I recently read a newsletter from Mark Dawson, the guru of self-publishing, in which he was plugging his latest novel. He’d apparently written the first third, and was about to analyse what he’d written, and decide how the story was going to pan out. Then, he said, it wouldn’t take long to finish. When I read that, I wondered how many new novelists were bemused: Eh, what? He wrote the first third of a novel without a synopsis? No script? No sense of direction?
How exactly to mentor a writer is a tricky question, as writers, by their very nature, resist subjection to instruction, but if you want to gain a novelist’s insight into the craft, and some tools and tips that have served me well, read on. At the end of this article, you will find a link to our JM Agency mentoring service, where the difference between an editor and a copy-editor is also explained.
Unlocking a protagonist’s character
I was quite excited to hear his writing ethic, because that’s how I work. I start out with the vaguest of plot ideas, a wisp of genre, and a potential resolution. The first step is to create a believable character, one who fits within the plot concept. I throw unedited words onto a page. I discover the potential character’s past, strengths, and weaknesses. The character’s immediate problem is, in essence, the novel’s conflict or raison d’etre. I have an end in mind, but my character and I discover the ‘middle bit’ together, that being the bulk of the novel.
Freeform writing
Writing freeform is sometimes termed ‘Writing by the Seat of your Pants’. When I mentioned this phrase to my professor, while doing a Writing MA at university, he was amused, thinking I’d just coined the term. He knew little about the world of commercial fiction. Writing Freeform can be whatever you want it to be. I write; some authors create a ‘concept’ or ‘brainstorming’ board. It doesn’t matter how you do this. It’s largely about the author, getting to ‘know’ the character and possible motivations/actions. If you don’t believe in your character, neither will the reader.
Getting to know the character is NOT a time-wasting exercise
In this initial exploration I might write thousands of words. If you’re thinking, that’s a waste of time; think again. In doing this, I am plotting. A good plot is not created by the author inventing a series of scenarios, and getting the main character to act them out. A plot is created by your character’s motivation, while he or she is determining how to resolve the problem.
Dismantle the scaffolding
For me, writing in this unchanneled way sometimes leads into elements of story I hadn’t thought of writing, one my character wants to tell; because by now this character has become a real person in my mind. That first piece of writing is the ‘scaffolding’ on which the story will be built. At some point, I think, Ha! This is where my story really starts, at which point, the scaffolding is dismantled, leaving a mere hint of the solid foundation as I walk my character onto the stage.
Backstory
That first piece of writing might be an unpublishable word-dump in its initial state. An ‘infodump’ opening to the character’s past is not, though, a good way to start a story. But for the author it’s a door into the character’s past, creating a backstory that can be used in snippets throughout the work to add depth. A past is key to creating a character who doesn’t skate superficially over a pre-determined story outline. Everyone has history. It’s what makes us who we are. Without a history, your fictional character has materialised out of thin air, and is likely to remain unsubstantial.
The important first page
When an editor rejects a story on the first few pages, it’s not just about determining good from bad writing. Recently I’ve seen too many self-published novels that open with pages of (yawn) scaffolding, and the story begins to take off around chapter three. Many readers wouldn’t get that far. The story should open with the main character almost immediately in a state of conflict. When the opening of the novel is scaffolding as opposed to story, good editors will recognise immediately that the author hasn’t yet perfected the craft. They won’t say, Hey, this author has potential, I’ll just advise her/him how to make it better. It’s not their job.
But it is ours
When it comes to editors at publishing houses and agencies, if you open with scaffolding, you’re gone. But when the JM Agency receives a book, we always read to the end, because that is our job. Mentoring and developmental editing provided by publishing consultants provides essential direction for authors at an early stage of their career. Highlighting the author’s own self-developmental requirements can prevent so much heartache.
Cut to the Chase
Readers expect you to cut to the chase, to open right where the action starts. It doesn’t have to be an action sequence, per se. But it does have to be something that makes the reader wonder how on earth the character can possibly climb out of the sinkhole. (Note I say how the character gets himself out, not how the author pulls him out). If you don’t engage your readers in the first chapter, if not the opening page, you’ve lost them. Apparently, attention span is a thing of the past, particularly with commercial fiction.
No synopsis, no tightrope
Writing a detailed synopsis, chapter by chapter, is like putting the creative spirit on a tightrope and telling it not to fall off. Early in my writing career, I discovered that if I wrote a story outline too soon, I had to keep cattle-prodding the characters back in line, when I should have listened to them telling me what they would do in any given situation, if only I’d let them get on with it. Characters need to be gently shunted in the right direction, of course, but if you have to use the cattle prod, then somewhere, quite a way back, you have allowed your story to drift off-track.
Don’t be afraid to go back and rewrite. Don’t be afraid of wasting your precious words; there are plenty more. Casting whole tranches of work aside is a professional decision, and the more you write, the more experience will cut in, letting you know sooner whether you’ve gone off script by accident, or whether your subconscious is prompting you towards a different, maybe better, path.
A little personal anecdote, before you go
Recently I sent a proposal for a novel to an editor at Bookoutre. She loved it, but asked, could I just tweak it a little? She wanted a subtle romance element to underpin the story… I hadn’t intended to include a love interest at all. The basic premise was that of a woman breaking free from a situation of ‘coercive control’, and when a woman finds the courage to run from a dominating husband, I think she would be wary of trusting another guy so soon.
However, two draft proposals later, my story had morphed from Women’s Fiction into a Psychological Thriller. This is where the commercial side of writing tussles with the creative imperative. Mainstream publishers want books in genres that are selling (well-written or not), and genre tags are marketing tools that assist them to target the right readers.
So, my parting words are: learn the art and the craft, find your own writing voice, but remember that publishing is a business. It may be necessary to compromise when publication is the goal.
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Susan Lewando holds an MA in Creative Writing from University College Cork and has held the role of Writing Tutor at the London School of Journalism for many years. She is the author of of numerous books across multiple genres, including ‘Waymarks for Authors‘, an informative and philosophical introduction to writing, creativity and the publishing industry. In addition to her expertise as an editor and typsescript analyst, she advises JM Agency clients on online publishing and distribution. If you would like to be mentored by Sue, contact us directly to arrange an initial consultation.