The fixer upper

So yesterday, I found the term a "fix up" novel. What it refers to is a book, an example is "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury, that is written in stand alone pieces that are published separately and then turned into a novel through revision and expansion. It is a term most common in science fiction circles. But writers like Anne Tyler also have books that have been referred to as fix up novels as well as a book I love called "A Visit from the Goon Squad". 

What I realized after finding this definition is that my memoir was written in that same way. I wrote most of the stories in "Tales of an Inland Empire Girl" as stand alone pieces over more than a decade and published them in a number of literary journals. Turning those pieces into a book took me two years and I added a few pieces and an afterword/epilogue. I also had to take out a lot of repetition and find the narrative threads. It wasn't easy. 

Realizing that many writers write their books this way was a relief. My memoir is meant to read like fiction and while I know I did it the hard way, I think that it is just my process. And now, the YA fiction book I'm currently working on seems a lot less daunting because I think that I was getting stuck by trying to write the novel in sequential chapters. It's like a lightbulb went off. I just need to just write the stories when they come to me.

So I guess what I'm saying here is that we should all do what works for us and our own process. 

There is a method to my madness. And if being a fix up kind of writer works for me, that's what I'm leaning into. From now on, I'm going to to trust myself and the writer I've become. So I'm taking the term as a compliment I suppose and as inspiration to finish my next book. Let's do this.