Category: So you want to be a writer

The power of a single sentence can make an entire book not only memorable in the short term, but a forever favourite. A perfect sentence (or paragraph) can be humourous, insightful, frightening, heartbreaking, or a combination of these and many more. The right sequence of words can convey a thought process, the whole subtext of a novel, and/or make the reader look at the world differently. I’ve kept some novels simply because I felt the book contained a perfect sentence, one that resonated. The writer cannot get too engrossed with creating the correct phrase, however, because he or she would complete no work. Fortunately, for everyone, sometimes the magic happens anyway, but one sentence that means the world to one reader will be meaningless to another. All our experiences differ. As unique individuals, what we appreciate and what has meaning vary as much as our personalities. Life would be boring if the situation were otherwise.

One such perfect sentence for me is toward the end of Poppy Z Brite’s Drawing Blood. “The art was in learning to spend your life with someone, in having the courage to be creative with someone, to melt each other’s souls to molten temperatures and let them flow together into an alloy that could withstand the world.”

This is perfect to me because it reveals the human condition, of the struggle to withstand and sustain life, and includes a simple but well-presented explanation of why, for many of us, we find it important to create and to love. We may not need books, music, art, etc., or even require companionship to exist, but we need them to ‘live’. The above sentence takes something fundamental to most of us and presents it in an untarnished, descriptive, and beautiful way.

First, an explanation.

A writer who is a ‘plotter’ plans out the course of the story, thinks about the plot, theme, subtext, characterisation, and many other elements ‘before writing’.

A ‘pantser’ sits down at the keyboard with an idea or a model (these are two different things I won’t explain here except to say one is more fully fledged than the other) and writes. ‘Pantsing’ is to ‘fly by the seat of’ (one’s pants), though I prefer to call it organic writing.

I’m (mostly) a pantser, which I realise doesn’t mean I don’t plot but having read a reference to Stephen King recently, a proverbial lightbulb went off in my head illuminating the fact that, like King, I’m an intuitive plotter. I am NOT for the record stating at this point in time I do it as well as he does, but here’s hoping one day, preferably soon. Really, that’s the definition of (successful) pantsers — they are intuitive plotters.

Yes, I can face the blank page and craft a story with nothing more than a vague idea in mind. I often write from beginning to end. I seldom jump around. The story comes to me as if I am reading, and in that respect, it appears I’m lucky the way King is fortuitous. We can ‘pants’ it. The same cannot be said of every writer, though it doesn’t diminish the effort required, and a simple but painful truth remains: sometimes planning isn’t a bad idea even for pantsers. A story may not work for many reasons. Vital elements may be missing. Or be in the wrong order. Even a good book may benefit from being looked over to check all the important formations of story-telling are present and/or in the right place.

I imagine most writers start out as pantsers, unless they have a professional writing background. Most writers are readers who range from someone ‘wanting to have a go’ to those who have always dreamed of it being a vocation. Some (the lucky few) will discover they are intuitive, their writing tends to be organic, and they write something good enough to capture a publisher’s interest. Those who aren’t intuitive writers who don’t put in more work likely publish nothing, or nothing well-received.

Stories have patterns. Don’t worry if you didn’t realise this. If you’re a reader, you shouldn’t. I was ‘only’ a reader once, though there’s no such thing as ‘only a reader’ to those who love books, who buy them or produce them. A reader should enjoy a book without seeing its framework. The reader isn’t supposed to know the design is there.

Pantsers write and either give up or get nowhere (I throw my hands up and confess there are always the often-dreaded exceptions) because they don’t realise this, or they are intuitive and form the shape without realising. Once pantsers become published authors, they may or may not perceive the hidden construction of stories. Some will continue to be intuitive without thinking about it, while some (of which I am one) will spot these layouts.

A note of warning: IMHO recognition of these designs ‘may’ spoil the simple enjoyment of reading somewhat (at least for me). As an author, I now read a book more aware of the narrative. I’m able to spot the ‘inciting incident’ (for example). Don’t worry if as a reader you don’t know what that is, but writers should understand. For me, books were more enjoyable when these plot points were ‘invisible’ because as a reader I did not tune my mind in to spot them.

Plotters know stories require an arrangement and they set out to make the task easier for themselves by laying the groundwork beforehand.

To a pantser, plotting feels like studying for an exam. A plotter to a pantser can seem like one of those irritating kids in school who enjoyed the study process. Ironically, I was one of those who didn’t overly mind studying — good thing because as a writer sometimes I need to do research.

The trouble is, depending on what level of intuitive grasp the writer has of the subject, the pantser can be the one looking wistfully back, wishing they had spent the hours pouring over the textbooks in order to get a better result, but I’m not advocating either option.

Which is better? This is a simple question with a simple answer: use the one that works for you. Some writers plot, some pants, and some do a mixture of the two, and what’s required can differ from work to work, genre to genre, project to project. The choice often comes down to which the writer finds easier, more natural, or even which he or she can withstand. For some pantsers, plotting can seem torturous. For some plotters, pantsing must seem bewildering and disastrous.

An ebook is a book in what may be, for some, an unfamiliar format. This causes the reader to get used to different methods of reading and storing books, but the end product is still that of a story. The writer has other differences to consider between electronic and print markets.

First, there are seldom advances. Some publishers have introduced a small advance but, generally, this is not the case and don’t expect the type of up-front payment as the ‘big six’ might offer if they feel a book has the potential to be a bestseller. To be fair, many mid-stream print publishers aren’t so free with initial payouts. When offered, these prepayments aren’t always as large as they once were and based on several books a publisher ‘expects’ to sell. I’ve heard of enormous advances withdrawn if an acceptable manuscript isn’t delivered and, sometimes, if books simply don’t retail well and meet expectation. Advice is, don’t spend an advance — bank it for a good while.

Print books are often also released electronically now whereas predominately electronic books will not make the shelf in a local bookstore, not unless they eventually go to print, or the shop has the facilities to offer electronic books as part of its ‘stock’. Maybe not even then. Many printed books never make it to local shops, either, and require ordering, but let’s not forget technology is advancing. Predictions are one day a book ‘shop’ may comprise a catalogue and a screen from which to order, the books appearing ‘magically’ as some sort of electronic download or almost instant POD (Print on Demand). While this sounds like science-fiction such scientific applications are being considered and are in development.

The good news for the writer is royalties on ebooks are higher and here’s where the ebook author has a tough choice. Print books are wonderful and many writers will say they long for their titles to be in print. They may read ebooks themselves and love them, but the writer wants to hold their work as something ‘solid’. Touch makes something feel more actual. It may be why many mistakenly conclude the electronic markets aren’t real publishing, while others love being able to cart a library around on a small device that fits into a pocket. In context, there are those who say emails aren’t real letters, but the technology still transfers information effectively.

However, the writer also needs to consider he or she can earn approximately 25, 35 or 50% in royalties from an ebook. From a print book, royalty payments can be as low as 7%. Let that sink in for a minute before I add a writer can earn more in royalties from an ebook, but these titles may not have such a wide distribution, so the potential to sell fewer copies, though this has improved through distributor networks more recently. As more mainstream titles appeared in electronic formats so more companies became distributors same as they would with print, and even printed works can have the problem with limited markets and outlets.

Now we move to why ebooks cost so much. After all, they skip the printing stage. Yes, they do, but this is another matter for those who scorn ebooks to consider. Printing is the ONLY element that the ebook skips. This is a rough guide only based on experience, but consider the levels a story goes through before release.

When submitted to a publisher, the submission goes to a reader. A reader may be an editor at the publishing house or a reader only, but either way, from a synopsis and the first three chapters, a reader will decide whether to ask for the entire manuscript. If the reader likes the draft, they’ll pass it on, discuss it with others in the publishing house, including management, and a team will decide whether to offer a contract. This is especially true if the writer is an unknown name to them. If accepted, they assign an editor, and the work goes through the editing process.

Some publishers allow a writer to work with a single editor for all the work submitted. Sometimes, publishers simply hand the next book scheduled for editing to an available editor. I much prefer building up a relationship with an editor to learn how we both work, and where we can trust each other. This can make for less friction and time wasted. Depending on how much attention the work needs, it may go through one, two, three, or more edit rounds before the line-editing department provides a fresh ‘set of eyes’ to look the story over. This time, they specifically check the book for punctuation errors, house-style etc., and even obvious story problems. When line editors are finished, they return the work to the main editor, who will look at the changes before sending them back to the writer. The writer and editor collaborate and, once happy, send the work to the proofing department. They make a last effort to spot any errors before the book gets formatted* and ready for release. The writer may or may not get to proof the final galley. (*They often leave some formatting to the author, but I’ll not go into that this time.)

While this sounds like a leisurely process, it isn’t. I’ve grown used to “Can we have this yesterday?” It’s often a fraught time. Think of all the effort that goes into this editing procedure. As much as I love my books when I’ve gone through all the revisions I do prior to submitting and all these edits, and considering that I try to re-read at every opportunity, by the time the book is published I’m feeling a little sick of it. Also, keep in mind most writers work part time if not full-time as well as write. Many editors do likewise. Sometimes, so do the publishers. Many companies, except for extremely large publishing houses, run as secondary businesses. Management, editors, line editors, proofers, and the authors all give of their so-called ‘spare’ time — a phrase that quickly becomes an in-house joke. When considering the number of work hours, it makes the financial rewards paltry.

There’s also the cost of cover art. Early on, the writer may be required to submit a cover art request to provide an idea of the book’s subject. Providing the artist with enough details takes considerably more thought than many expect. Some publishing houses ask the writer to ‘okay’ the cover, some don’t. I’ve heard of some authors being extremely upset by their book covers. I’m sure there are good and bad examples in all markets but, so far, most have taken my comments into consideration. Covers can range from quite cheap to expensive.

Wait. We’re not finished. Who writes the blurb? That’s the short teaser on the back cover of a printed book to get the reader interested in buying. Often, that’s the job of the author, too. A publisher may change the blurb completely or simply tweak it, but the author has to provide an original and full blurb. The writer also has to submit a new story with a synopsis and usually needs to maintain a website. The author needs to promote, though if with a decent publisher the company will do at least of a portion of promoting, too. Some now request an entire marketing strategy, along with a manuscript. I’d be wary if the publisher asks for this with no sign of what they will do in return, but it is a part of modern-day publishing. A writer’s best ability is to be accomplished in marketing. Promotion shouldn’t be left entirely to the author, but any ‘wannabe’ needs to know they are expected to play their part. For the writer who envisages the romantic image of sitting at a desk tapping happily away, one work after the other, nothing could be further from the truth.

This still looks as if I’ve not answered why ebooks can cost as much to produce as print. One reason is the difference in those royalties, but we’re not talking millions made by the writer or publisher. Not these days. What this means in terms of actual money, I’ll cover another time, but in brief, an ebook goes through the same or similar process as most printed books. Only the final stage — the format it’s produced in — differs, and this can take ‘more effort’ because there are many types of files available now. Glitches can happen. Returns for errors create more work and cost.

As for whether to read ebooks… as much as choosing what book to read is about choice, so should selecting the format in which one wishes to read be an act of free-will. I’d be devastated to see print books disappear, but I like to own a collection of both if for no other reason than much-needed space. Something else to consider is that I made my decision to write for an e-publisher based on what I could see happening to the book market. Although erotic publishers were at the forefront and the mainstay of the e-publishing market for a long time, books face strong competition. Many people struggle to find the time to read. The way they produce ALL books has changing, with even large mainstream publishers turning to POD technology and electronic formats. I own the works of Poe both in print and ebook. When considering publishing, I decided not to turn my back on what might happen to the future of books. I could see many who sneer being taken by surprise. The author who turns their back on the idea of change could risk being left behind, and may miss out on some wonderful opportunities.