I have a theory about the path to publication, and it goes something like this:
The probability of getting “the call” rises in direct proportion to the amount of plotting you do before writing the book. I’ll even go so far as to predict that the more unsold manuscripts you write, the closer you’ll get to agreeing with me.
Okay, maybe I’m generalizing. Sure, some authors spew out their books with GMC firmly intact, aha moments right where they’re supposed to be, stakes appropriately raised, and so on and so forth. But not even pubbed authors smack the ball out of the park 100% of the time.
Case in point: Carolyn Green, who gave the workshop I attended on Saturday. As a multi-pubbed author, she has the luxury (?) of “selling on proposal”…unlike the rest of us plebians who have to prove we can finish a manuscript. And, yet…some of her proposals were rejected. How can that be? She’s a published author—she must know her stuff, right?
But after some analysis, she figured out that the books that sold had something the rejected ones lacked…and it all boiled down to elements derived from careful plotting.
Now, I have no data to back it up, but I suspect the newer you are at this (and that includes me) the less enamored you are with doing a whole lot of work beforehand. I mean personally, once I have an idea and a couple of characters, I can’t WAIT to start committing my sagas to paper. But when I look at all the contest winners who never publish…when I look at all the people I know on line who never complete a manuscript…
I think, at some point, you have to buckle down and pay your dues.
Learn your lessons.
Not that you can’t do it all backwards if it happens to work for you…but think of it like cooking: isn’t it a lot easier to have the ingredients on hand than to have to dash to the store while the pot is simmering? Or, worse…to have to figure out what’s missing just before you serve it? (Okay, so now I’ve revealed how badly I cook, too.)
All I know is that next time around, I’m gonna (gulp) do an outline. Or, maybe even (gasp) a synopsis.
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5 comments:
OMG.... (gosh), you are such an inspiration. I have all these crazy stories in my head and I can tell them to myself, and I can even manage to put it all on paper in a readable and likeable voice. But I have yet to plot a story from beginning to end and I get stuck when it comes to transitioning from one point in the story to the climax. AGHAGHAGHHHHHH! What drugs are you taking to make it all make so much sense????????
I take it you don't have a dozen different stories all screaming around in your head and dying to come out onto your computer screen. They have almost given up on me due to no brain time left each night, but I still can feel them simmering, waiting for the opportune time (like retirement) Which, of course means plotting is very difficult. But, sounds like you have a good grasp of how you can improve your skill.
Ack. You nailed it. I'm one of those rare people who says, "Ideas? What ideas?"
Well, not exactly true...I have a few one -word ideas and titles rolling around in my brain. That's why I'm obsessed with plotting lately...I wanna learn how to turn those ideas into stories.
No, I'm definitely not a natural born storyteller. :(
Christa...I sure wish they had a drug that would help :-) And, trust me...it doesn't make sense yet...but (sigh) I get closer every day. Closer to what, I'm not sure 'cuz every time I find an answer to something, new puzzles pop up to take its place.
Regarding your comment:
Now, I have no data to back it up, but I suspect the newer you are at this (and that includes me) the less enamored you are with doing a whole lot of work beforehand. I mean personally, once I have an idea and a couple of characters, I can’t WAIT to start committing my sagas to paper.
I think you hit the nail on the head. I know I had (in MY head) a great idea for a historical frontier America type story, but it involves lots of research. ::yawn::
So, I continue with my contemporaries. I do know I can finish a manuscript, but I don't know that they're so very stellar. I think I could use some careful plotting myself.
Just this last week I was forced (due to contest entry) to write a Synopsis for a book I've only written 30 pgs of. Wonder how much of the book will actually follow the synopsis by the time I'm done?
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