I happened upon a blog entry the other day that asked why J.K. Rowling hadn’t self-published her new crime books. The blogger went on at great length to illustrate the advantages Rowling could have enjoyed if only she had hired her own editor, publicist and so on. The decision of the famous author, evidently, was too inexplicable and wrong-headed to be believed.
Leaving aside the fact that the Amazon-Hatchett incited war between the published and the self-published has become so heated that each side is no longer able (sorry – make that willing) to hear what the other is saying, there’s a serious point that is being missed here, which is this: any time a writer has to spend turning her manuscript into a successful book is time that could better have been spent writing.
I’ll leave it to a later day to expand on that observation, because the point I want to make today is a bit more subtle: every hour self-published authors spend reading about how to be successfully self-published and how to become more effective at marketing is an hour that could have been better spent learning how to be a better writer. And that’s equally regrettable.
As a quick check to see whether that point might be relevant to you, reflect for a moment on the blogs you follow and the books you read that relate to your vocation or avocation as a writer. What percentage of them focus mostly or entirely on the trade as compared to the craft? If you’re like me, the answer is that the percentage is too high.
I’ve been trying to reverse that disparity lately, and it’s surprisingly easy to do. I walked past a used book store supporting a public library yesterday and picked up a bag of books on writing I’d not yet read for $10. I’ll skim and read them to look for the good stuff, and then contribute them back to the same store, saving any that merit future reference.
I’ve also begun paying more attention to the many blogs that provide really useful guidance – not just theoretical, but also very directed, such as this one I happened upon today, called Flogging the Quill. It’s one of several offering to critique the first page of an author’s book (another is Under the Microscope), and inviting readers to offer their helpful criticism as well. The first page (and chapter that follows) that’s posted there at the moment is really very good, by the way.
But the more general ones can be extremely useful as well, and also offer an almost embarrassingly shaming alternative to the Twitterverse version of writing advice. You know the kind I mean – the “10 Rules You Must Follow To Achieve Writing Success NOW!” variety, that runs one screen’s worth of obvious truisms, which are then endlessly retweeted by those selling promotional services until the echo chamber effect becomes too deafening to bear.
That’s what drove me back to my own site just now, to share an excellent example of the good kind of blog post, called (ironically enough) Top Ten Writing Mistakes Editors See Every Day. It’s not only very useful, but it’s beautifully written as well, offering a splendid example of that enviably lucid presentation that seems to be the hallmark of someone that’s enjoyed an English classical education.
Indeed, the author (a creative writing professor from East Anglia and also a vetter of unsolicited manuscripts) notes at the beginning of the piece that excellent writing is a prerequisite standard to be met before the rules themselves matter. To that same end, I would offer that every author should first learn to write as well as a professional, and not waste their time flogging the marketing machine until they have achieved that goal.
The entire post is more than worth your while to read, but here are a few gems to whet your appetite:
On “Unplanned Characters and Obvious Self-Portraits:”
…Fictional characters can grow out of stories, or stories can grow out of characters, but either way if you look at successful examples then you’ll realise that you understand what drives them, while a decent plot will place barriers in the way of whatever goal they wish to achieve or crisis they must overcome. Good characters feel like they’re us, and you achieve this by creating a credible, well-researched and meticulously planned life for them, and then not showing all of it in the pages of your book.
On “Bad Dialogue and Too Much of It:”
Good dialogue is a function of good character creation. If you put the hours in on your character biography then, eventually, they will start to talk to you. It can take a while to tune in, a bit like channelling a spirit, and you’ll have to redraft some dialogue scenes many times to get them right, but the individual voices will come with practice and patience….
The biggest mistake I see in dialogue, however, is the quantity. Even though novelists have all the tricks and tools of narrative prose available to them, many still insist on writing screenplays by mistake. It’s as if we all watch so much film and TV that when we block out a scene we imagine it not as real life or units of a narrative, but as a scene in a movie, when character is revealed only through what they say and do in front of the camera. Break it up and cut it back. Worry about the film version after you make the bestseller list.
On the inability to distinguish between story and plot:
Failure to recognise this basic conceptual distinction can lead to novels that are as rambling and digressive as a family anecdote related by your grandmother at Christmas; the real story does not start for several hundred pages, if at all, while similarly ending only when the protagonist dies of old age. If you have that much good material, consider a trilogy, because most publishers will not touch a novel by an unknown author over an absolute maximum of 100,000 words.
There’s much more, all equally good, that follows (Mistake #9, by the way, is simply summarized as “Bad Sex”), so do give it a read. That link again? Why, here it is and enjoy.
Read this last night, and didn’t want to try and comment via my phone half asleep in bed (smiles).
It’s a shame about the issue about writers like Rowling being singled out about going another route with her writing. I think, to their credit, several prominent self-published writers, like Joe Konrath, often say if the deal is good enough, the terms to one’s suiting, then, having a publisher would make sense for that person.
Obviously, in Ms Rowling’s case, having movies being made regularly from her series, being involved with movie studios, and her publisher also being involved with movie studios, there’s a synergy; and she’s made her own informed decision which road is best for her.
Getting past all that, I thought the gist of the article, writing before marketing, is spot on. For my own part, I’ve often thought I was writing as well as I could, and did do some marketing, only to find out I still had lots of improvement ahead of me (smiles). Luckily what marketing I could do was either of the free sort, or very little cost. Except in terms of time. So again your point. Writing is the thing to key on first.
Glad you mentioned Flogging the Quill. I’ve tried it with one of my first pages, and felt the feedback was invaluable. And kinda fun! I’d highly recommend trying a page of one’s work on it. Plus read some of the many examples of pages already critiqued, including readers comments. I felt I learned almost as much reading those also.
Under the Microscope I wasn’t aware of. Will have give it a try!
Regarding the post “Top Ten Writing Mistakes Editors See Every Day,” even more ironically, I had just read an excellent article from C S Lakin, “Why Cinematic Technique Is Essential for Novelists” ( http://www.livewritethrive.com/2014/10/13/why-cinematic-technique-is-essential-for-novelists/ ).
I think what’s wonderful about the array of advice and learning material that abounds for writing now-a-days, is similar to the initial crux of your article : being able to choose and define the creative route each individual takes.
Thanks so much Andrew, take care (smiles).
And thank you, Adan, as I learned about Flogging the Quill from your site (so it’s more than fitting that I could return the favor by exposing you to Under the Microscope).
I’ve come to believe, by the way, that the best reason for a writer to have a blog is not to connect with potential readers, but with other writers. There’s so much to learn and share, and no one is likely to stumble on all of it (especially when, ahem, they have their writing to work on).
Looking forward to the launch of your book next week.
Best,
Andy
“There’s so much to learn and share, and no one is likely to stumble on all of it (especially when, ahem, they have their writing to work on).” – ain’t “that” the truth (smiles).
I don’t think I’ve ever come across a post and found myself in 100% agreement. I have now! Such a great job, Andrew. Heartfelt thanks, as ever.
You’re too kind, Marcus, but thanks all the same. Unfortunately, and notwithstanding what I’ve just written, ,it appears that promotion is the curse of the writing class, and there’s not much to be done about it beyond trying to find the right balance.
Great points! Though, we still think that she could have learned a lot about her writing through criticism uninfluenced by her famous name (by keeping her pen name a secret (by having more control over the process)). Her whole point in using “Robert Galbraith” was undermined when the pen name leaked. Otherwise, she could have just used “J.K. Rowling” to keep writing and becoming that “better author” that you speak of.
Reblogged this on Further Annotations and commented:
Great points! Though, we still think that J.K. Rowling could have learned a lot about her writing through criticism uninfluenced by her famous name (by keeping her pen name a secret (by having more control over the process)). Her whole point in using “Robert Galbraith” was undermined when the pen name leaked. Otherwise, she could have just used “J.K. Rowling” to keep writing and becoming that “better author” that he speaks of.
Interesting point about keeping her name secret from her editors (and thanks for reblogging). You’re right, I expect that some editors would react in different ways, which could range widely, from being deferential to being hypercritical to having suppositions or biases about what Rowling’s writing might suffer from, given how long she wrote in a different style, for a different audience.
Thanks for this, Andrew. You are right; it’s too easy to lose writing time when going down the self publishing route. You have given me much food for thought, as well as providing such a useful link.
Thanks, Julia. Of course, I guess I should own up to the fact that when I’m blogging I’m not working on my current book. Hmmm
Thank you for this. Some brilliant insights on the craft. In a perfect world, publishing is done by publishers, and writers write.
As a self-published author under two names, I can say someone like JK Rowling doesn’t have the challenges an outsider does. She’s going to get the best cover art. She’s going to get the best editing and proofreading. She’s going to get the best advance and release promotion and distribution.These are givens. For an unknown, none of those are true. We have to roll our own or it’s just not going to happen. I keep meeting disillusioned one-time “signed” authors whose projects were taken on, given short-shrift, neglected, then shelved. Like the guy I wrote about here: http://billlabrie.com/2014/09/29/a-note-on-self-publishing/
The traditional pub route for most new authors just doesn’t work, and anyone who thinks it still does is still living in 1974.
Thanks for the comment, and it does seem incredible how badly publishers are alienating authors these days – the horror stories seem to be endless. And there doesn’t seem to be any alternative, at present, for an author to anything other than be their own promotional force as well as the production staff.
The question that I hope will be answered soon (in the affirmative) is that someone will come along to do a worthwhile job of promoting for authors. I’m not optimistic on that front, either, but I did a post recently where I talked about what I think such a service could look like. You can find it here: http://updegrove.wordpress.com/2014/07/31/whats-next-for-self-publishing-the-marketing-agent/