How My Obsessions Fueled My Debut Novel
And no, I'm not talking about cats again.
It’s August! Let the back-to-school nightmares begin. (I actually have more nightmares about waiting tables than teaching.)
I’m obsessed with obsessions lately/always and most people who know me also know my greatest hits when it comes to what I love—more on that below. By the end of this post, I’m sharing the lesser-known obsession that may be the real root of writing Doll Parts (forthcoming from Sourcebooks in 2025).
One more update before I get too excited: make sure to check out “Make it Weird, Take Leaps,” my most recent on Mourning Pages. You’ll start to notice some common themes around these parts: grief, books, and a love for the peculiar.
It’s been a while since I wrote about obsessions. Back in 2022, I said, “If your level of interest in the subject doesn’t border on obsession, how will you stay in love with that project for the long haul?”
I still agree. When I talk about obsessions, I’m not just referring to a new or fleeting interest or appreciation. I’m talking about the kind of obsession that carries you through years and years of brainstorming, researching, drafting, revising, and rejection.
Four obsessions that led me (and fed me) as I wrote Doll Parts:
Ghosts/hauntings/ghost stories
Sylvia Plath
Friendship (especially friendship loss and grief)
Grunge music, with an emphasis on Hole and Courtney Love
If you know me, none of these items surprise you. You also shouldn’t be surprised when I talk about each of them a lot in the next year.
How did I turn obsessions into a novel, though? It’s pretty simple.
I wrote about what I was interested in instead of what I thought the market was interested in.
The process of writing a book (not to mention getting an agent, revising the manuscript, submitting to publishers, and on and on) takes years. More than two. More than four in my case. There was no way for me to know back in 2020 (or before that, honestly) what readers would be into in 2025 (when Doll Parts will be published). We still don’t know.
Writing towards a trend is generally not advisable, especially for a debut author without a contract or a deadline, who doesn’t know when their work will reach the public, if ever. Even with a two-book deal, I wouldn’t want to try to guess what people will like a few years from now. That’s not my job.
My reading and teaching experiences have taught me that if the writer is passionate about their subject, the reader will be into it, too.
Take a book like Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. I’m not into video games. At all. But the author and the characters in that book geek out so hard about gaming that it made me (and millions of readers) also find video games poetic and beautiful in a way I had never considered before.
Another example: I got so into the music I listened to while drafting Doll Parts that I read rock-centric memoirs, binged documentaries, and eventually made my own playlist. Before I knew it, those playlist songs became part of the story. So much so that the title of the book changed to reflect how important the music is to the story.
While I’m not ready to share that whole playlist yet (still editing the book!), I will be slowly leaking the songs, plus a few bonus tracks, leading up to publication day over on Instagram.
The first song is not, in fact, “Doll Parts” by Hole. It’s my other favorite: “Miss World.”
Make sure we are connected over on Instagram (find me @ pennyzang) so you don’t miss any part of the playlist. Pretend you’re making a mix tape to really get into the spirit.
My other obsession that I don’t usually mention is where I think Doll Parts is truly rooted, if I’m being honest. Once you read the book (!!!), you will see what I mean.
This obsession isn’t books or cats or even zombies…
I have been obsessed with Seventeen magazine since way before I was seventeen. I learned everything I could about fashion and make-up, as well as relationships and how to be “a girl.”
Spoiler alert: much of what I absorbed was bullshit, but I still remember those magazines acutely. I memorized each issue like I was going to have a test the next day.
“How to be a guy magnet”—I needed to know.
“Quiz: Do you play mind games?” No. Maybe. Yes, probably. Someone please tell me how to be.
While I didn’t reread old issues of the magazine to write Doll Parts, I didn’t need to. They were so much a part of me that I couldn’t have forgotten those vibes if I tried. That old obsession bled onto the page, almost as if I was raised in a cult of teenage magazines. Which sounds like a great idea for a story.
So Doll Parts is part Seventeen Magazine, but mixed with ghosts and Sylvia Plath, among other things.
Can you tell I’m getting excited about sharing this book with the world? By excited I mean nauseated and overwhelmed, of course.
I’d love to hear about your obsessions, too. What are the interests that have stuck with you for longer than a quick Google search.
And stay tuned for even more updates. Thank you in advance for coming along for the ride!
—Penny