novel for their “Shakespeare Project,” in which writers chose a Shakespeare play and retold it in a novel, in whatever way they wanted. I chose Othello, and in New Boy set the story in an elementary school in 1974, in which the action takes place over the course of one day. I loved doing it, as an intellectual challenge, but it sits awkwardly among my other novels. People don’t quite know what to make of it – though it has gone down well in schools when they’re teaching Shakespeare, as the students can relate to it.
I am curious to write a play or radio play, however.
Have you tried different eras? If so, to what effect?
That is one of my unique selling points: I write in many different eras and countries. 17th-century Holland, 18th– and 19th– and 20th-century England, 15th-century France, 19th-century America, Venice over the course of 500 years – I do it all. I am attracted to ideas; the time they’re set in is less important to me.
What kind of historical fiction appeals to you as a reader?
I suppose it’s sort of like what I write: strong characters, strong story. I don’t want to feel lectured to, or get the sense that I’m learning something. The history should always be secondary to the story and characters. Ideally I’m reading something that feels relevant to now; it just happens to be set in the past. That’s why the label “historical fiction” has always bothered me. I prefer to think of it as a novel where the setting is the past but could just as easily be the present.
If there is something else you can share about your writing journey, please do so!
My journey has felt accidental. I never started out to be an historical novelist. I also tend to write about people making things – painting, quilting, embroidery, glass. That too is an accident, but a happy one.
Many thanks, Tracy. I’ve made note of several ideas for my own writing purposes – voice, writing the first draft consistently to maintain momentum, and a different way to define what we call historical fiction. By the way, I can see that there are a few more of your novels waiting for me!
The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier
Venice in 1486 is a wealthy, opulent centre for trade. Across the lagoon lies Murano. Time flows differently here — like the glass the island’s maestros spend their lives learning to handle. Women are not meant to work with glass, but Orsola Rosso flouts convention to save her family from ruin. She works in secret, knowing her creations must be perfect to be accepted by men. But perfection may take a lifetime.
Skipping like a stone through the centuries, we follow Orsola as she hones her craft of Murano and its maestros to the transformation of the city of trade into a city of tourists. Orsola’s glass beads will adorn the necks of empresses and courtesans from Paris to Vienna — but will she ever earn the respect of those closest to her?
Brief thoughts: In The Glassmaker the main character – Orsola Rosso – remains the centre of the story even as the centuries pass. Using this unusual and dramatic technique, Tracy Chevalier brings the history of Venetian glass beads to light. It’s a rich history and Orsola Rosso is a fascinating character. Chevalier is a master as creating stories that draw the reader in – and she does it again in The Glassmaker. Beyond Orsola’s story of love, turmoil, and passion is the story of Venice as its place in history and its relationship to the island of Murano and glass making evolves. I can also promise you an unexpected ending. Highly recommended.
FOR MORE ON READING & WRITING HISTORICAL FICTION FOLLOW A WRITER OF HISTORY. There’s a SUBSCRIBE function on the right hand side of the page.
M.K. Tod writes historical fiction. Her latest novel THAT WAS THEN is a contemporary thriller. Mary’s other novels, THE ADMIRAL’S WIFE, PARIS IN RUINS, TIME AND REGRET, LIES TOLD IN SILENCE and UNRAVELLED are available from Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Google Play and iTunes. She can be contacted on Facebook or on her website www.mktod.com.
