William Greenleaf's Blog, page 52

Who's the Boss – You or the Plot?

When I first started helping other writers more than twenty years ago, I thought I knew everything there was to know about writing a novel. For example, I thought I knew the absolute right way to develop a solid plot. I had, after all, written several successful novels. And I had written each novel in four easy steps:

Dream up a hot new story idea that's big enough for a novel.
Create the characters and work out the movements of the plot in fine detail, culminating in a scene-by-scene outline.
Write a first draft, following the scene-by-scene outline.
Tweak the story and characters as needed and edit into a final draft.

Okay, so I was kidding about the "easy steps" part. None of those steps turned out to be particularly easy. But they eventually resulted in completed novels that were accepted by my publisher. So with the self-assurance of youth, I thought I had it all figured out.

I started teaching creative writing at the local community center and soon became an instructor in the Writer's Digest Novel Writing Workshop. Plotting was one of the workshop topics, and I was pleased to see that Writer's Digest School also believed in the importance of working out a detailed plot as one of the first steps in writing a novel. It worked well for many of my students who had been struggling to get their first novels off the ground.

It made (and still does) perfect sense to me. When planning a driving trip, shouldn't you first look at a roadmap and decide what route you'll take, what towns you'll be driving through and where you'll turn onto new highways? To me, following a scene-by-scene outline when writing a novel is like following a detailed roadmap. If I know that Kyle and Patrick are going to have a big fight in Scene #26, and that Patrick is going to join a motorcycle gang in Scene #40 and get killed in a shoot-out with a rival gang in Scene #48, then I can construct events, build character motivations, and drive the plot toward those important turning points. If I don't know where the story is going . . . well, how can I get there?

As I said, it makes perfect sense to me. But over the years I got to know other successful novelists and realized that they don't all follow my "four easy steps" formula for success. Many novelists don't work from a detailed outline at all. They have a general idea of where they're going, and they let the story pick the route.

Stephen King feels strongly that it's a mistake to work out the plot before you start writing. He talks about that in his autobiographical book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. (This is a great book, and you should read it. A 10th Anniversary edition was published this year.) He also mentions his allergy to plotting in his 2005 Introduction to a re-issue of 'Salem's Lot:

Writing controlled fiction is called plotting. Buckling your seatbelt and letting the story take over, however, is called storytelling. Storytelling is as natural as breathing. Plotting is the literary version of artificial respiration.

Alfred Bester, whose science fiction novels I enjoyed as a young boy, put it even more succinctly: "The book's the boss."

I've tried writing a novel without a detailed outline, and for me it doesn't work to let the book be the boss. For whatever reason, I need that outline to keep my story on track. But it's hard to argue with the success of storytellers like Alfred Bester and Stephen King. I have a feeling that if they tried to force their writing to follow a detailed outline, their stories would suffer.

I remain convinced, however, that most writers trying to break in with their first novels will be more likely to succeed if they plan their novels carefully before they start writing, including the development of a scene-by-scene outline. I've known so many writers who, like me, found their storylines wandering aimlessly without an outline. But in my online novel writing workshop, I no longer require that my students develop a scene-by-scene outline. If they want to do so, great. If they choose to go with a more general story summary, I'm cool with that, too.

If you're trying to break into this business with your first novel, here's my advice about plotting: Try whatever appeals to you. If you like plotting out your story in intricate detail, do it that way and see if it works. If the thought of detailed plotting makes you nauseous, then try working from a general idea and see where the story goes. With a little trial-and-error, you'll find out which approach works best for you. And at the end of the day you can sing along with Frank: "I did it my way . . . "

Questions about this topic? Call me at 505-796-6895 or send me an email at william@wgreenleaf.com. I'm in my office most weekdays from 9 to 5.

Literary Agents – the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Yesterday morning started with a phone call from a client.

"Great news!" blurted the voice at the other end of the line. "I've found an agent!"

The caller was Bethany, a young woman who sent her mystery novel to me for an evaluation a few weeks ago. Bethany is a good writer, and her novel has real potential. I could see that the plot needed some minor tweaking, and it was clear that Bethany had the necessary skills to do the work herself with some guidance. So I told her what needed to be done, and I sent her a list of literary agents who would be right for her book.

"That's wonderful!" I exclaimed, almost as excited as she was. "Who is it?"

She told me.

I winced. Then I frowned, confused. "Was he on that list I gave you?"

"Well . . . no," she admitted. "I found him on the Internet."

I had to give Bethany the bad news: The agent who had agreed to handle her book was a crook. She was crushed. I felt like a jerk by the time we ended our conversation. Bethany's day had started with sunshine and gladness, and I had rained on her parade.

And all before my morning coffee.

~~~

If you hope to sell your book to a large commercial publisher, your first task is to find a competent, ethical literary agent. The agent will know which publishers are most likely to want a book like yours, and he or she will know how to negotiate the best publishing contract for you – i.e., the agent will make sure you get a fair advance while holding onto important subsidiary rights. Many large commercial publishers won't even accept manuscripts directly from authors, insisting that manuscript submissions come through literary agents.

Thus we come to your first major hurdle: the need to convince a literary agent to represent your book. It can be a real challenge, and it's made even more difficult by the fact that there are a lot of so-called "agents" who seem to be obsessed with finding new and clever ways to scam writers.

So how can you tell if the literary agent offering to represent your book is legit? Glad you asked. Here are a few red flags:

1. The agent offers to represent your book without reading it. No legitimate agent would ever do that.

2. The agent says he or she likes your book but wants you to have someone else evaluate it before making a final decision. Does that really make sense? No, but I know of an agency who has fleeced hundreds (probably thousands) of writers using that scam.

3. The agent won't give you his or her phone number for direct communications. Real agents make themselves available to their clients and talk to them frequently.

4. The agent won't agree to forward responses from publishers who have made a decision about your manuscript. Agents who aren't legit rarely receive responses from publishers, and often don't even submit manuscripts to publishers. A real agent will get responses from publishers, whether positive or negative, and forward those responses to their clients.

5. The agent charges up-front fees. Unlike independent writers and editors, literary agents work on commission. They get paid when they sell your book. If an agent asks for money up front, no matter what they call it (management fee, reading fee, reimbursement for expenses), don't fall for it. Cross the agent off your list and move on to the next one.

For a more in-depth discussion of literary agents, visit literary-agents-information.com.

Questions about this topic? Call me at 505-796-6895 or send me an email at william@wgreenleaf.com. I'm in my office most weekdays from 9 to 5.

The Rush to Publish

Today's topic: The rush to publish.

Today's lesson: Don't do it.

I'm talking about self-publishing vs. traditional commercial publishing. It's a question I get frequently, and it generally goes something like this: "Why should I go through the long, painful process of convincing a traditional publisher like Random House or HarperCollins to publish my book — a process that can take a year or more — when I can pay Dorrance or iUniverse a modest sum and they'll publish my book within a few weeks?"

Here's the answer in a nutshell: Book sales.

Self-publishing firms like Dorrance and iUniverse do a good job of printing books, but they aren't so hot at selling them. That's because most people in this business — book reviewers, bookstore chains, and large independent book distributors — don't pay much attention to self-published books. Thousands of self-published books come out each month. Book reviewers and booksellers know that these publishers will print anything as long as the author's check clears the bank, so there's little reward for anyone brave enough to trudge through those thousands of books looking for one that has real merit.

If your book is published by a respected traditional publisher like Random House or HarperCollins, people in the business will sit up and take notice. They know that these firms won't publish a book unless they believe it will appeal to a large audience of readers. And gaining the notice of people like serious reviewers and booksellers is what generates book sales. Sales for titles published through POD (print-on-demand) publishers, the largest and fastest growing form of self-publishing, average fewer than 200 copies. If you go this route, most of your book sales will be to friends and relatives. In comparison, if your book is published by a large traditional publisher, you can expect sales of tens of thousands of copies, or possibly in the hundreds of thousands.

Taking the traditional route can, indeed, be a long, painful process. Many of the large commercial publishers won't even accept manuscripts directly from authors, which means that first you'll have to convince a literary agent to handle your book. (Finding a good literary agent can be like walking through a minefield — but we'll save that for later.) Most of today's bestselling authors, including Stephen King and John Grisham, faced rejection after rejection before breaking into print the old-fashioned way. Holding steady to this course takes a thick skin, a good supply of perseverance, and a great deal of faith in yourself and your book.

It's tempting to take the easy way out, especially after you've received twenty or thirty rejections. Dorrance or AuthorHouse or iUniverse will be delighted to publish your book. For some authors, that may be their only option. Let's face it — not everyone has the skill to write a book that will meet the threshold of publishers like Random House or HarperCollins.

But is self-publishing the right option for you? Not if your book has real commercial potential. Not if your goal is to launch a writing career. Don't make the mistake of rushing to publish, of tossing your book into the mass of self-published books where it will be ignored. Instead, make sure your book is as good as it can be, spend some time learning about literary agents and traditional publishers, and jump into the fray with confidence that you, too, might become the next King or Grisham. After all, somebody has to!

Questions about this topic? Call me at 505-796-6895 or send me an email at william@wgreenleaf.com. I'm in my office most weekdays from 9 to 5.

Welcome to My Blog

If you're writing a book, or if you've written a book and want to have it published, this blog is for you.

But first, a little about me. I'm a novelist, freelance editor, book doctor, and ghostwriter. I've written five novels that have been published under my own name, with a sixth scheduled for release in December. For more than twenty years I've also been helping other writers get their first books published. Those books have included mainstream novels, suspense thrillers, historical novels, mystery novels, science fiction, horror, chick lit, and other genres as well as autobiographies, memoirs, exposés, and other nonfiction books. I'm a member of The Author's Guild and Editorial Freelancers Association.

The world of book publishing can be a little scary if you're facing it for the first time. There are hundreds of book publishers, and they come in all shapes and sizes — traditional commercial publishers, subsidy publishers, and print-on-demand publishers. And you'll need a literary agent to get your foot in the door of many commercial publishers. How can you find the right agent and publisher for your book? And how can you avoid getting sucked into a scam in the process?

If all this makes your brain hurt, then you know how I felt when I finished my first novel and started looking for a publisher. A few decades ago I was in the same place you're at right now: standing at a threshold and gazing into a room full of murky shadows.

I remember how that felt, and it's why I decided to start this blog for authors who are writing, or have written, their first book.

In future blog posts I'll talk about book publishing, literary agents, copyright issues, and other topics that will help you break into this business with your first book. I'll also talk about the process of writing. If you're a novelist, you'll find advice on building stronger plots, creating memorable characters, and improving your narrative style. If you're writing your life story or other narrative nonfiction book, you'll find advice on techniques like narrative hook, content organization, and dramatic focus.

In other words, if you need help with a book, you'll find it here.

Questions about book writing or publishing? Ideas about topics you'd like to see me cover in my blog? Call me at 505-796-6895 or send me an email at william@wgreenleaf.com. I'm in my office most weekdays from 9 to 5.