Think about 1987. Remember? (Or...imagine.) You know how long ago that was? The Simpsons first episode was on TV. The first criminal was convicted using DNA evidence. A postage stamp was $.24. Dirty Dancing, Moonstruck and RoboCop were popular movies, and Whitney Houston’s hit “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” was first played. Platoon won the Oscar. Black Monday happened and the stock market crashed. I even remember, strangely, announcing that on TV. That’s how long ago it was! And oh! Writers, the first Starbucks opened.
You know what else happened that year? The astonishing Tess Gerritsen wrote her first novel. She was already an MD, and on maternity leave from her work as a physician, and she began to write. Call After Midnight, a romantic thriller, was published in 1987.
Now, if I ask you: “How many of you have read a Tess Gerritsen book?” You’d all raise your hand right? Because we all have read them, and we all love them.
Her first medical thriller, HARVEST, came in 1996, and changed the world for crime fiction. It marked her debut on the New York Times bestseller list, and that is a place she has happily been ever since, as well as being number one bestseller abroad.
And of course, she gave us Rizzoli and isles.
She is hilarious. She is brave. She has a loving and dear and brilliant family, and talking with Tess and her husband is always a joy. She is generous, and infinitely kind. She will try anything, go anywhere, travel anywhere, and she never ceases to take on new challenges.
And one other thing is so reassuringly fabulous about her. For all her wild success, her wild and unending success, there still a bit of her that is not quite confident. Not quite sure it’s all going to work. And that is why she is so perfect for our SinC questions today.
HANK: Do you remember the very first time you thought: I’m going to write a book, and I can do it. What was that moment?
TESS: Leaving aside the book I wrote when I was seven, the first time I sat down as an adult and thought: “I’m going to write a book,” I was a medical resident on maternity leave with a newborn son. It was presumptuous. It was insane. But I had the confidence born of ignorance about how hard it is to actually write a novel.
HANK: Did that first book sell?
TESS: No. But it taught me that I could write a novel, from beginning to end.
HANK: How many of your books have been published since then? What do you think about that?
TESS: I’ve had 27 novels published. My 28th novel (THE SHAPE OF NIGHT) is scheduled for an October 2019 release. I’ve been a writer for 32 years now. Producing a large body of work is just a matter of writing steadily and living long enough.
HANK: Gotta know, got to ask. Do you outline? Has that method has your method changed over the years?
TESS: I’m a perpetually failed outliner. I start every project with the hope that this time, I’ll write an outline I’ll stick to, that I’ll know the story from beginning to end before plunging into the actual writing itself. In every case, I end up veering wildly off the planned path as other ideas (and character motives) pop up. I write myself into blind alleys and write myself out of them again. Characters morph, motives change, the villain turns into someone else. By the end of the first draft, my poor tattered outline has been long forgotten.
HANK: Yay! Me, too. Every book I think—this time, I’ll be an adult and outline. Then it never works. SO reassuring to hear this. What is the hardest part of the book for you?
TESS: When I get around 2/3 through the first draft and realize I have no idea whodunnit or why he/she did it. It’s plot block. I almost always have to set the story aside for days or weeks and await the “ah hah!” moment, when the solution becomes clear.
HANK: Is your first draft always terrible? Has it always been?
TESS: Yes. Always. Not just terrible, but embarrassingly, gag-inducingly terrible. The kind of terrible that would end my career if it ever saw the light of day. Which is why it never does.
HANK: Love this. I feel the same way—and that knowledge helps me persevere. Was there ever a time when you thought you would give up writing?
TESS: Never. Even when my career briefly took a dip (my sales went through a “death spiral” but recovered with THE SURGEON) I knew I would keep writing, whether my books sold or not. The need to tell stories is just too powerful.
HANK: How often in your process do you have doubts about what you’re doing?
TESS: All the time. Every single book I’ve written has had its own dark moment, when I wonder if I can finish it, or whether I should finish it. Then it goes out to the public, where everyone’s a critic – and those critics can reinforce our worst self-doubts.
HANK: What do you tell yourself during those moments of writing fear?
TESS: That writing is what I do, so stop whining and just get on with it. I like to imagine I’m Frodo Baggins, crawling my way up Mt. Doom. It’s hard slogging but no one else can write this book except me, plus it will feel so good when it’s done and I can pour that martini.
HANK: Mt. Doom! Been there! Do you have a writing quirk you have to watch out for?
TESS: I’m easily distracted by current events. I know Twitter is bad for me, but I can’t resist checking the news about every fifteen minutes.
HANK: What’s one writing thing you always do—write every day? Never stop at the end of a chapter? Write first thing in the morning?
TESS: I write almost every day. I don’t like to leave off my writing day at the end at a chapter, but a few sentences or paragraphs into the beginning of the next chapter. My writing hours tend to be 10 – 4, and after that, I’m thinking about what to cook for dinner.
HANK: How do you know when your book is finished?
TESS: Usually it’s after I’ve written about 5 drafts of the manuscript, and by then I’m pretty sick of it. In some ways, a book is never finished; you can always find things you want to fix, but there comes a time when every extra day you spend on it has diminishing returns. And you just want to get the darn thing out of your house.
HANK: What is the biggest mistake you see in people’s manuscripts?
TESS: Telling, not showing. And biographical dumps. These are pretty basic storytelling principles that every writer should know – “show, don’t tell” -- yet beginning authors seem to have trouble grasping them. I’ve seen far too many manuscripts where the first chapter is a boring recitation of the heroine’s life up till that point in time.
HANK: Do you think anyone can be taught to be a better writer?
TESS: Anyone can be taught to be better, but can you teach the art of storytelling? I’m not sure. I think the all-important sense of the dramatic is very much instinctual. Good writers simply know in their gut how and when to introduce a great plot twist.
HANK: How do you feel about…stuff? Writing swag handouts giveaways that kind of thing. Do you think it matters? Do you have it?
TESS: I used to give away some pretty fun swag, back when “Rizzoli & Isles” was on TV, but now I’ve pretty much stopped doing it. I don’t think it sells books, I don’t see a good cost/benefit ratio, and it’s just one more thing to lug around in your suitcase.
HANK: You’ve seen so much change in the publishing industry, what do you think new writers need to know about that?
TESS: It may be easier than ever to get published, but it’s still damn hard to write a good book, and it’s become harder still to get the attention of readers. Many new writers seem to obsess about marketing and building a platform and social media, rather than focusing on what drew you and me to the business in the first place: our love of telling stories and creating unforgettable characters. That should take precedence. Without great stories, no amount of marketing will build a successful career.
HANK: You’ve been so successful, why do you think that is? What secret of yours can we bottle up and rely on?
TESS: Write steadily, write consistently, and always have a project in the wings that you can’t wait to jump into. And don’t be a jerk.
HANK: Perfect! What book are you are reading right now?
TESS: THE HIDDEN LIFE OF TREES by Peter Wohlleben.
HANK: Give us one piece of writing advice
TESS: Pay attention to the emotions of every scene. It may be just a bunch of scientists talking about some dry, obscure topic, but those characters are going to be feeling something. Jealousy, rivalry, excitement, dread – layer that into every scene you write.
HANK: Thank you! And we cannot wait for THE SHAPE OF NIGHT. Sandra Brown calls it: “Reminiscent of the best of DuMaurier!” And here’s just a taste:
After an unspeakable tragedy in Boston, Ava Collette flees to a remote village in Maine, where she rents an old house named Brodie’s Watch.
In that isolated seaside mansion, Ava finally feels at peace . . . until she glimpses the long-dead sea captain who still resides there.
Rumor has it that Captain Jeremiah Brodie has haunted the house for more than a century. One night, Ava confronts the apparition, who feels all too real, and who welcomes her into his world—and into his arms. Even as Ava questions her own sanity, she eagerly looks forward to the captain’s ghostly visits. But she soon learns that the house she loves comes with a terrible secret, a secret that those in the village don’t want to reveal: Every woman who has ever lived in Brodie’s Watch has also died there. Is the ghost of Captain Brodie responsible, or is a flesh-and-blood killer at work? A killer who is even now circling closer to Ava?
Sounds so great! And so funny to think Tess had doubts about it along the way.
Sisters, are you like Tess? Trying to climb Mt. Doom? What do you say to yourself to keep going?
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN is the on-air investigative reporter for Boston's WHDH-TV, winning 34 EMMYs and 14 Edward R. Murrow Awards. A nationally bestselling author of 11 mysteries, Ryan's also won five Agathas, three Anthonys, two Macavitys, and the coveted Mary Higgins Clark Award. Her novels are Library Journal's Best of 2014, 2015 and 2016. Hank’s 2018 book is TRUST ME, an Agatha Nominee, and a Best of the Year from The New York Post, BOOK BUB, Real Simple Magazine, PopSugar, and CrimeReads. Her newest psychological thriller is THE MURDER LIST, coming in August 2019. Find her at http://www.HankPhillippiRyan.com