It's the story

Does a reader buy a book for lavish descriptions?

Rich language?

Lush locales?

A fresh new voice?

Rip-snorting action?

Interesting, believable characters?

Not this reader, although those can be elements that create the one thing that a reader buys a book for.

Story.

Guess what -- that's the same thing a publisher or a literary agent looks for.

But not just any old story. Something that somehow takes you to a place you never thought about going. The phrase "fresh and original" is hackneyed, but those are the criteria I think a new author needs to break in.

Here's what Kristin Nelson, literary agent, said in her blog:

"I've been reading a lot of fulls lately and it occurred to me that there are a lot of strong writers out there -- writers with enough talent to break into publishing but the current manuscripts I'm reviewing probably won't be the ones to open the door.

"I think writers assume that good writing is enough. Well, it's not. You have to couple good writing with an original storyline -- something that will stand out as fresh and original. A story never told in this way before (even if elements are similar to what is already out on the market)."

Case in point: when I was in Hollywood working on the movie thing, I got good at writing screenplays. Agents and others gave me feedback that let me know I had mastered the form.

I acquired an agent, and my scripts had all the elements: good dialogue; good action; good descriptions.

I was frustrated for a while when nothing sold, but then I realized what I didn't have: I had not come up with a story strong enough to make someone invest a couple of years of time and millions of dollars into making.

I was story impaired. This is not to say that they weren't good, interesting stories. They were. But they didn't take you to places you'd never dreamed of in particularly dramatic or special ways.

Television series can get away with stories that reek of familiarity -- sure they can, because they're free, short, easy. You don't really have to invest much in a TV series story. But a book -- you gotta pay hard cash, and then spend all that time.

The agent you're hoping to hook up with wants a story that will not let her put the book down. True story: a generous agent took a look at my second novel and then rejected it with this note:

"It was interesting and well written, but I was able to put it down."

Harsh reality. When you submit a partial or full manuscript to an agent, you're asking her to invest her most valuable resource -- her time. Think of a story as having a value. You need to buy her time, and you'd better be ready to ante up some serious story value.

Same goes with acquiring editors at publishing houses. Your submission is asking them to spend:

• Time -- of which they don't have enough.
• Credibility -- they have to sell your book to a committee, and the sales guys.
• Money -- he's got to ask the company to spend thousands on getting your book to market.

All these people know that their target audiences want one thing -- story.

Be tough on yourself and ask the hard question: is my story unique enough. . .strong enough. . .fresh enough. . .

I look at my four novels and, to be honest, don't think the first three rise to that level, although my agent and I think two of them are good, even publishable, novels. But, to be honest, I don't think they'll ever rise far enough above the sea of submissions to snare a contract.

The newest one, though, just might get there. We'll see.

And then there's the current WIP, the blook that I've been writing for about, ye gods, 40 weeks now. Since it concerns vampires, let's listen to Kristin again:

"Recently, I had the pleasure of reading three full paranormal novels featuring Vampires. All three were really well written. Had interesting characters that were developed. And even had interesting twists to the Vampire plot to make it unique.

"Sounds good, right? So what happened?

"The scenes the writers chose to create (in order to unveil the plot) were almost identical in each novel. I literally could have taken scenes out of one novel and plopped them into another and it wouldn't have impacted the story much."

I wasn't worried until she listed some of the repetitive elements in the three novels. Her list starts with:

"1. The backstory of how the vampire was made in the first place."

Damn. My WIP, Death Sucks, starts with my hero being turned into a vampire.

Heh-heh, but the fresh thing is that the hero is a kitty-cat who is also the narrator. Will that meet Kristin's criteria of "A story never told in this way before (even if elements are similar to what is already out on the market)."?

A couple more from her list:

"2. Opening scene where the two main protagonists (usually male and female) are enemies but somehow must break through the barrier to work together. This usually involves a violent, confrontational scene to jumpstart the narrative. This scene usually happens in a dark place.

"3. The main protagonists are being chased or must travel in order to accomplish what must be done. This is usually done in a car and there are motel/hotel scenes."

Sounds pretty mundane when she abstracts scenes like that, doesn't it? My new work doesn't exactly follow that pattern -- except for the darkness (hey, they're vampires), and the car (hey, it's a VW Bug!) -- so I feel I can hope that this will escape curse of "that again."

But I'm sure going to think about it. Can I make those scenes more unique? Hmmmm. . .

This reminds me of a lesson from somewhere along the line that had to do with screenwriting, but it applies equally well to a novel. Let's say you want to write a scene in which two people tell each other they love one another.

Imagine that scene set in a lovely restaurant, with great service by the waiter, music in the background, etc.

Pardon the yawn.

Now imagine the same scene at the side of a freeway while the pair scrambles to change a flat tire. Maybe even a drive-by shot rings out. Don't you think the emotions, the dialogue, the action will be much more riveting? I do.

Your thoughts?

For what it's worth.

Ray

Free edit in exchange for posting permission. You send a sample that you have questions about and of which you'd like an edit. I won't post it without your permission.

ARCHIVES .

© 2006 Ray Rhamey

Comments

[GC]

I, for one, am fed up with such advice. The internet is flooded with similar nonsense. The constraints of the current media landscape will force a new era of creativity through the cracks. The cross-pollination of niche markets will render all opinion by these 'old sources' obsolete. With such global dissemination at their fingertips, all writers will find their readers without the current filtering mechanism. Once an artist submits to censure for ANY reason, not to mention for the sake of sales and positive reception, all is lost.

[Patty]

I like vampire kitty cat. It's unique. But someone has to get rid of the nets. Way too many nets.

Re: GC ... if nobody knows your book's there, it'll never get read. If everyone knows it's there and it sucks, it'll never get read. Publishers and editors help (HELP) keep the standard up and get people to know it's there. Authors are where the buck stops, though. If your book sucks, it's nobody's fault but yours. And sometimes you need others to tell you so. That means a little friendly censure sometimes.

Unless you're just writing for you. Then you can write as good or bad as makes your little heart happy.

[Ray Rhamey]

To GC,

Be fair. It should have been clear that I was talking about trying to make a living/sale in the current publishing world, which is pretty much driven by agents and editors.

You want to dissiminate whatever you want through other media, go for it. You're right, all constraints are off.

But to be a professional novelist in this present and what I can imagine of the near future, I think what I said holds.

And I wasn't advocating that any artist submit to censure. I was talking about what it currently takes to break in to publishing. You don't want to do what it takes, that's okay with me.

BTW, my advice is worth only what value you wish to give it. It's free, and I offer it with the intent of being of service to my fellow writers.

[SG]

The only book I can think of that I COULDN'T put down is Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut -- and besides being a masterpiece of one of the greatest writers of all time, that book is also short. Surely that agent isn't suggesting that every book s/he has guided into publication equals or exceeds Cat's Cradle.