THE FIRST PAGE REDUX
I’ve voiced my opinion on first pages before in the article The First Page. However, after attending our last writer’s conference, a few things came up at the first page read sessions that made me think. I think they’re worth visiting again.
As I told you before, I don’t believe in the first page. As a reader, I’ve never been sold on a book by the first page. On the other hand, there are many agents and publishers that are, so that is a huge hurdle one must overcome to get anywhere in the publishing world. I’m bringing this up because as I listened to the agents critiquing the first pages being read during our Friday lunch, a few things struck me. Universal things that should apply to any story.
First, there’s nothing wrong with getting to the point. Sounds simple enough, right? You wouldn’t believe how many first pages don’t do that. The author goes to all ends to try and impress the reader with their command of the English language by describing minute details about either the scene or the character. By the time we get to the bottom of the page, nothing has happened yet. You don’t have to necessarily slam bang the reader right off, but that’s not a bad idea. On the first page, you should at least move someplace.
Second, something I’m guilty of only once, I found out that it’s a terrible cliché to open a story with the character waking up. I’ve never read a story with a character waking up before. Yet, somehow that snuck into the reading world as a worn out cliché. What’s even worse is the cliché I did know about, having a character look in a mirror to describe themselves. Even worse is to use it on the first page. In one of my stories, I have my character wake up and look in the mirror! Of course, I knew about the mirror cliché and use it for special effect, but also now I have myself a double whammy to fix.
Third, if you’re going to have some kind of action on the first page, which you should, it should go somewhere. It should lead the reader in the direction of the plot. It shouldn’t be a random scene for effect to either introduce the character, one of their flaws or strengths, or to tell a joke. The first scene should always have something to do with the story (that joke could be there if it’s relevant to the plot). Save descriptive scenes for later in the book where they can do no harm. They should be short and sweet, not jarring, not listy but also shouldn’t set the reader off on the wrong foot. Everything has its’ place.
Fourth is to make sure the tone of the first page matches what you’re trying to accomplish with the rest of the story. Don’t start with a slam bang then shift gears, never to return to that style. What??? Don’t jerk your reader around.
There are probably more things I’m missing, but I got those four points just listening to those agents and pondering later what they didn’t say. Very few of them made it all the way through a first page without raising their hands that they’d stop reading.
The first page should be solid and the foundation of what is to come. It doesn’t have to blow the reader away, but it should not waste their time. Every word, every page counts. At the same time, I never judge a book by the first page. It sets a tone, but there isn’t enough room on a half to three quarters of a page to do much.
I look for point of view (third person, past tense), the genre (of course), the book blurb (which doesn’t coincide with the actual story half the time anyway), the author, the cover art, the print size and even the smell of the pages. I also leaf through as I’m checking for point of view to see how much empty space (as in dialogue) is there and if the author likes full page paragraphs (which usually means the author likes to drone on). Once I start reading, it’s not until I get to the third or fourth chapter that I get a feel for the story. Then I can tell if the book is going to be good or is going to suck. Of course, it could all come crashing down if the hero dies in the end, but that’s another story!
Happy writing.
CONFERENCE AFTERMATH
All good things come to an end. It was a happy/sad occasion when our conference coordinator, Darrah Whitaker said those final words, “Well, folks, that’s it. The conference is over.” It was time to say goodbye, hugs all around and head for the parking garage.
For me, it was a simple five mile drive down the road and two right turns to my driveway. For others, it would be a complicated set of airline stops, or maybe very long drives to other states or even countries. We had a few participants from Canada. From the feedback I heard, everyone left satisfied, or at least happy they attended. I’ll probably hear more about what was said on the critique forms in the coming weeks.
As for myself, outside of a disastrous personal matter which put a bit of a damper on the whole proceedings, this was one of the best conferences ever. Of course, I say that every year because they all are, but this one was not a bad one, it was as great if not at least one of the better ones. As for the biggies, let’s start with the agents.
As I told you before in a past article, I left it right until the last moment to look at the faculty to decide if I even was going to pitch. Since I write in multiple genres, I at least had a variety of them to look for. I also didn’t bother months ago because I knew that the faculty list could be fluid and last minute changes, based on past experience, could change. To my great surprise and pleasure, our conference organizers came up with an outstanding list of agents that covered a wide variety of genres. As a result, I had a shopping list!
I won’t name the agents, but as a result, I went through a mad rush going over my old query letters. I whipped them into shape over the next week leading up to the conference even right until Thursday evening, the first day but the day before pitch sessions started. I decided to pitch my fantasy, my icky bug (horror) and my adventure/thriller. The result? Over the two pitch days, Friday and Saturday, I sat down with four agents and got four hits. Not bad at all. Three genres were represented and I got hits for each. That alone made the weekend.
With any conference, for me, pitching isn’t the only reason I attend. In fact, as you may note above, the pitching was a last moment thing and not the primary reason I wanted to attend, though it did end up being a huge chunk of icing on the cake. I really attended to be part of it all, to help out and to network. I wanted to see faces and talk to people, hear their stories and tell mine, learn what they were doing and see if they were doing something I could use. Maybe attend a few classes I haven’t done before. Just be a part of it. It’s my Woodstock, to coin a term that clearly dates me!
As usual, I helped set up the front desk and worked the receipt book for selling raffle tickets and other stuff. I also at least partially changed door signs on the classroom, though Denice Whitmore, another one of our members and a volunteer beat me to it most of the time. She was also a key figure in keeping order at the door and desk when Jo Wilkins, the club president and I were elsewhere. Seeing as I was also a full paid attendee, I did wander off from the desk, especially later Friday and Saturday so Denice was left guarding things.
I attended a few classroom sessions and garnered a bit of useful information. Most of the classes I’ve done before so there wasn’t much for me in that way. However, I could hear plenty of applause at the end of each session and laughter through the doors as well as see smiling faces as people left the rooms, so the faculty seemed to be doing their jobs, for the most part.
One of the best parts was circulating, talking not only to the participants, but the agents. I did both. I picked agents brains, learning what they looked for, how they worked, and what their pet peeves were. I also found out a lot about that during the first-page reads, conducted at the end of Friday’s lunch and dinner. They were great ways to pick up what agents look for in manuscripts and why they would keep reading or reject them.
I’d bump into people with our telltale conference name badge in the hallways, sitting at the tables, or maybe at the donut shop on the other side of the casino and talk to them. Complete strangers bonded together by this conference. Ask them how they were doing, what they write, where they came in from. I met a lot of first time writers, a few with already self-published books looking to go mainstream, some that have written several manuscripts looking for a first time agent and so on. Quite a variety. Met people from Calgary and Vancouver Canada, Minnesota, Arizona, Four Corners, New Mexico, New York, you name it.
I also have a favorite table in the main ballroom, the Virginia City room. Since I worked at the main desk most of the time and didn’t attend many of the classes, I was usually early to the dinners. I always sat at that table just to see who would sit down. It was never the same. Someone new to talk to including once Friday with four agents clustered at my table. Not bad!
The one consistent bit of feedback I heard from those that have been to other conferences is that we have one of the best there is because it is small and relaxed. It’s not a madhouse like some of the bigger ones in Ellay or New Yawk City. I’ve never been to one of those and have no desire to go to one, but after hearing how those are conducted from people that have been to them, I agree. We have a great conference and if you ever get a chance to attend, do so. I highly recommend it. I’m already planning for next year.
CONFERENCE TIME
The time is finally upon me. Less than a week to go and I’ll be helping to set up for the Las Vegas Writer’s Conference at good old Sam’s Town Gambling Hall and Casino. I find it funny that though being locals and Sam’s Town being “our” casino where we go regularly, every time we enter through the back parking garage and go past the conference halls by the escalator, I get a huge rush of nostalgia, an urge to go into the Ponderosa room and mingle with other writer’s, even though there’s probably a wedding party or a coin show or an empty room. I never get over the rush of past or future writer’s conferences.
After bemoaning having no idea if any of the agents or publishers would be interested in any of the genres I write in my last article, I finally broke down and looked at the web site. Sure enough, there are those that take a few of my genres! Now that the faculty are written in stone, I know what to focus on. I’ve gone over one pitch letter and synopsis and cringed at stuff I hadn’t spotted the last time I used it in 2006. As for the other one I’m going to use, it should be pretty tight, but upon probably the fiftieth pass, who knows?
Last week at the writer’s group meeting, we had practice pitch sessions. Since I wasn’t a mock agent I would’ve been one of those to either watch or practice pitching. I’ve been doing this so long, for me practicing my pitch doesn’t cut it. I don’t practice. Unlike others, I’ve pitched for real probably fifty or sixty times. I don’t want to practice. I want to be spontaneous, off-the-cuff. I may stumble a bit, but I think it comes off more honest, at least for me. I have enough background that I think I can pull it off without looking like a fool. I usually get bites each time, at least where the agents or publishers have me send them something, even if they usually end up as rejections. I did get two contracts using my off-the-cuff unrehearsed method so something must be working!
Writing is one of the biggest pleasures for me. This conference is the big Kahuna, the Woodstock of the year, the superbowl, or to put it in terms my wife could relate to (besides football), The Brickyard or Daytona 500. This year, our keynote speaker is My Haley, Alex Haley’s widow. He’s the guy that wrote Roots. She’s a dynamic speaker and should be a real hoot.
With the usual mix if regulars and new faces, I’ll get to meet plenty of new writers from all over America. This is a great time to get to see how other people are doing and learning their craft. I’ll get to share my experience and pick up info I can use. I never walk away bored!
There will be agents, editors, screenwriters, publishers, and just about anyone who has to do with writing wandering the halls and the floor. I’ll be constantly bumping into them, shooting the breeze, maybe attending their sessions, eating meals with them, getting all kinds of gossip and tidbits from the publishing world. This inside info is great stuff!
Next week I’ll give a rundown on how the conference went. Successes and failures. Warts and all. I cannot emphasize how important it is for you, as a writer to attend at least one if not more of these conferences. Also, a blatant plug for our conference as it is small and focused for a reason. Everyone gets to talk to everybody. There are no huge lines and paying extra just to see an agent or publisher. No huge crowds to get in the way of the intimate setting.
That’s it for this week. Until next time, happy writing!
SWIMMING UPHILL
It’s Saturday morning. A day early for my usual web article brainstorm, but I have to strike while the iron’s hot. Okay, it’s a cliché but I don’t care. It fits. Here’s some food for thought.
As I was eating breakfast, my mind wandered over all the different projects I have on the front middle and back burners right now. Manuscripts at the publishers, short stories in the can, sequels being worked on, the web site, reviews on Amazon, the Observer’s Challenge. More I can’t think of at the moment. The little stuff takes up most of my effort while the big projects aren’t getting much more than nagging thoughts. It seems I’m on the verge of… something big? Something that won’t quite get there.
Am I missing out? Probably. Are you? Are you in the midst of several projects that aren’t quite panning out yet? Have you gone only so far with them but not taken all the steps, not been aggressive enough to get to the top of the game? Are you swimming uphill?
As one example, we have the Las Vegas Writer’s Conference coming up in two weeks. I still have several manuscripts I could be pitching, including two of my icky bugs. One I have with a publisher right now for review. However, it’s been almost six months with no response. I’ve signed no exclusive deal so I’m not committed. Yet, I still haven’t even looked at all the agents and publishers coming to the conference, not since the tentative list was first thrown together months ago. A simple mouse click. I guess I should grasp that brass ring, take that next step, go further than just thinking about it.
Swimming uphill.
We sometimes feel like we’re being pulled in multiple directions but can’t decide which way we should go. Can’t make the decision. Yet at the same time, I don’t have too much to worry about. I’m accomplishing something every day. I’m getting things done. Almost daily I write a review, compose a short story for my web site, edit or write something new from Meleena’s Adventures – Gods Of The Blue Mountains (admittedly still editing stuff already written), work on the Observer’s Challenge and now I’m writing a new science fiction short story for an on-line publication which may or may not pass muster.
I’m constantly writing. However, my big projects, with the exception of Meleena’s Adventures, are stagnant at the moment. That makes me feel like I’m missing out. Like I’m swimming uphill. While I’m progressing one way, I’m not the other, the way that really counts (as far as making any serious money or national success).
Do you feel that way?
Do you have little stuff, or maybe even something semi-big that’s making headway, yet other projects, maybe your main goal is stagnating? Are you being pulled in several directions? Do you feel frustrated because you think you’re missing out?
I think back on a quote someone attributed to Stephen King. Though no fan of his writing, he’s come up with some pretty good writing advice. I think he’s the one that when asked how he got through the writing process, he said “One word at a time.”
That’s all we can do, except when it comes to reaching those goals, the brass rings, so to speak. We can write all day, but to what aim?
Now, before you think this is just a bunch of whining, the point of this is to get you to think of yourself and what you are trying to do. I have these feelings sometimes but there’s the other side of my coin. As I’ve said it before, I write because I love it, not to make money, so in a way, I’m already successful, on a very small scale. This pertains if I want to take it to the next level. National publication and a bit of cash isn’t my primary goal, but it would be nice and is achievable.
I have all that stuff written. How come it’s not out there for the world to see? Because of me, mainly. Swimming uphill.
Are you in that boat yet? Are you advanced enough that you’re in this boat? Are you pulling yourself in multiple directions? Are YOU swimming uphill?
DEADLINES
Sunday morning, early. Easter Sunday. No big deal to me since I’m not of that persuasion, not since I was a little kid (and not even then, because my belief system wasn’t formed and I was lucky enough to have parents that let me make up my own mind). To me it’s just another Sunday morning with the usual self-imposed deadline for my Tuesday web site article posting. Or, as some of you might call it, my blog posting. I don’t really like to call it a blog because that implies a quick three-times-a-week smidgen of thought. At least that’s the impression I retained when I first dove into this game over a year ago. On the other hand, a lot of my fellow bloggers can be quite prolific several times a week. I just don’t have the time like I used to.
My once-a-week, Tuesday posting usually comes out of my head every Sunday morning as I’m sitting here by myself, with a quiet house. Everyone else is asleep, even the dawgs. Woof… or, lack of woof, to be more precise.
There’s no real reason for my self-imposed deadline except I like to post on Tuesday because that’s the day I picked when I started my web site. Monday is the Henderson Writer’s Group meeting. Tuesday is the first evening of the new week where I get to spend time on the computer, after nightly news, and before NCIS comes on. I have a span where I can check my e-mails, maybe do a bit of work on updating the Observer’s Challenge and even add to the forums on Cloudy Nights or watch some heavy metal vomit band on YouTube. Or, at least watch part of a video. For some reason, I don’t often watch them all the way through as of late.
My second deadline, which is a bit looser, is the Observer’s Challenge. My friend, Roger Ivester and I compile observations from other amateur astronomers around the country. I put it all together in Microsoft Word and then .pdf documents, then send it to our web master at the Las Vegas Astronomical Society (LVAS), Rob Lambert. He posts it on the club web site. Besides that, Roger and I both post the .pdf files on our own web sites, mine here on my Observer’s Challenge page. This process takes about a month and a half. A much looser deadline than my weekly blog. However, it is still a very important process that does take time and effort, but time and effort I enjoy immensely, just like these articles I write every week.
These deadlines, while self-imposed, provide enjoyment, though no profit. The Observer’s Challenge involves other people so I’d be letting down someone besides myself if I didn’t come through. If I slipped and didn’t post my weekly article, a few of you might wonder what happened after a week or so. Most would probably forget about it for a while then all of a sudden wonder what happened to good old Fred. Then you might shrug and go on about your lives, if that.
When and if my books (Meleena’s Adventures – Treasure of the Umbrunna & Lusitania Gold) ever reach the publishing stage, I’ll most certainly have deadlines. The publisher will go through them and red-line the daylights out of them. Send them back to me with a date of expected return for a second run-through. I’ll be given a deadline to fix those edits. If not, my book will be delayed in publication or they might even drop me from the list. That could be real pressure except I’d be on it like… well, I don’t want to say the unprintable cliché. I know all about deadlines. When I worked as a technical writer, I used to deal with deadlines all the time. With my books, we won’t be talking about work-related deadlines. This has to do with my writing, what I do for a calling, what I do for fun and profit. My self-imposed deadlines because I want others to see my work.
Do you have any kind of deadlines? Do you not only set them, but do you meet them? Or, do you let them slip, over and over again and just go on, never quite finishing what you started? On the other hand, do you set a deadline, or get one for something you wrote and freak out then lose all your writing skill and turn into a blubbering mass of insecurity?
Remember, we’re not talking about the making a living type deadlines, but what you do for fun and profit. This is supposed to be a calling, what you do because you love it, because it’s what you have to do, not something you must to do because someone has a gun to your head.
If you’ve turned in a manuscript and an editor sends it back all redlined and says “Fix it. I need it back in three weeks.” What do you do? That’s a deadline. Are you going to get right on it and fix it and run to the post office and get it back to them, or are you going to freak out, sit on it until the last minute and make a few quick changes then throw what’s left in the mail and hope for the best? Or are you going to blow the deadline and take your sweet time and hope they didn’t notice?
There’s a deadline for submission to a periodical and you want to submit a short story. You have a great idea but keep procrastinating. Either do it, or move on (See? I avoided the obvious censored cliché here).
Deadlines can work in our favor if you are one that can write under pressure. If you can’t, never let one get that close. Start early so you can finish early.
Happy writing.
CAN YOU WRITE ON-THE-SPOT?
Is it a gift to be able to take the kernel of an idea and just write, start to finish with no break? Can you take an inspiration, sit down and whip out a short story or essay in one sitting?
I bring this up because I did it the other night. On my web page, I have a section on astronomy, or as I call it, The Good Old Days of Amateur Astronomy. I’ve been using it to give readers my life story in amateur astronomy, from my first look at Sputnik as a light moving across the sky in 1957 (not to date myself), to my current activities including dealing with a certain group of brand-name fanatics (like you find in any hobby). It started when I realized I haven’t posted a new article to that section in several months. That last article brought my life up to 2009 and how my friend Roger Ivester and I started the Observer’s Challenge, an observing program for amateurs that’s gained world-wide attention. I usually get a few hits a week on my astronomy page, though my web site is mainly there to bring focus to my writing. Then again, I’ll take whatever I can get.
After spending Saturday moving my daughter’s stuff from nearby Pahrump back here to Las Vegas, a long day… dead tired… I watched my SyFy icky bug feature movie. To my great pleasure, it was a very very bad, good one. Then, I watched another show and had a little time left over to spend on the computer before I tuckered out completely. I checked my multiple e-mail accounts, Facebook, a few web sites then remembered I wanted to do this astronomy piece on things that bugged me about attending public outreach star parties. The title came first: Annoying Things I’ve Noticed at Outreach Events (& Other).
I whipped out 1,403 words in twenty minutes, beginning to end. The next morning (Sunday), I did an edit while everyone was still asleep and posted it. During the editing process, I made a few grammatical changes, but otherwise, it remained intact.
I don’t say this as any kind of brag. This was a stream-of-consciousness, follow-my-muse inspiration. It had to come out. It did. Whether it’s any good or not is up to my highly-focused audience of maybe ten people or so, but it’s out there for them. It will surely piss a few people off because of the particular brand name I mentioned earlier. I’m no fan and there’s a huge following I’m bucking against. That’s not the point here.
Are you able to do that? I’ve brought this up before. Now that some of you have been with me a while, and for those of you new to my web site, I’m asking, how many of you can sit down with the nugget of an inspiration and just let it flow? To me, that’s one aspect of what being a writer is all about.
This all goes back to something else I’ve talked about before. Self-editing. Did I do any self-editing while I was writing that piece? Subconsciously, I probably did, because as I went through it, I didn’t have a lot of changes. Sure, there were a few grammatical biggies after looking at it with fresh eyes, a few misplaced words or rearranged sentences, but nothing to change the gist of the story. However, what I didn’t do is pick apart each sentence as I wrote it. I wrote 1,403 words in twenty minutes. I let an idea flow out, got it down on paper (well, electronic bits and bytes actually) and worried about the bull later). I didn’t stop to worry the details of every word. I would have “fergotted” what I was writing about by the second sentence.
Can you, as an aspiring writer, do this? Can you take the nugget of an idea and let it flow out, damn the typos? Can you take whatever skill you have, limited or expert and throw down an idea? Can you toss aside the temptation to pick it apart as you go along risking losing your inspiration before you get to the end? Can you whip out an essay or short story, at least the guts of it in no time?
I think some of our best work comes in these quick moments, when the fire is burning hot. If we pause to think about it too much, the inspiration distorts, it changes. Then it becomes something else. It may eventually be better, but maybe not. Sure, you will still be a writer, but your ideas may not necessarily be what you intended. Will they?
This isn’t for everyone and I don’t expect it to be. However, if you can try it, even if it takes you two hours one-key-tapping instead of twenty minutes, just to get your idea down in one session instead of days, try it. Don’t think of editing, just put it down and worry about the editing later. I have years of writing and editing skill behind me so I automatically do a lot of editing in my head. Far from perfect (trust me, just ask my writer’s group!), but that’s not the point. Getting the idea down is.
SHOULD YOU PITCH TO AN AGENT OR NOT?
This is a moot question if you’re going to self-publish. It’s also moot if you’re going to be your own agent and want to go directly through the publisher yourself if you think you know your way around the system well enough. Funny, after being rejected 659 times, most of those rejections from agents with only a few from publishers, I finally got my deal with a publisher. A small press mind you, but still a deal, no agent.
If you go the self-published or e-published route (which is still self-published), no agent is involved. There’s no middle man, especially with the e-pub. However, some in the industry (cough cough… Lee Child), you aren’t worth spit. I resent that, but also see his point. There’s a lot of crap out there in the self-published world because there are no filters to weed out the stuff that shouldn’t be published. Just look at the books that make it to traditional print. There’s no accounting for taste as it is. There are plenty of bad books out there from big publishers.
Consider how many self-published works are flooding the market, especially now that e-pubbing is taking off, that don’t have anyone to tell the author no, or to edit them and tell them where they need to fix anything. A lot of people are being ripped off of their hard earned cents or even dollars from blind sales of tomes that may have catchy titles or artwork but turn out to be turgid, boring or amateurish drivel that a third grader could out-write. In that respect, I agree with Child, but he’s slamming a lot of great writers who are being rejected on a whim from overloaded agents and publishers who never get to even a quarter of the manuscripts submitted to them, if that.
If you decide to go with an agent, why? Because they can open doors you can’t. They live and breathe the industry. They know these people. They eat lunch and dinner with them. They go to conferences with editors and publishers, they talk to them every day. They know their likes and dislikes. The big boys. That’s the argument for them.
Which agents do you look for? Forget the books you see in the bookstore. They’re a great way to fatten the wallet of the author that wrote them, but they’re woefully out of date by the time you see them on a bookshelf. The best way is to use the Internet. www.agentquery.com is probably the most detailed and up-to-date site out there. You also don’t want to forget Preditors and Editors http://pred-ed.com/ This site can save you a lot of grief!
You have to know your genre. Each agent usually takes specific genres. Study their profile. If it’s vague, take a chance. All you’ll get is a rejection. So what? 659 rejections and counting… I’m still alive.
When reading the agent profile, be sure to check their submission requirements carefully!
Have a generic submission query, but make sure to customize it for each agent. Some will ask for a synopsis, a few pages, this and that. Some will want exclusive access to your work. If they do? Lie! I’m serious. Lie! Let’s put it this way. When you’re sending out queries or MS’s to agents (if they ask for them), they may take 6 months to a year to get back to you. Multiply that by how many agents you want to submit to and the inevitable rejections you’re going to get before one says yes. How many decades to you want to wait before you finally get a yes? I’m just saying. Their demand for exclusivity sounds reasonable assuming your MS is all that dynamite and everyone is starving for work, but the fact is they aren’t. They get thousands and thousands of MSs a month. They’re flooded with stuff and barely have time to get up in the morning, let alone read your work. So, demanding the impossible is ridiculous.
I’m bringing this up again because it’s almost conference time. April is near and it’s time to get ready.
Happy writing.
A JACKPOT OF BAD MOVES
This is my week to bitch.
Doesn’t it just burn you up when you find a published book that is written like crap? Here you are, struggling to get a foot in the door. You send out manuscript after manuscript, get turned down over and over again, usually for no explanation at all. However, once in a while, you get lucky and the agent, editor or publisher graces you with a critique. You find that all the “advice” your fellow authors have been doling out, or that you’ve been reading about is dead-on. It’s like hearing (or reading) a tape recording of what they’ve been telling you since you started scribbling words on paper (or bits in a computer). Then, you’re slapped in the face to see some schmuck published by a big house (or a subsidiary) that doesn’t appear to know the first thing about writing.
It happened again.
Right now, I’m in the middle of reading a particular series by an author that, at first, pissed me off with his crass view of authors that e-publish. As I was looking through his titles in the bookstore, I noticed a line of novels nearby from another author I like. It’s a series where I’ve read every one. I had no idea that he wrote three earlier novels. For several trips to the store, I forgot to do further research. Finally the other day, I remembered to seek out those earlier titles on Amazon.
I was floored. The reviews of these three, loosely-related stories were awful. Each had an average of twenty reviews and the total average was two stars. Ouch! The majority of them were one-star reviews with one five-star each from an obvious fan with a smattering of three three-star reviews between two of the second and third.
This had to be good! I read every one-star review, which took some time because most were detailed and not just “This book sucks”, but it was worth it. Only one guy was a glutton for punishment and read all three. The rest were from different people. The thing that nailed the issue was that almost all of them said the same things.
The first one was panned for being little more than soft porn. The author spent too much time focusing on body parts, which had nothing to do with the story. All of them, which is something I’ve talked about in structuring chapters, had a problem with the chapters not ending well. They concluded with no cliffhanger, no place to go, no incentive for the reader to keep on reading.
Then there were the convoluted plots including unresolved threads. Characters introduced early in the story, popped up unexpectedly and resolved loose threads with no reason to be there.
Reviewers universally panned the writing as cheesy and amateurish without specifying so I can’t tell you exactly what anyone meant by that. Let’s just say, the people that bought these books probably missed out when the author finally got his chops and started his other series. The later series is written well enough that I’ve enjoyed every one despite some glaring flaws. I’ve had some issues, but nothing to stop me from buying the next one. For instance, the author tends to describe things ad-nauseum, he starts the earlier books very slow, he’s very prone to lists and his hero is able to gallivant around the world without any appreciable income.
What bothers me is with such universal loathing for this guy’s work first three novels, why did the publisher go ahead and still give the go-ahead for a new series? Turns out it was a big gamble that paid off, but do you think we’d be so lucky?
Sometimes I just can’t figure out this game, and probably never will. It seems luck and timing has a lot more to do with it than skill or talent. Not saying I have either, but I’m just sayin’…
I know some super authors that deserve a lot better shot than this guy got (and I’m not talking about myself), yet they can’t even get the time of day from an agent.
As you look at your next rejection slip, don’t feel so bad. Luck will either strike or it won’t. Write because you love it.
Fickle business.
COMING UP WITH CHARACTER NAMES
It may seem like an easy task to come up with character names for your story, whether they’re fictional or real (and you have to use fictional names to protect the innocent or avoid lawsuits). You can pull the names out of a hat, out of the air or mix and match them from a baby name book if you want. Maybe you can pull them randomly out of the phone book. Some well-known authors even run contests to publish fan names in their novels. As new writers, you probably don’t have a fan base to choose names from yet, so that option is down the road!
Most of us, I imagine, pull them out of the air, probably inspired, like me, from random people and events around us at the time. Maybe they’re from something in our past.
The inspiration for the name (not the actual character) Joseph “Detach” Datchuk, the main character in my Gold series, came from a guy I knew in elementary school.
On the other hand, in that same series, I pulled Mildred Pierce out of the air. It wasn’t until almost nine years later that I learned she was the name of a very famous character in a novel from the 40’s I’ve never heard of. That was purely coincidental.
Meleena, from my fantasy series is completely made up. To this date, I’ve never heard that name before… that I know of.
I must make one thing very clear. These character names, even if inspired by real people, have no bearing on the characters! One has nothing to do with the other. Just to be clear, the kid I got the name Detach from in no way resembles the character in my novel in either appearance or personality. The same for Mildred Pierce or any other character I have a name for, so far at least. Maybe someday, the fan that wants to be in one of my books will get a little piece of their appearance or personality added to a character. Not much, but maybe a tiny bit as a tribute.
I could go on and on. For you, sometimes you just hit it right and sometimes without realizing it, you nail some famous or infamous name and don’t know until someone tells you about it. As for Mildred Pierce, she’s a sidekick in the Gold series and I’m very fond of her. I have no intention of changing her name. I may throw in a comment about the famous novel but maybe not. There are probably hundreds of women named Mildred Pierce, so I don’t see changing it. It’s not like her character is named Angelina Jolie. That would be too unique to get away with.
Another issue, and the one this article is really about is to consider similar sounding names. It came up in Meleena’s Adventures – Gods Of The Blue Mountains. The main character is Meleena. In this sequel, she’s hanging with a female Elf I’ve been calling Alinda. One of my critiquing friends pointed out that Meleena and Alinda sounded too much alike. I referred to my handy-dandy Meleena’s Adventures encyclopedia. I hadn’t alphabetized it yet, which prompted some much needed housekeeping. I have sections for names, places, creatures and things. It was enough of a sidetrack just to get through reordering the names. With that done, I went through every character name one-by-one, from both books. Since Alinda and Meleena did sound a lot alike, I had to find something unique, something that didn’t sound like any of the other common character names. It wasn’t long before I settled on Niin. There’s no other name like it. Where did I come up with it? I pulled it out of the air. I could’ve spent all day doing the same with random names but that was honestly the first one that popped into my head. No indecision, no agony or worrying. Guess I just got lucky.
When you’re creating names for your story, similarity must be a consideration. Sound-alike names tend to confuse the reader. After a while, readers may not be able to distinguish between characters and that will weaken the impact of your prose. Each name should be different and distinctive. Alphabetizing my encyclopedia, which I should’ve done a long time ago (still have to do the other sections), helps me see the big picture. It’s especially important in fantasy where I have to make up names. I can’t be using Karl and Joe and Fred.
In a conventional novel, you don’t want your common characters to be named Ted and Fred and Jed. Or Jan and Fran and Nan. That would drive a reader nuts and it wouldn’t be long before they’d lose track of who is who.
There should be a distinct difference between names.
Until next time.
The Worlds Of Fred Rayworth 