December 2011

Happy Holidays from DearEditor.com

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Dear Readers…

Here’s hoping this post finds you happy, well, and enjoying time with loved ones. For those of you who will manage to fit in some writing time, too—go get ’em! And the rest of you, well, don’t sweat it—everyone deserves one day off. In fact, the Editor is going to take a few extra days off.  Look for your next DearEditor.com post the first week of the new year. Until then,

Happy holidays!

Welcome, and Seasons Greetings!

The Editor will return with answers to your burning questions about writing craft and the publishing world on Tuesday, January 3, 2012.

 

“My first copies of Treasure Island and Huckleberry Finn still have some blue-spruce needles scattered in the pages. They smell of Christmas still.”
~ Charlton Heston (1923-2008), American film actor

How Do I “Flesh Out” Characters?

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Dear Editor…

I’m getting feedback to flesh out characters in my story. What does this mean and how can I do it in my story?

Sincerely,
Wendy

Dear Wendy…

Your characters probably read like cardboard cutouts, doing expected things in expected scenarios. The fix is deliciously mean: Deny them the things they expect! When you shove characters out of their comfort zones, they do unexpected things and grow more complex in the process. Got a cliché girly girl who jumps into her car after school and races to her room for a good cry when someone hurts her feelings? Slash her tires and force her to walk home—in the rain no less . . . and then make sure no one’s home to let her in. How will she respond to being stuck outside after a day like that? Will she find humor in Murphy’s Law, or will she bash her way through a window? Either way, we’ll get a look at her mettle. She won’t be a cardboard cutout just going through the motions. She’ll be going through the emotions—and deepening as a result.

Happy writing!
The Editor

Are Subplots Off-Limits in 1st Person POV?

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Dear Editor…

I was reading that subplots are told in the secondary character’s point of view. How do you manage this in a 1st person point of view novel? Can you still have subplots even though you have to see all the action through the main character’s eyes?

Thanks,
Linda

Dear Linda…

Sure you can! Choosing to tell your story in first person doesn’t mean forgoing subplots that don’t include your narrator. Just be sure that your narrator can know and thus mention enough of the subplot’s events for readers to follow that storyline through the book. Or, if you want your narrator to be oblivious to the subplot for most of the book, have him observe or be involved with behavior and dialogue of other characters that somehow reveals subplot clues to readers. This’ll prime readers for the subplot’s eventual full revelation.

Happy writing!
The Editor

What If the Best Stuff Is In the Middle of My Story?

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Dear Editor…

When a publisher requests a query letter, synopsis, and two sample chapters, is it okay to send the first chapter and a chapter from elsewhere in the book instead of chapter two in order to show something with more excitement or adventure than the second chapter might show?

Thanks,
Rosi

Dear Rosi…

Don’t pull a chapter out of the middle of your story. Agents will be suspicious. They’ll assume that the beginning of the book isn’t interesting enough for you to show off. In their minds, your tactic is as good as admitting that yourself. If you can’t hook your readers with the first chapters of the book, they will never reach the middle. The same with agents. They want opening chapters that hook them so tightly they rush to ask for the full manuscript. Your concern that your opening chapters aren’t as strong as your middle ones is your red flag to go back and make those opening chapters great.

Happy writing!
The Editor

What’s the Right Style for a Crossover Novel?

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Dear Editor…

I am attempting my first manuscript aimed at 18 to 30 year olds; is there a particular writing style I should look at, or can I blend young adult fiction with adult fiction to make it work?

Sincerely,
Alana

Dear Alana…

Got Twilight’s success in mind? Careful! Plenty of writers crave the expanded audience of a crossover novel, but writing one on purpose is a tough gig. The hitch: It’s virtually impossible to aim one story at a demographic spanning 12 years. Different generations, different life experiences, different sensibilities and sophistication. You must pick one specific target audience and hope the other goes for it. Since young people lack the wisdom and self-reflection that adults gain from experience, you won’t capture many teens with a novel written with a post-college, 25- to 30-year-old narrative sensibility. Your best bet is to write for upper teens (16+) with subjects/themes that can engage adults, too. The narrative should be less self-reflexive and the protagonist less focused on his/her role in the Grand Scheme than an adult would be. Check The Hunger Games: A teen is poised to save her world, yet she’s (understandably) focused on her existence and her love interests for much of the 3-book series. The themes of power, survival, and revolution cross this over to an older audience.

Happy writing!
The Editor

Is a Novel Set in the 60s Historical Fiction?

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Dear Editor…

At what point does a novel become historical fiction? Is 1963 in that category?

Sincerely,
Cricket

Dear Cricket…

Your 1963 novel is historical fiction if the story’s events depend on the time period. If the story could just as easily take place in another time period, then it’s general fiction. The historical fiction label gets tricky with modern time periods—especially the 80s and 90s. Reviewers call Eleanor Henderson’s Ten Thousand Saints historical fiction, but the Library of Congress catalogs it as “domestic fiction.” The 80s time period is important to Henderson’s story, but the primary focus is on the protagonist’s drug dependency. Deborah Wile’s Countdown: The Sixties Trilogy, which is as much about 60s America as it is about 11-year-old Franny, is historical fiction.

Happy writing!
The Editor