Blogger: Wendy Lawton
Location: Books & Such Central Valley Office, CA
You’ve heard it over and over. Agents get a staggering number of queries. If I were a writer trying to catch a break this information might be enough to stop me in my tracks. The odds are overwhelmingly against the writer. But that fact by itself is not enough information.
The truth is that much of what we see is the same old, same old. Something fresh stands out.
So what do I mean by fresh? Let me try to explain.
Fiction: Fresh Idea. If you could see the query mail you’d see that we get the same concepts over and over. Yes, it’s true that there are just a limited number of plots told in different ways– someone posited that there are only seven basic plots: man vs. nature, man vs. man, man vs. the environment, man vs. machines/technology, man vs. the supernatural, man vs. self and man vs. God/religion. But when you add the creativity of the writer to a basic plot, the possibilities are endless. Come up with something new– something we’d love to read– and you will be in a small minority. Sometimes when you blend two genres you come up with something fresh. I just caught a television drama that debuted in the summer season called Memphis Beat. Yes it’s another cop show but it is a standout because they combined an unapologetic southern setting with a music thread and gave us complicated southern characters (almost no caricatures) for a crime drama. Fresh.
As an experiment, I typed “overused plots” into Google. Oh my goodness! It’s all there for the taking.
Fiction: Fresh Writing. If you’ve read the recent bestseller, The Help, you’ll understand why it stood out from the rest. The author’s voice, combined with a compelling story and unforgettable characters, made this book a standout. It’s impossible to give instructions for writing fresh, but we sure recognize it when we see it. The more you read, the more you will recognize it as well. And reading good books, fresh books, starts to infiltrate your own writing. You develop your voice by osmosis, not by technique.
Fiction: Fresh Characters. This is key to writing stand out fiction. We tend to first gravitate toward creating stereotypes. Like one editor told me, “The wise older slave woman in southern historical fiction has almost become a stereotype.” The writer who wants to create fresh characters has to walk a fine line– give us someone new but don’t give us someone we can’t identify with. I see a lot of writers of women’s fiction who decide to have a male main character– it’s different after all. Different, but not good.
Nonfiction: Untapped Need. If you can marry your own expertise with an untapped need or a fascinating subject you will have a winner on your hands. Think of Malcolm Gladwell’s books. He answers the questions we all think about. What makes something become an overnight success?(The Tipping Point) Why do some people exceed all expectations? (Outliers) Or Bennan Manning when he wrote Ragamuffin Gospel “for the bedraggled, beat-up, and burnt-out.” In his review of the book, Max Lucado said, “Brennan Manning does a masterful job of blowing the dust off of shop-worn theology.” That’s fresh.
Nonfiction: Fresh Format. Sometimes the thing that makes a book fresh is when the author comes up with a new way to present the information. Pam Stenzel, one of my clients, is the world’s leading expert on teen sexuality and abstinence. She speaks to half a million teens every year. There are lots of books on teen sexuality but Pam’s newest book, Nobody Told Me, uses a social network-type format to present the information. Kids who are used to writing on each others’ walls and reading FAQs will feel right at home with this book.
Nonfiction: Fresh Voice. When we come across a fresh voice in nonfiction it immediately catches our attention. Think about Francis Chan’s Crazy Love. Publisher’s Weekly said he writes with “infectious exuberance.”
Memoir is all about voice. Examples of fresh voices would be Jeannette Walls in The Glass Castle or Haven Kimmel’s A Girl Named Zippy.
How do I know if it’s fresh? Stalk bookstore shelves. Research on Amazon. Read publishers’ websites. Read everything you can in your genre. Talk with other writers. Again, it takes research. An idea formulated in a vacuum may be a result of zeitgeist— just like a hundred other ideas, all hatched at the same time.
What are the dangers of trying to be fresh? This is where it takes real instinct. Trying to be different can lead to something odd, something quirky, something that doesn’t work because it’s too different. I wish I could give you a concrete suggestion like 25% fresh, 75% comfortable, but of course that’s impossible. It’s up to you to try it out and let others chime in. Here’s where the combination of your art and knowledge are put to the test.
Please chime in. What’s your take on the tension between fresh and comfortable?
Here’s what I think, if we are truly living in the freedom of Christ we can’t help but be fresh. We are living out the uniqueness we were created to live.
You mentioned a handful of my absolute favorite books in this post, The Help, Ragamuffin Gospel, and Crazy Love. The Glass Castle, A Girl Named Zippy, and the others were great too. Guess it’s pretty obvious I’m a sucker for fresh ideas too.
~ Wendy
So which do you think is more important? Fresh idea or really good writing? Nathan Bransford wrote a couple of great blog entries last August about writing vs. storytelling http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2010/08/you-tell-me-where-are-your-reading.html
Can a great story overcome so-so writing? Can breathtaking writing make something old seem fresh? Just curious where you stand.
That’s the trick—fresh and comfortable. If it’s too comfortable and short on freshness, I’ll read it and enjoy it, but I won’t remember it and pass it to my friends. If it’s too fresh I won’t even read it.
So I think it’s best to err on the side of comfort and be accused of being derivative than to err on the side of quirky that no one can relate to.
The perfect mix? Hmm. What about starting comfortable and ending fresh? Hook them with the comfort and leave them raving with the fresh ending that surprised and delighted them.
Maybe.
My first MS basically hit every stereotype there is. Once I figured that out, I was able to start finding new ideas just by becoming a watcher of the world around me. I also find that watching my kids and their friends helps to find new ideas.
I agree. In trying to come up with “fresh” ideas, I find that if my walk with God is in the right place (walking in love with my family and leaning on Him throughout the day) they come much easier. I ask God to help me with my day and He does. If I ask Him to give me a great idea when I write, He does. I am really enjoying the blog and tips. Thanks. 🙂
Tanya
Wow, this series this week is insightful, amazing, and helpful.
I do like fresh, as well, but with components of comfortable. Or maybe the other way around… comfortable with splashes of fresh. Hmm, it is hard to come up with a balanced formula, isn’t it?
I think of devotion-style nonfiction books. They have an appeal, they work to inspire, and have sold well, yet there’s lots of them. So, to be fresh, one would have change from that successful format.
Though I need to reflect more, I think that fresh voices tend to impact me even more than fresh format. (The organizational side of me does like a new way of formatting a book, though.)
There’s definitely a lot to ponder here. Thank you!
I read a book recently – called Never the Bride. Voice – amazing. Story line started very cliche, but because the voice was so good, I was into the book. It was the whole 34 year old woman desperately seeking husband plot. Only BAM! Freshness came in the form of a cute man….who turned out to be God in the flesh. Oh my goodness, this twist was so fresh and the book is one of my favorites.
You’ve hit on another great aspect of writing we need to remember, Wendy. Staying fresh without moving too far toward funky.
An editor I met at a conference last year was very encouraging and said she really liked the story and my writing. But parts of the setup were too similar to another project they’d contracted, so she had to pass. The way I see it, my job is to take the things that worked (especially the ending, which seemed to surprise her in a good way) and recast them in a fresher setting/beginning. That’s part of the fun of writing — learning and growing every day.
I just have to chime into this discussion. Katie, I agree with you about Never the Bride (disclaimer: the authors are my clients). The storyline sounds trite. But when you add the twist of who the cute guy is, suddenly, the book is fresh. So it’s the idea that makes it work.
On the writing side of the argument, I’m reading Waiting by Ha Jin, which is about a couple who spend most of book waiting. And they’re not particularly sympathetic characters. So we have a passive topic and an unattractive hero and heroine. What’s to like? That Ha Jin makes you care. His writing is much like Hemingway’s: sparse yet rich.
My point: I don’t think there’s one right answer to whether writing outweighs a book’s idea. It depends. How unhelpful is that!?
Being fresh can be scary at times. It is a risk to put yourself out there to see if your idea will work. However, that is half the fun or writing! I recently wrote a short story and gave it to someone close to me. This person has always been very supportive of my writing. When I gave her this story though it was different. I had tried something new and she loved it so much that she cried for two days over it. For the first time I had seen that my writing could deeply touch someone. If I hadn’t decided to try something different I wouldn’t have been able to do that. It was very rewarding!
I agree with you, Janet. I think that is where the story telling comes back in.
This is an awesome blog week/series! 🙂
“And reading good books, fresh books, starts to infiltrate your own writing. You develop your voice by osmosis, not by technique.”
I couldn’t agree more with this statement, Wendy. Reading a fresh voice or a compelling story is like taking vitamins, or giving my own storytelling muscles a work out.
Loving these comments! Every book I read develops my writing in some way. If something in the book isn’t working, I wonder why it isn’t. If the book is blowing me away, I wonder how the author is doing it.
For instance, I’m reading Laura Frantz’s Courting Morrow Little right now. (I realize she’s a B&S client, but I’m reading her because my sister-in-law raved about her books. My sis-in-law is my ultimate guide!)
The main character’s conflict is so believable and written with such ease–I haven’t stopped thinking about it. I’m not even halfway through the book! At each chapter, I analyze the craft of how it’s written, not intentionally, just because it’s that good.
So yes, I absolutely agree with you that reading affects our writing–sometimes subconsciously giving us new tools to work with.
“I see a lot of writers of women’s fiction who decide to have a male main character– it’s different after all. Different, but not good.”
I totally disagree with this statement. This conditional “fresh-ness” is subjective to the point of personal preference. (Not being snarky here–just my opinion.) I cannot tell you how many Christian readers I know who’ve dumped the ever-popular romance and women’s fiction stories because of their formulaic offerings. Hey, I write love stories, and for the most part I’ve dumped them. Male main characters are not only a fresh approach, if done well can show self-absorbed women a side of romance they might need to consider.
I see the same application in “fantasy doesn’t sell in CBA” type of statements. (If this was totally true, Jeff Gerke would be in the red or out of business with Marcher Lord Press.) Maybe they’re not easily marketed, but I fail to see where much of Christian fiction is easily and aptly marketed. Some of these niche markets are a whole lot bigger than most people think. It’s just that they’ve abandoned the CBA market because they’re unable to find what they like to read.
I’m not attacking you or your statement, Wendy. I understand this is the consensus of CBA publishing. I just think it’s worn and incorrect.
Maybe it’s having lived awhile, but I get impatient with fiction that’s predictable and non-fiction that sounds trite, as though it’s what one “always” finds when picking a book in this genre.
I agree with you, too, that it feels risky to be just a tad off the predictable path. But isn’t that where they stumble on the treasure?
As someone who works with others’ nonfiction manuscripts to take them to the next level, I agree with your assessments, Wendy. Often the one thing needed to take a book from good to great (or at least from unpublishable to publishable) involves the element you call freshness. If we say the same old things the same old way, no one wants to read them. But if we say wonderful, new, creative things in a horrible, bad, boring way–no one wants to read those, either.
I think of the parable of the talents. God’s entrusted us with truth. We have a holy responsibility to share it well.
Ms. Lawton, I am studying to be an illustrator at the Cleveland Institute of Art. My professors all say we will be battling (so to speak) for the chance to illustrate a writer’s book. What would you say the chances are for those who write AND illustrate to find a publisher? I know our work, no matter the medium, whether the written word or the art, must first start with a good concept and that hardly anything is fresh. And yet, I can’t help but wonder what chances there are. Any advise would be greatly appreciated. 🙂
Trying to be fresh in a formula driven industry is one of the great challenges for writers today. I shared a note with Dale Cramer recently, lamenting about having to determine which of the rules should be broken. I think at some point, you need to unleash the rebel inside and take a few chances.
You are absolutely right. Brennan’s book jumps right off the bookshelf and is vibrant throughout. And Pam…she rocks! I didn’t know she was your client. That’s great news as we want to see about bringing her in town again sometime soon. For those who don’t know Pam, she is one of the most talented abstinance speakers on the planet.
Thanks again Wendy for another important and well-developed post.
Nicole, I can sense your frustration but as an agent, we deal in reality. It may make us crazy that a male protagonist will make women’s fiction harder to sell but it’s reality. I have a few excellent books I’ve been shopping (by award winning writers) with male main characters. I can’t get any traction at all.
Writers very often get totally frustrated by this and feel that publishers are just not open-minded enough. Not willing to take a chance. The truth is in the numbers. The market is defined by the buyers. The core CBA reader probably looks a lot like me. We prefer to read about women.
Just like men who like political intrigue or adventure prefer male protagonists. And with regard to sci-fi and fantasy, for the most part, those readers buy their books outside of CBA. Just like cozy mystery buyers– there’s no need to have a CBA line of cozies because ABA cozies are by-and-large language-sex-violence free.
This is not something we manufacture. It’s reality. It’s market-driven.
Brandy, it all depends on your illustration style and your writing. I would recommend that you join SCBWI (Society of Childrens Book Writers and Illustrators) and avail yourself of their conferences and critiques. You’ll have an opportunity to get your work in front of editors and get valuable feedback.
I’ve written a manuscript where I placed a traditional fashion-loving, twenty-something chick lit protagonist (with primary concerns of romance and career) into the most unlikely, real-world setting imaginable. I’ve scoured the Internet, bookshelves, and Publishers Marketplace and I have not found any fiction books that even border on the unique aspects of this particular setting.
Wendy, your blog entry today has made me hopeful that I have indeed created a fresh concept, which was the reason the idea attracted me in the first place. I love a book that feels comfortable but also allows me to learn something about a place, occupation, or period of time I can’t experience in real life. Of course, I worry my idea is TOO unique, but I guess only time and query letters will tell!
Wendy on the subject of male protagonists, what’s your take on Marcia Laycock’s One Smooth Stone? I bought it the other day online (hasn’t come yet, and therefore I haven’t read it yet). Is this one of the exceptions, or is it more marginalised by CBA sellers?
Megan, unfortunately I’m not familiar with the book or with the publisher. There’s certainly women’s fiction out there with male protagonists, I’m just saying if a writer were to choose to do so in order to be fresh or different it’s going to be an uphill battle.
I don’t think CBA booksellers have anything against male protagonists. Readers just seem to prefer women’s fiction to be from the POV of a woman. Because readers vote with their dollars, publishers listen.
We can argue that it’s not fair or that it doesn’t make sense but that doesn’t change what happens at the cash register.
Great post. I loved The Help.
If I care about a character, everything she does will hold my interest–from how she holds her coffee cup to the knitty-gritty–even how she plucks her eyebrows. An author has achieved fresh writing when this spontaneous connection happens.
Wendy, I’m not challenging your take on this or the reality of it in the sculpted and limited prime CBA outreach as it currently exists. This is a manufactured and honed audience. I am challenging the limited spectrum of this particular audience and suggesting that a greater audience lies in wait but perhaps no longer expects CBA to get out of their boxed in appeal.
“or Haven Kimmel’s A Girl Named Zippy.”
Oh, rats. My wife’s great-grandmother was named Zippy, and I was planning to write her story. Guess I’ll have to go write the next great fantasy.
This is all valuable information you are giving Wendy. What truly puzzles me is the ending. Probably an author can get away with a great deal out of the format in a book (apart, as you have said, a male protagonist), so long as the ending is right which means, a “happy one.” But if the outcome of the story only makes sense when there isn’t a “they lived happily ever after”, I do believe the manuscript would become unsalable. How far would you agree with that?
In commercial fiction we do want a satisfying ending. When I read The Story of Edgar Sawtelle I loved the story up until about the middle of the book. The characters, the dogs– it couldn’t have been better. *spoiler alert* but then everything began to disintegrate. By the end, I could have pitched the book across the room. I hated it. I know it was a retelling of the Hamlet story– a morality tale– but it made me want to slit my wrist.
But there’s a lot of options between happily ever after and wrist-slitting endings. (And, PS, Edgar Sawtelle was a huge commercial success.) I wouldn’t say a book is unsaleable sans a happy ending. It will definitely make it a much harder sell in today’s tough market,
Awesome post! Enjoyed reading.
Thank you Wendy… I think the solution to such a problem lies in your statement: “there’s a lot of options between happily ever after and wrist-slitting endings.”
I agree it’s better to have a fresh idea, but it seems the cliches are making most of the money (I.E. Twilight) while brilliant, original books sag in sales on small publishers. Once in a while, a fresh book will become a bestseller, like Scott Smith’s The Ruins, but most of the time original ideas are cheated, though the authors are indeed horror legends.