Joseph Wallace's Blog, page 6

Here’s the Pitch

Three times since my new novel, Invasive Species, headed into the world, I’ve been asked to write a synopsis/précis/pitch for the book.

Three different pitches, in fact, for three different audiences. My instructions were like something out of Goldilocks and the Three Bears: One synopsis had to be small (a single page), one large (four pages or so), and one somewhere in between.

The problem, though, was that none of them seemed “just right.” Turns out that writing a précis is hard, at least for those who 1) lack the natural ability and 2) are more accustomed to writing at novel-length. (Like me.)

A long précis all too easily flattens into a plodding plot summary: “And then this happened, and then that happened, and then….” Nothing, not even works as great as One Hundred Years of Solitude or Pride and Prejudice or Hamlet, can survive this kind of building-block approach. (“And then another Buendía was born, and then there was another dance, and then Laertes died and Polonius died and Ophelia died….”)

My short synopsis, on the other hand, had just room enough to introduce the characters, mention the villain, and then say (in essence), “Boom!” The risk here isn’t that you’ll be dull, but that you’ll be cheesy. Even the most riveting storyline depends on character development and subtleties in plot, but there’s little space for those in just a few paragraphs.

And the midsize pitch? You’d think it would be easiest to get right, but at least in my experience, it’s more likely to waver back and forth between the sins of the other two.

My only recommendation, if you’re like me, is to do what I did: Write it the best you can, and then ask for help. I showed my rough drafts to two smart, discerning readers: one who’s read Invasive Species and one who hasn’t yet. This combination of familiarity and lack of it led each to notice different mistakes I’d made, questions I’d neglected to ask or answer, places where I’d said too much or too little. Both of them suggested improvements that I (who’d been living with the book for two years) had missed entirely.

Only by following both sets of suggestions did I end up with synopses that I felt provided an accurate, compelling snapshot of my book. Still, I am deeply happy that I don’t have to make a living from this neither-fish-nor-fowl form.

The post Here’s the Pitch appeared first on Marmaduke Writing Factory.

Comfort/Food

I used to write books about baseball history. Researching those books often took me to Cooperstown, NY, home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and its unmatched library and collections.

At least in memory, for some reason most of my visits took place in February.

Have you ever been to Cooperstown in February? It’s…cold. Numbingly cold. The fifteen minutes it took me to  walk from the Lakefront Motel to the Hall one windy morning when it was -21 degrees Fahrenheit (not counting the wind chill) was the longest year of my life. And then I got to the library and all the locals said to me, “You think this is cold?”

Cooperstown in winter isn’t only cold. It’s dark. The sun goes down at about four o’clock in the afternoon, the Hall of Fame and most stores close by five…and then what do you do for the rest of the evening? In the age before wi-fi, my options were to go back to my lonely motel room…or to hang out for hours at one of the only open establishments, the warm and cozy Doubleday Cafe. Guess which I chose?

I inspired a mix of amusement and affection in the waitresses at the Doubleday: the only out-of-towner to show up in February and then stay and stay. They soon knew what I liked to drink (a pint of Old Slugger), to eat (quesadillas, spinach salads, the occasional burger), and that though I enjoyed a little conversation at my table at the corner, I also liked just to sit and read or go over my research. They respected my quirks, and I treasured having a brightly lit place to sit before returning to my dim hotel room, and cheerful people to chat with.

Months after I left Cooperstown, I was writing the acknowledgments of my book The Autobiography of Baseball at the same time that I was organizing my receipts for tax purposes. Lo and behold, there were all my bills from the Doubleday Cafe, each printed with the waitress’s first name. I had a lightbulb moment, and ten minutes later my book’s thank-yous included Diana, Barb, Laura, Debbie, and half a dozen others.

Rarely has an acknowledgment been more heartfelt.

Ever since then, I’ve always been aware of my need for human contact as I struggle to stay sane during the lonely writing process. Most recently, the baristas at my local cafe, the Black Cow Coffee Company, had to put up with my motormouth during my breaks from writing my intense new novel, Invasive Species. I thanked Linton, Emily, Michelle, Mike, and the others in the novel’s acknowledgments, too.

I don’t know if it takes a village to write a book, but it definitely takes company–sometimes in unexpected places.

The post Comfort/Food appeared first on Marmaduke Writing Factory.

My New Short Story!

I am thrilled to announce that my newest short story, “Deep Submergence,” will appear beside an array of stories by superstar mystery/thriller writers (see the image above!) in Ice Cold, the latest anthology presented by the Mystery Writers of America. Each year’s MWA anthology has a theme: I decided to place “Deep Submergence” near the end of the Cold War, to base it on the true story of a time the U.S. Military lost a hydrogen bomb…and to set it mostly aboard a research submersible thousands of feet below the ocean’s surface!

I’m happy with how “Deep Submergence” turned out, and I’m blown away to be in such amazing company. Ice Cold will be published in March.

The post My New Short Story! appeared first on Marmaduke Writing Factory.

One Of the Coolest Things About Being a Writer

You get invited to the most unexpected places!

Like New York Comic Con.

(Makes up for all the places you get disinvited from.)

CAN’T WAIT!

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