26 October 2005
TELL ME A STORY! (A really good one)
by Anna Jacobs
www.annajacobs.com
Anna Jacobs writes historical sagas, historical romances and modern novels for two UK publishers Hodder & Stoughton and Severn House, and regularly hits the UK Top 50 Fiction bestsellers list there. As of 8/05 she has had 33 novels published. Others are contracted and in the pipeline. Her latest novel is Pride of Lancashire, a 1845 tale in the pre-music hall era, when there were music rooms attached to pubs. She has a passion for writing, historical research and reading, happily works long hours and produces three novels per year.
INTRODUCTION
There are so many elements involved in writing novels that it's no wonder those on the publication trail sometimes get bogged down in the details of writing. And of course, details are important, part of the overall striving for professionalism and excellence. But I sometimes wonder whether less experienced writers lose the plot—quite literally—and start fiddling with details like punctuation and better vocabulary too soon. In my opinion, what sells a manuscript to a publisher is the story—first, second and third! If you haven't got a good story, then you haven't got a sale.
As part of a story, you will of course need to create particularly vivid characters that suit your genre. Your reader must be able to relate to them in some way and they must have strong emotions and serious problems to solve. Whole books are written about developing characters. You can find such books in your local library or bookstore. But characters are not enough to carry a novel. For that you need them to be involved in a gripping story.
So OK, you've got some fascinating characters and you've got your basic plot idea—where do you go from there in order to produce a saleable manuscript? Well, I'd like to offer you a five-step approach, which has worked for me and for writers who've attended my workshops and have contacted me afterwards to give feedback.
1. GET THE STORY WORKED OUT AND WRITTEN
It doesn't matter at this stage whether you plot in detail before you start writing, or whether you develop a rough idea and then work out the details of the story as you go. Even after having 32 novels published and hitting the UK bestseller lists, I can't plot in advance. I simply set up the main characters in a challenging situation and walk with them from there. I have a friend (also well published) who can't write a novel till she's not only plotted the story, but done a chapter by chapter outline. Either approach is quite valid. It's a personal choice and it's the final product that counts, not how you get there.
My main advice is not to expect perfection the first time through. Just get the story worked out and written down. I call this my dirty draft.
2. STUDY THE BASIC PLOT
Give yourself time off to distance yourself from your writing—need twists, changes, surprises, and even withholding information. That is, you need action, not fancy words. Maybe, if you're less experienced, you'll need to wait again and then repeat this stage. DO NOT!—I really mean this!—Do not go on to the next stage until you're sure you've got the skeleton plot fleshed out with adequate and credible action. And don't, for heaven's sake, start fiddling with grammar and vocabulary at this stage, thinking that will make a big difference. It won't. Not yet, anyway. Oh, I know you can't help changing the odd word here and there as you go through it, but do not set out to work specifically on the details till you've got your action threads right.
3. ENHANCE EACH SCENE
Give yourself another break from the manuscript so that you can judge it more objectively (stop groaning and just do it!). You can work on other projects or ideas in the meantime, so you don't need to waste this 'maturation' time. Then go back and really work on enhancing each scene. You've got your story in place. You've checked that there's enough going on. Now, start enhancing the details of each scene. Add new depth, smarten up the dialogue, add a bit of description, increase the excitement, fire up a sexual encounter, deepen the tension/suspense, plant a clue about a future event—whatever is expected in your chosen genre.
You may need to repeat this action enhancement stage, too. You must do whatever it takes, given your stage of development as a writer, to:
A. Learn your craft, and B. Make this manuscript saleable.
Don't grudge the extra time and effort. It may make a huge difference in both the short and the long term.
4. OK, NOW YOU CAN START FIDDLING
This is the last stage. Not until the story is firmly in place and each action well portrayed do you need to work hard on your editing of details, for the obvious reason that if you have to cut out a scene, you'll have wasted your time polishing it. But now you can look at individual words, trying to find better ones, avoiding repetition, cutting out clichés and tired phrases, making your dialogue sparkle, getting the punctuation and grammar right
After that, give yourself a pat on the back for effort.
5. FINALLY . . .
Leave the story for another month or two and come back to it for a final polish. Yes, I know. It's agony to do that. But you do want to get your story accepted, don't you?
CONCLUSION
Always remember:
It isn't details of vocabulary and punctuation which sell a manuscript; it's the quality of your story and character interactions.
So the moral is: slow down on your submitting, slow down on your editorial fiddling, and bring all your wonderful creativity to bear on the actions and interactions of your characters. Please—tell me a really good story; make me unable to put the book down until I find out what happens.
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