Your First Novel

by Ann Rittenberg

  But only bring into your language what feels brilliant to you. If someday a literature student were asked to write an exercise in your style, how would you want her to perceive your voice? That's the kind of texture you want to add. It's you, only more so. Enhance your brightest qualities as you polish your rough draft.

  Remember that using a poet's ear does not mean adding adverbs and adjectives. Don't start piling on the descriptors to heighten the writing. Your story is your art, and your paint is language. The more adjectives you throw in, the more you will muddle your painting. It's not the number of words that makes your story vivid, it's the right words. And if the words are dog-eared, readign them would be like seeing the same picture page after page. Show the reader something new with each picture. Upend the rock and disturb what's

  under it, peek behind the curtain of the hearse, look at the fire through the lingers of a child.

  Here are some dull descriptions and some successful writers' alternatives: BORING

  By the time John had got to the top of the stairs he was dead tired. BETTER

  By the time John had got to the top of the stairs his face was streaked in sweat and he was wheezing like a perished accordion. —The Stars' Tennis Balls, by Stephen Fry

  BORING

  The congregation grew restless. BETTER

  Fans crackled, feet shuffled, tobacco-chewers were in agony. —To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

  BORING

  In New England summer comes on hard and fast. BETTER

  In New England spring really only comes for one priceless week and then the deejays drag out the Beach Boys golden oldies, the buzz of the cruising Honda is heard throughout the land, and summer comes down with a hot thud.

  —The Dead Zone, by Stephen King

  BORING

  Sleeping all night on the bench made her muscles stiff. BETTER

  Nine, ten hours on this bench, a simple stretching exercise would have been orgasmic.

  —A Drink Before the War, by Dennis Lehane

  BORING

  Marley's face had a ghostly glow. BETTER

  Marley's face ... had a dismal light about it, like a bad lobster in a dark cellar. —A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens

  BORING

  I was sick from starvation. BETTER

  My stomach ached, my period stopped. I rose above the sidewalks. I was smoke. —White Oleander, by Janet Fitch

  BORING

  The Circus-Circus is twisted. BETTER

  The Circus-Circus is what the whole hep world would be doing on Saturday night if the Nazis had won the war.

  —Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, by Hunter S. Thompson

  A MATTER OF WORD CHOICE

  Here are examples of sentences tightened and improved by replacing a few ordinary words with one right word:

  • They built a bridge across the narrow opening between the hills.

  • They built a bridge across the gorge.

  • For Eudora, love was difficult to find.

  • For Eudora, love was elusive.

  • Don't sully the reputation of my father.

  • Don't denigrate my father.

  • He was abstaining from sexual relations.

  • He was celibate.

  • She was accused of stealing personal property.

  • She was accused of larceny.

  • Norman was unable to cope with the demands of his social environment.

  • Norman was maladjusted.

  • Rita was doing a humorous, exaggerated imitation of her grandmother.

  • Rita was doing a parody of her grandmother.

  • He would not say all that he knew or felt.

  • He was reticent.

  • She wrote the note in a hurried and untidy manner on a napkin.

  • She scrawled the note on a napkin.

  • He repeated the story in exactly the same words.

  • He repeated the story verbatim.

  TITLES_

  Early on I asked you to make up a name for your novel idea. You may have been using that code name ever since. But now is the time to come up with a good title, one you'd be proud to type on your title page or put in your query letter. Authors pull titles from everywhere—song lyrics (Proof Through the Night, by K.P. Burke), children's rhymes (Along Came a Spider, by James Patterson), Shakespeare (The Sound and the Fury, by William Faulkner), mythology, legal terminology, you name it (pardon the pun). Oh, yes. And puns.

  The first thing I recommend you do is write a list of all the words you can think of that are central to your book. If it were A Christmas Carol, the list might look like this:

  miser spirit Christmas

  childhood regret memories

  choices love forgiveness

  ghosts party second chances

  Don't judge the words you think of, just write them all down. One that isn't a good title idea might trigger you to think of one that's perfect. Out of that list you might eventually choose A Christmas Carol because it represents a little story with a promise of a moral ending. Your list can also include the names of characters, the names of locations, and any jargon that goes with a central field (law enforcement, medicine, sculpture, psychology). If nothing in your list jumps out at you right away, never fear. Save the list and look at it later—something might appear tomorrow or next month.

  If you are in a critique group or a writers' support group, have the group do a brainstorming session with you. If the members haven't read your manuscript, tell them a little about it, as much as might be on the dust jacket. Then have them brainstorm tides. Don't judge. Just write everything down. Several of my friends have found good titles this way.

  Many recent bestsellers have adjective-noun structures:

  2nd Chance The Da Vinci Code The Bourne Legacy Little Scarlet Dark Destiny Weekend Warriors The Lovely Bones

  And many have more unusual structures :

  The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Sam's Letters to Jennifer The Secret Life of Bees Kiss Me While I Sleep

  To get a feel for what kinds of titles sell in your genre, go to the largest bookstore near you and walk around in that section of shelves—see what titles made it. You probably won't find a literary novel titled The Devil Wears Prada or a chick-lit book called Atonement, but go and look! There might be surprises waiting.

  The two most important things about the title of a novel are that it makes the reader lift the book off the shelf and that it is a true window into the story. My favorite titles are symbolic; they give a clue about the subject matter and a hint of the emotional atmosphere. I like titles that are little poems unto themselves. Some of my favorite titles are:

  The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter The Poisonwood Bible The Catcher in the Rye To Kill a Mockingbird Of Mice and Men

  Other titles I love:

  A Wrinkle in Time (children's)

  The Lion in Winter (play)

  Lonesome Dove (Western)

  Me Talk Pretty One Day (memoir)

  Out of the Silent Planet (science fiction)

  Make a list of the titles you love and think about what makes them great.

  Two more important things to remember: Do not choose a title that sounds like something else if that something else would turn off your potential reader. Balance Sheet might be an erotic in joke between your two brilliant and charming lovers, but if it sounds like a dull finance meeting, no one will buy it (unless there are naked people on the cover, but that's out of your hands). Also, when you come up with a good title, Google it. You want to make sure no recent book, movie, play, or TV show beat you to it. There is no copyright on titles, but you want to avoid confusion.

  If you are writing mysteries or thrillers and plan to make a series, you might link the tides with a gimmick. Sue Grafton is using the alphabet (A Is for Alibi, P Is for Peril), Walter Mosley is going through the colors (Devil in a Blue Dress, White Butterfly), James Patterson is working his way through Mother Goose (Jack and Jill, London Bridges).
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  One last piece of advice: Whatever title you choose, even if it lands you a great agent, might still be changed at least once before your novel makes it to print. Be open-minded. Publishers and editors are professionals. They usually know what they're doing.

  RECOMMENDED READING

  The Writing Life, by Annie Dillard. Focusing on your book can be a lonely experience. Dillard finds insight instead of cabin fever as she isolates herself to work on her novel The Living.

  Stein on Writing, by Sol Stein. Among other wonderful advice, Stein provides a powerful chapter on finding a meaning title for your book.

  CHAPTER TEN:

  preparing to be read

  PREPARING THE MANUSCRIPT_

  When you've rewritten your novel—when you've gone through it over and over until you can no longer tell which parts need fixing—you should let someone close to you read it. Don't send it to an agent or editor yet. Choose someone you think will like the kind of book you've written, who will be honest but constructive, and who supports your dream of becoming published. This might be your spouse, your best friend, your child, your sibling. Whomever you choose, you will want to prepare the manuscript so it looks professional and is easy to read.

  • Spacing. Always double-space your manuscript. There should be approximately twenty-five lines per page. Use twelve-point font and either Courier New or Times New Roman. Put a 1-inch margin on all sides.

  • Page Numbers. If your friend accidentally drops the manuscript, it should be easy to put the pages back in the right order. Number them. The top right corner is common. Do not number the title page.

  • Title Page. Your title page should have the name of the novel centered. Under the title, type the words "A novel by" followed by your name, also centered. Use a larger type font here. You are taking credit for and owning your novel. You want that pride to show on the title page. Even if your first reader is your own spouse, include your contact information (address and phone number) in a single-spaced block near the bottom of the page on the left.

  • Quality Paper. Use white twenty-weight paper all from the same batch— don't print the first third of the novel on one brand of paper and the other two-thirds on a second brand. Be consistent. It will look more professional. If you go to a copy store, when you put in your order, make sure the original you give them is complete and in good condition. Whether you print out your own copy or have it photocopied, always count to make sure every page is in the right order before handing it over to your first reader.

  • Clear Copy. Don't use carbon paper. If you work on a typewriter rather than a computer, it's all right to keep a carbon copy for yourself, but take the original to a photocopy shop. Also, if your typewriter or printer produces pages that are too light, change the ribbon or ink cartridge.

  • Clean Copy. Make sure the copy you give your reader is clean—no torn pages, dog-eared corners, coffee cup rings, or ink scribbling in the margins.

  • Bound vs. Unbound. For a friend or relative you might three-hole-punch your book, especially if it's more than three hundred pages, and put it in a three-ring binder. For agents and editor you'll leave the pages loose—most volunteer readers will be fine with loose pages, as well. But put the manuscript in a new, clean file folder with thick, soft rubber bands around the manuscript to make sure it won't slide around in transit.

  • Packaging. You might be tempted to use a cute color of paper or pattern of envelope, but don't. Let the quality of your writing do the talking. If you feel you need gimmicks to make your novel appealing, you should rewrite it again and not show it to a reader yet.

  • Presentation. When you give this professionally packaged manuscript

  to your first reader, don't toss it on the coffee table as if it doesn't matter. You might be feeling insecure, but don't present the novel that way—hand

  it over with confidence and gratitude. Be accommodating about how long it will take the reader to get back to you. Novels (especially first novels) aren't always fast reads. Don't forget to thank the reader.

  RECEIVING NOTES_

  When the reader does get back to you with his opinion of your novel, accept the written or verbal comments graciously. If they're verbal, take notes. Resist the urge to argue. When he says he thinks it would be better if the protagonist were a painter instead of a sculptor, don't go into a rant about why you are right and he is wrong. Just say something mild—"That's an interesting idea"—and move on. When the reader is done, if he hasn't told you, ask what his favorite parts were. These are always nice to hear, and it's more fun to end on a positive note. Thank the reader. Take him out for pie. He might have been nervous about giving you notes—make sure he feels appreciated.

  Think about these notes you have just received for a while—let them sit. You'll be tempted to ignore certain things and try to rewrite other things immediately, but don't. Sleep on it. Reread the notes in a few days and they will feel different. Remember not to take things the wrong way. Notes are a gift to you. Use them to do another rewrite.

  If you truly don't agree with a certain note, don't fret. Move on. Use your gut, but watch out for ego. Again, this is where the two- or three-day break comes in handy. You'll be much more open-minded if you take a step back and address the notes when your feelings have stopped smarting.

  STATE OF MIND REVISITED_

  As you finish the writing process and begin the submission process, remember that the best thing you can do for yourself, for your future agent, for your career, is to write great. Be patient and persistent. Know that the more turndowns you get, the closer you are to finding the right agent or publisher. Those who reject you today might kick themselves tomorrow. Persevere! Remember, there are lots of agents out there and lots of first novels published every year.

  And look at it this way—millions of people say they want to write a novel and never do anything about it. Thousands buy books on writing and never read them. Thousands read the writing books but never get around to starting a novel. Thousands read the books, take seminars and workshops, start a novel, and then never finish it. When you finish uniting a draft of your book, you are already ahead of millions of other people.

  You know what boosts your self-esteem as a novelist even better than completing your first book? It's proving you have another one in you. Start your next project right away. This is your new life. You are a novelist.

  Note: If you have read this far and still find you can't start writing, be not afraid. You're still a writer. Return to the listening stage. Don't stare at a blank computer screen or sit down with a blank piece of paper and suffer in stuckness. Go outside. Take a walk. Watch people in the park. Listen to the wind and feel the sun on your back. Play music in the dark. Pay attention to your dreams. Read. And always have a tablet and a pencil in your pocket. You are in the cave. Your idea is right there.

  RECOMMENDED READING

  The Career Novelist, by Donald Maass. There is a plethora of good advice here—some topics important at this stage might be "The Right Attitude for the Career Novelist" and "Envy."

  The 3 a.m. Epiphany, by Brian Kiteley. As you take a break from your first novel and start your second, get your inspiration back on track. Kiteley's book is a refreshing read that uses uncommon exercises to challenge your preconceived ideas.

  The Pocket Muse, by Monica Wood. Another good read while listening for your next idea is Wood's book of prompts and exercises.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN:

  what a literary agent does—and why

  When asked what I do for a living, the answer, "I'm a literary agent," draws as many puzzled looks as it does knowing nods. To the question "What does a literary agent do?" the simple answer is, "An agent helps a writer find a publisher for his book."

  An agent has two primary duties: to oversee his clients' careers and to know as many people as possible in the business. Why does he need to know so many people?

  Because, while anyone aspiring to write a book might know the names of different
publishing houses, like Doubleday or Penguin, and might even have some idea of the kinds of books that come out under those imprints, the reality is that each publishing house is staffed by (among many other people) a cadre of editors, each of whom has different tastes and interests and publishes different kinds of books. The job of the agent is to know as much as possible about each editor, so that when, say, a book on rock climbing crosses his desk, he'll be able to come up with a list of editors who might find it interesting. The more he knows about them—not only their tastes but their career histories, their relationships with their colleagues and

  their bosses, their successes and failures and future ambitions—the better he'll be able to match them up with the right writers and books.

  THE THREE-HOUR LUNCH

  AND YOUR CAREER_

  Since fiction doesn't fall as easily into specific subject headings as nonfiction, the job of knowing an editor's tastes is a little more complicated. Agents encounter editors in many ways, from e-mail and letters to meetings, parties, conferences, and lunches, and at each encounter they can learn something about the editor that they'll be able to put to future use.

  Publishing people are famous—or notorious—for being the last ones to leave a restaurant—usually a nice one—at lunch. During the course of the two- or three-hour meal, the agent and the editor get to know one another. The agent might try to draw the editor out on a number of different levels. First, he might find out where the editor has worked before and how long she's been at her current position. This gives him a basic idea of her level of experience.

  Then he might ask the editor about the books on her current list that she's most excited about publishing. Through the way she describes them, he can learn something about her taste, what fascinates her, what kind of writing or story grabs her, and how well she talks about the book. Because the editor is a book's primary advocate and champion within the publishing house, the agent wants to find out if she can communicate her enthusiasm—make him feel that the book she's describing is a book he must read. If she can do that, it follows that she'll be good at conveying her enthusiasm to the rest of the staff, like the sales representatives, the publicists, the marketing and advertising departments, the people who sell rights to book clubs and foreign publishers and, above all, to her boss—the person who must okay any financial offer the publisher makes.