First-Time Novelist: Self-publishing

Posted on December 16, 2011 by the90daynovel

A year ago I self-published The 90-Day Novel. I considered having my agent shop it, and even toiled on a book proposal, but the more I read about “what publishers are looking for” the more I sensed that my book didn’t fit their schematic. (It’s a book that focuses primarily on process rather than result.)

I think there are certain types of books that traditional publishers don’t want, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that they are of lesser value. After all, the first books of Walt Whitman, e.e. cummings and Ralph Waldo Emerson were self-published.

What is exciting is the ease with which ideas can now reach the marketplace. There is no greater time to test your ideas.  There will always be people who don’t get it, or who disagree, but remember what Schopenhauer said: “All truths pass through three stages: First it is ridiculed, then it is violently opposed, and finally it is accepted as self-evident.”

Trust your ideas and stay curious. You were born seeing things in a way that no one else does. Follow your impulses and your discoveries will help others see things in a new way too.

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First-time novelist: Happy Holidays

Posted on November 25, 2011 by the90daynovel

For all you first-time novelists, writing through the holidays is an exercise in boundaries and diplomacy.

Yesterday morning, my sweet wife knocked on my office door to ask, “Is today a work day for you?” The subtext was clear. You’re not actually planning to write on Thanksgiving, are you?

How do I tell her, “Yes, that’s precisely what I was planning to do.”

I did clock out earlier than usual, but I can’t make it a habit, because as much as my wife likes to spend time with me, when I don’t get my writing done, I’m an irritable bastard.

Here’s some brilliant ideas to getting your writing done through the holidays.

1) Get up earlier.

2) Write faster.

3) Delete your facebook account

4) Cancel your Internet

5) Stop paying your cell phone bill (it will take a couple of weeks for AT&T to shut off your phone)

Whatever you do, don’t stop writing.

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First-Time Novelist: The old model is dead

Posted on November 18, 2011 by the90daynovel

For years you would hear aspiring writers ask “What is the market looking for?”

But no more. Because you are the market. Tell the story that you want to tell and put it out into the world.

The rules have changed. The old model is dead.

What is the market looking for?

You.

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First-Time Novelist: Dilemma

Posted on November 8, 2011 by the90daynovel

At the heart of every story lies a dilemma for our protagonist. It’s not a question of whether or not your protagonist has a dilemma, but rather how effectively you have explored it.

By exploring your protagonist’s dilemma, you will be led to the most specific and dynamic version of your story. The dilemma will help you to understand what you’ve been attempting to express. It will help you to distill your prose to its most clear and effective meaning. The dilemma will guide to what does not belong in your story, as well as offer clues to what still needs to be rewritten, and it will indicate the most effective order of events to convey what you’re attempting to express. The dilemma will keep you connected to the conflict in a way that keeps you from going off the rails, from unintentional digressions that may provide random conflict, but that doesn’t build the story and may obfuscate the intended meaning.

Here’s the rub:

The dilemma can’t be figured out, at least not in your head. We must become invested in our characters. We must take our thumbs off the scale and let them live. There can be a tendency to hold so tightly to our idea of the plot that we choke the aliveness of our characters. By inquiring into the dilemma in every scene, you will find the most dynamic and surprising way to express your story.

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First-Time Novelist: Proximity

Posted on November 5, 2011 by the90daynovel

Do your characters have to live a thousand miles apart, or three blocks apart?

If you’re trying to convey a sense of distance, be aware that it is subjective. For example, let’s say that your protagonist lives in Los Angeles while her mother lives in Akron.

In the first draft, the mother flits in and out of her life, while also holding down a fulltime job in her hometown. But the story might feel burdensome with the characters either engaged in long phone conversations, or flying back and forth.

Unless this sense of dislocation is germane to the story, you might ask why you placed the mother in Akron. Is it because this is where your mother actually lives? That’s not a good reason.

Choose the location that best serves your story. Look at the nature of what you’re attempting to express to find the geography that best suits your story.

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First-time novelist: some things to consider

Posted on October 28, 2011 by the90daynovel

There are no rules to writing a novel, but here are some things to consider.

1) Your story is about something more than the plot. Don’t confuse your plot with the theme. Always remain curious as to what your story is about.

2) Journaling isn’t novel writing. Journaling is personal. The novel connects to something larger, something universal.

3) Write because you have something to say.

4) Be willing to write the forbidden.

3) Don’t bore your reader.

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First-time novelist: coincidence or synchronicity?

Posted on October 20, 2011 by the90daynovel

Last night I was teaching a class to a group of first-time novelists. One of the students read the outline of her first act. It was compelling and filled with vivid, dynamic characters. And then there was a moment when an incident happened that made things easy for the hero.

We discussed the fact that readers tend to lose interest when coincidence leans in the protagonist’s favor. This is because it is only through conflict that character is revealed, and coincidence or convenience does not indicate meaning.

A second student brought up the point that there is a difference between coincidence and synchronicity. Synchronicity is all about meaning. Synchronicity speaks to the underlying meaning of what we’re attempting to express.

For example: if a character who is trying to get to Chicago for a wedding gets dumped off on a deserted road in the middle of the night, and is picked up by the best man who just happens to be driving this road, that is coincidence.

However:

If a character is hitch-hiking on a deserted highway in the middle of the night, and is picked up by the husband of the woman he is having an affair with…that is synchronicity.

The only difference is conflict.

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First-Time Novelist: Did You Write Today?

Posted on October 18, 2011 by the90daynovel

When I work with first-time novelists, the first question that I usually ask is, “Did you write today?”

First-time novelists often have all sorts of ideas of where they’re struggling with their story, but none of these issues are relevant of they are not continuing to write each day.

Everything we write either belongs or is leading us to what ultimately belongs in our story.

Regardless of its quality, our writing is the fuel that dispels our confusion and gets us to the end of our first novel.

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First-time novelist: Why is this day unlike any other?

Posted on October 11, 2011 by the90daynovel

The 90-Day novelists just began writing their first drafts this week. Many of these writers are first-time novelists. This is virgin territory for many of them, and it is both thrilling and terrifying. They have rough outlines, a general sense of the direction that their story may take, but we all know that outlines are rules made to be broken.

One thing we know is that virtually every story begins with the question: “Why is this day unlike any other?” This question is probably not answered on page one, but from the very beginning, the first-time novelist is moving inexorably to this moment.

The Inciting Incident provides the story with context, but only as a result of the meaning that the first-time novelist ascribes to this event.

The Inciting Incident is being set up from the very beginning.

It’s important for the first-time novelist to recognize that his/her story begins with tension. Something is happening, a struggle of some sort, and this tension grows and leads to the “why is this day unlike any other” moment.

Every word is in service to providing the Inciting Incident with context. By the time we reach this moment, our reader understands why the story is being told.

In Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones the Inciting Incident occurs when the narrator, Susie Salmon, is murdered. Her death, in and of itself, does not provide the story with context. It is her relationship to her family and her desire to remain with them that connects us to her dilemma – the struggle to hold on to her family while needing to let go.

It is not just first-time novelists that struggle with the Inciting Incident. Every writer does. Be curious not simply about what happens, but also why it is happening, and look for ways to put your characters into action so that we understand them.

If you simply tell us what the characters are thinking and feeling, we won’t care, and we won’t necessarily even believe you. But if you show us through action, we will be invested in the outcome.

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First-time novelist: The only safe place is on the page

Posted on October 5, 2011 by the90daynovel

Today the 90-Day Novel in-person workshoppers begin writing their first drafts. Many of them are first-time novelists. They are excited and terrified. Here are some of their thoughts.

What have I signed up for? What is going to happen when I begin setting words down on the page? What will I discover about myself? Am I really a first-time novelist, or am I a fraud?

When your brain starts churning, and you can’t turn it off, here’s a solution:

Stop trying.

Notice that your first-time novelist mind is going bat-shit crazy because that’s what happens when we do anything for the first time. You can’t stop your mind with your mind. Every writer (not just the first-time novelist) goes through this.

Get a cup of coffee and start writing.

Until you put your pen on the page, the voices are going to try to convince you that this is a terrible mistake. Once you start moving your pen, you’ll lose yourself in the story, and you’ll be well on your way to becoming a first-time novelist.

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