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The Growth of Tiny Ideas: A guest post from Rachel Devinish Ford, Author of The Eve Tree

July 11, 2011 /

Rachel's book: The Eve Tree

As a lot of you know, I’ve been reading Rachel Devinish Ford’s novel, The Eve Tree and I finally completed it last week at the beach. It was such a good read! It took me a bit longer to read than the other bloggers who are reviewing it, not because it wasn’t good but because my life has been a little stuffed to capacity lately. Anyway, I was really captivated by the story and wanted to know more about the characters. So when Rachel offered to do a guest post here on Secret Agent Josephine, I jumped at the chance and asked her to tell us what inspired her. Her drive is contagious. It makes me want to go write a book myself! Or just sit here and illustrate the two books I’m already supposed to be working on.

So please enjoy these words from Rachel! She’s someone to watch and follow. Her journeys are awakening.


Brenda asked me to share a little about where I got the inspiration for The Eve Tree, and how I came to write it. And I thought I’d start at the very beginning.

The book itself is very much like a tree. There was a seed and there were roots, and then the tree grew. I had to chop some branches off, when they were blocking the road or growing into the gutter, and that was hard to do, but in the end, the tree was healthier. It had a lovelier shape.

Back to the seed. The Eve Tree started with a tiny idea. I was already writing a novel at the time, but I was nervous about it, because the idea was too big and I was a bit distant from it, and I was trying to do too much. I put the novel away, unfinished.

But then one day some friends and I were sitting down in their living room, talking, and they told me about something that happened to them. There was a fire in their story. And there was a ranch, and somewhere, there was a bathtub. And a glass of wine. And some fire fighters. It was an incredible story. I listened in awe, and when I went away, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. This little story that happened to a couple of my friends wouldn’t leave me alone.

I started to ask myself questions. What would it be like to wait for a fire? What would it be like to not even know for sure if the fire would reach you? What does that do to your marriage? How does that make you see your land?

I started writing. Characters came to me. The background of the story my friends told me changed. It became fiction. My characters came slowly and developed roots. They dug in. They stopped being ghost-like and became sharp and a little demanding. I went back in my writing and scratched out the places where Molly and Jack and Catherine were doing things that didn’t make sense anymore, now that I knew them better.

My first questions were leading me to other questions. What happens if a person is already known to struggle and a fire is heading toward them? What happens years after someone has a mental breakdown? Do people ever heal from that? Does their family ever heal? How do people learn to trust each other? And then to really big questions. What is love? What does forgiveness look like?

I did this for four years, scribbling and scratching and printing out sheets and sheets of words, only to cross through most of them. I was watering. I was pruning. I wrote throughout a lot of travel and crazy circumstances in my own life. I wrote from the beach in India, I wrote from the Himalayas. I kept going, I didn’t get too distant, I didn’t give it up. Sometimes, when I had to, I’d listen to Humboldt County radio to get the cadence of people’s words. I went back to Northern California, and I noticed all the things I’d missed. I went back to my work and put them in.

At the end of four years, I had this book.

I don’t have an office. We move a lot, and at best we live in a two-bedroom place with our six-person family. So I write at the kitchen table, first thing in the morning, with headphones in and music on. Or I write in a café with headphones in and music on. I have my dream, of course, the place I’d like to write, the workshop with the sunny window, which is off limits to all the other members of the family. But I learned that I have to shelve that for the time being. We all have to do the best we can with what we have, if we want to get anything done.

So here’s a question. Do you have a tiny idea? Something that you can’t get out of your mind? Some of the best art and writing starts this way. Andy Goldsworthy’s natural shapes and play with light, Degas and his dancers.

Is there a house or a hill you’ve noticed, that you want to sketch or photograph in different lights everyday? What is it that interests you that doesn’t interest anyone else? Can you start to ask yourself questions about that thing? (I don’t know anyone else who would remain so obsessed with this one fire for as long as I did, and I’m just glad that the friends who told me the story didn’t find it creepy. Or if they did, it’s only a little creepy, I hope.)

Take the first step with your tiny idea. That step may take you to another step, and to another step, and another one. Can you find out everything there is to know about it? And when the next step becomes clear, can you take it? Can you nibble away at it until you see the heart of it? Your tiny idea may develop into a whole world: a series of paintings or photographs, an art installation, a book, a new menu, a business, an album, a clothing line.

I have one more thing to say about my book. Many of what I now consider to be the most important elements of the book didn’t come until after a couple of drafts. They were suggestions from friends. Different friends pointed things out- maybe you could try that? they said. And I shrugged, Sure, okay, I’ll give it a go. And then those things gave new weight to the book. They fitted right into the story and made it all deeper and clearer, and I can’t imagine them not being there.

Your tiny idea may be yours, but your friends will be able to see things about your tiny idea that you can’t. (You’re too close to it.) Listen to your friends. And then, months or years from now, after you’ve watered and pruned and weeded, take a nice rest in the shade of your tree and congratulate yourself on being a good gardener.

If you’d like to win a copy of the book, please leave a comment below. I will be organizing a giveaway over the next few days and post more details here.

30 Comments

  • RebeccaD.

    July 11, 2011 at 12:03 pm

    As one of the MOST UN-creative people ever, I am fascinated by the process that others go through in creating. The way Rachel described the road that she took to create this book was awesome… No need to put me in to win it, downloading it on my Kindle right now!

  • Christina

    July 11, 2011 at 12:04 pm

    I like the idea of “Your tiny idea may be yours, but your friends will be able to see things about your tiny idea that you can’t.” This sounds like a great read and if I am not one of the selected I have already added this book to my book list.

  • Donna G

    July 11, 2011 at 12:34 pm

    This post gives me hope that my little tiny seed may someday become like the mustard tree. I would like to read it.

  • Aunt B

    July 11, 2011 at 2:13 pm

    This was a great post. It made me think about being inspired and letting an idea roam around for a while instead of dismissing it right away.

  • alison

    July 11, 2011 at 5:38 pm

    I’m an aspiring writer but currently only make time for blog writing. It’s something but my something could be more! I hope to get a chance to read your book.

  • bethany

    July 11, 2011 at 6:53 pm

    Sounds like a fabulous book, and this line in the post caught me the most: We all have to do the best we can with what we have, if we want to get anything done.
    So hard to remember some days when you’re caught in the slogging mode but it’s true, start with the little bits! thx for the inspiration!

  • Kelly

    July 11, 2011 at 11:24 pm

    I read a review on The Eve Tree that linked me back to Rachel’s blog, the ‘Journey Mama’. I have found it a fascinating read and would love to get my hands on the book!

  • kvossler

    July 12, 2011 at 9:18 am

    i’d love to win a copy of the book, but even if i don’t, thanks for the inspiration. i am a singer-songwriter but just had a baby a year ago and have not been able to get my mojo back since giving birth. i love my little one, but i miss writing and performing. this post gave me another nudge in the right direction…

  • Stacy

    July 12, 2011 at 10:50 am

    Brenda, thanks for giving us the chance to learn more about the creation of this book. I appreciate the additional creative encouragement from Rachel – it was just what I needed today.

  • Peggi

    July 12, 2011 at 1:14 pm

    Fascinating! I’ve always wondered about different people’s writing processes. It’s very reassuring to know it took Rachel 4 years. Pretty amazing that she gave herself the space and time to make sure she did the absolute best she could!

  • Erica

    July 12, 2011 at 4:02 pm

    Just the push I needed! Thank you for the encouragement and letting me know just because I don’t have the time to go from start to finish now, I can work on it piece by piece and revel in my accomplishment later.

  • Brie

    July 12, 2011 at 5:10 pm

    I love how you described your process. I have a brief file on my computer with my little dream seed. My mind flashes back to it when images or experiences in my daily life somehow remind me of my little seed. Reading this makes me want to water and weed it to see if it might grow. Thank you!

  • Candace

    July 12, 2011 at 5:19 pm

    I just recently happened upon Secret Agent Josephine and am so inspired by this blog, Brenda! I’d love to read “The Eve Tree” – it’s nice to hear about the writer’s process. I like to write, but get so frustrated when words aren’t pouring out fast enough…. It is a lengthy process to get it “just right.”

  • s

    July 13, 2011 at 3:30 am

    very inspiring – I started my tiny seed a couple years ago and once in awhile, I’ll want to revisit it because the storyline shapes in my head and then I let myself get distracted by work, kids, life. I love the inspiration. I also love that you shared your process – so often we say “oh I’ll do it when I have my office…”or time…or the perfect pen… yet you didn’t wait for that, you just flowed with changes in location and worked with obstacles instead of against them. Proves ANY of us can do it if we have the desire, regardless of whether we have the perfect window filled spot in the attic to hole up and write or create or whatever it is we desire. Thanks for sharing!

  • Erica

    July 13, 2011 at 6:02 pm

    Thanks for the inspiration! Sounds like a book I need to read to keep me focus and motivated on what I aspire to do the most, write a novel.

  • Sarah

    July 14, 2011 at 12:07 pm

    I would LOVE to win a copy of this book, but it’s already on my wish list, as well. Thank you for the opportunity!

  • Amy Frasard

    July 14, 2011 at 6:45 pm

    I have put the book on my Amazon wishlist so I am hoping to get it for my birthday, however, if I won one…..then wow, Happy early Birthday to me :) Great writing as always Rachel!!

  • Kelly From Iowa

    July 14, 2011 at 7:35 pm

    Thanks for letting us get to know Rachel. When I choose a book, I always look at the back of the jacket to read about the author. I feel a better connection to the story. I would love to win this book.

  • KarenG

    July 17, 2011 at 4:29 pm

    Wonderful essay! I always wanted to be a writer, but it is not one of my strengths. So I decided to be a reader, and think I would love to try this book out!