Alison Booth's Blog, page 5

Coping With Rejection And Criticism As A Novelist

You’ve spent months – or more likely years – writing your novel. You did all your homework before sending the manuscript or a few sample chapters to an agent. You checked that the sub-genre in which you’re writing isn’t overloaded and that another novel just like yours hasn’t just been published. You had your typescript read by kind but critical people whose judgement you trust – and maybe you’ve also let an appraisal agency take a look at it – and you took into account most of their comments. You went through your draft again and verified that the first few chapters are as captivating as possible, in order to pull the busy agent or publisher in. You checked that the plotlines are compelling, the characters plausible and interesting, and that there’s narrative tension and lots of conflict to get the reader flipping over the pages.
Yet, in spite of doing all of this, you still get a rejection. You think your novel’s good, every bit as good as those you see stacked up in the bookshops. So how can you deal with that email message or letter saying the agent doesn’t want to represent you or the publisher doesn’t want to publish you?
Reach for the bottle by all means, but stop after a couple of glasses and remind yourself of the enormous diversity of tastes. Opinions about manuscripts are hugely subjective. One person may love it and another hate it. Not only is there a wide variety of tastes and preferences, but there are also fashion trends. Maybe the publisher has other novels in the pipeline a bit like yours. Perhaps the marketing team is breathing down the publisher’s neck, so that even if she likes your novel she won’t think of putting it in front of the acquisitions committee unless it’s really novel (pardon the pun) and marketable.
What’s the next step in dealing with this? First, read through your manuscript again. A bit of time will have elapsed, so you’ll be able to see it more objectively. Can it be improved? If not – if the novel’s as near to perfection as you can make it – try another agent. If the second agent rejects you, work through the entire list of agents. (For example, see the listings in The Australian Writer’s Marketplace.)
If you’re still unsuccessful, put the manuscript away in a safe place. You can return to it later if you wish. Remind yourself that many great novelists have been unable to publish their first few novels. Think of Peter Carey whose third novel was the first he published. He hasn’t looked back, has he?
Now begin a new novel. Something completely different. Something you’re driven to write. It will make you forget about the first. Remind yourself that writing is a craft with a long apprenticeship. And remind yourself that, while the book industry in a state of turmoil at the moment, publishers are still looking around for new authors.
Suppose that now you’ve got lucky and found an agent and a publisher. You sit back and you think the days of rejection are over. You buy a bottle of bubbly and have a glass or five to celebrate.
Enjoy this period to the full. For the days of rejection and not over and they never will be. Someone will read your beautiful new novel and not like it. Okay, most people will love it, but there’ll always be one or two who won’t, and who may be very vocal about it for whatever reason. What can you do?
Ignore the adverse reactions (unless you think you might learn something from them). Remember that some novelists never read reviews. Remind yourself that opinions about novels are subjective. Focus on the good comments. Focus on the pleasure you’ve brought to many readers. Focus on the enjoyment you get from writing.
And then move onto the next project.

Notes: This blog first appeared at http://writingnovelsinaustralia.com/2...

Researching A Distant Land

History informs and influences writers of historical fiction, and sometimes novelists aim to dramatise real historical events. That wasn’t my goal in A Distant Land, which was set in 1971, towards the end of Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War. Instead I wanted to be informed by events of the period, and to this end I read numerous histories and personal accounts. Two books that were particularly inspiring were Paul Ham’s history Vietnam: The Australian War, and David McKnight’s book Australia’s Spies and Their Secrets.

After conceiving the plot of A Distant Land, I discovered several books written by war correspondents – Antipodean and American - about their time in Cambodia when they were captured during the Vietnam War. Once I found these sources – in particular the books by Kate Webb and Richard Dudman - it was impossible not to be influenced by them. They provided vivid first-hand descriptions of their experiences.

While A Distant Land is a work of fiction, the quotation at the end of the first chapter 1 of the novel isn’t fictitious, and I’d like to repeat it here. The quotation comes from the former politician, Jim Cairns, who was an important player in the Australian moratorium marches.

‘Democracy begins on the farms, in the factories and in the streets, and if people will not, often at risk to themselves, stand up for their rights there will be no democracy.’

These words were spoken to the House of Representatives in April 1970. I still find them both chilling and inspiring every time I read them.

Vietnam: The Australian War
A Distant Land
Australia's Spies and Their SecretsOn The Other Side: 23 Days With The Viet Cong
Forty Days with the Enemy

ANZAC Day

Every Australian town and city has its war memorial. The fictional town of Jingera, on the south-eastern coast of Australia, features in all my books, and it too has a war memorial - right in the middle of the town.

Like most Australians and New Zealanders, I’ll be thinking on ANZAC Day - the 25th April - of all those who lost their lives in conflicts. ANZAC Day is held by many to be the most important of Australia’s national holidays, and it marks the anniversary of the landing in 1915 of Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) troops on Gallipoli Peninsula in the Dardanelles. A landing that would lead to a dreadful defeat and a shocking loss of life.

Australia is now a country in which one in four of us was born overseas. And yet ANZAC Day is of growing importance in the national psyche, perhaps because our new immigrants too have so much to remember.

My third novel, A Distant Land, is not a war novel. But it was set in 1971, towards the end of Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War. And it is my own memorial to the victims of war.

The novel, part thriller and part romance, is a story of intrigue and also of a deep and enduring love.

See the reviews of the book at:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Writing Your First Novel

On New Year’s Day in 2005 I began writing my first novel. No, it wasn’t a resolution for the new year, but simply a day when I found some free time. Exactly five years later - to the day! - it was published, as Stillwater Creek.

What made Stillwater Creek publishable? Hard work and some good luck -- the manuscript went to the right people at the right time. But I think the book’s setting also struck a chord: a coastal town full of eccentric characters, a place that looks charming but underneath has dark secrets.

What should people embarking on a first novel try to avoid? First, don't make your novel autobiographical. I wrote a novel in my twenties that was quasi- autobiographical and I'm everlastingly grateful it never saw the light of day! On the other hand I'm glad I got all that stuff out of my system and could move on.

My second suggestion is to write from the heart and to plan from the head. This works for me, although I appreciate that it may not work for everyone. While I map out the novel in advance, I write the first draft of any scene very fast, with a 2B pencil, letting words and ideas flow and take me where they will. Afterwards I dictate this using a software package with the wonderful name Dragon Naturally Speaking and then I endlessly edit.

Third - avoid rushing. Expect to write between ten and twenty drafts, quite possibly more, and be realistic about setting completion dates.

Fourth, get an agent – but only after your manuscript is well-polished and has been read by people you trust.

Finally, writing a novel is an obsession: people should do it if they’re driven to tell a story, not because they expect to make money from it (very few do). It will eat up big chunks of your life. But it’s also likely to lead you to unexpected places – and you may well love the journey.