Ten Tough-love Writing Lessons to Ease Your Journey
Ten tough-love lessons I wish I knew from the get-go. No, it wouldn’t have changed my choice to start writing seriously, but it would’ve cleared the path of many of the roots and stones I tripped over.
Writing fiction is an art. It takes ten-thousand hours to become proficient. Then many more hours to be good enough for publication. Think of picking up a violin for the first time. How long before you’re good enough to play in a symphony orchestra?
Literary agents want what acquiring editors want. Acquiring editors want what publishing committees want. Publishing committees want what booksellers want. Booksellers want what readers want. When readers get what they want, they buy. Writing fiction is a business.
A writer needs to follow the rules of story-telling to become skilled enough to transcend the rules and create art.
The first sentence is the most important part of a book. Hook the reader with something unusual or profound. The rest of the paragraph holds the reader with a kick-ass protagonist grounded in an interesting location. Of course, there are other ways to start a novel, because it’s an art.
The inciting incident should come by the first 10% or so of the story. This was a doozey to learn when, in my first novel, the inciting incident came after a hundred pages.
Keep the movie rolling in the reader’s head. Focus on the images you’re trying to project and keep them smooth and flowing. As soon as the reader sees the words, you risk losing them.
Story telling that grabs, holds, and moves the reader is paramount. It’s both a science and an art. Start with your own experiences, add your expertise in the craft of writing, and pay attention to reader psychology. Voila, a great novel.
Before querying one manuscript, be drafting another. When rejections roll in for the first, it’s so much easier on the mental health to be deep into the second.
Statistically it’s usually your third manuscript that gets the agent and your fourth manuscript that gets the book deal. But that was before COVID. Now it’s probably harder.
Canada has its own literary industry full of small and medium presses whose modus operandi is to publish Canadian voices instead of earning huge profits. Writers can submit their own manuscripts, no need for an agent. Are you blessedly Canadian? Here you go: https://publishers.ca/our-members/
Please, tell me about your tough-love writing lessons in the comments. I’m curious.
Chef's kiss. No notes. ;)
Thanks for this Sylvia. Sage insights, for sure!