GENREALITY

I read with interest Megan Whalen Turner’s recent blog post about not revealing anything to her fans when they ask questions about her insanely beloved Queen’s Thief series.

“I said that it felt like cheating, to me, to try to add an explanation to something I’ve already written. I got my chance to write what I wanted to write. If I didn’t do it well enough for my readers to understand what I was trying to say, it’s not fair for me to try to take a second shot. When it comes to talking about what I am writing next, I told people that I think it’s teasing to drop hints about a book… for five years at a time. If I wrote books a little faster, I might be a little more willing to talk about what’s in them ahead of time. But I don’t, so I won’t.”

Boy, do I admire her restraint. I don’t think I can do that.

Early in my career, a book club chose my book to read, and they invited me to their house to discuss it. In the grand tradition of crappy middle school English teachers who seek to extinguish all pleasure in reading (“Please list the meanings of the following symbols found in the short story you were assigned”), the most common question I got was, “What did you mean when you put XYZ in the story?”

I was a literature major at college. I’d studied New Criticism, in which we’d learned that the book must be it’s own thing, separate from what they called “the intentional fallacy” — i.e., what the author meant. All that stupid stuff from middle school about deciding that X symbol meant only Y and nothing else? Poppycock. The book meant what you decided it to mean.

At least, that’s what I’d learned.

I tried to do the whole Mona-Lisa-smile, “What did you think it meant?” thing — no dice. The book club members were extremely frustrated. They had not invited me to the house and fed me dinner only to get non-answers out of me. They had the author, in their midst, a luxury afforded to few readers. And dammit, they wanted answers.

It changed my thinking significantly. Yes, I do a disservice to readers if I have this expectation that they can only understand what I’m doing if I’m standing over their shoulder. The book must be able to stand on its own, because only a miniscule percentage of reaers are going to get tot eh point where they track an author down and ask. But if they have — if they’ve bothered to invite you to their house and feed you pasta and iced tea, or if they’ve dragged themselves to a booksigning or festival for the sole purpose of meeting you and asking  — if they want to know — shouldn’t you play along and tell them?

I decided to play along. I created “spoiler threads” on my website upon book releases, where readers could go and discuss the book and ask questions. I answered them.

But the ease of the internet has made the pendulum start swinging the other way for me. It’s one thing if I verbally tell a group of people in a book club something. It’s very much another if I start answering questions, in writing, of every person who fills out a contact form on my website.

Once, I got an email from a reader with over a hundred questions in it. This reader wanted to know absolutely every plot trail of every character and every feeling that every character had throughout the entire book. She wanted confirmation of things that I hoped were obvious. Stuff the equivalent of:

• After Mr. Darcy was so sweet to Elizabeth and her relatives when he met them at Pemberley, THAT’S when she decided that maybe he wasn’t the asshole she thought, right?
• Was Lydia ever jealous of Lizzie when Wickham was paying her attention at Meryton?
• How long after they got married did Darcy and Lizzie have a kid?

And so forth. These are questions that fans want to know. Entire industries have been created in fanfiction (both the free kind and the stuff that makes money — like all those Jane Austen sequels) to answer these sorts of questions. Indeed, I’m partial to that kind of stuff myself. My favorite scene in the 2007 remake of Persuasion is the scene in Lyme where Captains Wentworth and Harville discuss the trouble Wentworth has gotten himself in by flirting with Louisa Musgrove. You always know there’s a scene where his friends are like, “Look, you moron, her whole family thinks you’re getting married, so if you’d better check yourself before you wreck yourself.” It was nice to see it performed.

But Jane Austen is dead. We’re all just fans making it up as we go along. That’s different.

For what it’s worth, I wrote the reader back and told her to pick five of her most burning questions.

I have also seen the intent to stay “true” to the author’s vision, based upon something they wrote, backfire enormously. The case in point is the new “ordering” of C.S. Lewis’s Narnia books. Now, children are introduced to the series NOT through The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, but through a prequel, written many years later, and written, (in my opinion as a published Narnia scholar ) in a more mature tone and with the expectation that readers are familiar with the world and the stories published thus far. However, one time, Lewis wrote a response to an eleven year old child in which he says he agrees with the child’s contention that the books should be read in chronological (not publication) order, and now, that’s how they publish them.

But upon reading the actual letter, I find that conclusion appalling. These are Lewis’s words:

“I think I agree with your order [chronologically] for reading the books more than with your mother’s [order of publication]. The series was not planned beforehand as she thinks. When I wrote The Lion I did not know I was going to write any more. Then I wrote P. Caspian as a sequel and still didn’t think there would be any more, and when I had done The Voyage I felt quite sure it would be the last. But I found I was wrong. So perhaps it does not matter very much in which order anyone reads them.”

See? It’s doesn’t matter! Great! Let’s not fix what ain’t broken! I know that I, for one, will not be giving my daughter The Magician’s Nephew before TLTWaTW.If this is what Lewis really thought (and he doesn’t sound so sure himself, even in the letter) then he was wrong.

And maybe that’s the point. Maybe it’s fine to answer reader’s questions — but it’s not fine for the reader to treat the author’s intent as gospel. They have to make their own decisions, because even though it’s the author’s book, the author might not know everything. And when it leaves their hands, it takes on a life of its own.

Let me just start this by saying people should read whatever they want to read.  If you love space monkey erotica and you find a great space money erotica author, I am thrilled for you.  Really.  Digital, print – go you!  I actually get a little sad when I see or hear someone say they’re reading a “guilty pleasure” and almost apologize for it because I have never – absolutely never – felt guilty about reading a book (a big thank you to mom and dad for that).  I don’t want anyone else to feel guilty either.

Having said that, let’s talk about my newfound love for Octavia Spencer.  [Note: this will eventually relate back to the first paragraph. Stick with me for a second.] In case you don’t know, she’s an actress. She won the Golden Globe and is nominated for an Oscar for her role in The Help.  She’s talented and just looks like a happy person.  For some reason, whenever I see her I smile. But none of that is the reason for my Octavia love today.  I love her today because when asked by People magazine in the “Star Picks” section about her favorite author, she said this:

I collect books about murder mysteries, but my favorite author of thrillers is James Patterson. I’ve probably read all of his and Patricia Cornwall’s.

The part I find so refreshing is how real the answer sounds.  It doesn’t come off like some PR-packaged response that was first tested in a research group.  In this feature in People, the actors frequently say things like, “I re-read my James Joyce collection every week or so.”  Now, not to put down actors or James Joyce, or to question the combination of the two, but you see a James Joyce type answer enough times and it’s hard not to be skeptical.  Maybe all of Hollywood does read Joyce exclusively, but I’m thinking probably not. I’m betting people read across genres and that some read popular fiction, though it would be hard to get that from reading this feature on a regular basis.

So, congrats to Octavia Spencer for her awards and for not being afraid to tell the truth when she answers a question about the books she reads.  I’m guessing she doesn’t feel any guilt either.

From The Writers Conference Guide: Getting The Most of Your Time & Money

Make sure your travel plans are set and you have copies of everything.  Again, a checklist helps.  We have a packing checklist at the end of this section.

Make sure you know how you are getting from the airport to the conference.  If the conference has a venue away from the hotel you will be staying at, coordinate transportation.  Again, conferences often have boards or loops where you can find others in the same situation. This is another great way to begin the networking experience. Remember, you never know who is going to help you move your career along…or how you can help them.

Going down the list of speakers, pick the primary ones you’d like to meet and network with.  Read some of their books so you can approach with a question about them, rather than pitching yourself.  Often, you’ll be surprised to learn that you’ll know more about their book than they remember.  Authors are usually focused on the book they’re writing, not the ones they’ve written.  Such as an approach shows a level of professionalism that most people don’t achieve.

Print out beforehand the list of presenters with their photos.  Even though people wear nametags, it’s good to have this handy.  Highlight the people you’d like to talk to.  One thing you can do is print out the bios and pictures, then cut them up and then scan/copy them on your home printer in a more condensed version, focusing on those you want to emphasize.  Go to their web pages and note their bios.  Google them.  Know more about them than is in the conference handout.  Know where they just were and where they might be going to next.  Do they have pets?  Hobbies?  All of these can be ice-breakers in starting a conversation.

If you’ve participated on social media with other people going to the same conference, make a plan for a time and a place to physically meet these people and get to know each other better.

Volunteer.  This is the best way to get out and meet other attendees. Most conferences need lots of volunteers to run the conference.  Being a volunteer is a great way to get on the inside and meet some of the presenters, editors and agents.  You might also get a discount on registration.  If you have a car, volunteer to pick up and drop off presenters at the airport.  It might seem like a pain, but it’s a great way to get some face time with them.

Workshop Selection

First, focus on the presenter, more than the topic.  Does the presenter have something you want?  This is why we lean toward going to workshops presented by a writer, not an agent or editor.  Not to say they don’t have something to offer, and if you’ve never listened to agents or editors speak before, it’s worthwhile to hear their spiel at least once.

Don’t get caught up in the ‘big name’ speakers.  Often their sessions are crowded.  By attending workshops where there are less people, you can have more interaction with the presenter.  Also, as mentioned before, big names might not have the time, while other presenters might be more approachable.

Don’t attend workshops where the material has no application unless it just interests you.  Terry Brooks did a workshop on how he wrote Phantom Menace at the Maui Writers conference.  You have to ask what application such a workshop has to a wanna-be writer unless they’re simply attending because they love Star Wars.

You should attend at least one agent/editor panel just to see how they discuss ‘standards’ and how they view publishing. However, we have found that the workshops where editors and agents are paired with the writers they work with offer a lot more about the publishing process than agent/editor panels. Often these types of workshop topics are about the editor/agent/author relationship while the panels are more about how to and what to query. One interesting side note, many of the author/agent/editor workshops will tell the story of how they came to work together, often sharing that the rules editors and agents set forth about submissions during the panels sessions were broken.

Balance out going to craft and going to business workshops.  Of course, this all depends on your goal for the conference.  If it’s focused on the writing, then you’ll do a lot of craft.  If it’s focused on selling and publishing, then it will be those.  Many new writers, though, focus too much on trying to sell and not enough on learning to write better.

Even with the changes in the publishing climate, we still see a disturbing trend.  Aspiring authors rush through the doors by the hundreds if there is an Agent Panel, while the published author who is teaching, let’s say, Developing Effective Characters, asks the five attendees to pull their chairs in a circle and do a group hug for support.

Attendees sweat over their ten-minute pitches to editors and agents, but don’t focus on craft workshops. They’ll sit in their room in the evening agonizing over their pitch, instead of socializing and networking.

Ever hear of the cart before the horse?

Reality check

The odds of finding an agent who will sign you or an editor who will buy your manuscript at a conference are low.  Very low.  Despite that, agents would love to find that gem in the rough and every once in a while it does happen.

But you have to have a gem FIRST.

Be honest with yourself (a tenet of Write It Forward).  How many of you have spent thousands of dollars going to conferences, pitching, networking, marketing yourself on social media, and still haven’t gotten published?  But you haven’t spent that much effort on LEARNING to become a better writer.  You keep rewriting the same manuscript, or even write new ones (pretty much a new version of the old one craft-wise), but you’re basically moving deck chairs around on the Titanic.

There are even people who go to conferences and pitch an IDEA, thinking if the agent is interested they can go home and knock the book out in six weeks.  Agents do NOT want to hear that for fiction.

Others think that the editor will probably want changes or make suggestions and clean the book up for them so why bother cleaning it up themselves? NOT.

Ever go to a museum and see students sketching the successful painters hanging on the walls?  Writers need to do this too.  Not only go to craft workshops, but study craft every day.  How?  Read.  Analyze.  Watch movies.  Analyze.  Shows.  Analyze.  Everything in them is done for a purpose.  We are always shocked when we ask audiences how many have read X book or watched Y series or seen Z movie and no one raises their hand.  Learn from the experts.

Now, we’re going to be very blunt and honest, a trait those who have attended Bob’s workshops can attest to:  In Who Dares Wins: The Green Beret Way to Conquer Fear & Succeed, he teaches a thing called the 5% rule.  5% of people are willing to achieve internally motivated change.  This is statistically born out in a number of different fields from getting published to becoming a Green Beret to getting a black belt in martial arts.  If you aren’t where you want to be YOU have to change.  Bob has had people pitch the same thing to him ten times, supposing, he guesses, that eventually he would change and see the brilliance in it.  Teaching writing, we have seen only about 5% of aspiring writers actually truly learn craft and change.  But when they do, it’s amazing how much better they get.

Bob has had workshop attendees who have gone on to become NY Times bestsellers, multi-published, and very successful as writers.  Not because he was a great teacher, but because they were great students who were willing to learn and CHANGE.

We could go on about this for a long time.  In fact, this is what Bob does in his Write It Forward Workshop, which is all about the author.  Learning the mindset and habits of a successful author.  And learning how to CHANGE.  Change is not just thinking differently.  It’s not just making a decision.  It’s SUSTAINED ACTION.

Bottom line for most conference attendees—focus on craft.

Conference Worksheet

Being organized at the conference can save you time and energy when time and energy are limited. Now that you know your goals, have researched various conferences, its time to fill out your conference worksheet.

Some of this is repetitive, but we have found the more we write out goals and align them with our efforts the more successful we become. They key is to know what you are doing and why you are doing it.

What is my overall strategic writing goal:

What are my conference goals:

List of workshops I want to attend:

List of presenters I want to meet:

Where are the conflicts between workshops and presenters?

Cheat Sheet of social media friends I know but have not met:

Tentative Schedule:

As a writer I make it my business to pay attention to details.  I’ve always done it.  Even as a little kid I would notice things the adults around me would miss.  I also have a crazy scary memory for minutia.  Like the time a friend of my mom’s, Lynn mentioned that she worked with a certain Gail who had a crooked nose.  Weeks later at the bowling alley, Carol and Kim, two women who bowled with my mom, were once again oblivious to my presence.  I was so much a regular to the Tuesday and Thursday bowling leagues that they forgot I was listening.

They were gossiping about how Gail was such a whore and how she probably did things with men, for money.  Kim commented that anyone who worked in “that kind of place” was probably a whore as well.  I had no idea what “that kind of place” was.  Those kinds of details are not important to the story yet.  I’ve learned that.  Those details will present themselves with time.  Even at eleven I knew they were being catty, but I filed the information away and went back to reading A Wrinkle in Time.

Four months later, I was sitting at my grandparents house flipping through the paper after my grandpa had finished reading it.  Deep into the entertainment section I saw series of head shots of young women.  They were strippers and advertising a specific club.  The first picture was a young woman with a crooked nose named Gail and my mother’s friend Lynn was the next picture over.

I looked up at my grandma and asked,  “So, is Lynn a whore as well as a stripper?”

Grandma walked over, took the paper away from me and said I’d have to discuss it with my mother.  I didn’t even know Gail.  I’d never met her.  But the way Carol and Kim had described her and Lynn’s picture next to hers, I was able to put things together.

Events like this have occurred all throughout my life.  It’s amazing to me how many connections you can make if you just pay attention to what’s going on around you.  Writers are voyeurs.  It is our business to collect things and string them together into stories that entertain, enlighten and possibly, earn a bit of coin.

Don’t think as a writer you need to give the reader every detail of a scene, an argument, or a moment of passion.  What the reader needs is a few specific details, the overall feel of the scene, and enough runway to get off the ground.  They can fill in a significant amount from their own imagination.  It’s a balancing act.  How many pieces of furniture do I need to describe to give you the idea the characters are sitting in a diner?  How many specific sensory inputs ground you in the tacky booth with the overflowing ashtray and half empty coffee cups?  Do you need to see the one lonely slice of lemon meringue pie in the class container on the counter?  How about the way the waitress has a stain on her uniform, or perhaps the pungent aroma that greets you as you first walk in the door — that grease and despair, old cigarette smoke and overcooked bacon.

You could describe every barstool and every patron, but how long do you really have before you lose the audience?  The last thing you ever want is for the reader to look away from the page.  Rolling their eyes at the overload of details is one cause for folks walking away from a story.  Flipping ahead to see if anything interesting happens is another fatal point.

So you need to come up with those important details that are critical for the story to connect.  A young woman named Gail with a crooked nose who is a stripper and possibly a whore.  Then later, when you see a picture of a Gail who is a stripper and she also has a crooked nose, your audience will start to put two and two together.  Seed clues along the way, little details and points of interest that will make your reader’s story brain start to click.  They are looking for road signs that will point them to a satisfying connection and a plausible conclusion.

It’s a tough skill to hone.  I know I struggle with it all the time.  Fortunately writing allows you to go back and weave in details as they unfurl in your writing brain.  Unlike the real world, where you may not have the luxury to go back and look for all the right clues; in fiction you not only have the ultimate control over space and time,  you also have the ability to rewrite history so it fits the story’s needs.

We are builders, we artists.  We create something from nothing.  It is a gift and a curse that will haunt us for our entire lives.  There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t listen to half a conversation in the elevator at work and I fill in the blanks.  I saw two squirrels chasing each other round and round a tree one morning and I store that scene away for another time.  Someday I’ll have a story where the characters are walking through the woods and they’ll happen upon the strangest scene with two squirrels.

But you must keep your head up, your ears open and your mind engaged.  That’s the life of a writer.  We observe and report.   Just because the next story you see from me deals with aliens or elves don’t be surprised to find some mundane details that enrich the story and make it believable enough for you to follow along.

If you do the job well enough, you can turn something simple into something magical.  It’s all in how you put the puzzle pieces together.

Every now and then I get an email that says something along the lines of “I just picked up your book, [insert title of eighth or ninth book in series], and loved it so much I went back and got all the other ones in the series.”

I love these emails, because they tell me I’m accomplishing one of my goals:  to make sure each book stands on its own well enough to provide a satisfying read and potentially draw people into the rest of the series.  These emails are a great reassurance to me.  My instincts were right, and paying attention to this sort of thing while writing an open-ended, ongoing series really is important.

Making sure each book stands alone well enough to tell a complete and satisfying story is important to me, not just for the sake of aesthetics, but because every book might be some readers’ first encounters with my writing.  Some readers put out the effort to make sure they read a series in order.  Some don’t.  I don’t — generally, I’ll read whatever’s available, whether it’s part of a series, first or last book in a series, or whatever.  (The first Bujold book I read was Mirror Dance, because it had just won the Hugo Award.  Not only is this book set in the middle of the series, it’s in the middle of a three-book story arc.  And I still loved it.)

This doesn’t mean I can’t have an ongoing storyline, and that the characters have to remain static.  On the contrary, I think one of the attractions of a series is watching characters grow and develop.  What I don’t do is try to explain everything that’s happened in the entire series in each new book.  In a sense, I want to treat each book like the first book:  what does the reader have to know about these people to understand the story I’m telling right now.  Any backstory I provide is brief and topical.  I don’t really think of it as backstory, but as character description, along with clothing and demeanor.  This character wears a leather jacket and has a resident Victorian ghost (because of what happened in book #6, but the reader doesn’t need to know that much detail to understand the story right now).

A couple of anecdotes doesn’t make for a hard and fast rule about how to write a series, but my own experience is that some people will read the later books in a series first.  Maybe they got book #8 as a gift, maybe it was the only book available.  But each book I write in the series, I have to ask:  How will this read to someone encountering the series for the first time?  That thought has served me well, I think.