How Long Did It Take to Write, "Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International"?

Greetings, readers. When someone asks me how long it took to write my memoir, Undertow, I say about ten years. That refers to the time between 2007 and 2017, after I retired early from my technical writing job in the software industry to write the book. But really, the journey from initial idea to publication took much longer.

A timeline of the book's journey is included in my second book, From the Porch to the Page: A Guidebook for the Writing Life. It is in Appendix 1. Below, I've posted it here for those interested.

Thanks for reading,

Charlene Edge

Note: I do not use AI products to write my blogs or books.

Appendix 1 – Timeline for Writing & Self-Publishing Undertow

The following shows what turned out to be the timeline for writing and self-publishing my memoir Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International. New Wings Press, LLC. 2017. I did not plan this schedule ahead of time. It developed.

In this chart, you’ll see mention of Undertow’s brilliant copy/line editor, Ruth Mullen, to whom I lovingly dedicate From the Porch to the Page. Ruth died tragically in September 2021, just before we would have worked together again. She was a kind, wise, and go-the-extra-mile colleague.

Date	Activity	Resources/Details
1987–1994	Journaling in Ohio at OSU.   Creative writing, including autobiographical essay at Valencia Community College in Florida taught by Linda Goddard. M.A.   Read memoirs and books about how to write memoir. Wrote autobiographical essays at Rollins College in Florida for memoir classes with Dr. Lezlie Laws.	1.   Composing a Life by Mary Catherine Bateson 2.   Your Life as Story by Tristine Rainer 3.   The Scene Book: A Primer for the Fiction Writer by Sandra Scofield 4.   Writing the Memoir: From Truth to Art by Judith Barrington 5.   Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Browne & King 6.   The Art of Subtext by Charles Baxter
1991	Journal entry about The Way written for a course at Rollins College called “Expository Writing: Literature” taught by Dr. Lezlie Laws.	On the journal entry, Dr. Laws wrote a note suggesting that I “write this up into something.”
2002	Submitted “An Affinity for Windows,” a short memoir based on the 1991 journal entry featuring my Way experience.	Dr. Laws announces anthology project. Asks Rollins’s women students to submit stories of their transformations in the classroom.
2004	The short memoir “An Affinity for Windows” was published in: Shifting Gears: Small, Startling Moments In and Out of the Classroom, 21 Stories by Women of Rollins College.	Red Pepper Press. Winter Park, FL.   Editors: Karen Love Blumenthal, Mary Ann de Stefano, Juliet Weller Dunsworth, Wendy White Goddard, Dr. Lezlie Laws. Limited printing. No ISBN.
2004	Decision to write a book expanding the story in “An Affinity for Windows.”	Kept reading, writing. Read memoirs. Did more research using Way magazines, old notes, letters, journals, calendars, and photographs.
2005	Negotiated four-day work week at the software company where I worked full time. Did that for about four months, then returned to full-time; laid aside the book project.	Kept reading, writing.
2007	Retired from career as technical writer and proposal writer in software industry to write my memoir about The Way.	Kept reading, writing. Read books on cults, fundamentalism, the writing process, and read many other memoirs. One favorite: The Tender Bar by J. R. Moehringer.
2012	Hired editor Mary Ann de Stefano, owner of MAD About Words, for first professional evaluation/edit of the manuscript.   Title: Nothing But The Word 246,882 words (728 pgs)	I read Crazy for God, a memoir by Frank Schaeffer whose parents helped found The Religious Right and formed the L’Abri mission in Switzerland that I mentioned in my book. In 1970, I considered going there. Decided to ask Frank to read and blurb my memoir when the time came.
2012–2014	Made major revisions.	Solicited feedback from “beta” readers. Learned to write better dialog. Found help in Chapter 6 of Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Browne & King.
Jan. 12, 2015	Hired another editor for a second professional structural edit of the manuscript.   Title: One Who Got Away: A Memoir of 17 Years in a Bible Cult 139,990 words (457 pages) Cut 6,892 words since 2012 version.	Alice Peck Editorial in Brooklyn, NY.
February 2015–May 2015	Made structural changes per editor, Alice Peck.	E.g.: Used a different chapter for the first chapter. Cut extraneous material.
Spring–Fall 2015	Fifteen sessions of reading the manuscript aloud to my former memoir teacher: Dr. Lezlie Laws, Emeritus Professor of English, Rollins College.	Per feedback, made edits to clarify bits of story.
Summer 2015	Obtained feedback from “beta” readers.	I asked for responses to specific parts of the story.
Spring 2015– Winter 2016	Submitted to agents, small publishing houses, e.g.: Beacon Press.	Collected rejections.
March 2016	Decided to self-publish. Bought a book about how to do it.	The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing by Marilyn Ross & Sue Collier.
March 2016	Changed title to:   Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International.	Subtitle has “focus” words for Internet searchability.   My husband, Hoyt, and I decided on the title together.
March 2016	Hired book designer (interviewed three).	Duane Stapp, Brooklyn, NY.
March 2016	Hired copy/line editor (interviewed four).	Ruth Mullen, Riverdale, NY.
April–June 2016	Incorporated more feedback from “beta” readers.	Fact-checking done with former Way members, family members, old friends.
May 2016	Established New Wings Press, LLC.   Solicited other authors and experts to read manuscript and write endorsements.	Deadline for blurbs: October 1, 2016.   Frank Schaeffer read Undertow and sent a blurb. I put a portion of it on front cover.
June 13, 2016	Copy/line editor began work.	Ruth Mullen, Riverdale, NY.
August 2016	Professional author photograph done.	Scott Cook, Orlando, FL.
Sept. 2016	Copy editor, Ruth, finished her work. I sent Duane, the book designer, finalized manuscript of Undertow to lay out.	Teamwork pays off!
Oct. 2016	Blurbs were sent to me.   Book designer, Duane, finished layout. I did final proofreading of his layout.	I made changes, Ruth double-checked all blurbs, copyright page, author bio. I bought ISBN number, barcode, etc. Book designer, Duane, added these items.   Ruth edited back cover.
Oct. 2016	Sent manuscript in PDF to Library of Congress to get a Control Number. Took about a week.	Duane added number to copyright page.
Nov. 21, 2016	Self-published using IngramSpark, a print-on-demand company & distributor. https://www.ingramspark.com/   Title: Undertow: My Escape from the Fundamentalism and Cult Control of The Way International   Approx. 105,835 words Cut 34,155 words from 2015 version. 448 pages, incl. front pages, Notes, Bibliography, Acknowledgments, 33 photographs.	Met goal of publishing before the anniversary of my mother’s death in 1968, the day before Thanksgiving.   Trade secret from The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing: Books published after September 15 of any year can carry the next year’s copyright date.   That’s why Undertow has the copyright year of 2017.