Writing, Plot, or Character?

I’m still in the process of putting together a post detailing the events of my recent book tour. Here’s a link to an article in the Salt Lake Tribune. And here’s a fun picture of the Elementary school I graduated from.

But in the meantime, I thought I’d talk a little about what, in my opinion, makes a novel bad, good, or great. What I want to discuss are three of the key elements of any novel: plot, character, and writing. (Quality of writing, not, you know, writing itself—as opposed to say ballads, campfire stories, interactive hula dancing, etc.)

For some reason, lately I’ve been rereading several books. I’m reading A Wrinkle in Time to my kids, I’m rereading the Thomas Covenant trilogy, and I’m rereading Asimov’s Foundation series. Interestingly enough, the only story I’m enjoying as much as I remembered is Foundation.

Why? Well first of all, Wrinkle in Time is much slower reading than I remembered. The writing is beautiful, the characters are a little one dimensional, but the pacing is so slow, my kids’ eyes glaze over. We just finished the part where one of the women (Mrs. Who?) turns into the flying horse and flies to the top of the mountain to show the children the shadow of evil. Literally, the story reads like, “They flew higher and higher, until they were past the clouds. And higher still. But the top of the mountain still seemed far away. Meg marveled at how high they were and how thin the air was. Still the horse’s wings strained against the thin air.” Right, I get it. They are flying high. Get back to the story!

So why do I remember enjoying the book so much? Was it because of how unique it was at the time? Did that make me overlook the flaws that put my boys to sleep? Or is life just faster now? Are our expectations different because of computers, video games, etc? I don’t think it can be the pace of life because other books are still as interesting. Maybe it’s that in memory I overlook the flaws because the overall story was so good. Or maybe I just hadn’t read a lot of fantasy back then, so everything seemed more magical?

The last time I read the Thomas Covenant series was back in high school. I remembered it was darker than most fantasy. What I didn’t remember was what an incredibly annoying protagonist Thomas Covenant was. I’ve reread the first two books, and I want to grab him by the hair, and shout, “People don’t hate you because you are a leper. They hate you because you are a big selfish crybaby! Get over yourself and think about someone else for once. Come on man, you’ve spent two entire books offending people and refusing to even try to help. Man up!”

Again, why did I like the series so much back in the day? I had read Terry Brooks by then; and of course Lord of the Rings. So fantasy series weren’t brand new. But it was still pretty unique. There are parts of the story that are powerful, the writing is strong, and the world-building is amazing. But, at least to this point, I’ve had to force myself to finish each book, and it’s been a slog.

How about Foundation? I’ve heard people say how stark Asimov’s writing is. I honestly didn’t remember that. But as I go back and read his work, they are absolutely right. I don’t think there is any mention of smells, sounds, or other senses. The characters have no personality at all to speak of—except that nearly anyone of any importance smokes cigars. The pace is extremely quick. No character stays around for long. It shouldn’t be a good book. But it is. The story is just so compelling, to me at least, that I have to read more.

So what makes a good book? First of all, I have to say that greatness in any of the three above mentioned categories can override weaknesses in the other two. Asimov’s plot is so strong that the reader can forgive the fact that his writing is stark and his characters are merely placeholders. In the same way though, one major weak point can pull down the other two. Stephen R. Donaldson is a poet of a writer. His descriptions and world-building are incredible. And the overall story is powerful. But the main character is so annoying, he nearly ruins the whole thing.

Obviously, we’d love a book with great writing, memorable characters, and an incredible plot. When all the pieces are clicking, we have a book that can achieve lasting greatness. But which of the three is the most important—whether for the good or the bad?

Let’s start with quality of writing. In my experience, books that are extremely popular, with a lot of readers tend to have only adequate writing. Books that are popular with the critics tend to have incredible writing. Why? Because really beautiful prose can actually overpower a story. The average reader wants to see the hero hurl a bolt of fiery blue steel at the rushing horde of gnolls or the heroine find her true love. She doesn’t want flowery prose and vivid descriptions to get in the way of the action. Of course there is a time for flowery prose, but if the focus turns from the story to the writing, the author has intruded on the reader.

Don’t get me wrong. I love great writing. In fact, one of the best compliments I received on my tour was from a librarian who said I should thank my English teachers. She said that she reads so many children’s books that have a great story but lousy writing. But she loved my writing and my story. (Yes, I misted up a little.) J

A great plot beats great writing in my book. Imagine this crusty old miner sitting around a campfire and telling you about the time he and Bessie were trapped for three days in a collapsed gold mine with a dozen hungry rattlers. He may not use the most beautiful language. He may jump back and forth a little and overuse the word fearsome. But you are still on the edge of your seat. A Wrinkle in Time may not have had the fastest paced writing. But it was a cool story. I mean she invented IT before Stephen King did. A Camazotz is just dang spooky.

But, personally, I have to put character at the top of the list. The biggest complaint I have about many of the books I don’t like, is that I just don’t care enough about the characters. Put Julie T. Protagonist in the middle of a raging fire, with bad guys everywhere, and the love of her life in the clutches of I. M. Antagonist, and I’m just going to yawn if I don’t care about the characters. Ideally I should love your protagonist. I should definitely empathize with her. But if I don’t even care about her, your story is destined to fail.

I think characters are what made the Harry Potter series so incredibly successful. JK Rowling has a way of making you care about even the most minor character. Think about Colin Creevey. He is a thrown in. A minor walk-on character. But anyone who has read the series remembers the cute little kid with the camera. I also think that’s a huge part of the success of Twilight. People loved Edward and Bella. Of course this is also why many people were less happy with some of the later books. But the very fact that they cared enough to get that upset, shows the emotional investment the author built up in her readers.
Next week, I’ll take a stab at what makes strong characters. But for now, I’ll open the question to you. What is most important to you when reading a book? Writing, plot, or character?

Book Tour Day One

Almost exactly two years ago I received a phone call from my good friend and fellow author, James Dashner. He was as excited as a little kid, about a meeting he’d just had with Chris Schoebinger and Lisa Mangum, of Shadow Mountain. They had agreed to publish his young adult fantasy series, The 13th Reality.

That night, I found myself wide awake in a hotel room with a crazy story that wouldn’t leave my head. If you’ve read any of the interviews from my blog tour, you are familiar with the story. What you might not be as familiar with is the incredible luck and timing that led me to where I am today. (Which at the moment is about 20,000 feet in the air, somewhere over southern Utah, getting ready to begin my two week book tour.)

People ask all the time what the trick to getting published is. Even though every writer knows deep inside that there is no magic silver bullet to getting published, there is a part of us that firmly believes the other guy (or gal) knows something we don’t know. It’s like when you’re fishing out on a lake, and the guy across the way is catching fish every ten minutes, while you’re not getting a nibble. You ask yourself what you are doing wrong. Does he have better bait? Does he know about a secret spot where fish always school? Is he letting his line go deeper? Shallower?

You can literally drive yourself crazy wondering what you are doing wrong. You keep switching baits. You change spots. You surreptitiously spy on him when he sets up his line. In other words, you do everything but the one thing that will catch you fish. And that is to fish.

I am by no means an expert at getting published. Yes I’ve done it a few times, but there are so many people who have been far more successful at it than me. Still, I have learned a few things. In metaphorical terms, I’ve spent a pretty good amount of time at the lake over the last eight years, and I’ve seen a lot of really good (and really bad) fishermen and fisherwomen come and go. I’ve had good days and bad days. But I usually come home with something to put in the pan.

Here’s what I’ve learned. Seventy percent of getting published is how well you write. The other thirty percent is pure dumb luck. I suppose that might frighten some of you who are trying desperately to get that first book on the shelves. And it might offend some of you who have been fortunate enough to do so yourselves. But you really shouldn’t be frightened or offended. Instead, you should use this information to your advantage.

Maybe I should be a little clearer. For the most part, books that have no redeeming value do not get picked up by traditional publishers. (I know, shocking news flash huh?) A novel (non-fiction is another beast entirely) typically has to have one or more of three things going for it. Well drawn characters, a timely or intriguing plot, and great writing. Some time over the next two weeks I’ll share my opinion on which of the three is most important, but for now let’s give them all equal weight.

What I am saying here is that seventy percent (and possibly quite a bit more) of the writers who do not get published have not polished their writing skills enough. Don’t let this discourage you. Because what it means is that if you can craft a good story, with relatively interesting characters and a decent plot, you are in the top thirty percent of everyone who submits their work. You don’t have to be the greatest writer in the world; you just have to be good enough. I’ll be the first to admit that my first published work, a high-tech thriller titled Cutting Edge, was not the height of great writing. So why did it get published if it wasn’t the best work?

Let’s go back to the fishing analogy. There are fishermen who can go to a lake or stream where no one is catching fish, and bag their limit. Why? Because they know the fish and the spot inside and out. They will never come home empty handed. These are the Stephen Kings, The Danielle Steeles, the Graishams and Koontzs. They are going to get published as long as they keep churning out words. And I don’t begrudge them a bit. They’ve earned the right.

But there are also people who drop in their line with little or no knowledge of what they are doing, and yet they catch fish as well. When I was about five, I used to go fishing in the Trinity River with my parents and grandparents. They had the best gear and the best lures. I, on the other hand, had a stick with a hook tied to it. I caught grasshoppers by swatting them with a pine bough, and stuck them on my hook.

As you would expect, the older folks usually caught more fish. But every so often I brought home the bigger catch. Why? Because an irrevocable law of nature is that if you stick a big grasshopper in front of a hungry trout, you will get a bite. When I submitted Cutting Edge to Covenant, I didn’t know that by dumb luck, they were looking for “guy books.” They’d been publishing lots of romance and a little mystery, and they wanted a book guys would like. In essence, I dropped my grasshopper in front of a hungry trout and they bit.

Now let me restate the obvious again. Even if my book wasn’t the best writing in the world, the story was solid. In fact, there are many people who still come up to me years later and tell me how much they liked the story. I didn’t have the strongest writing, but I did have a fun plot and a decent couple of main characters. It may not have been perfect bait, but it was bait. Even a hungry trout won’t bite at a stone. (A bluegill will bite at anything though. Not sure how that fits into the analogy.)

Now let’s jump to Farworld. How did it get published? A couple of things worked together. First, without tooting my own horn too much, my writing has improved a lot. I’ve gone to numerous conferences, talked to lots of authors, written hundreds of thousands of words, and worked hard to get better at my craft. If I hadn’t done that, none of the rest would have mattered. Next, I got to know other authors and publishing people. Remember, the whole reason I started writing that night was because of a conversation with James. And the first thing I did when I realized I had a story to tell was to contact Lisa Mangum, who I had met at writing conferences.

I also had put quite a bit of time into promoting my other books. Let me not downplay this last point. I talked to a publishing executive recently—in fact more than one—who took a chance on a book in big part because they knew the author was a relentless marketer.

Now comes the luck. Shadow Mountain was looking for another fantasy series. They had Leven Thumps, Fablehaven, and the aforementioned 13th Reality. I became the fourth series. Would I be on this plane right now if I had started my series six months later? Three months? I’d like to think I would have been published anyway, but it’s not a thought I like to dwell on late at night. I’m not saying Shadow Mountain isn’t still taking authors—they are—but what if they’d received another series as good or better than mine in the three months between?

So what can you take from all this? I think that in publishing and in life in general, the opportunities come to those who are lucky and are prepared to take advantage of that luck. In addition, you’ve got to be on the lookout constantly for those opportunities. They won’t walk up and hit you on the nose.

An excellent agent once told me that once your writing reaches a certain quality, you are publishable. Whether you get published or not, after that point, comes down to timing. Is the publisher/agent looking for what you have? Are they in a good mood when they read your work? Did someone else beat you to the punch by a week? Is your story just the angle they’ve been looking for? Or is it the same one that bombed six months ago? Is it enough to just write a great book? Maybe. Or maybe not. I might have the juiciest worm in the world, but if I’m fishing at the south end of the lake while the fish or up north, I can’t catch them.

You means you can’t get discouraged. You can’t give up even if you’ve struck out a hundred times. You have to keep submitting. You have to keep writing. You have to keep trying. And most importantly of all, you have to remember that, just like fishing, writing should be a joy in and of itself. If you don’t love doing it, why bother? And if you do love it, don’t ever let it turn into a job. It’s like the bumper sticker says, “The Worst Day Fishing is Better than the Best Day Working.” Life is too short to spend your spare time doing something you don’t absolutely love.

The last thing I’ll point out in this lengthy treatise is this. The employees who get the promotions are not the ones who do just enough to get by. They are the ones who go the extra mile. Shadow Mountain never told me to do a blog tour. They didn’t tell me to start a forum. They asked me to put together a school presentation, but they didn’t tell me it should include magic tricks, rubber chickens, and the story of Captain Weenie and The Little Purple Man. I’m spending every vacation day I have (and some I don’t have) to promote this book. I’m on my way to Houston, Phoenix, Oregon, Roseville, CA, and the Bay Area, talking to thousands of kids. And at the same time, the other Shadow Mountain authors are doing the same thing.

I guess it goes back to something my dad always told me. Whatever you are going to be, be the best at it. Teacher, writer, thief, garbage man—go above and beyond what is expected of you. I’m not a hundred percent sure I’ll be successful. But is anyone ever? The launch party went well. But now I’m not playing to the hometown crowd. I’ll keep you updated every night over the next two weeks and let you know how it goes. Now I have to finish my cheese crackers and my peanuts, and hope I didn’t forget to pack anything.

Book Stuff and Protagonists

Just got back from meeting with Chris, Angie, Patrick, and Roberta, at Shadow Mountain headquarters. For those of you who haven?t been there, it?s right across from Temple Square in Salt Lake. Next door is where they are rebuilding the whole downtown mall area. I could sit in their conference room all day and watch the construction equipment work. What is it about watching other people work that is so relaxing? Apparently I?m becoming enough of a regular now that the older gentleman at the front desk recognizes me. (Hey, I?ll take whatever fleeting fame I can get!)

Anyway, the purpose of the meeting was to finalize my tour schedule, go over my school presentation, and?as a surprise?they gave me an actual dust jacket for Water Keep. Whoo hoo!
So here?s the official tour schedule. September 22 and 23rd I will be in Houston. On the 24th and 25th, I will be in Phoenix. And the 26th I will be in Portland. The following week I will be in Pleasant Hill, Ca, Roseville, CA, and Bountiful, Utah. This is still subject to a little bit of change, but if any of you are in those areas and would like to schedule an event, let me know. Also if you have contacts in the PTA in those areas, that would be much appreciated! I can?t wait. I will definitely be doing more visits during the year, so if you?ve got a great idea about where I should come, let me know.

The next thing on the agenda was my school presentation. This involved doing magic tricks in front of the whole crew, telling stories of my misspent youth, and dressing Patrick and Roberta up in capes and top hats. I have to admit the last part was pretty fun. Still working out the details of the presentation. But I can tell you it will include this picture of yours truly and his cousin. (Okay, I?ll admit it?s a pretty goofy pic. But at least it wasn?t as bad as an author who shall remain nameless. His childhood pics were apparently so bad they were pulled, for fear of frightening small children.)

Finally I got to see my actual dust jacket today. I keep running my fingers over the embossed lettering and sighing. Not sure what the other employees in my office think about this as they are keeping a provident distance.

The last item I wanted to discuss is what makes a good protagonist. Recently I posted about the ten top movie villains and got some great feedback about what makes a good villain. It was interesting how many of the best villains are women. Kathy Bates?shudder. You liked villains that weren?t as expected. Voice of the villain seemed to be a big deal, as was believable motivation.

So what makes a good protagonist? Does he or she have to be likeable? Or do we just need to empathize with them? I?m rereading Lord Foul?s bane. The protagonist, Thomas Covenant is really kind of a jerk. I mean he rapes an innocent young woman shortly after arriving in the fantasy world. But yet, we see what has turned him into such an unlikable person. His leprosy has alienated him from people so much, that the girls? acceptance basically breaks him.

What makes a good protagonist for you?

Oh, and also a couple more fun stops on the blog tour:

Rachelle and I floated down the Snake River. If you can't tell from my books, I've got a little thing about snakes. Hope the name isn't because of the reptiles! You can read our Q&A at Rachelle Writes

An interview with the my friend and fellow author Marsha Ward of Writer in the Pines

An interview with Jewel of Jewel's World

An interview with Dominique of The Book Vault