55,000 Words And You're Finished - What To Do

The standard length for an adult novel is 80,000-100,000 words and while you might just get away with 70,000 (or 110,000) you're not going to get one under 70,000 published as a first time novelist.  Sorry.  

If you're in a tutorial with me, what you will say at this point is that you like spare, minimalist writing, and I will say, so do I, but the publishers simply doesn't buy novellas from unknown authors. If you want to get published, your novel needs to grow...

1.  Missing scenes.  When I read short manuscripts there are usually scenes that are referred to, but not written.  Sometimes they're ones that seem vital to me as a reader.  You'd only need 5 new scenes at 3,000 words each to hit 70,000 words.

2.  Linear writing. If your novel goes straight to the point without much diversion it's going to be short. Try adding some diversions aka subplots.

3.  Minor characters.  Look for minor characters that could be developed more fully and given stories of their own.  In Kissing Mr Wrong, one of the differences between draft 1 and draft 2 was that Briony (a minor but vital character) got her own story which developed throughout the novel in parallel to the main one.  

4.  Sparse writing.  It's good for readers to have to do some work, that's how you engage a reader, but if they have to work too hard they'll give up and go read something else. Readers aren't stupid or determinedly dim, but reading is a form of entertainment, not hard labour. Sometimes you can over do the sparseness as you prune and prune.  It's about getting the balance right.  

5.  Description.  I'm not suggesting you suddenly shove great wodges of descriptive writing into your novel to get the word count up, but readers need a bit of description to help them imagine places and people.  Some manuscripts look more like film scripts as there is no description in the dialogue sections.  

6.  Internal thoughts.  There is a tendency for some writers to write in cinematic third person, ie no internal thought.  In my experience this is usually a sign of a writer who watches film and television, but tends not to read that much. The novel reads like a prose version of a film script.  This is a shame, as one of the fabulous qualities of prose is that it's the only art form where we know what another person is thinking.  Add thoughts, add attitude.  Your readers will thank you for it.

7.  This is a desperate trick, and one that I tend to use in the horrible first stages of the first draft when I am obsessed with word counts, but play around with names.  Mary Smith can become Mary Jo Fortescue Smith easily and will add to the word count without too much stress.  

I am an under-writer, in that my first drafts are usually around 60,000 words.  Each time I revise I feel I'm cutting like mad, but I also add all of the above (except No 7, that's a first draft trick) and my novels end up at around 95,000 words.  

150,000 Words And Still Going - What To Do

There are some people from whom the words just flow.  They write and write and write and I have to admit, as someone from whom the words have to be cranked out with pain and difficulty, I am always a teensy bit jealous when I meet a student who cheerfully confesses that their novel is nearly finished at 150,000 words.  

But the sad truth is, you won't get a deal with a long novel as a first timer.  Paper costs money and it's twice as expensive to print a 150,000 word novel as a 75,000 word one.  (Most of those mega blockbusters that could double as doorstops were printed in the 1980s when paper was much cheaper than now.)

So you're going to have to cut.  This is going to hurt, but there it is.  It will have to be done. And to drop 1000s of words is going to require more than deleting a word here and there.

1.  Description.  Long descriptions of places, people and things are obvious targets for pruning.  Start by asking if you really need them in the first place, and if the answer is no, cut them out altogether.  If the answer is yes, then cut back - people don't read long descriptions any more.

2. Scenes.  Do you really need every scene that's in the book?  Write down the purposes of each scene eg introduce Character X, describe the house, give some information about X's backstory.  A scene that is short on purposes should be short on the page.  If it isn't, then cut  - or combine with another scene.

3.  Use summary.  Sometimes we write out scenes when we could actually use summary. In Nice Girls Do I wanted to describe the C18th landscape garden where the story is set, and had a scene where Will the gardener shows Anna, a garden historian, round.  Some of the garden is described through straight descriptive passages, the rest through dialogue between Will and Anna.  It was a very long scene - 16 pages in the first draft.  I realised that Anna, being a garden historian, would know most of the information anyway, so given she was the view point character I could put much of the information in her head as summary.  It's about 6 pages in the published version. 

4. Characters.  Do you need them all, and if they're important to the plot, do they all need to be described? You may have worked out detailed character histories for each and every one, but it's not essential for the reader to know all this stuff.  Think iceberg - 10% above the water, the rest submerged.

5.  Back story/flashback.  How much do you really need, and how much is you writing yourself into the characters?  Most of the time we don't need to know about what happened in the past and it just holds up the story.

6.  The opening chapters.  Have you started in the right place?  Where does the story actually start?  It's not unusual for the story to really get going at Chapter 3.  

7.  Too many sub-plots?  Perhaps one (or two) could go.  Always ask yourself what their purpose is in relation to the main story line. Remember that readers can't handle more than five or six main characters in a story.  Usually there are two or three who are centre stage most of the time, with supporting characters coming in and out of the main story focus.  

Most novels currently published are between 80,000 - 100,000 words long.  If yours is way over that, you're just going to have to be brutal. 

NB If having read this your immediate response is Trilogy! I would respectfully suggest you think again, for reasons I'll deal with another time.  

The Author Photograph

I came across this post about cliched author poses on the web the other day and thought I had to share it.  I had some new author photographs done last year (the photographer was Mike Mills, he was v good) and now realise I've gone for a combination of cliche No 3 and No 5.  I read the post just after I'd read another post about hobby v professional writers (can you tell I've got a tricky scene I ought to be writing?) and it was talking about how "professional" writers planned their brand, from image onwards.  

I only wish I knew what my brand was.  I don't like the way authors - and books - are being treated like baked beans. The implication is that readers are a homogenous mass of baked bean eaters, and can't eat anything else.  Well, phoeee.  Most people I know read a wide variety of books, fiction and non-fiction.  They like the old favourites, but will try new stuff.  

And as an author, I find each book is different.  They're all in the same genre, but the feel of the book depends on the main character and what their situation is.  I've written two books about adultery, so perhaps that's my brand. Which would be unfortunate because I think I've said all I want to say about adultery for the time being.  Besides, if you said to a photographer, my USP is adultery, they'd want to have you posing in your bra and knickers. This would also be unfortunate, given that I'm not a 20-something model.  

As a reader, super glam photographs put me off - there's one author whose website has lots of pix of her lounging in leather trousers looking foxy, and it completely turns me off reading her books.  When my pictures were done, I wanted to look...normal, I suppose.  Oh no, I've just realised - my intended brand image is bland.  No wonder I have cliched author photos.  At least I went for a scarlet cardi.

The Judge's Report

What follows is my Judge’s Report for the Wells Short Story Competition

A strong selection of stories with, remarkably, no obvious winners or losers. All the stories had merit, all the stories had flaws. Looking back at my notes the most frequently used phrase is ‘depressing’. A lot of people died along the way. I was also concerned that decrepitude seemed to start early for several writers – the seventy year olds I know are buzzing around with full lives, not waiting to be consigned to the care home.

Characters were often passive, resigned to their fates. I longed for the worm to turn, but alas, it didn’t always. The stories that were most successful had active main characters who moved the story forward. Many main characters were one-dimensional stereotypes who had no existence outside the narrative.

Another phrase that cropped up a lot in my notes was ‘weak ending’. Some stories simply stopped, leaving me checking if I’d missed a page. Others didn’t carry through the promise that they’d started with. A weak ending is damaging because that’s the last thing we read, so that’s what we remember. Satisfying endings are important.

Lacking focus, or confused focus was another frequent phrase. A short story is just that: short. It carries a single idea through to the end like a beautiful pendant on a fine chain, unlike a novel which is a multi-stranded necklace. Some stories had several ideas vying for dominance. Or they would start with one character and finish with another, the first character having been lost along the way. Where was the reader supposed to be looking?

Some stories were based around clever ideas: tricks, or twists in the tail. These made me smile, but an idea is never enough on its own to carry a story through, there needs to be something else – humour, description, prose style, characterisation – to sustain the reader.

So, how to choose a winner? It was hard, as every story had good and bad points. Which should I put higher, the funny tale that was clumsily written, or the beautifully written story that lacked purpose?

In the end I decided to go back to basics. Which stories had I enjoyed reading the most, regardless of any technicalities? And at that point it became clear. My winners are the ones that worked for me as a reader. Another reader would have made different choices and perhaps, on another day, so would I.

The Other Side of the Story

The flip side of the frustrating student is working with a receptive one. It is soooo satisfying working with another writer on their manuscript. You chuck in an idea, they play with it, perhaps use it, perhaps not. It doesn't really matter.

It's all about effectiveness. They intended the reader to get X from that line/paragraph/section/chapter. You, the reader, got Y. What would they need to do to get the effect they want?

The text might need a bit of rearranging. Too much of the game is being given away too early. Move that line, or take out that paragraph, and tension is increased. Sometimes it's about clarifying a phrase. Sometimes there's a stray word that's giving the wrong impression, or a place where an additional adjective would help understanding. An outside view is often good for the bigger picture - is a particular character necessary, are certain events too close together, is that the best place for a chapter end?

But above all, there is a sense of common purpose. We both want the writing to be the best it could be. I'm not 'the enemy', I only ask questions to clarify things. Does ABC work best? Would BAC be more interesting? What about CBA? Maybe ABC is best after all. It's such fun to play with another writer, letting the ideas bounce backwards and forwards. There aren't any right answers, it's not about getting another writer to do it 'my way', it's about firing up the creativity of the other author when perhaps they have come up against a brick wall or need to know how their work is coming across.

Luckily, the receptive student who wants to learn, who wants to listen, who wants to play is much more common than the negative student who sees the mildest comment as a personal attack. To all those who have allowed me to join your journey for a little while, thank you.

Writing Just For Meeeee!

I've recently been to Venice. I stayed in a fabulous hotel I'd found on-line via TripAdvisor. Most of the reviews were complimentary - great location, lovely room, friendly staff - but one was huffy because the reviewer hadn't been able to fit into the shower. She described herself as being well-built. Well-built??? And you can't fit through a normal sized shower door??? I mean, I was there and I am not a skinny minnie, and I had no problems.

Some years ago I was in a group workshop situation. The student being workshopped was incredibly resistant to the teeniest of suggestions for change, even when the changes were for clarity of meaning rather than about style or content. It was incredibly frustrating. Finally I said, 'None of us understood what you meant by this phrase. Surely it's worth at least considering changing a couple of words so we can understand.'

'I write for me,' he replied grandly. 'And I am perfectly satisfied with my work.'

Which is fabulous, for him - I'd love to be that confident about my writing - but does ask the question, why bother to go on a writing course, why bother to workshop? I believe the answer is that what they really mean is, they want the world to fit in with them. If a reader is critical, well, that's the reader's fault for being obtuse, or insensitive, or intellectually impoverished.

I've tried writing poetry. They're not good poems, but I don't mind because they really are just for me. No one has ever seen them, or ever will. That's what 'just for me' means. If you put your work up for comment, then you have to accept that comments will be made. You don't have to change your work by one single word as a result of those comments, but in my experience people want to be helpful. If they say they didn't understand what was going on then it's not because they're stupid or insensitive. Your writing is unclear.

So don't kid yourself you're not fitting into the shower because the door is too small. It isn't, and you're not.

Another Take on Short Story Judging

I was scooting around the web and came across this great post on short story competition judging, and why stories failed to make the short list. It's a long post, but worth reading to the end because all the points made are good ones.

This one particularly resonated with me:

4. Solipsism. One miserable person being miserable. This was the most common and depressing failing. Unrelenting monotony of one single, invariably miserable and oppressive viewpoint. No sign of concern or even mention of any other character, nothing other than one person’s dreary moaning. If you are not interested in other characters, at least make it funny.

I can remember one point when I started writing when I had a phase of writing this sort of story. I think I thought it was 'being literary'. Luckily, I bored myself so the phase passed quite quickly.

It's easy to forget that stories are essentially about entertainment. In short stories you can get away with miserable, unlikeable or irritating main characters in a way you couldn't in a novel, but they've still got to be entertaining. Stuff needs to happen. Change has to happen (and not of the sort, things were bad and then they got worse). We don't want to spend time with miserable people moaning in real life, so why do it in a story?