Hieronymus Hawkes's Blog, page 7
March 7, 2025
If Nothing’s at Stake, Why Are We Reading?
I’m in the process of querying for an agent again. Most agents these days are using QueryTracker, and on the latest sub one of the agents asked something specific that I had not seen in more than a hundred subs over the course of years of doing this in multiple iterations. It was straightforward and surprising that I didn’t have a ready answer.
Typically, most agents ask for a query letter, with a 1or 2 page synopsis, single spaced, and anywhere from 5 to 50 pages of your manuscript, or maybe the first 3 chapters. Lately I’ve seen requests for comparable books, target audience, and the dreaded one sentence pitch. I saw one that offered a small reprieve in the form of the one paragraph pitch. Some will give you very specific guidance on what they want to see in each section, which is always helpful, and you ignore this guidance at your own peril. So here was the question:Subscribed
What’s at stake for your main character?Should I have had a ready answer for this question? Short answer is yes.
But here’s the thing. It never crossed my mind. Never. Not once in writing this book and the next and halfway through the third in this trilogy.
The development of this story took a lot of turns to get even started. I pantsed the beginning of this story a long time ago. The protagonist kind of emerged fully formed, like Swamp Thing oozing up out the bog. He did grow organically after his emergence into what I needed him to be.
I did some soul searching for the right answer to this simple question and not only did I find an answer, but it added some clarity that will shape some rewrites that I plan anyway. I should be getting documents back from my editor at any moment. (this is the second professional editor to have a go at it, kind of accidently, but you really can’t get enough eyes on your manuscript.)
But was that the best way to go about it?
It was certainly one way, and a very long way to do it.
So, what would be better?
I don’t know how you develop your stories, whether you start with an idea then develop characters to populate it, or whether you start with some interesting characters and give them a problem to solve. Whichever way you do it you will need characters to drive the plot train.
There are a lot of worksheet ideas to build your characters, if you need that, but at the end of the day you will need to give them something they want. And maybe there is something that they need, and maybe those are not the same things. Those will drive the character, but they won’t necessarily answer the question of what is at stake for that character.
Figure that out at the beginning.
Do it for the protagonist and the antagonist. A strong antagonist can really take your story to the next level.
Knowing what is at stake for both characters will add a lot of gut level drive that will make it easier to plot the story. It will add clarity.
One of these days I will take my own advice and save myself a lot of editing.
I would love to hear from you!Cancel reply
March 4, 2025
Tell Us About the Writing
In preparation to start this journey I did some thinking about what I want to do with this space. I’m involved in a writing group which I helped foster initially when my wife and I owned a tea shop. We met every Thursday afternoon, and the group fluctuated in size, and people dropped in and out, but what I found was it turned into more of a salon, where we talked about all sorts of things, some very esoteric and some quite deep, loosely related to writing.
After the shop closed, we moved the spot to a new location where one of our members had a membership at a coworking studio. The group now is pretty stable, and we stilltalk about writing, and life, more than actually write, but I wouldn’t trade that time and friendship for anything. They are spectacular people, who all have incredible life experiences, and they are all exceedingly well-educated, not that it’s a prerequisite to being interesting, and bonus, they are all kind. But I wish I had kept notes on what we talked about over the course of two years, because it often reminded me that I had something valuable to offer. All that education and life experience had coalesced into something useful. People sought out my advice on various topics and when I started thinking about what to write about here, I desperately wished I had those nonexistent notes. So many good things to share, but alas, they are gone into the ephemera. My memory is like a large colander, and things drop through the holes regularly. Note taking is a survival mechanism at this point.
When I thought about what to write, it made me laugh to think, “Tell us about the writing.” Which is of course ridiculous. Can I talk about it with some sense of knowledge? Yes. But I could also talk about flying airplanes the same way. What do you want to know? That would be my first question. Are you stuck on something specific?
So, we will start off with the first thing you need to know about the rules for writing.
There are no rules.
There are guidelines.
Suggestions.
Expectations. Especially in genre.
Will you ever know all there is to writing? Probably not. I learn new tricks and techniques all the time. A lot of the tools become more natural over time, as with anything, “the more you do it the better you get. tm” There is a common thought in the writing community that there is something magical that happens at the million-word mark. I will say that I felt like I had some better idea of what I was doing at that point. But it is just a reframing of “the more you do it the better you get. tm”
If you write, you are a writer. That’s the second not rule.
There are lots of these non rules. But generally speaking, it’s a good idea to follow convention, unless of course you are deliberately trying to break convention. That falls under “you need to know the rules to break the rules. tm” Even though they’re not really rules.
Let’s see if I can list a bunch (some of these are almost cliché):
Show don’t tell
Write what you know
Use proper grammar
Stay in the same tense (I don’t count dialogue here)
Start in the middle “in media res”
Get in late as possible and out early as possible
Infodumps should be kept to a minimum
Use active voice
Minimize the use of strange language (I would add names to this also)
Describe only what the POV character would notice
If you get all the plot arcs to be answered as close as possible to each other and near the climax it is much more effective
It’s more important to tell a good story than to write well (I guess that’s not even a rule really)
Actually, I have a better idea. Let’s look at some famous writer’s rules for writing:
Elmore Leonard, a master of crime fiction, laid out these rules to keep writing tight and engaging:
Never open a book with weather.Avoid prologues.Never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue.Never use an adverb to modify “said.”Keep exclamation points under control.Never use “suddenly” or “all hell broke loose.”Use regional dialect sparingly.Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.Don’t go into great detail describing places and things.Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.George Orwell’s rules focus on clarity and precision:
Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech that you are used to seeing in print.Never use a long word where a short one will do.If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.Never use the passive voice when you can use the active.Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.Kurt Vonnegut’s advice applies broadly to storytelling:
Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that they will not feel the time was wasted.Give the reader at least one character they can root for.Every character should want something, even if it’s only a glass of water.Every sentence must do one of two things—reveal character or advance the action.Start as close to the end as possible.Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your characters, make awful things happen to them.Write to please just one person.Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible.Strunk & White’s “The Elements of Style“
This book outlines key principles of effective writing:
Omit needless words.Use active voice.Use parallel construction.(this means use proper grammar)Avoid fancy words.Place emphatic words at the end of sentences.The Elements of Style was one of the first books I was told to get when I started on this craft. There are lots of great craft books out there, and I try to read one a couple of times a year. Although, if you look my stack of craft books you would call me out. I said try.
Basically, it really does help to know a lot of these concepts in order to subvert them. Or maybe just follow them? Just know that your reader will be the ultimate judge of your prose. It doesn’t matter what any “expert” says.
Ok, well that’s a lot of words. I hate long posts, don’t you?
February 21, 2024
The True Joy in Life
― George Bernard Shaw
October 2, 2022
You should be following Mary Spender
She’s been doing the Youtube thing for several years as a singer songwriter and talented musician. Her following has been growing and she really is very earnest and I want her to be successful. This latest video really spoke to me as a writer. How do you face the bank page?
August 23, 2022
April 25, 2022
RONE Awards voting this week 25-29 Apr!
If you didn’t notice, I tweaked the cover again. I’m happy with it now. I think it fits the genre better, but you are the judge for that.
April 11, 2022
Effacement RONE Voting begins April 25th!
Please note: You MUST be logged in to vote. Need to create an account? Click here.
A note for new subscribers: you also have to verify your account before you can log in and vote. If you have problems with that, check the instructions.
Science Fiction/Time Travel – RONE 2022This poll will open on Monday, April 25, 2022 – 00:00.
April 6, 2022
Wolf Alice Rocked the Deluxe Room in Indy!
My life accomplice Twila and I went to the Old National last night to see Wolf Alice live and they did not disappoint. It was one of the best shows I’ve been to in a very long time.
One of the things I love about this band is how versatile they are. Musically they are an eclectic bunch, covering the genre gamut from heavy metal to pop to folk and at the highest level. The band has been receiving accolades from the music world since they hit the scene in 2012, including the Best Breakthrough Artist of 2014 at the UK Festival Awards and 2022 Brit Award for Group of the Year. I’ve been a fan from nearly the beginning, so I felt very fortunate to catch them live in such an intimate venue as the Deluxe room. It is a basement room with a very cool vibe that the band even called out during the show.
The sound man, John Haskett, who’s been travelling with the band for more than half its existence, did an amazing job with the quality of the music we heard. We could actually hear the singing very clearly. John is also the friend of a friend and so it was nice to make a connection. He is serious craftsman and an awesome dude!
The lead singer, Ellie Rowsell, was in perfect voice and hit every note beautifully on key, even when she was screaming at certain points. She is brilliantly primordial, a combination of Joan Jett and Kate Bush and completely fearless.
Bassist Theo Ellis was larger than life and brought the energy as I suspect he always does, all the time.
Drummer Joel Amey killed it and sounded incredible as the accompanying vocalist.
Ryan Malcom is the touring keyboardist and backup singer and his impact was felt throughout the show.
Lead guitarist, Joff Oddie, was absent, but Joey B. Keefe did a fantastic job filling in.
They did an acoustic piece with Ellie, Joel, and Ryan singing in harmony, and then a bit with just the guys that was off the hook.
Here is the set list:
SmileYou’re a GermFormidable CoolDelicious ThingsLipstick on the GlassPlanet HunterBrosSafe From Heartbreak (If You Never Fall in Love)How Can I Make It OK?Play the Greatest HitsSilkVisions of a LifeMoaning Lisa SmileNo Hard FeelingsGiant PeachEncore:
The Last Man on EarthDon’t Delete the KissesThey were absolutely incredible live and if you ever get the chance to see them DO IT!
March 27, 2022
Tremonti Sings Sinatra and Kills it!
He did this for charity and I hope he does more of this! Take a Chance on Charity
He is raising money for Down’s Syndrome, which his daughter has. The album comes out 27 May 2022, he is singing Sinatra and recording it with Frank’s band! How cool! I can’t wait.
I love this so much!
Marketing Fail
Red and Metal Cartoon Spaceship Crashed on White Background 3D Illustration with Copy SpaceI get emails all the time trying to get me to spend money on a fruitless ad campaign. I’ve learned a lot in the last year about marketing but this is a great example of how not to do it:
Hi Effacement,
I hope you are doing well, we came across your book “Hieronymus Hawkes“, it seems fantastic. Would you like to promote your book?
If you want the massive views, exposure and targeted traffic then you can definitely choose our services. We have 16k Subscribers. And we get 20K to 30K visitors per month.
What will we do for you?
• We will promote your book on our various social media platforms.
• We will send 3 promotional tweets per day to our Twitter followers.
• We send our subscribers weekly newspapers on Monday, in which we will include your book.
Know more & submit your book here:- XXXXXXXXX
Thank You
Team XXXXXXXX
I redacted the the names and link.
Did you see what they did?
