Behind the Scenes of Ditching the Playbook

Behind the Scenes gives you a closer look at the process of writing a manuscript. This edition features Sarah Henning and her manuscript, Ditching the Playbook. Sarah is a mystery writer, recovering newshound, and word nerd of the highest order (aka copy editor) for Spencer Hill Contemporary and various freelance clients. She is represented by Rachel Ekstrom of the Irene Goodman Literary Agency and can be found making noise far too often on Twitter (@shhenning). When she’s not hunched over her computer or curled up with a good book, Sarah is probably running ultramarathons, playing with her cherub-cheeked kidlit, or nagging her husband to eat more kale.

Inspiration for Ditching the Playbook:

Homer Simpson-style doughnuts, Varsity Blues, Friday Night Lights,
"Pink Houses" by John Mellencamp, The Steubenville rape case, Yoda, The Sopranos, & pigs.

About Ditching the Playbook:

"DITCHING THE PLAYBOOK is about a big-deal New York sports writer named A.J. Beckett, who inadvertently quits her job in a power-play gone wrong and ends up boomeranging back to her very first writing gig: Covering high school football in her Nebraska hometown for $50 a game.

When the local high school’s backup quarterback ends up face-down in a creek, A.J. goes searching for answers and soon finds the rosy glow of memories she has surrounding her childhood influencers — from the legendary football coach to the editor who hired her a second time — is blinding her from a very ugly truth.

Basically, I wanted to explore a few ideas with this manuscript. What it’s like for a successful person to have to hit the “reset” button. How influential adults change into real, live human beings(!) once we grow up and become adults ourselves. And the privileged atmosphere of elite high school athletes and how perceived talent can throw consequences out the window."

A piece of Sarah's writing process:

"I’m a huge believer in listening to your brain. Whether you’re a plotter or a pantser or a hybrid like me, listen to your brain. Listen to your instincts. I can’t tell you how many times my brain has goaded me into adding details that end up being significant, even if they didn’t seem important or make sense early in a draft.

I think this is especially important in writing mystery. I want to leave the reader needing to turn that page and plow toward the big reveal. So, sometimes things I haven’t plotted or didn’t see coming happen at the end of chapters. Even if I didn’t expect something to fall out of my mind and onto the page, I let it be, because I know my brain is taking me somewhere important, even if I’m super surprised myself at where I’m going."