Lynne Stringer's Blog, page 23

The scent of a book

Our sense of smell seems particularly powerful and is able to evoke memories thought lost forever.

Whenever I take my son to school, we pass a particular point and I smell a certain smell that always takes me straight back to when I was in kindergarten. I’ve no idea what that smell is, but it’s a strong memory from my childhood.

When we had some bad floods near where we live a couple of years ago, I remember some people talking about how the smell of mud would always haunt those who lost their homes. As soon as they smell it, they would be taken back to that horrible event when everything they owned was destroyed by water and dirt.

And then there’s the scent of a book.

What is it about a book’s smell? It doesn’t seem to matter to me whether it’s brand new or ancient (although I think the old ones do smell better). The smell of the ink on pages and the smell of paper evokes wonderful memories for me, as I recall the magic I experienced when turning the pages of my latest discovery. And can anything compare with the scent when someone enters the door of a second hand bookstore? Not only is there beauty before your eyes, but the delightful scent of dusty print and old hardback.

I can imagine the smell of books might bring back bad memories for some people, but I am glad that, to me, it always smells like home.

Research. How important is it?

When you read a novel, particularly an historical one, are you the kind of person who is upset if you can see it’s not historically accurate?

I know a lot of people do get upset at this type of thing. Being a pedantic person, I have avoided writing an historical novel so far, because I know I’d have to make sure I had EVERYTHING right before I finished it. If even one person came back to me and said, ‘This isn’t right!’ I would be devastated.

Of course, having written a science fiction novel, people can still say to me, ‘This is not scientifically possible. You can’t say that!’ But I can always fudge and say, ‘Well, maybe it’s not possible for us, but for another species it might be.’ So there’s a bit more flexibility.

But is making sure a novel doesn’t conflict with the real world that important? Is it something we have to ensure is correct, so much so that we must go to extensive lengths to guarantee it?

I have read novels that haven’t seemed to care much about historical accuracy, and I’ve still enjoyed them. Sometimes, however, if the mistakes are glaringly obvious, it does take me out of the story. However, I think most of the time it shouldn’t be that big an issue, especially if it is a work of fiction and the setting is just a background for the story. After all, why do we write stories? Do we write them to worry about making sure the background is perfect before we begin? Yes, we should make sure that it is plausible, just as we should make sure that as many spelling mistakes and grammatical errors as possible are removed from our books. But usually one or two of those do sneak in, and if you’re story is entertaining enough, people don’t even notice them.

I think it’s the same with historical accuracy in a novel. Try your best to make it plausible, but don’t stress about every little detail.

Do novels make life seem easy?

Last week I was talking about the torture that exists if you have to wait for the sequel of your favourite novel to be released.

I’m starting to wonder if it might not be a good thing.

A friend of mine posted a link to an interesting article at Huffington Post about the Gen Y Yuppie and their expectations. I’ve added a link to the article, if you want to see it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wait-but-why/generation-y-unhappy_b_3930620.html

I think it’s an accurate description of the state of affairs. Somewhere along the way, people have gained the idea that they’re special/amazing/extraordinary, and this equates to the belief that everything should be easy for them and there should be little, if any, effort involved in a career.

Most of us who are older know this is not so, even if we once believed it. In most cases, if you want to live your dream, it required you travel a hard, ugly road. You’ve got to love whatever it is you’re doing more than all the difficulties. It’s what keeps you going through all that hard slog.

However, I can’t help but wonder if novels attribute to this attitude. Not just novels either, but TV and movies. After all, they manage to wrap up life events into 300 page, sixty minute or two hour segments and then leave it all (usually) with a bright, pretty bow and a HEA (Happily Ever After). Not only that, but with everything now available at the click of a button, we don’t even have to wait for our favourite show/movie/book to be available locally. We can just download it from wherever we are. So the idea of instant gratification and HEAs seems to be borne out both by what we encounter in popular media and in the way it’s delivered.

Now, I’m not saying that we should stop writing/reading/watching things and that we should try and make them all end up doom and gloom to make it ‘realistic’, but perhaps a bit of realism doesn’t go astray now and then, and maybe waiting a while for a new book is not such a bad idea. Anything to avoid the thought that HEAs are instant and obtainable, and that no effort is required.

Playing the waiting game

When I first wrote my trilogy and tortured my good friends by giving them one chapter at a time, I admit that it was kind of fun. Then they encouraged me to try and get The Heir and its sequels published … but that meant that I couldn’t really give them anything else of the other two books (although I did give them the first chapter of The Crown at one stage) because I felt it was better if I kept it from them, especially if things in the story were likely to change during the editing process, which was possible.

So my friends have waited three years to receive the sequel to The Heir. This sequel, The Crown, will be released in just a few weeks’ time.

I honestly don’t know how they’ve managed it, because, for the first time, the shoe is on the other foot for me.

I’ve just finished reading Veronica Roth’s Divergent. I followed it up quickly with its sequel, Insurgent, and now I am impatiently waiting for the release of Allegiant, which isn’t out until mid-October! Wow, I have to wait a whole month before I can find out what happens! It’s pure torture!

I don’t know how my friends have borne it all these years, especially coping with the fear that this author, whom you have entrusted with your heart, might not end the book the way you’d like it to end! I have a habit of killing off regular characters, and I have no hesitation in doing so. I have noticed, to my chagrin, that Veronica Roth indulges in the same behaviour. This has me worried. A lot.

But ultimately, I know she will probably do what I did – make the story go the way it has to go. And believe me, usually there is a particular ending the story drives itself towards. Some people will probably be satisfied with it. Some people may hate it, but I know that it’s not always possible to change it. It’s not that easy. Sometimes no other result can be envisaged for your characters.

I think fans of The Heir will be worrying about the fate of key characters. I am already worrying about the characters in Divergent. I guess we’ll all have to wait and see.

 

Lost Opportunities

I’m a writer. I have been writing stories since I was about eight years old. What I write may have varied over the years, but it has always been a constant in my life.

My father’s a writer. His first book was published almost thirty years ago. He’s kept going since then, and now has many titles to his name.

My brother writes album reviews and has been known to write small sketches for groups to perform.

My son, aged seven, recently won a creative writing award in his class at school.

My father’s father was a wood machinist. His mother was a binder of books, definitely not a writer of them.

Um …? So where did writing come from? Did it suddenly pop into our genes with my dad? Did the genetics of his parents somehow combine to make us all writers?

No idea, really. I wish I did. I frequently wonder where the talent came from. Did my paternal grandfather have the ability to write, but didn’t? It’s certainly possible. He was an intelligent man. He might have chosen wood machining because he could make a living out of that, whereas in early 20th century London, being from the lower classes, he was never going to make a living from his pen.

Many of my father’s ancestors were from the poorer quarters in London. My husband and I have done some family research and I know that many of them were abjectly poor. It is clear, from Xs in the place of signatures on marriage certificates, that many of them didn’t even learn to read and write.

Sometimes I grieve over this. I’m sure our talent for writing didn’t magically appear in my father’s generation. It had to have been there before that. But it seems many of my ancestors were too poor to use it, either because they needed to work down a mine or on the roads to put food on the table, or simply because they never learned to write. I mourn the stories that might have existed in their heads, things that we will never be able to read, simply because the class and time they were born into meant those things are lost to us forever.

Stories are important. We must find a way to tell them, and we need to give everyone the ability to tell them by teaching them to read and write. The future’s so much brighter that way.

 

I edit my own work. Isn’t that enough?

In a word – no. And I’m not just saying that because I’m a professional editor.

It can be difficult to notice, but no one ever sees all the mistakes in their own books. This is the case whether we are talking about simple spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, or the larger mistakes people tend to make when they’re writing. Repetition is a common one. Even in writing this blog I often find, when I read back over what I’ve written, that I’ve repeated myself for no good reason. It’s easy to do, and the longer the manuscript you are working on, the greater the likelihood you’ve repeated yourself. And you won’t necessarily see it. Why? Because you are so closely associated with the work it can be difficult to see the problems. What you need is a fresh pair of eyes.

Can a friend help? Absolutely. Friends can certainly help point out different things that you might not have noticed, but they’re not going to pick up as much as someone in the industry. We know what will put publishers off. We know what you need to avoid, and we can point it out to you without worrying about offending you, as a friend might. We are paid to tell you the truth, although we try to do it nicely. But it is better that you know it before you try to find a publisher than get yourself a bad reputation by sending around a sub-standard manuscript. Take the plunge. Get a professional edit. It will help.

The fatal flaw of a book signing

Do you know what’s the hardest part of a book signing for me? It’s not going in there and having to try an initiate conversation with people I don’t know, although that’s hard. It’s not trying to convince them that buying my book is a good idea, although that’s even harder that talking to them. It’s not sitting there by myself, hoping someone will talk to me. It’s not hoping that the bookstore will be happy enough with the sales I make to ask me back again.

It’s being surrounded by lots and lots of books.

For some, this might be the definition of paradise, and if it was a library that’s fine, but I can’t afford to buy everything I see in a bookstore, much as I’d like to. Not that it stops me. In fact, of all the book signings I’ve done so far, there was only one where I left without buying a book. Usually they were for gifts (at least, that’s what I told myself!), but I still made a purchase.

I was looking in another store yesterday, browsing through all their beautiful titles while I waited to ask them if I could come in for a signing, and I saw so many things I wanted to buy. All these wonderful stories with gorgeous covers; the greatest temptation a book lover could have.

So book signings can be hard but they can be wonderful too, because they let me see that books are alive and well. Sure, ebooks may be popular now, but I think there will always be space in people’s hearts for the look and feel and smell of a real book.

Point of View

How important is maintaining correct point of view in our writing? For those who don’t know, point of view is when you write from the point of view of a particular character. It is important in books written in the first person, but also in books written in third person.

These days, the new writer has to be careful about point of view in their novel, because publishers are strict about it, especially with newcomers. Keeping to the same point of view for most of the chapter is usually advised, although it’s okay to switch to one other person halfway through or so. But dodging between lots of different people is frowned upon.

I do agree with this. I find it hard to read novels that constantly dash from one point of view to another. I also don’t think it’s necessary to do that. Usually there are a merely a handful of major characters in the average novel, and I don’t think you need to go beyond them for point of view. In fact, sticking to just two or three is a better formula. It helps keep distractions and confusion to a minimum.

So this is one principle I agree with.

The Hard Sell

Last Saturday I went to my second book signing. Sadly, it was not as successful as the first one. The first time I had a signing, I sold six copies. This time I only sold one.

The bookstore where I was signing is a charming, small store owned by a couple who are supportive of local authors. It was also National Bookshop Day, so there were a good number of people in the shop, but this shop does have some good children’s picture books, and to celebrate the day they had in face painters and children’s performers … which meant that many of the store’s inhabitants were younger than my target audience.

It didn’t help that I was feeling shy. I didn’t want to interrupt the goings-on on by telling people about my book. I knew they weren’t there for me, and I can’t stand giving people the ‘hard sell’. I wish I had someone to do that for me. So, after two hours of nothing, I decided to sell … hard.

The next customer I engaged was interested in sci-fi, but he was looking for a book for his teenage son. I was right in saying that I didn’t think mine would appeal to him. Then a lady came in, and after she went to look at some greeting cards on a rack behind me, I turned around and we started to chat. She was the chatty type. I tried to sell her my book, first for her granddaughter, but she’s only nine, so a bit too young. What about her daughter? She only gets ebooks now. I gave the lady a bookmark so her daughter could buy the ebook online if she wants. Then she went on to tell me how many books she herself had. ‘Well, you’d better add mine to your collection, then,’ I said.

‘You know what?’ she replied. ‘I will!’

I can’t describe how relieved I felt, especially after pushing so hard. I felt terrible afterwards, even though she hadn’t seemed to mind. I hate it when people do that to me.

That’s my biggest problem with this kind of thing. I don’t want people to see me as a pushy salesperson. I don’t want to badger them into buying my book. I hate every minute of it. Sure, if they’re interested, that’s great, but to hound them until they buy? That’s not me.

I have another book signing this Saturday. It’s at a bookstore in a major shopping centre. They usually get quite busy in there, so hopefully I will have more luck. I do hope I don’t have to sell quite so hard, though, because it’s not always easy to sell when you are cringing inside.

We all have stories inside us … but will people listen to them?

In addition to being an author, I also work as an editor. This can be both rewarding and frustrating. It’s rewarding because I can discover new books and marvel at the ingenuity of the writer. It’s frustrating because, even in the cases of those new discoveries, I usually read books when they’re at their worst – in need of a professional edit.

One of the more frustrating things is having to tell some people that finding a market for their book will be difficult. This is usually the case with biographies and memoirs. Many people feel, deservedly in many cases, that the story of their journey through life is something that will uplift others and help them in theirs, but the sad truth is, unless you’re famous or have some kind of following, most people won’t be interested, and therefore most publishers won’t be either.

Sometimes there’s hope for the story, especially if it has a historical setting, like World War II or details a struggle with a serious illness. Those kind of books do have a market that publishers can aim at, but the sad truth is, most of our stories will not be considered safe enough bets for a publisher to risk it.

It breaks my heart, especially if I can see the potential in the story, but it is a lot to ask a publisher to risk thousands of their dollars in setting up a book and marketing it in the hope of making sales, so I do understand why they are often reluctant to do it, but I think a lot of great stories are passed over because no one dares to take that risk.