When you start a novel, should you start out writing it with intent for publication? I have heard many schools of thought whether it is best to write what you love and then try to publish or research the market and find a niche for your book before putting in all of the time writing. I enjoy writing fiction just as a cathartic activity but now that I am getting to the point of graduating college and seeking a career I wonder if I should also begin focusing my writing on a more professional and pragmatic path. ~ Tom.
Dear Tom,
HAHAHA, funny you should ask that. Well, funny to me, because I was just having that very conversation with my partner. He’s a successful photographer, but twenty years ago, he was a successful screenwriter (which just goes to show that life is art in progress and we are all wondering about these career things all the time), and now he is contemplating writing a book. Maybe even, as a memoirist friend and I call it, a “MemWah.” So the other night my partner was pacing around the living room in front of the fire (because we actually do this), saying, “Well, here’s the thing. I don’t know if I should write about X” (“X” being this subject that is very near and dear to his heart and that I’ve heard him talk about for at least 9 months) “or write for an audience. Figure out what sells and play to that. What do you think?”
At this point I was attempting to appear neutral and supportive but was probably giving him a look like this:
I will CUT you
because that’s just the kind of gentle and supportive person I am. What I meant to say by this look is, “Please, please don’t do that.”
What I said instead was, “That’s a sucker’s game. Writing to please other people. Writing for an audience. Writing to SELL. Because guess what, by the time you do your due diligence and figure out what’s popular and write your book, the public’s taste will have moved on and you’ll be left holding yesterday’s cold leftovers.”
I utterly, utterly believe this, and it’s true from a pure, cold marketing perspective. My partner had been thinking like the screenwriter he once was, not the MemWah or novel-writer he was considering becoming. A screenplay, he told me, had generally taken him three months to write. This astonished me. A short story takes me three months to write. A novel, anywhere from three to five years . Most writers I know require at least a year to write a book, and those are the speedy ones. For many of us, it takes longer. And then, it takes time to alchemize your manuscript INTO a finished book: anywhere from a year to a year and a half.
Let’s say you are Speedy Gonzales
and therefore one of those writers I smile widely at but secretly try not to resent because they write so well so quickly. Let’s say you look at the market and say “Hmmm, books about dogs / written by dogs/ with dogs on the covers are superpopular right now.” (Which they indubitably are.) “I like dogs. Well, actually I don’t know any dogs, but I petted one once. I’ll write a book from the point of view about a shelter dog who lives in an ice cream truck.”
A year later, you have your dog book. You then query several agents, who tell you that dog books were very, very hot in 2011 but the new thing now is cats. Or parachutists. Or MemWahs about recovering-alcoholic streetcleaners. You take your Ice Cream Dog book and slink away from the desk with your tail between your legs. How were you to know?
On the other hand, let’s say you’re facing that scariest thing of all, the blank page + an undecided future. You think, What am I going to write about? You think about the advice you probably got in college, highschool, writing classes stretching back into infinity: Write what you know. You massage your mind. Topics start coming up like messages from the Magic 8-Ball, but nothing seems all that appealing.
Try this, then: To the formula Write what you know, add: Write what you love.
Let’s say, for the sake of argument, the first thing that comes to mind is your first dog, Lunatic. Lunatic may have had an unfortunate habit of drooling. Of hiding under the Christmas tree and leaping out at unsuspecting passersby, then sinking his teeth into their calves. Of gastronomic emissions that could clear a room in 30 seconds, even if he was sleeping peacefully. But he was your Lunatic, and he stayed by your mother’s side, for instance, during her chemo. And you loved him.
What a stupid idea, you think. To write about a dog? Who’ll read that? Besides, dog books are so hot right now. By the time I get this novel written, the new thing will be cats. Or parachutists. Or recovering-alcoholic clowns.
This is precisely the point at which you should Write what you love.
When I was writing my 1st novel, THOSE WHO SAVE US, I was told point-blank, by a gravelly-voiced agent who said she’d represent the book and then changed her mind, “Kid, I can’t sell this. It’s too depressing. Holocaust books don’t sell.”
When I was writing my 2nd novel, THE STORMCHASERS, I was told, “This is going to be a tough sell. Mental instability always is.”
Both the books got picked up and are doing just fine out there. (Thank goodness.)
So write what you love.
A quick backtrack, because this is also how I roll: This advice does NOT mean you should NEVER consider your audience. Au contraire. The point of writing a book is for people to read it, right? You don’t want it to fall in the Amazon/ Indiebound forest without making a sound. Therefore, when you’re done with your first draft, you must consider your audience. That’s when it’s time to take your manuscript to trusted readers, for instance your workshop friends at grub street, and ask them what’s working about the book and what isn’t yet–i.e. how to make it better. How to get it ready for your audience. Definitely seek a writers’ community. Definitely find a workshop. Definitely take classes. Definitely plan to get published and work toward that goal!
But when you’re first sitting down to write, when you’re choosing a topic, keep doing what you’re doing: writing as catharsis, writing what means most to you. As my partner said two days after our initial discussion: “I think it’s all about the story. If you’re a skilled storyteller with a heartfelt tale to spin, it doesn’t matter what the platform is. Your story will find the platform.”
Write on!
~ Jenna.
Love this Jenna. I’ve often thought if I just write about what really happened, as unbelievable as it was, how could it not find an audience? I’m inspired.
I’m honored to have been helpful, Chris! Hint: It doesn’t really matter whether a story actually happened. It matters if you can make it believable on paper.
Write on! xox
Very good points. I like the staging you’ve outlined for the process.
I’ve had three books in mind for years. Two of them are timeless, but would only appeal to a certain audience. The third, and only fiction piece, will require the ability to engage readers; making them want to read on and turn the page.
All topics are things I love. I can visualize the books from cover to cover and staged to market.
With a full time commitment at this point in my life still, the three are but glowing embers that need some breath through my parsed lips to become something more.
Then, of course, is the decision of which of the three might have the best chance to feed the energy I’ll need for the other two. Or another that has yet to come to mind.
Thanks for the insight on the trail ahead should I decide to take that first step.
Hi, Steve: As somebody very wise once said, I’m glad to have been “a candle in the window on a cold, dark winter’s night.” Oh, wait, that was REO Speedwagon. CUT!
Truly, I am glad to be helpful. And I believe the story you should write is the story that really grabs you and drags you around by the hair. The story that has the most energy over time. The story that doesn’t go away.
Godspeed!
~ Jenna.
Hallelujah! I actually got a somewhat heated discussion about this with the mister on this very topic recently. I was describing the premise for my new novel and he was all, “OK, but don’t be all disappointed and depressed again if it doesn’t sell, because it sounds like it’s going to be something publishers will find ‘quiet’ because it doesn’t really have a newsworthy hook” (I’m paraphrasing here)
And I’m all, “How do you know it won’t be newsworthy by the time I’m done? What if books about flappers are all the rage?” (NB: My book is not about flappers; I”m just using that as an example).
I’m also all, “More importantly, I HAVE to write this book, because it’s what I want to write, dammit!”
So, I’m going to show him this piece as proof that I am right. Thank you!
Now, off to go finish the copy edits on my Mem-Wah….
Wait… you’re NOT writing…about flappers?
I’m so done here.
Jane, I have full faith that *anything* you write will be splendid. I’ve sampled the goods. Can’t wait to read the MemWah–and the novel to follow.
xox,
Jenna.
Good advice, good ideas, good story, good article, good writing, good spirit, good judgment. And nice pictures too.
A.
Thank you so much, A2! for reading and for your kind comments. I’m so glad you enjoyed my violent opinions. The pictures–I can take no credit for them. One is iStock photo (that’d be Speedy G); the other superphotographer Jim Reed. (One bonus of dating a genius photographer is that he makes you look good.)
I am wishing you the best possible day & happy reading!
Thanks for this.
When I pitched my first manuscript, I collected a pile of “encouraging rejections,” many in the vein of, the world isn’t ready for a female Jason Bourne. Or, more depressing, the world may be ready, but they don’t want her written by an unknown author. I was advised to write a “more mainstream” commercial novel. So I did. But even that book was sort of quirky and resistant to pigeon holing.
Maybe it’s my stubborn nature,or maybe the story has the kind of energy you write about above, but I keep circling back to that manuscript, revising it, improving it.
Jenna,
Thanks for the words of wisdom. I’m warned that agents/publishers will want me to write my story as a continuous narrative rather than a collection of essays. Problem is, that book would suck! I know my strengths and weaknesses, and I won’t compromise on this. If I did it their way, I’d hate writing it and people wouldn’t want to read it.
Thanks again for the reinforcement!
Hi, June: Thanks for reading! I had to laugh over your saying, “That book would suck.” We know, don’t we!
I have to admit I’m a sucker for a book in linked stories; part of the fun is in figuring out the pattern/ watching it develop. That’s why I loved Elizabeth Strout’s OLIVE KITTERIDGE so much.
I’m wishing you the same success with your collection that
Strout had with her Pulitzer-winner.
xo,
Jenna.