• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Meg Waite Clayton

New York Times Bestselling Author

  • Meg
    • Bio
    • Short Works
    • Meg’s Writing Process
  • Books
    • The Postmistress of Paris
    • The Last Train to London
    • Beautiful Exiles
    • The Race for Paris
    • The Wednesday Sisters
    • The Four Ms. Bradwells
    • The Language of Light
    • The Wednesday Daughters
    • International Editions
  • Events
  • News
  • Videos
  • Bookgroups
    • The Postmistress of Paris
    • The Last Train to London
    • The Race For Paris
    • The Wednesday Sisters
    • The Four Ms. Bradwells
    • The Language of Light
    • The Wednesday Daughters
    • My Bookclubs
  • Writing Tips
    • Tips for Writers
    • How Writers Get Started
    • On Agent Queries
    • Publishing Tips
  • Contact

March 21, 2020 By Meg Waite Clayton

No Social Distancing Required for Fictional Friends

No Social Distancing Required for Fictional Friends

Like many now, I’m social distancing. The good news for me is that a writer in these circumstances can collect as many imaginary friends around her as … well, as she can imagine. No six feet of separation required.

A First Draft…by Sherlock Holmes (Not Mine)

I don’t usually love first draft, but I have a new novel due at HarperCollins January 2, 2021. And at the moment, that seems very hopeful.

Handwritten draft of A Scandal in Bohemia by Sherlock Holmes
Handwritten draft of Page 1 of A Scandal in Bohemia by Sherlock Holmes

So I’m writing. Keeping word count each day, to remind myself at this stage that a whole bunch of small numbers of words in the end make a book. Starting with Day #1, Tuesday, March 17 — no green beer for this Irish gal because that is when the San Francisco Bay Area Shelter-in-Place Order took effect–this is what my week looked like:

Day #1: 1100
Day #2: 900
Day #3: 900
And yesterday…
Day #4: 1100

Not amazing, but words on the page.

I’m drawing inspiration today from this handwritten first page of a draft of the Sherlock Holmes story A Scandal in Bohemia. Arthur Conan Doyle and his stories played a bit of a role in my last novel, The Last Train to London, which went out into the publishing world as “The Last Train to Baker Street.”

Reading

After I’m done writing, I’ll read a bit. I don’t need to keep six feet from any of the fictional friends I meet in the books I read either.

Love to know what you are reading to get you through. I’m especially interested in learning about recent debut novels, because it’s such a tough time to be trying to launch a writing career, and I would like to support anyone trying to.

Stay well!

–Meg

 

Share:

Filed Under: Meg's Posts, Writing Tips

Meg Waite Clayton

Meg Waite Clayton is a New York Times and internationally bestselling author of THE LAST TRAIN TO LONDON, a Jewish Book Award finalist based on the true story of the Kindertransport rescue of ten thousand children from Nazi-occupied Europe—and one brave woman who helped them escape. Her six prior novels include the Langum-Prize honored The Race for Paris and The Wednesday Sisters, one of Entertainment Weekly's 25 Essential Best Friend Novels of all time. A graduate of the University of Michigan and its law school, she has also written for the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, Forbes, Runners World, and public radio, often on the subject of the particular challenges women face. megwaiteclayton.com

Primary Sidebar

Categories

  • Book Marketing Tips (23)
  • Bookstores worth Browsing (34)
  • Guest Authors (215)
  • How a Book Gets Published (32)
  • Literary Travel (4)
  • Meg's Posts (388)
  • Poetry Tuesdays (24)
  • Publishing Tips (20)
  • Top Writing Tips (10)
  • Uncategorized (6)
  • Writing Quotes and Other Literary Fun (115)
  • Writing Tips (61)

Archives

Footer

Post Archives

Follow Meg on Goodreads

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Instagram

Copyright © 2022 Meg Waite Clayton · Site design: Ilsa Brink