Therese & Morgan Say:
We’ve said it before and now we’ll say it again: writing a GREAT STORY the best
marketing you could ever do. So, we asked one of our favorite editors and
writing coaches to write a blog post on this topic. Thank you Jessica Page
Morrell for sharing your expertise and wisdom!
Jessica Page Morrell Says:
As you know this is a blog about marketing, written by
writers for writers. Most of us have been following the changes underway in the
publishing industry and noticed that they’re happening at hurricane speed. In
the new publishing world writers are required to handle more tasks that once
were done by publishing firms, need an online presence, and ways to reach
readers outside of traditional events. It’s a lot to juggle.
So yes, writers and authors to-be: learn all you can about
marketing and create an author presence as you learn your craft.
But some things remain the same. A writer needs to approach
his career with heart, integrity, and professionalism.
First comes being a writer with standards of excellence.
I’m talking about a real
writer: someone who writes books worth reading. Books that make a difference.
Not a blogger who scratches out a few skinty ‘columns’ of oft regurgitated or trite matter, or tweets; not someone who writes a 20-page
manifesto, self publishes and calls himself an author; not someone who mostly yammers
in 24-point typeface to fill a page. A real writer doesn’t buy into the
shortcuts, scams, write-a-book-in-a-weekend quackery or other outlandish
propositions. A real writer has nailed the basics—active voice, figurative
language, character development, the underpinnings holding together scenes and
stories.
A writer is a craftsman, or craftsperson if the male form
irks you. Not an artiste, maybe not even the most intelligent person in the
room. Now, if you point out the omnivorous reader and word nerd in the room, a
person of diligence, in love with language and its heady powers, well then this
person could become a real writer. He or she is aware that words, formed from 26
simple symbols, are the humblest and mightiest of tools. Because when you think
of it, it’s the most potent magic imaginable that the same symbols create
millions of stories, not to mention speeches and articles and amendments and
sermons. It’s one of our greatest mysteries: how humankind connects life with
language.
To avoid getting lost in the poetry of writing, yes, the
writing life is full of tripwires. Sometimes it seems like getting the words
right, the story told in the proper order and proportion, will drain you of
everything you’ve got. You worry that you’re not saying something new, that
your voice isn’t vivid enough, your characters freshly minted.
Just keep going. One sentence in front of the other. Your
career is about searching out perfect words, about understanding who and why
your story people do what they do. Keep going deeper. Write from a place that
is centered and thoughtful. Writers who strike literary poses need not apply. Write
when you feel savage or weepy. Write stories that haunt us—now we’re talking. Or write stories that when the reader sets
your book down, she feels a bit disoriented because her ordinary world is seen
through new eyes. Because a story should feel like home. Writing is home. Keep writing and bring your craft
up to fighting weight.
Write something to feed the collective hunger.
Each
manuscript lives or dies in its opening sentences. Each word must be polished,
precise, and weighted with meaning. Editors and agents are word people. They
will assess your level of craft within the first paragraph, so keep the delivery
polished, vivid and exceptional. Write to take readers on an emotional journey
and introduce us to people we’ll always remember.
Readers
want to occasionally pause to marvel at language or an apt metaphor. So take
risks with word use and voice. As you captivate the reader, they’ll leave an
ordinary world and concerns and enter a new world. We all hope to be
transported by the magic of storytelling. As readers travel through your words they want
to emerge changed by the experience.
Readers also want stories that make them see or understand
things in a new way. We especially want to find a viewpoint that would have
never occurred to us. The most recent book that did this for me was John
Green’s The Fault is in Our Stars
which is told by Hazel Grace, a sixteen-year-old with terminal cancer. I just
cannot forget her. Most writing is about a question, a problem, a riddle. Make
sure that answers, truth, and meaning emerge as your story unfolds. Help
readers feel emotions in a world that is sometimes numbing and overwhelming;
believe in a time when belief sometimes seems difficult.
Jessica Page Morrell understands both sides of the editorial desk–as an
editor and author. She is the author of the upcoming No Ordinary Days: The
Seasons, Cycles, and Elements of the Writing Life; Thanks, But This Isn’t
For Us, A (sort of) Compassionate Guide to Why Your Writing is Being Rejected;
Bullies, Bastards & Bitches: How to Write the Bad Guys in Fiction; The Writer’s
I Ching:Wisdom for the Creative Life; Voices from the Street; Between the
Lines: master the subtle elements of fiction; and Writing Out the Storm.
Morrell works as a developmental editor where she has learned how to quickly size
up a story’s merits, as a writing coach, and was formerly the Writing Expert at
iVillage.com. She hosts a web site at www.jessicamorrell.com and
she’s been writing a monthly column about topics related to writing since 1998 which
currently appears in The Willamette Writer, writes a newsletter, and has contributed articles to newspapers and The Writer and Writer’s
Digest magazines. She also contributes to anthologies and is the founder and coordinator of three writing conferences. She lives in Portland, Oregon where she
is surrounded by writers.
Be prepared! Bring a spare pen in case you run out of ink. Bring a little notepad where people can write down the spellings of their names. If the store doesn’t have a coffee shop or tea bar, bring your bottle of water or thermos of hot drink (save the booze for after the book signing, please).Speaking of pens, bring one that dries quickly. Especially if your book is printed on glossy paper, you don’t want to close the cover and have the signature smear or transfer to the previous page. If the paper is thinner, make sure your pen doesn’t bleed through.
This is a great reminder! You have no books unless you write and if you write it needs to be good. So often I see authors put out a book and then spend months, or even years, trying to market it and find the one way to make it shoot onto bestseller lists. Instead, honing their craft and writing the next good book would be even more effective to making a career.
ReplyDeleteI must admit my early books are not nearly as good as my later books, and I'm always improving and learning and improving. I doubt I will ever know enough about craft to stop learning and improving.
Wonderful blog and great information! Thanks!!
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