Is My Idea a Book or an Essay? (or Both!)
The ultimate questions every writer should be asking themselves.
When I first started working on my memoir, The Mother Code, editors I pitched stories to would ask me if I thought I was writing a book or just a magazine story. And the answer was: I didn’t know. I had threads of ideas, but I wasn’t sure if they wove together like a tapestry or were a bunch of loose ends, frayed and untethered. The only way to find out was to keep writing.
I started with a series of exercises, which I often do with my 1:1 clients (and I’ll be sharing more about in my two-hour class How to Turn Your Idea Into a Book next Monday 6/17 from 3-5pm ET!).
First, I mapped my ideas to see the timeframe of my story (was I going to focus on 6 days or 6 months or 6 years?) and the moments that mattered to the narrative arc.
Next, I asked myself if there was a larger question or quest I was exploring in my writing. Good writing always has a question or quest as the beating heart, but what I was searching for was whether one question would lead to another and to another like a series of doors unlocking in a dream.
Lastly, I asked myself why I wanted to write this story now. What did my present day self have to say to my younger self about this moment in time? What had I learned or wrestled with that made me who I am today?
One recommendation I make to my students is to first try writing an essay, pitch it to outlets, get some feedback from your editor and readers, and then see if you have more to say. The process of writing for publication will help to shape your ideas and force you to poke and prod at them in a way that will mold the clay of your story. My Modern Love essay that I wrote in 2019 was my attempt to tackle the ideas I’ve now written about in my memoir. After writing about my failed egg freezing process, I knew I had more to say. A lot more. Enough to fill a whole book. Other writers I love have done the same. Nadia Owusu first published this essay in The Rumpus before publishing her award-winning memoir Aftershocks. This essay from Saeed Jones turned into his memoir How We Fight For Our Lives.
If you’re wondering if your idea is a book or an essay, ask yourself these questions:
Where does my story begin?
Where does my story end?
What is the question or quest at the heart of my story?
What is the conflict my narrator encounters?
What does my narrator think they desire? What do they really desire?
What is the narrative arc of the story? How long is the timeframe? What are the discrete moments or scenes that build on each other to form that arc?
What is the big lie my narrator will come to understand?
How does my narrator shift or transform by the end of the story?
What is your story trying to show the reader?
If you're able to write pages and pages in response to these questions, your idea might be a book. Taking my upcoming How to Turn Your Idea Into a Book workshop will be a great first step for you!
Want to know what the very first meeting with my book clients is like? Join my two-hour class How to Turn Your Idea Into a Book this Monday, June 17th from 3-5 pm ET for only $99. You’ll walk away inspired and armed with the tools I usually only share with my private clients. Even if you can’t join the class, all registrants will receive a recording so you can watch it later.
One of the most common laments I hear is “but I don’t remember exactly what happened.” Join my two-hour class But I Don’t Remember on Monday, July 1st from 3-5pm ET for a discussion and generative writing exercises focused on building a story around what you don’t remember by using speculation and imagination to flesh out your narrative. Even if you can’t join the class, all registrants will receive a recording so you can watch it later.
Fill out this form to reserve your spot and I’ll reach out with payment details.
