Nadine Pinede’s debut YA novel in verse When the Mapou Sings was recently published by Candlewick Press. However, the novel’s journey to publication wasn’t a straight line; her manuscript took many twists and turns along the way.

Now, Nadine is celebrating the book’s launch (released in December) and will co-teach a mini workshop at the Highlights Foundation with author Kip Wilson in February, covering historical novels in verse.

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Nadine likens the publishing process to a tree. We see the tree in bloom, the finished, published work. But what we rarely see is the underground support system, the roots, that made it all possible.

When the Mapou Sings certainly took twists along the way.

First, the novel had to be transformed; it started as a prose novel. Plus, Nadine had to transition from nonfiction writer for hire, to fiction author, and ultimately, to verse novelist. “For me, I was going from nonfiction to fiction, from prose to poetry, and finally to verse novel. It was a journey with a lot of parts and what really clicked it together and gave me the energy to keep going was the Whole Novel Workshop.”

What would eventually become Mapou started as a master’s thesis, a traditional prose novel.

However, the draft languished, “left in a drawer”, for a variety of reasons, including relocating to Belgium and her parents’ health. When her father passed away, Nadine was unable to attend the funeral, due to Belgium’s residency laws, “a very painful situation.” And to help with the grieving process, she started to write poetry again and take poetry workshops.

The prose novel, thusly, started to transform to a verse novel.  It was this “messy draft” of Mapou that she submitted for the Whole Novel Workshop, a powerful experience that helped her make big leaps in progress.

Her journey came full circle in October. Nadeine attended a Whole Novel Workshop, where she received the first advanced copies of Mapou. And had a book chat with Nicole Valentine, her mentor when she attended the Whole Novel in 2019.  

From Messy Draft to Debut Novel: Lessons Learned

For Nadine, the experience of the Whole Novel Workshop was transformative. Here are some insights she shared about the process and transforming a prose novel into a novel in verse. 

On Transforming a Work of Prose into a Novel in Verse

“The process of transformation took several years. I didn’t know it was going to be a verse novel. I just thought something’s wrong; I’m not enjoying this.” 

 

“Putting the poetry into the history is what made it work. And so, I just started to look for people who had written verse novels like Cordelia Jensen and Jeanine Atkins, and I would reach out. That’s how I connected with Kip [Wilson]. So, you know, it transformed into a draft of a verse novel by the time I was at the Whole Novel Workshop.”

On the Challenges of Verse Novels

“It was a very messy draft. The poems weren’t tightly linked. There was still a sense of stasis that poets must overcome in a verse novel, because that forward movement of a novel isn’t necessarily natural to poets (unless you’re writing narrative poetry).”

On the Whole Novel Workshop

“The Whole Novel was the first workshop I saw that had instructors read the entire manuscript. That’s a big deal! A full novel critique is not something that happens in most writing workshops.”  

“We all felt that our work was being given the care that was needed and also that we were being given the encouragement to keep going because, you know, when you’re in the middle of a novel, that’s often when people give up. The thorny part, it’s difficult, the muddy middle. You don’t know the way forward. So being there helped me through that. And it also gave me the sense that, you know, if she believes in this, maybe other people will. Maybe it could be published.”

On Applying Feedback

“I remember thinking: As soon as I get feedback, I want to go back to my room and work on it. So, it was just this flurry of being in the workshop, having the immediate feedback, and then going back with my notes and saying, ‘How does this affect my work?’.. And I’d sometimes go and work for 5 or 6 hours and come back for dinner. The energy flowed.”

On One-on-One Feedback

Nadine worked closely with Nicole Valentine, a longtime WNW faculty member, during her time:

“What she saw immediately in the draft was the narrative shape of it. And the shape of a story is very difficult for a lot of people to get, and her mind was great at identifying the story’s structure and getting me to that point with the narrative and the voice. She just had great lessons to teach all around.”