Carla Doria – Fiction Author

I can’t believe it’s been almost two years since my last post. My day job was intensive, but other than that, I just felt I didn’t have anything interesting to say from a writer’s perspective. My first novel was published, and I entered a sort of writing hiatus. Then, last year, I started to write again. It felt good, but I still didn’t have anything compelling to share on my writing blog. Now, my circumstances have changed.

I’m in the process of transitioning from a very demanding job to finally having more time for my personal projects, one of which is writing. Last year, I started another fiction novel—a dystopian story. Different from The Last Families, I didn’t want this new novel to have multiple points of view and to be so complex. I wanted a simpler story, but a good one. I’ve already picked a name for this novel, although I’m very far from publishing it. I’m currently in the first round of beta readers and receiving so much good feedback. I’m in no hurry to publish this time. This novel is called “When the World Disappears,” and it is a dystopian story set in Bolivia, in a world following the aftermath of a pandemic (yes, I couldn’t help but get inspiration from Covid 😄 ). It has quite interesting twists. I will soon give more details.

This writing cycle has been different. Although I’ve only published one book, I’ve learned a great deal from the process of writing and self-publishing The Last Families. These are some of the lessons:

• Fantasy, and especially high fantasy, can be hard to achieve. If this is your genre, I recommend simplifying the characters and the plot because the world-building of high fantasy is very complex already. While some, like Tolkien, have achieved this art, he devoted most of his life to endless manuscripts that his son then had a hard time compiling. As someone without any descendants, I don’t have the luxury of relying on future generations for compilations. Next time I choose to write fantasy, I’ll aim for a simpler plot.

• Multiple points of view are hard—very hard. The only way to achieve them is to analyze each character deeply and be crazy enough (in a good manner) to jump from one character’s head to the other. One of the best pieces of feedback that I got from The Last Families was that I’ve managed to achieve good character development in spite of the multiple points of view, but it was so difficult that I’m not looking to revisit this approach in at least a decade.
• Get beta readers very soon, and as many as possible. As a first-time writer, I felt very protective of my first novel and very insecure about my writing. Therefore, I delayed sharing it until I had meticulously reviewed it at least a dozen times, thus the long time it took to publish it. When I got a few beta readers—only two to be precise—I was desperate to have my novel out in the world, so I changed very little based on their feedback and continued with the publication process. Now, with my latest manuscript, I’m already in my fifth beta reader at an earlier stage. I’m now very open to change and feedback. With more beta readers, I’m also assembling a team of people who will be able to support me during the book launch.
• Your plot doesn’t need an abundance of twists or complexity. This new novel is a shorter, nicer story with some surprising twists, but not so complex that I can’t describe it. When I pitched The Last Families to publishing agents, it was so hard to articulate a pitch letter. I couldn’t summarize the multiple points of view and the plot in 2-3 paragraphs. It was simply too hard. When the concept is so confusing, it’s hard to sell the idea. I didn’t like it when people asked me what my novel was about because it was too difficult to explain. Now with “When the World Disappears,”  I can easily describe it, and I feel it’s easier to sell it not only to agents but also to readers. It’s far simpler to promote a work when the purpose and vision are clear.

These are just a handful of the lessons I learned with The Last Families. I don’t regret the process in this book, though. I still love my first fantasy book, and I’m planning to get a second edition and a Spanish translation later this year. But I’m determined to approach things differently this time, and I’m overly excited.

What do you think about these lessons?