by Dame Devon
I get a lot of emails from writers just starting out who want to know the basics of beginning a writing career. The steps, process, and work it takes to go from idea to submitted novel, can get a little muddy. So here are the basic, and in my opinion the most common, steps you can take to get your career off the ground.
1. Read widely in and outside your genre. If you haven’t read outside your genre, you are doing yourself a disservice. Pay attention to the words, the pacing, dialogue, plotting. Pay attention to the emotional cues and how writers show details through the character’s perspectives, emotions, and reactions. (This is part of the old Show Don’t Tell advice.)
Type out a couple paragraphs from a favorite writer. Feel their word choices drip off your fingertips? Feel the pacing? How they choose longer sentences, and mix it up with shorter bits? Nice, right? Do you notice the sentence fragments? Can you feel the dialogue switching from character to character? See how it all fits together and moves from one idea to the next? Try some of that in your writing.
2. Finish your novel. There is no magic short cut, and there is no such thing as a book that flows like honey from start to finish. We all sweat and doubt and groan. We all alternately love and hate our projects. We all worry it won’t be good enough. That doesn’t change, so you might as well get used to it. This is your job. You, and only you can finish your novel.
Once it’s done, go back over your novel once or twice, checking for clunky bits, logic, plot, pacing, and clear characterization. Then let go of it. I mean that. Get it in hands of educated readers you have talked to, and have told what kind of critique/feedback you are looking for. Find educated readers by joining a writer’s group in your area. Check if the library has writing groups or book clubs. Try your local new or used bookstore. Look for writing conferences in your area. Attend one of these and see if it’s a good fit for you and your writing. Try going to a conference or a fan convention. You can find links to them on line. Conferences and conventions usually have a writing track with professionals speaking on panels, teaching, or critiquing in small groups.
3. Research agents and editors. Read agent, editor, and writer blogs. Read publisher websites. Read the acknowledgment sections in the front of books to see if an editor or agent is mentioned. Find agents and editors who are interested in stuff you write. Find agents and editors who might not mention they’re interested in the stuff you write, but you like how they present themselves and handle their clients.
Find out if they’re going to conferences, conventions, events in your area. Attend, and for heaven’s sake, be polite. Saying hello, or asking a quick question or two after a panel or signing is a great idea. Following people into the bathroom and cornering them with your manuscript is a really, really bad idea. They will remember you, and not in the way you want. Agents talk to other agents, editors talk to other editors. Don’t be their subject du jour.
Always check if an agent, editor, publisher is legitimate by using sources such as Writer Beware, and Predators and Editors. If you join a writer’s group, talk to the other writers about what they have heard about agents and editors. Writers talk to each other too.
4. Learn to write a cover letter, query, synopsis, and outline. Look for examples for how to write those on editor and agent websites and blogs. Dame Jackie did a nice three-part breakdown here. No, it’s not like writing a novel. Yes, it’s hard. Is that going to stop you? You’re a writer. Your business is writing. Do it. No one else is going to do this for you. No one’s going to write your query, mail stuff out for you, or research who is the right person for you to query or submit to. That’s all up to you.
Remember, there’s no one way to write a query or synopsis. The most important thing is that it makes your book sound exciting, interesting, engaging. It’s a sales tool, not a dictionary entry. Think of it like a movie trailer and explain your book in the query or synopsis like you’re talking to an audience excited for the event (your book) that they are about to experience. Read the back of books, or inside of hard back cover flats to get some ideas about how to hit on the important, interesting bits of your book. When you do submit your query or book, follow the agent and editor guidelines.
5. Rinse, repeat. I’m not kidding. This is your career. Don’t wait on someone else to keep it rolling forward. Go forward on your own. Start that next book. Write a short story, find ten more agents and editors you want to submit to. Then brush off your query letter, roll up your sleeves, and do it again.
Five easy, common sense steps to get your career off the ground. And yes, they are also five time consuming, frustrating, and confusing steps. It’s easy to get turned around about what’s important: should you write or spend time researching agents? Is it better to spend money on attending a conference or on a subscription to Publishers Weekly? Only you can decide.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, that’s OK. No, it’s more than OK. It’s normal. Every published writer started out not knowing how to write and finish a book, find a critique partner, research an agent or editor, or write a query or synopsis. You don’t have to know it all right now. But you can start learning, start trying, start doing. We all did it. I know you can too.
And yes, there is a step six.
6. Keep working, keep learning, keep believing. Be patient with yourself, and don’t ever, ever give up on your dream.
And if you have some useful links you’d like to share with us, or any questions about the steps I’ve mentioned, please let us know in the comments. I’ll be checking back often today, and would love to talk to you!
Check out our useful links for Writers
and our useful links for Readers
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All very good advice. Persistence trumps talent in the publishing business. Many talented people go home. There are plenty of negative people who will tell you all the bad news. As we say in the Bronx: fuggetaboutem. Forge your own path.
Bob–Damn straight. I’ve seen the most talented people not make it because they gave up. The people who make it get up when they’ve fallen down, and keep going.
Good Article. I find it entertaining that this came out the same day that “Eleven Tips for Beginning Writers ” (http://magicalwords.net/david-b-coe/eleven-tips-for-beginning-writers/) posted too.
I got hit with a new story idea last night that is making the “finish the novel” step more difficult on the one I’m 10 chapters in already.
Axisor–That’s a great link! Thanks for posting it. New shiny ideas are sneaky and filled with temptation. Think you can jot down the basic idea and use it as a “treat” for when you get your daily/weekly work done on the novel in progress?
Great post, Devon. I’m the author of the article to which Axisor linked in the comment above. Apparently it’s true: great minds do think alike.
Great post although one thing that still puzzles me is how to do Research. Now I know that you can just go on the net and look stuff up but I mean the really good research like police procedure, researching cities, etc…
Alright–posted a link to here over there as well….
So now I have writing my longer novel as a reward for finishing unpacking for the day, and New Shiney as a reward for getting my 1.5K min for the day… I think I’m going to need a flow chart soon
David–Loved your article, especially the part about writing being fun. That’s all too easy to lose in the process. Thanks for stopping in here!
BreiaB–When I’m drafting, I make stuff up. Then I go back and do the research. Yes, look on line. There are writing books on police procedure. Also, many professionals enjoy sharing details about their jobs. Talk to police officers about how they do things.
As for researching cities, there are many, many resources on line, Google Map, esp. the street view function, and, of course, books and travel guides. Nothing beats being able to actually GO to the city and take a look, see, smell for yourself, but you could find a writer on line who might like sharing the details of their city with you.
Um…I don’t really have any links, sorry, but I do think the Deadline Dames are very helpful
. I just kind of have this random question. You know those days when you look at your novel and think it’s completely awful and you should just give up on it? Well, I’m having one of those, except I’m re-writing. What should I do? Force myself to write it, even if I’m thinking it’s awful, or write something else?
Irene, I get that feeling at least three times when I work on a project. Just got it when I did the revision to HUNGER. My crit partner and I both agree: when it gets to the point we can’t stand looking at the damn thing any longer, it’s time to hand it in to the agent/editor/get it on submission.
Thanks. I’ll get working on that.
Irene–I agree with Jackie. Writers are the worst judge of their own work. If you’ve finished going through the book (rewriting) once, maybe it’s time to pat it on the head and send it out on submission.
If you haven’t made one full pass of the manuscript, try putting it down for a couple days. Rewriting takes a lot of emotional energy. You’re purposely honing in on everything that’s wrong with the book so you can fix it, and that can be exhausting and discouraging.
Taking time off might help give you a little distance away from the constant search for the “bad”. Remind yourself of all the cool things you like about the book. If someone else has read it, ask them to remind you what they loved about it, lol! It helps!
Then get back in there and finish rewriting it–and then Send It Out.
Devon,
I’m working on my first full-length WIP. Been off the last couple of weeks with it. Been trying really, really hard not to be a Rolling Editor – that was such great advice you gave! I’ve finally decided that I have too many main characters, and while I truly believe I have a good idea, I also think it is lagging. The pace isn’t quick enough, my characters aren’t quick enough. I’ve made the decision to go back, rewrite the first 50 pages and move forward from there. The doubts have been trying to come out of the closet on me, the last few weeks. But I keep slamming the door on them. I know I can do this, and only I can stop myself from finishing. Not finishing is not an option for me. This first one, I’m cutting my teeth on. That is okay. What is most important to me is that I do the best I can, and complete it.
Dawn Y–Do what works for you to get the novel done. That’s always the BEST thing to do. Some writers write best as Rolling Editors, some writers edit only when they’re done, some do both.
Whatever it takes to get from “Chapter One” to “The End” is the right thing to do. Good luck!
I actually completed a full length novel but here’s the thing…its way too long! I am so discouraged because I love everything about it and I can’t bear to hack into it. But alas, I must. Even if I do, I may not get it down to where it should be (definitely not down to 100k, considering it is now sitting at 200k. I could probably get it down to 175 or so, probably no less than 150 and even that’s pushing it.) I’m not sure if I should just move onto the next project or keep trying…it kills me since I had so much planned for this series!
*sigh* I understand the market wants 100k stories (90k mostly) but it would fracture the story if I cut it down that short. It would be impossible to split it as well without ruining the plot line. I will probably have to remove subplots, but they’re essential to the following books…:( I don’t know what to do!
Maybe I should just start something else altogether and once I get published, I may have more room to negotiate…who knows!
Linda D — If the book is as tight as you can get it and every one of those 200k words is necessary, why not start submitting it? 100K is an easier length to sell (for a number of reasons), and a more common length for a debut novel, but big books have been sold.
Look at it this way–it’s never going to sell sitting in your desk drawer. Get it out there and move on to the next project.
Devon,
You’re right, I really should attempt it, regardless. It won’t be much use if I moan and groan over it! Clean it up as much as possible and give it a shot…thanks so much for you’re advice, you and the other dames are so helpful, inspirational, and you all definitely lift my spirits!
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Excellent post, as always, Devon. Great summary of the writing life.
[...] Devon offers Five Easy Steps to getting your writing career off the [...]