Tag Archives: Mary C Gottschalk

Fiction Writing Techniques, Memoir Writing Tips

Google+ Hangout Interview with Mary Gottschalk on Writing a Novel After Writing a Memoir

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Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler with Mary C Gottschalk/@Marycgottschalk

 

I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be.  ~Douglas Adams

 

It is my pleasure to feature author Mary C Gottschalk in this Google+ Hangout interview on her journey from memoir to fiction. Mary and I met on Facebook several years ago.  I’ve been a fan of Mary’s writing since reading her memoir, Sailing Down the Moonbeam, where she took me on a real-life adventure around the world in a sailboat and showed me the real meaning of “stepping out of  your comfort zone.”  Mary will discuss her new novel, A Fitting Place, and how there are many ways to step out of our comfort zones. Hint: It is just as adventuresome!

 

My reviews for Sailing Down the Moonbeam can be found on Amazon, Goodreads.

My reviews for A Fitting Place can be found on Amazon , Goodreads, Shelfari and LibraryThings

 

Welcome, Mary!

 

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Author Mary C Gottschalk

 

 

Writing a Novel After Writing a Memoir

 

 

 

 

KP:  What made you decide to write a novel, A Fitting Place, after writing your memoir, Sailing Down the Moonbeam?

MG:    I’ve long believed that the potential for personal and/or professional growth is greatest when you are in situations that cause you to re-examine your beliefs and values. In my memoir, Sailing Down the Moonbeam, I chose to step out of my comfort zone from a professional, geographic and cultural perspective.  It changed my life in some amazing ways.

But most people don’t have the option of quitting their jobs and heading off into the sunset.  I wanted to write a story that could happen to any woman.  In the novel, my protagonist, Lindsey, remains in her hometown surrounded by friends, family and her career, but begins to grow in new ways when she is forced out of her comfort zone.

 

KP: We are all told that as memoir writers we need to use fiction-writing techniques. How did writing a memoir first prepare you for writing a novel?

 

 

MG: Two things

  • Memoir has to read like fiction or it will not engage the reader. It has to have a story arc with appropriate plot points and credible characters. When you already know the story arc and major plot points, you have more energy to learn how to build tension and develop fully-realized characters.That’s a lot harder when you’re making up the key plot points. You can spend a lot of time writing scenes that turn out to be completely irrelevant.  Knowing what it feels like when you get it right makes it easier to keep trudging through the mistakes.
  • A related issue is the creation of interesting and credible characters.  It took many drafts of my memoir before my ex-husband and myself emerged as three-dimensional figures that would be recognized by people who knew us and appreciated by people who didn’t. I could never have done the novel without have some sense of how to go about creating fully-imagined characters.

 

KP: How did you decide on the plot and characters for your novel?

MG: I mentioned before that I wanted to stay with premise that you grow the most when you step outside your comfort zone.  One of those growth periods, for me, came during a rebound relationship after my husband and I separated. The advantages and disadvantages of rebound relationships inspired the overall story arc, but the events are fictional. 

So are the characters.  You know, for example, I have no children. But the characters in the final novel are not the same as the ones in the first draft. Several people got dropped because they did nothing to further the plot, while at least two were added in a later draft because they were necessary keep the tension up and the story moving forward.

 

KP: Since we have already met Lindsey, your main character, through your blog posts, we know she is conflicted and struggling with self-defeating behavior patterns. Can you offer some insights on how you developed her character?

MG:  So many women of my generation grew up with stereotypes about masculinity and femininity. The stereotypes say a lot about people’s expectations, but they don’t tell us much about reality … how any given man or woman wants to be or wants to act.  The self-defeating behaviors came when there is an unresolved conflict. In Lindsey’s case, it is a conflict between what she really wants, and what she does based on what she thinks—often incorrectly—is expected of her.

 

KP:  One of the threads in your novel is the concept of sexual fluidity. What made you decide to incorporate this controversial issue into your story?

MG:  Sexual fluidity describes a situation in which a sexual attraction is based on personal and emotional intimacy rather than gender. It is the subject of an emerging field of academic research, which indicates that sexual attraction for women is often as much personal attraction as gender.  I suspect this perspective appealed to me because I’ve never been sexually interested in a man based on his looks. I was attracted to men who were intelligent and thoughtful, and I could talk to about interesting and challenging ideas

I also think a lot of women who are not lesbian or bisexual find themselves caught up in a rebound relationship with a woman after a heterosexual one has failed. They are searching for emotional comfort, for reassurance that they are still desirable human beings. As is typical of a rebound relationship, Lindsey falls “in love” with the first person who shows a genuine interest in her.

What makes the same sex relationship so important for Lindsey is that it challenges her long held assumptions about gender roles. For example, she consistently subordinated her needs to her husband’s, often feeling that she had no choice but to do what “the man” wanted. But when she finds herself in a subordinate role in a same sex relationship, she can’t blame it on norms about gender roles. She has to look in the mirror.

 

KP: Can you describe your writing process and how long it took you from idea to published book?

MG:   Both my memoir and my novel had three phases. The first was laying out the basic story arc and plot points.  The second was identifying the characters and events that I need to make the story work.  The third was fleshing out the characters to make them fully-realized.

That is not the same as saying each book took three drafts.  Both took many more than that, and in both cases, I put the manuscript aside for several months before attempting a revision.  Both books took about 5 years from start to finish. 

KP: Do you have any writing tips you’d like to share?

MG:   I think the most important thing any writer can do is make abundant use of beta readers and editors.  It’s too easy to fall in love with your own words and your own characters.

In my days as a professional writer, I was always happy to debate the content of an article I wrote, but if someone challenged the way I said it, I knew I had written it poorly.  It’s even more true with creative writing. You do not want anything to cause your reader to step out of the story you are telling.  Only readers can tell you what does or doesn’t work.

 

KP:  That sounds like excellent advice, Mary. Thank you for sharing all the hard work that went into both your memoir and your novel. 

 

***

Author Bio and Contact Information:

Mary has made a career out of changing careers.  She spent nearly thirty years in the financial markets, working as an economist, a banker and a financial consultant to major corporations.  She has worked in New York, New Zealand, Australia, Central America, Europe, and amazingly, Des Moines, Iowa.

Along the way, she dropped out several times.  In the mid-1980’s, Mary embarked on the multi-year sailing voyage that is the subject of her memoir, Sailing Down the Moonbeam. Twice, she left the world of high finance to work with the nonprofit community, first in New York and later in Des Moines.

In her latest incarnation, she defines herself as a writer.  She published her first novel, writes for The Iowan magazine, and lectures on the subject of personal risk-taking.

Mary is on several non-profit boards, including the Des Moines A.M. Rotary

 

Links to books and social media sites:

http://marycgottschalk.com

www.Sailingdownthemoonbeam.com

http://twitter.com/marycgottschalk

http://www.facebook.com/mary.gottschalk.9

http://www.facebook.com/MaryGottschalkWriter

http://www.linkedin.com/in/marygottschalk/

https://plus.google.com/u/0/105973496280247274228/posts

 

Links to Amazon: amzn.to/Iy5JTJ

 

AFittingPlace_FrontCover_3.5

 

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Mary has graciously agreed to give away a copy of both her novel, A Fitting Place and her memoir, Sailing Down the Moonbeam to two commenters whose names will be selected in a random drawing.

 

We’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~

 

This Week: 

Saturday, May 24, 2014: I’m over at Marian Beaman’s Plan and Fancy Girl blog with a guest post: “Kathy Pooler and Independence Day: Her Story of Freedom.” Hope you’ll stop by and leave a comment!

 

Next Week:

Monday, May 26,2014:  “Google+ Hangout Interview with Memoir Author Nancy Sharp: Both Sides Now: A True Story of Love, Loss, and Bold Living.”

 

 

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The  30-day Pubslush Crowdfunding Campaign for my memoir, Ever Faithful to His Lead: My Journey Away From Emotional Abuse was launched on May 12. Now in its second week, it is 73% closer to its goal. The campaign ends at midnight on June 11.

 

By making a contribution you will help spread the messages of hope, resilience and courage to those seeking freedom from abuse. Here’s the link to the campaign:

 

http://pubslush.com/books/id/2076.

 

If you are unable to make a contribution, I’d love it if you would share this link with others.

 

Share the hope.

 

Thank you!

 

Memoir Writing Tips, memoir-writing

Fine Wine and Memoir: A Guest Post by Mary Gottschalk

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Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler with Mary Gottschalk/@Marycgottschalk

 

“Age appears to be best in four things: old wood to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read.”  Francis Bacon

 

I am very pleased to feature  Memoir Author Mary Gottschalk in this  guest post on how memoir writing is similar to fine wine. Mary and I met in Sonia Marsh‘s Gutsy Indie Author Facebook Group. Mary explores the many life lessons she learned while writing her memoir and explains why it took 20 years to do so.

Like fine wine, memoirs need to age to perfection.

In her memoir, Sailing Down the Moonbeam, Mary uses her sailing adventures as a metaphor for telling her story. My reviews can be found on Amazon and Goodreads.

 

Welcome , Mary!

IMG_0681_3_4 (1)Mary Gottschalk author photo
Author Mary Gottschalk

 

Fine Wine and Memoir Writing

I have often been asked why it took me 20 years to write Sailing Down the Moonbeam, a memoir of my journey when I abandoned my New York City career to cruise around the world in a sailboat. After all, I had a stack of journals with daily entries covering virtually every day of the nearly three years on board.  How hard could it be?

Very hard, as it turns out.  I did indeed write a “memoir” during the year after the voyage ended. That first effort, documenting places I went and things I saw, felt flat and without a point.  In writing that first memoir, I didn’t yet appreciate why the sailing journey mattered.

What Happened — The Illusion of Control

At age 40, I had a big job in a big city, with all the markers of success … two cars, a country house, millions of frequent flier miles.

I didn’t feel successful. Most of the time, I lived in a constant state of anxiety, exhausted from the effort of trying to keep life from flying apart. I worried about everything … satisfying my clients … whether my staff got the client report completed on time … if I’d catch a taxi in time to get to my next meeting.

What happened on the sailing voyage was that I discovered—that gut level, pit-of-the-stomach sort of discovery—that control is illusion. I began to see sailing as a metaphor for life itself. You can’t control your environment. You can set a goal, but your progress towards that goal depends on the winds and the currents … and you often end up somewhere quite different from where you set out to go. In sailing as in life more generally, you may be able to control the next decision you make, but you can’t control the outcome of that decision.

It was a powerful insight. I decided that even if I couldn’t control my life, I could avoid being trapped by others’ expectations. At the very least, I would spend it doing something I was passionate about.

Why It Mattered — Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone.

Moments of insight were not new in my life.  Over the years in New York, I’d attended many workshops on personal development. Invariably, I came away from those confabs determined to do better. Stop being a control freak. Be more patient. Listen more carefully. Don’t make snap judgments. The list of ways I wanted to improve was nearly infinite.

None of those insights had any lasting impact, as I remained a prisoner of the unspoken assumption that I’d feel more successful—that I’d spend less time worrying—if I did a better job of meeting people’s expectations. Each time I returned to the real world, confronted by the same all-too-familiar expectations and challenges I’d had before the workshop, I fell right back into the same bad habits, born of trying to direct people and things that were not mine to control.

That insight at sea was different, as Mother Nature has no expectations.  Since it didn’t matter where we were on any given day, there was no reason to worry if the weather delayed our arrival or our departure by a few days. I didn’t have to worry about the dinner menu since my options were limited to what was in the larder. And there was no point in worrying about violent storms, whales, or freak waves, as I couldn’t do anything about them until they were hard upon us.

Then too, I had three years to learn another way of doing things. Three years to grow accustomed to making decisions for myself, instead of responding automatically to the expectations of my mother or my boss or my neighbor. Three years to learn how much more I could accomplish—how much more content I felt—when I wasn’t worrying about what to do or when to do it. Three years in which to develop new habits to replace the ones I’d wanted to break in my New York City days.

When I returned to the corporate world—the point at which I wrote that first memoir—I was concerned that this nautical insight, like the earlier ones, would be decimated on the altar of the everyday.

In fact, this time it was different. I was no longer a prisoner of other peoples’ expectations.  I had grown accustomed to a worry-free existence. I refused to take on projects that did not interest me.  If I took on a challenging project, I was no longer afraid to admit the gaps in my knowledge or ask for help. I was no longer afraid to tell my boss that his deadline was unrealistic.

Conclusion

The answer to the “20 year” question is that the story I wanted to tell wasn’t over the day the voyage ended. The most important insight of all—the why it mattered—came only after I’d been back at work for enough years to see the results of that different mindset. Not only was I more successful, professionally and financially, than I’d been before the sailing journey, but now I also felt successful. I was making a difference.  I was doing things I loved.  It felt wonderful.

Today, as I read the flurry of memoirs that come to market, I wonder how many of the authors have tried to tell their story before they knew how it ended.

Like fine wine, memoir writing requires suitable aging, enough time for the events to ferment and the essence of the insights to come through.

 

7791361008_ef2993a079_m Wine by LMRitchie
Photo Credit: Wine by LMRitchie uploaded from Flickr Creative Commons

 

Thank you Mary for sharing your insights about the memoir writing process and for showing us the importance of  giving ourselves time and distance to allow our stories to “age to perfection” like fine wine.

 

Sailing Down the Moonbeam book cover
Sailing Down the Moonbeam book cover

 

***

Mary C Gottschalk Bio:

Mary has made a career out of changing careers.  She spent nearly thirty years in the financial markets, working as an economist, a banker and a financial consultant to major corporations.  She has worked in New York, New Zealand, Australia, Central America, Europe, and amazingly, Des Moines, Iowa.

Along the way, she dropped out several times.  In the mid-1980’s, Mary embarked on the multi-year sailing voyage that is the subject of her memoir, Sailing Down the Moonbeam. Twice, she left the world of high finance to work with the nonprofit community, first in New York and later in Des Moines.

In her latest incarnation, she defines herself as a writer.  She is working on her first novel, writes for The Iowan magazine, and lectures on the subject of personal risk-taking.

Mary is on several non-profit boards, including the Des Moines A.M. Rotary

 

Links to books and social media sites:

http://marycgottschalk.com

www.Sailingdownthemoonbeam.com

http://twitter.com/marycgottschalk

http://www.facebook.com/mary.gottschalk.9

http://www.facebook.com/MaryGottschalkWriter

http://www.linkedin.com/in/marygottschalk/

https://plus.google.com/u/0/105973496280247274228/posts

 

Links to Amazon: amzn.to/Iy5JTJ

 

 

How about you? How long did it take to find your story? 

 

Mary has graciously agreed to give away a paperback copy of her memoir to a commenter whose name will be selected in a random drawing.

 

We’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~

 

This Week: I’m over at Dawn Herring’s blog with an interview on ““My Authentic Refreshment”. I hope you’ll join us.

 

 

Next Week:  Lifewriting Teacher and Author Sharon Lippincott will discuss “ From Blog to a  Book”. She will give away a copy of her writing book, The Heart and Craft of Writing Compelling Descriptions to a random commenter.