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Expert Advice from J.A. Konrath |
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EXPERT ADVICE ARTICLES BY J.A. KONRATH
Printed in Romantic Times BOOKclub Magazine
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Category: WRITER'S TIPS
FROM REJECTION TO SOLD: TIPS TO JUMP-START YOUR WRITING AND SALESNo one is born knowing how to write. Storytelling is part art, part craft. Writing for publication is even harder, since
so many writers vie for so few slots. After penning more than a million words and garnering almost 500 rejections before earning a dime, I've made just about every
mistake a newbie can make. Here are of
some of the biggies:
DOING EVERYTHING BUT WRITING. Talking about writing, reading about writing, taking writing classes and joining writing groups -- even discussing writing online and attending writing conventions -- are not substitutes for sitting down and actually writing. Writers write.
NOT FINISHING. Don't be the writer who has 10 projects going at once but never finishes any of them. Complete a project to the end.
NOT SUBMITTING. Don't be the writer who has a drawer full of finished manuscripts but no rejection slips because you never send them to agents or editors. If you want to sell, you have to query.
WRITING WHATEVER YOU FEEL LIKE. If you desire publication, you need to know your target market, your genre and where your work
fits into the whole scheme of things. That means thinking about your audience before you put pen to paper, not after.
TELLING INSTEAD OF SHOWING. "Jen was nervous" is bad. "Jen wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans" is good.
SEEKING PRAISE. Praise is like candy -- we like it, but it's bad for us. You can't learn from praise. Seek
criticism instead, and
strive to improve.
NOT FOLLOWING GUIDELINES. Always use proper manuscript format: Double-spaced text, one-inch
margins, 12-point Courier font and your name and page number in the upper-right-hand margin. Don't give someone a reason to reject you before they've read a word -- and they
will if you don't
follow guidelines.
BEING AN ISLAND. The more you network, the more you learn, the more contacts you make that might help you. Attend writing conferences. Meet authors and ask them questions. Join a writer's group and
get feedback.
NOT WRITING. You have a family, friends, hobbies, a job and you need to take time out to eat, sleep and unwind. If you want to be a writer, you have to make time. That means sacrificing one or more of these things in order to get the book finished.
GOING IT ALONE. Many newbie writers figure they can sell their books without an agent. Some of them do. But you'll get a better deal, and more offers, with an agent. Plus, an agent will act as a buffer between you and the editor when necessary, give you career advice, sell subsidiary rights and help build your career.
LISTENING TOO MUCH. Most of your future writing teachers won't be successful authors. Conversely, pros sometimes aren't the best teachers. Take all advice with a grain of salt, using what works and discarding what doesn't.
PAYING. Money flows toward the writer. Never pay for anything other than an occasional book, class or conference. Don't pay to be published, pay to be edited, pay for an agent or pay to enter contests.
NOT READING. If you want to be a writer, you must first be a reader. Check out new books by first-time authors to get an idea of what is currently selling.
TREATING WRITING AS ART. Being an artist is fine. But once you try to sell your work, you're a businessperson. The only way to succeed in publishing is to remember that your work is a commodity that will be bought and sold. Want to sell a book? Write something that 20,000 complete strangers will spend $25 for.
NOT LISTENING TO EDITORS. Editors are the ones who
buy the writing. They read more than you, have more experience than you and have a clearly defined focus
of what they want. Give them what they want.
STARTING AT THE BEGINNING. The beginning is boring. Start in the middle, where the action is. Your first line is the most important line in your story. If you don't hook the reader right away, the reader will move on to something else.
NOT USING ENOUGH CONFLICT. All stories are about
a mess that needs to be cleaned up. The bigger the
mess, the more engaging the book. Happy characters
without problems aren't interesting. Your protagonist
must have goals. Conflict arises when the protag can't attain these goals.
RELYING ON EXPOSITION. Description and backstory
bring the story to a screeching halt. Less is always more. Reveal the story through action and dialogue, and give the reader just enough information to picture the scene.
GIVING UP. This is a hard business -- one of the
hardest. Breaking in requires a lot of luck, but you
can improve your odds by being persistent. Fate is
simply a future that you didn't change. There's a word
for a writer who never gives up ... published. |
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