Footsteps

The hardest part of being a published author is when someone asks, “What is your book about?”

I get tongue-tied. Wonder where to start the conversation, and sometimes waver as to what to say that is succinct enough, but gets the plot across. As a writer, I do not want to be pompous or so self-promoting it comes out as vain. While talking about my books is the way to let people know about it, it is the abrupt question out of the blue that startles me.

Fear at not being liked, maybe?

Usually, I am quite the conversationalist. In my previous life and work I had to speak to large groups of people and be comfortable. I never had an issue there. Somehow, for reasons I still ponder, I get shy about what should be a grand experience one on one with someone asking a great question. Now, if a person asks about the writing experience and advice, I have zero issue having a discussion there.

I just do not relish getting too deep in the weeds. The author journey is part of the road to travel where you find your own rhythm and what works for you. While hearing what others do or have done helps, replication is not the path. So, sharing walks a fine line, not from greed or hoarding my skills, but from not wanting to taint what is and should be a wonderful and lovely experience at finding your inner writer.

At least, that was a hope until recently and then things kind of changed.

For Christmas, we gave our young son books on how to be a writer.

I know, I know. Who wants the ego of two authors to deal with in one house?

As someone who loves to read and has asked constant questions of me about my books and my writing journey and experience, getting him age-appropriate books to read about how he can develop himself as a writer felt good. He’s read through them and then never said a word about what he read.

Until, we were on vacation last week.

The two of us have had writing conversations. Don’t get me wrong. Usually it has been him and some ideas of plot topics he’s run by me. Nothing really of substance and no action on them. Then, he decides to hit me with a title and plot one night on vacation. My interest gets piqued. Some serious thought behind the title and a plot I can begin to see where he is going with a story. We chit chat some and I tell him to get a first chapter down. He asks me should he do this or that, outline everything first, jot down more ideas and character names, everything that points to he’s really thinking about what he wants to do. He’s looking for a process and advice. So I tell him, don’t do what I do, which is I know my story beginning to end before I write it.

I tell him, do what feels right to you.

Every writer’s process on how they choose to tackle writing a story is different. There are plotters, outliners who build a framework of sorts, detailers as I call them who outline everything and put in details to such a degree that nothing is left to imagine but to get it down on paper as the final book, those who just sit down and begin with nothing really there but type away as it comes, and a host of other ways people do their thing. My son was looking for guidance and I offered up all the ways people start their road. I cautioned though that none is perfect or for everybody.

You find your lane and go for it.

The tough part was my son was desperately looking to me, the published author, for what to do to even begin. I suggested he write the first paragraph. An exercise to get him focused and to settle down his brain that was running a million miles an hour. I could see his juices flowing, the twinkle in his eyes at what he felt was a great story, but him feeling lost at what to do.

He had never written a book before.

So, I calmed him down. Talked him away from the ledge so to speak, and walked him through some suggestions in a bit more detail. I have never let him read one of my books as they are adult fiction and not geared towards children. Plots and concepts best left for older eyes. But, on the plane ride to our destination, as I re-read my first book for fun, wandering pupils stared over. So, as there is nothing too bad in the first few pages or so, no spoiler alerts for you, just a bad word or two, I let him read my words. I wanted him to have a reference, as he has talked about writing a kids fiction book.

And, that got us to being in the hotel room and him antsy at beginning his first novel.

Paper and pencil ready to burn a thought, my son stares at it. Nothing comes to fruition. He fidgets, writes something down, then furiously erases it. I want to help, but I also want him to explore and find what he needs to do. I can tell him exactly what I would do, but I don’t want him to just repeat my process. That didn’t go far.

He asks me and I tell him. “I start with a single attention-grabbing sentence. Short and meant to capture my readers.”

“Um, OK.”

I offer a bit more. “For my style of writing, my fiction has a faster pace to it. At least, for the current series. I want my reader to get hooked right away. So, I lead with a catch.”

My son shakes his head. “I think I understand.”

Then I tell him this, “But, that’s what I do for my books. You have to have your own voice. Write something down. don’t edit it. Just get the words on the page and worry about editing later.”

My son sits on the edge of the bed and begins to write. “Dad? How is this?”

He has only written the first sentence. An opening, but it’s a start. “Try writing a paragraph. Get some more words down and then let me see it.”

So, he does. Sort of. He writes three more sentences. That’s when he hands it over and I read his words. It’s short, not the paragraph I was hoping for, but it is progress for sure. Three sentences that begin his plot and I must say, I shook my head.

Damn, his beginning was killer.

The dad in me was all giggly inside. The author part was beyond impressed. His opening line was beyond his years. It felt like something I would write in one of my books. I say that not because he is my son, but because it is true. Handing it over to his mom, her eyes widened. She has read my books and knows my style and voice. We’ve talked about the reasons why I write the way that I do in my series. She mouthed, “Really?” I smiled back.

My son had captured the essence of what I had been trying to explain to him and hoped his mind could grasp and use in his own way. That one sentence set a tone for his plot. The next short sentences expanded on the story and the hook was in.

As writers, our aim is to take a hand, or two, and grip our audience tightly and never let go. Our words a weapon of good, sometimes evil, that are meant to captivate and enthrall. For commercial fiction that idea holds a ton of weight. Literary fiction you have more leeway to draw someone into your first chapter to set the scene for what you are about to let loose on the paper. In the entertainment arena, you have a very short leash to grasp attention and hold it. It is the nature of the beast.

Why writer friend?

Well, a lot of it comes down to who makes up your audience. We live in an age of instant gratification in many ways. The web produces answers instantly with a click. Streaming allows you to binge watch a whole series instead of patiently waiting a week, month, or the next year for the season to resume. You can order food online and have it delivered. The list goes on and on. There are some that say do not produce a movie over ninety minutes because the audience can’t sit that long. Devices ever at the finger tips.

It’s a scary world we live in where focus and waiting seem to be lost artforms.

This transfers over to writing, especially in the psychological suspense/science fiction thriller arena. If you are too slow in the beginning, you lose your reader.

Slow?

Yes. You have to grab someone in the first few pages with some piece of important context to the plot that they want to keep on reading your book. I am the same way in my personal reading adventures. While I won’t shut the door after a few pages if I am not grabbed by the words and plot, I will bail ship after the first chapter if it is too slow and I can’t see where the story is going down the road. That is why in my own writing I try my best to engage my readers immediately, all with the aim of building a relationship right away and create the suspense to keep on reading page after page. First sentence of every chapter is a hook of some type to convey what is happening as you read that mini-story, as I think of my chapters as short stories. It took me years to find that part of my voice to do it and do it well.

My son did it on the first try.

Why do I tell this story? Well, one as a sense of immense pride in my boy. He listened to my advice, read what good ol’ dad had produced out of the gate for my first published novel, and thought about what he wanted for his own story. He got some sentences down and they rocked. Now, he has a whole lot of work to do still. I am not naive enough to think that he will be able to make a masterpiece right away. Or, at all. Do I hope so? You are damn right I do! I am a realist at heart and know the road ahead.

Breathe in and softly let it out.

He wanted perfection right from the get go. That’s why he wrote a sentence, asked for my input and I gently redirected him to get more out. He wrote one more sentence and wanted me to see, and I declined until he got more. I really wanted him to get a chapter out, to not focus so much on getting the best right away. I told him the amount of times my books get edited and he gasped. Over a hundred times through the writing and then editing process. I write at least a chapter and then go back and maybe tweak a few things. But, not write a sentence and fuss. Get one paragraph down and become insufferable to have to edit it right away. I told my son writing is not about being perfect in the beginning of the journey. It will drive you absolutely bat shit crazy if you try and do it that way. I didn’t say those exact words to young impressionable ears, but you get the idea gentle reader.

Get the story down first.

Then, go back and finesse it to where it needs to be, chapter by chapter until you are satisfied. In many cases, I write tons of pages before I go back and edit anything at all. If you focus on each sentence, each paragraph having to be the grandest final product, there is no way you ever will finish what you start. You can even forget the plot along the way because you spend so much energy at trying to get perfection immediately that you get bogged down. Writing is a road trip. If you stop every mile, you get nowhere. You might see the trees and landscape, but eventually get exhausted and never reach your destination or the next stop. Look out the window and see the sights and stop at the exit miles down the road that has something of interest to see that really is memorable.

That’s what chapters are, the exits down the highway.

Write something down and get enough meat on the bones. That’s a chapter. Write some more. Then, and only then, maybe go back and read what you have on paper. Or the screen. Momentum is key. As writers, we have to take advantage of our brains when the ideas and details flow like a faucet. Get everything out we can and then take a breather.

That’s my editing time.

I really want to encourage that in my own young burgeoning writer son. As I mentioned, he regaled me with his plot before he put anything down for me to see. Threw some details my way and I could see the developing storyline. I really liked where he was going, and since it was a kids-focused novel, I could imagine kids his age-range getting hooked on the plot. If I liked it, I could only imagine what younger readers would think. The additional sentences showed his voice developing with his word choices, sentence structure, and flow. Totally different than me, which is what I want to see him grasp and make all his own.

I just hope my son follows through with it.

Getting back to the larger point of this whole story and why I am sharing it, is this simple snippet of advice. If you write, use your voice and not someone else’s as that is just regurgitation. While you can emulate a style, you absolutely have to make it your own. Make words yours, develop a cadence, convey your feelings on the paper, as they have to be genuine and be original.

As a writer what sets you apart from all the rest of the world is you.

Now, there are elements all writers share in one form or another. I won’t get into all of that. That becomes a master class that goes beyond what my intent is here for all of you, my wonderful readers. What matters is how you, as a writer, go about creating a work of art that resonates with an audience.

Easier said than done, writer guy.

True. No argument there. You can write the next multi-million dollar best seller and it never sees daylight. The publishing business is a game that is not for the weak of heart. Many publishers and agents simply look for the next incarnation of so and so, a copied voice with no originally because, and this is the kicker, it is easier to sell something repackaged, but to the bones exactly the same, than to promote what is new. New is scary and has so many unknowns. There is already a built-in audience for the replicated, so why put effort in?

Seems illogical.

You are right! But, doesn’t that then screw a newbie completely? Absolutely, it does. Who in their right mind wants to be the next [insert famous author here]? A real writer wants to be the new [insert their name here]. Original. One of a kind. Not a carbon copy. While being compared to someone is a flattering gesture, being their clone should rock your core and present a desire to shoot that down with a nuke.

That’s me at least.

This is what I tried to explain to my son. While authors in many ways follow a similar path, and sometimes they converge and begin to blend all together, never choose that road. If you find you are getting on the highway, get off at the next exit. It was why I was hesitant to let him read my words and in telling him snippets of advice. I don’t want him to be me. Write the way I do. He has to be genuine and himself.

And, from what I saw, I think he is on his own road.

But, didn’t you say his first line was something you did too?

I did. But this is where the script flips. He wrote a catchy hook. In a kid’s voice. Then, his subsequent sentences, while laying some plot down, all the words and structure were true to his age, in a manner of speaking. He wrote from his perspective, what captivated his attention, and in such a way that him as a reader would take hold and reel him into the story. It wasn’t close to my writing style at all. He went for it out the gate, laying down what the story was going to be, in so many words. No beating around the bush. Front and center. I lay down the first sentence to tantalize and then begin to weave a blanket to wrap you up.

He didn’t hesitate. Full throttle.

To wrap up and be full circle, last night I asked how things were and when he was going to write some added pages. He was playing an education game from school on his computer and me being me, wanted an update. He stops, looks over, and says to me that he is having writer’s block! I chuckle a bit, knowing that predicament all too well, and offer some sage words.

You have a plot. If you don’t at least sit and try, it will not come out.

Sometimes writers face that wall. Most if not all experience it to varying degrees. We know our stuff, but the intricate details are like whisps of wind we cannot grasp and force on the page. We sit staring at the screen or the paper, hoping that words will come. On occasion, they do. Other times, they avoid us like winning the lottery. For me, I use that time to edit. If I am stumped on writing new stuff for chapters, I can at least focus some on going back and editing, tweaking the words, as that to me is an easier effort because I already have references to work with in front of me. My hope is that by at least continuing to encourage my son to write, even if only five minutes of effort at a time, he will begin to build his process of what works for his creativity.

He has to put in the time, just like everyone else.