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Addressing the Unanswerable Questions About Writing A Novel

Wherein we address the Craft-to-Art Gap

(Apologies for my absence. I should have filled the gap with guest posts from my wonderful Storyfix partners, but I fumbled that as I focused on a new non-fiction project, which I am excited to share with you in a couple of weeks.

As for today’s post… I return with a bit of a rant. Forgive the blood coming out of my forehead on this one.)

 

I am quietly observant of several online forums composed of novelists-in-waiting, a few of them on LinkedIn, which publishes a list of “20 Essential Groups for New writers.” One of which is the focus of today’s post.

I could pick any of them to make my point today, because they are all basically the same.

This is where you get new writers telling other new writers what they should know.

What they should and should not do. Often with an authoritative context. Too often.

Like the guy who proudly announced, “I don’t plan my stories. That doesn’t work. It robs the entire process of creativity.”

Okay folks, now we know.

A few days ago a new writer posted a generalized plea for help – a very common context on these sites – that went something like this: “I’m writing my first novel, and I need to know how to start and what to write, and how to get it published.”

I know… right?

There were well over two dozen responses, from fellow new writers who seemed to know these answers. Here’s one of them:

Just start writing until you finish. Don’t stop to correct anything. Then go back and fix what needs fixing.

Over half of the comments echoed this.

Because this is what new writers believe. And say to each other.

Ah, the secret of the writing process, at last.

To which I quietly ask… how will this guy know what needs fixing, other than those typos?

Truth is, there is a time in the process for this crash-and-burn drafting, but it is definitely not the way to begin.

Here’s another perfectly normal question:

I have a captivating story and concept in my mind and have started working on writing chapters for the same, however, since I am a first time fiction author, could any of the experienced authors here share your thoughts on the things to consider while writing a fiction novel and also some enlightenment on approaching publishers at the end of this?

He’s writing a fiction novel.

This is all you need to know about the level of discourse on these forums.

As for my response – which I didn’t post; I never post on these things, I would spend half my day addressing 101-level issues — I would start with this: never, ever, as long as you breathing, refer to your book as a “fiction novel.” That’s like saying pasta spaghetti. Or winged airplane. Or singing vocalist. Yeah, there is something informally referred to as a non-fiction novel, but that’s the only time you need to lead with a qualifier.

Don’t sound like a rookie that is on Day 1 of the journey. Even if you are one.

The longest response among the 29 offered from the membership was about 75 words.

I have written 200,000 words on the subject over three #1 (Amazon niche) bestselling craft books, and over 1000 blog posts, many of which boil down addressing this and similar questions. What’s-the-meaning-of-life type questions.  Because that’s what it takes to cover the scope of that arena.

My friends Art Holcomb and James Scott Bell and Randy Ingermanson and C.S. Lakin and K.M. Weiland and Jennifer Blanchard and many others have done the same.

And yet, to some extent this question remains unanswerable.

Many of those 29 responses were on point, including the one that suggested it was way too soon to be worrying about how you plan to publish. Which is counter to what someone else said in recommending the the self-publishing route.

Because of course, you can throw anything you want out there on that basis, the purest of utter crap if you desire, and good things will surely happen.

To which I say… the bar for success is no lower in self-published venues that it is at Random House. The very few monster self-published home runs that emerge – like The Martian – are every bit as good as what the Big 5 publishers put out, so that becomes the comparative standard.

I stay off the forums because I usually end up in a pissing match. Some new writers don’t want to hear anything that smacks of mentoring. Because this is high art, damn it, and suffering isn’t optional and there are no rules.

Watch the comments section here. They’ll show up, I promise.

The Craft-to-Art Gap

I’ve noticed something connected to this conversation among the reviews of my three writing books.  Aside from the people that simply don’t like my writing – and there is a grouchy network of them, they attack me as if I’ve insulted their daughter on prom night – there are writers who claim I leave out the how.

I wrote an entire book on the howStory Fix: Transform Your Novel from Broken to Brilliant. It is cover-to-cover about the how… and yet, some readers missed it.

Because it’s complicated.

Because you have to be able to wrap your head around it.

One guy assaulted me for using “big words.” Yeah, like premise and resolution and set-up and first plot point. Monster, M.I.T kind of words.

They miss it, because it isn’t math. It is story sense. Story sense is the sum of all the craft you can eat at the workshop buffet, digested on your terms.

Nelson Demille can tell you why his books are bestsellers. So can I: Because he taps into a patriotic context, and delivers a hero that is both witty, clever and courageous with high-stakes drama.

Michael Connelly can tell you why he’s the absolute king of the police procedural. Because we don’t just like Harry Bosch, we admire him, we want to be him. Connelly puts him into highly dangerous, empathetic situations, often connected to big real life issues, with emotionally-resonant stakes.

Another big word there: emotionally-resonant.

Oh, that’s it. So how do I DO that?

But how do you make it witty?

What does clever mean and how do I DO it?

What do you mean by context? You use that word over and over, I had to put the book down. You suck.

I tell people, here and in my books, to strive for a conceptually-driven premise. Along with that comes a clear differentiation between concept and premise.

More big words and crazy confusing ideas. Concept and premise are different? How can that be?

People ask me how to find a conceptually-driven-premise. Rather than studying the criteria for that, and the examples of that — which is precisely how you get there — they want the gold ring UPS’d to them.

You get to decide what is conceptual. You are stuck with… you. If you skip over the criteria and examples, that’s on you, too.

Or this 1-star review pearl: Larry is very confident that his system works where others fail, except that he really doesn’t know how to use the word physics. Hint: It’s not the plural of physic.

Maybe, after looking up the word physics (because it’s in the title of the book), he would understand that, despite the fact that I never once, not even with a typo, used the word “physic,” and that it is applied as a metaphoric reference to story forces.

A massive leap, that. Real Mensa stuff.

The bottom line is right there, in that sentence: understand.

Our entire journey through craft and the assault toward the summit along the learning curve, is simply to do that. To understand.

Because when you do understand, when you get that story sense is something that exceeds the sum of the craft parts that will lead you to it… only then will you be able to summon the inexplicable, unteachable and totally unique story sensibility that those famous authors command, and yet, cannot convey or explain any better than us lowly writing teachers who struggle to bring the word to the writing community…

… including the guy that doesn’t understand the word physics as he rails against me using it…

… including the guy who tells other writers to just sit down and write…

… including the guy who said in his review that I promise definitions but never deliver them… to which I responded that the definitions appear in little black boxes in the book, with the bolded word “Definition of…” in the subheader, and then I give the specific page numbers of those eleven key definitions… all of which was deleted by Amazon, which doesn’t want authors challenging clueless reviewers even when the response is merely the correction of faulty information.

Because the writer couldn’t wrap his head around it. Because this is supposed to be easy, to be fun. It’s just beginning, middle and end, right? What’s up with all those big words and principles and models?

James N. Frey said it best, right here on Storyfix a few years ago (click HERE to read that stellar post):

Writing is easy.  Just sit down and bleed from the forehead until you get something that works.

Thing is, too many writers don’t understand what bleed means in that context. Because it is an analogy, and analogies require a leap of logic and interpretation that is above many.

Or what works means, because other than the criteria for what works – which is precisely what the Story Fix book is all about – nobody can tell you how to get there.

Story sense isn’t a gift, it is a muscle.

Analogy alert… put on your sound-retardant headphones and think.

Sure, some are born with stronger muscles than others, but anyone can increase their muscular size and strength to some degree. Through hard work. Though the application of proven principles.

But even then, you need to know what the work is, what those principles are, and what it all means.

And in writing, that ends up being a minority subculture within the masses who are online talking about it.

I can point you toward the craft.

Many writing teachers can do that. Pick your teacher, pick your approach, pick your story modeling.

But you absolutely cannot cherry pick the principles and criteria that apply. They are universal. They are complex yet learnable.

Once learned, you and your resultant story sense are on your own. And thus we have explained why those who write critically and commercially successful fiction are defined as a low single-digit percentage of the “just write” crowd.

But like that donkey that you can lead to water but you can’t make drink… nobody can make you get it.

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28 Responses

  1. Hi Larry, Kerry, Mike L, and everyone else I am not as familiar with.

    I believe newbie writers are using the term “fiction writing” because that’s what some of the new writing gurus at Amazon are calling it. Mostly those who are still trying to figure out craft for themselves while selling their “How to” books on the subject. And what pains me is they are spinning their wheels on problems that have had legitimate craft solutions around for decades.

    So we now have an entire generation trying to reinvent the wheel. The term “professional” is suddenly a word used very liberally because throwing a self help book on Amazon gives people instant credibility with all who aren’t in the know. We all start out deaf, dumb and blind to craft–as Mike L has pointed out. Much of learning is trial and error and picking up knowledge along the way. Let’s face it, there’s a lot of information directed at the beginner, books repeating the same 101 answers. If it were easy, everyone would be able to make money at it. Unfortunately, that’s what many up-and-comers want, easy. A crash course that tells them how to write their novel two minutes ago, yesterday. There’s also a sense of entitlement that goes along with that attitude that’s just rediculous sometimes. They are all passing around the same wormy apple and stating it’s the only fruit in the land. At least, the only one they need to become a successful writer. And why not? The world owes them that much, right?

    Another point I find interesting is that no matter what walk of life people come from, they believe writing can be done using the same rules they’ve learned in whatever other field they are coming out of. I think if you have a sense of business, worked an effective business model in some other line of work, that can be helpful if it comes to the business end of marketing and publishing, but can you calculate words like stats and become a better writer? I think a writer has to wear several different hats, but also needs to know when and where to wear each of them.

  2. We should have a 12 step program for rookie writers.

    What’s the addiction? Answer: being offended when anyone tells them they need to know specific skills and concepts in order to, in this case, produce a fully functional and great–novel.

    Today’s human is offended when anyone tells them that they’re not the hero they think they are, they’re not as smart as they think they are, they’re just not–like they think they are.

    People are addicted to the fantasy that they are “okay” just as they are.

    However, life is about going through the hero’s journey to learn that what was believed to be okay, was actually the problem, and after dealing with the adversarial forces that kept them in the dark–they fought back, and learned how to become authentic. That being real means having the will to act even if you are afraid. But nobody chases the dragon without learning how to defeat it first.

    Addicts have to face the facts that they are addicted to a behavior, a mindset, that has created their current reality. Our so called “society” has conditioned us to give up and go along with the flow. To conform. Regarding writing, the addict wants to believe that they just have to type words that LOOK similar to what they read. That’s it. Anyone can do it.

    You know what’s ironic? People who don’t know how to perform a skill taking offence and giving you resistance, when they don’t even know what they’re talking about.

    People today would take offense when Bruce Lee told them the reason the bully beat them up was because they were too lazy to learn how to defend themselves.

    People fight like they write. Without any knowledge or training. But unlike MMA fighting, they’ll never tell you to just get in a fight and learn it as you go along.

    Why is that?

      1. You’re welcome, Larry, my go-get’m friend, charging at the dragons, having read up on them and everything. But still the naysayers say “dragon hunters” are negative, too violent, and we should just all get along, no matter what the “others” do.

        Until the dragon takes their child away.

        This metaphorical dragon is addiction, to the things we choose not to see, even at our own demise. The TV show Mom is all about this, and so was the show Dexter.

        A footnote: my life didn’t change one bit when I got enlightenment that I was an idiot, a fool, and an arrogant asshole. Very hard pills to swallow. But I learned the truth. Since then, I try to be a better person. Even though the asshole shows his sarcastic face all too much. Apologies for that.

        I do go to the 12 steps for assholes, though. After you share, they tell you you’re still an asshole. The Rodney Dangerfield of therapy. (See Bill Burr).

  3. Writing a novel needs more than just a story. It needs creativity in a story. Like something that everyone goes crazy over. (Lord Of The Rings, Song Of Fire And Ice). It’s just that tiny spark that flares the thoughts to write a novel.

    http://bit.ly/29lvEDb This is a short but creative Halloween story that I read and inspired me to start my own novel on the lines. Really excited!

    1. Kyle – great to see you fire with your desire to write a great novel. I wish you much success, please let me know if there’s any way I can help you get there.

  4. Larry is absolutely correct in his points. It is the blind leading the blind a lot of times. But how do the blind see the light? Thru study and open minds. Like everyone else, I started with no clue how to write but I read a lot. Then I spent years reading every article I could on writing. Including Larry’s books–which are on par with what other successful authors teach.

    After so long, you hear the same things over and over and you learn them. I took many online and webinar courses to learn aspects I didn’t know. I freelance edited for years using knowledge I learned to help others. Now I ghostwrite and have 7 published highly rated books. I did this on my own with time and dedication to learn.

    There is no magic formula to follow. There are no big tricks that will shoot you to the top of best seller lists. It’s work and time. And I also have to say, a lot of writing is common sense.

  5. I’m self taught. rarely comment on line. however, these two paragraphs have taken two years of independent study and given me a polished nut to crack:
    Nelson Demille can tell you why his books are bestsellers. So can I: Because he taps into a patriotic context, and delivers a hero that is both witty, clever and courageous with high-stakes drama.

    Michael Connelly can tell you why he’s the absolute king of the police procedural. Because we don’t just like Harry Bosch, we admire him, we want to be him. Connelly puts him into highly dangerous, empathetic situations, often connected to big real life issues, with emotionally-resonant stakes.

    1. Jane – glad those paragraphs resonated with you. Here’s another one, it’s a definition of premise that serves as a story development checklist:

      A protagonist/hero whose life is interrupted, disrupted or leads toward… a specific problem, need or opportunity… launching a quest with a mission and a specific desired outcome, beginning with a response to the need or problem… for reasons (stakes) that compel the character to respond, then resolve the issue… in the face of opposition from an antagonistic force or person(s) with opposing goals and their own motivations… calling for higher and stronger responses and course of action… leading toward brilliant and courageous resolution resulting from the Hero’s decisions and actions… leading toward a specific outcome, returning the hero to a life that is contextually different than where the story began.

  6. Curtis – love the prodigal son comparison. Fits well here. (Gonna apply that to a current family issue, as well, so thanks for that: “Not much ol Dad could do for him but wait.” Awesome. Thanks for chipping in today.

  7. “… they want the gold ring UPS’d to them.” Well, everything else is sold on the basis of cheap, (excuse me, inexpensive), quick and easy. What you suggest here seems to indicate at least a four letter word…. work. Selling effort, ” it’s a muscle..” is a tough sell.

    When it comes to convincing others I’m more of the waiting father in the story of the prodigal son story. Until Jr. woke up in the hog pen and “came to himself,” not much ol Dad could do for him but wait. ( P.S. Some are so sure of the dark they refuse light even when it is piped to them through a straw.)

  8. Well, shucks, and here I thought it was going to be EASY! 🙂 After a million mistakes, I get it that I may never be famous or sell a boatload of books. I expect, however, to become a better storyteller, way more difficult than the “writing” bloggers would have one believe. Great post.

  9. It seems this is likely a widespread problem that concerns more than just us writers. -People giving one-line responses to something that can be covered in an entire book. Sure, after studying the craft, I personally find it good advice to sit your but in the chair and write! In context, it’s good advice to write that first draft without trying to edit your work as you go. But as a snippet, without knowing (at least a large part of) the big picture, it’s pretty useless information.

    What I usually tell new writers is this:
    Read these three books:
    Story Engineering,
    Save the Cat,
    Your First 50 Pages
    …and just now I’m adding “Finish Your Book in Three Drafts” by Horwitz

    And I direct them towards Jami Gold’s amazing structure spreadsheets:
    http://jamigold.com/for-writers/worksheets-for-writers/

    And although you might 100% agree, I advise that AFTER they’ve reviewed all this and put together a light structural outline, or a more detailed outline (personal preference)… that they should fast-draft their first book. Set a deadline and just get it done.

    The thing with the FIRST book is that many people will procrastinate so much on their first book that they never get it done (or it takes umpteen years). I believe it’s incredibly valuable to have FINISHED the first book — somehow you gain more understanding of the craft simply by finishing one book. Then the next book is SO much easier. Even re-writing your first book is easier to undertake once you’ve finished that first novel.

    To be clear, no, I don’t advise fast-drafting your first book without any craft study. The study of a few key books is what will allow you to have a more successful first book draft.

    And this is what I tell new writers.

    PS. I take insult to that – I’m a singing vocalist! 😉

  10. Not liking this post or the responses.

    Maybe it was different for you guys, but when I started trying to write fiction, I didn’t know jack shit about writing fiction.

    I wrote things like “frozen blizzard.” I asked questions like, “Where do I start?” I once submitted a short story printed out using a dot matrix printer. I was that clueless.

    I’m having a hard time understanding how any of us are in a position to look down our noses at the uninitiated. Maybe you guys arrived on the Anointed Writers Express. Me, I came up the hard way. Clueless, asking stupid questions and having the temerity to believe that anything I had to say was better than white noise.

    Real glad this wasn’t the first post I read on Story Fix. There probably wouldn’t have been a second. (Something to think about Larry. Is this post *really* about your mission?)

    1. I’m just going to throw this out there… I thought the main focus of this post was on the lightly-experienced authors are are giving poor, and even damaging advice to new writers. On top of it, I know many are just trying to sell their own weak self-help book on Amazon. It’s definitely a problem and a I see it all the time. Sometimes it’s at conferences, and I have to find the person later, as to not insult the advice-giver in front of them.

    2. Fair enough, Mike. The point, my intention, was to create an awareness of two things: the tendency of new writers, who seek counsel from other new writers, to believe what they hear from this is a true reflection of craft… and then, to point writers toward a higher bar.

      I truly value your participation here, and always find your input valuable. Just trying to help. And I’ll admit, when I hear a new writer talk about their “fiction novel,” it chaps my ass, because I empathize, knowing how far they have to go. If only they’ll dive in and listen in the right places, instead of those forums.

      1. Thanks for giving me room to express my dissent and letting me know I’m still in the club, as it were. I appreciate that.

        I’m also very glad to see you back on the boards. I was starting to get worried that you were done with Storyfix. Now, that *would* be a disaster.

        I have to admit the only forums I’m familiar with are on Facebook – and there’s only one there I actually like. Perhaps I should take a step back and take a look at the forums to which you are alluding specifically. What are they?

    3. If I may, I think you’re missing the point. Larry wasn’t bad-mouthing writers for wanting to learn. This post is about the writer who REFUSES to learn because it takes time, effort, and endless hours of study to get there. They’re looking for a short-cut where there is none. And asking fellow not-yet-published writers is a slippery slope. Those of us who truly remain a student of the craft (like the ones who left comments) know that. Those who don’t, will probably never gain their story sensibilities. It’s sad, and probably more than a little frustrating for people like Larry and Art and James Scott Bell who’ve dedicated their time and expertise to help the writing community. I think if you read this post again from THAT perspective, you might feel differently.

  11. Hi Larry,
    The people you’re describing are the white noise of publishing. People so clueless they’ll submit a “Fiction novel” manuscript about a “Freezing blizzard”.
    The average literary agent has to deal with this white noise nonsense about nine out of ten times a day. So maybe, just maybe ten out of one-hundred submissions get read past the first couple of pages. This is the clogged pipe of crazy I’m attempting to avoid. (We’ll find out)

    I’ve never understood how anyone can be involved in writing fiction and have to ask what they should write. That thinking is foreign to me. My book, my story, my hero, my city, I couldn’t write anything else. If Muse isn’t driving the bus, the F1 Ferrari, or the rocket ship, then you’re in trouble right out of the gate.

    I’m glad you’re hammering home that “The Martian” is hitting on all cylinders self-published or not, the book is there. Again, loved the paper clips. This is a lesson people have to grasp about major success and self published books, where there’s an even larger clogged pipe of mediocrity and white noise than the one mentioned above..

    Thanks for the insight Larry,

    George

  12. My favorite part? That story sense isn’t a gift, it’s a muscle. And I would further add that the novel format is multi-layered and heavily nuanced and you’re an idiot if you think one read through of a great book like Story Engineering or Story Physics is going to do it for you. You gotta work it. It’s the on-going study of craft–unless of course you don’t care about getting better each time you write one of your “fiction novels.” It’s the work, the unrelenting chewing on it, thinking about, sketching out W-O-R-K. And there are days that I am pretty sure I should have taken up knitting or something, but I keep coming back to the principles that you teach and damn if I don’t want to get better at it every single day that I sit down to write. What a bitch that is. If you want to “just write,” then you might as well be a friggen surgeon too. Here’s the body, now “just cut.” Sign me your ranting fan–I’ve seen the light and I do believe!

    1. “Just cut.” My favorite analogy. We should all frame what you’ve said here, so passionately and eloquently. You are my favorite case study, in addition to being one of my favorite people, period.

  13. Occasionally there’s an interesting thread on LinkedIn, but mostly, you are so right, Larry.

    I get as angry as you do about the blind leading the blind, but I don’t read 99% of the threads, and I certainly don’t comment because I would rant… and I don’t have the credibility (yet, I hope) to rant in public. But I would love to.

    My “favorite” is the way novices will say that we don’t need rules. Leaving aside the fact that all professionals learn their craft and that each domain does have rules and guidelines (I prefer to call them ‘tools’), I want to scream every time I see ‘writers’ say that the rules stifle creativity.

    Thank you for screaming for me and all the other writers who respect and study the body of knowledge that is a critical component of becoming a better writer.

    1. Sheryl – you’re a great spokesperson for craft. Say it loud and proud, you are highly credible, in my opinion. You are out there, online, people know your name, and what you say resonates. They will listen. Keep going. L.

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