Hello, writers. Last week Emmet told us the tale of her agent quest. It struck me that, like the Hero’s Journey, there were certain elements in this story that are common to most such quests. Some of these are things we’ve perhaps harped on continually a little bit around here, while others haven’t gotten much mention.
Probably no Write On! regular was particularly surprised at Emmet’s success, since we all knew she was a good writer and nice person. But those things aren’t all it takes. Some other elements:
1. Putting yourself out there.
This means admitting that you’re a writer, going to writer-y type events like conferences or, if you can’t afford those, events at local bookstores and libraries. It means joining a critique group. It also means submitting your work for publication or to agents, when you’re ready.
2. Knowing other writers.
Emmet mentions many things that she learned from other writers. I think every time I talk to other writers, I learn something. If you don’t know any other writers, get out and meet some. Not only will they help you achieve your goals, they’ll also help you stay sane in this crazy business.
3. Learning what genre you’re actually writing in.
I was interested to see that Emmet found she was writing legal thrillers when she thought she’d been writing mysteries. Something similar happened to me; I thought I was writing YA but learned I was writing middle grade fiction. This is the sort of thing we can learn from putting ourselves out there and meeting other writers.
4. Not being married to your first manuscript.
Emmet mentioned putting aside her first manuscript and moving on to her second. She did this with more alacrity than most writers do. However, if we want to be published, we all do it eventually. Few writers sell their first manuscript. On average, today's working authors sold their fourth manuscript first.
5. The market, the market, the market.
I think the one thing that most distinguishes writers who are selling their work from those who aren’t is consciousness of the market. If your work isn’t simllar enough to what's selling, then you’ll get rejections and quite likely you won’t know that this is why.
Agatha Christie said something about this in her autobiography: you don’t make a chair that’s 50 feet high and expect people to buy it. Writing, too, has to be tailored to what will sell. The book market is more variable than the chair market, of course. Since there’s a two-year lag between acquisition and publication, the cycle often goes like this:
Year zero: Vampire-sloths are considered the next big thing, and are much discussed at publishing industry lunches. Agents sign authors who have written manuscripts about vampire-sloths.
Year .5: Editors acquire vampire-sloth manuscripts.
Year 1.5: While lucky authors with vampire-sloth contracts work on revisions, editors beg agents not to send them any more vampire-sloth manuscripts.
Year 2: First vampire-sloth books, acquired in year .5, hit stores.
Year 2.5: Editors absolutely forbid agents to send them any more vampire sloth manuscripts on pain of excommunication.
Year 3.0: Writer picks up a vampire-sloth book, acquired by editor in year .5, at library, reads it, thinks “I could write a better vampire-sloth book than that!” and sits down to do so.
The good news about this, by the way, is that what goes around comes around. In ten years, vampire-sloth books may be hot again.
The moral to this is generally taken to be “don’t write to trends”. You may notice in the tale of Emmet’s journey to representation that the agent chose to sign her despite the fact that the genre, legal thrillers, isn’t hot at the moment. I’m not sure what to attribute this to, but at a guess I’d go with (1) Emmet’s being a good writer as well as (2) a nice person who would be pleasant to work with as well as (3) the agent’s being aware that what goes around comes around. Trends shift.
Anyway, these are things to bear in mind if you want to get all agented up like Emmet. If you don’t, of course, that is also valid. Writing for its own sake is cool.
Since the above doesn’t lend itself to a Tonight’s Challenge, try the following, from the handy-dandy Amazing Story Generator:
Suffering from amnesia/
a 400-year-old vampire/
joins an underground militia
Instead of our usual opening scene, write a bit of dialogue or action from the middle of the story. Strictly limit yourself to 150 words.
The Write On! timeslot has returned to Thursdays at 8 pm ET (5 pm Pacific).
Before signing a contract with any agent or publisher, please be sure to check them out on Preditors and Editors, Absolute Write and/or Writer Beware.