the craft. what is the book about?
I’m here to talk a little shop on books this week. I mean, it is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), so bear with me if this is not necessarily your lane. However, I will say that most things are applicable to all different kinds of writing, if you drill into it a bit, but I digress. The moral of the story is that I’ve been working on drafting a new project this month and something important stuck out to me about the importance of knowing what the heck your book is actually about.
In the writing world, we have this concept of the plotter vs. the pantser. The latter, I recently learned, is a nod to flying by the seat of your pants. Lol. But if you don’t know what those terms mean, it’s essentially the idea that some writers plan out their story before writing and others write and see where it goes. Most often, whichever pot you fall into, you’re extremely dedicated to staying put and think that is the best way to harness your creativity. Then, there are a few of us that are somewhere in the middle.
But I have to say that when I sat down to finish working on this draft that was about 20k words in progress already, I felt a bit lost. I kind of ran into the same wall that led me to hanging it up a few years back. I had all these ideas of what happens, but I almost didn’t know or understand the order of it. So, although I've been drafting because that’s what I dedicated myself to do this month, I’ve also been working backwards to restructure the story.
Recently, in one of our PTW Masterclasses, one of the participating students mentioned the book Blueprint For a Book: Build Your Novel From the Inside Out by our friend Jennie Nash over at Author Accelerator. I looked it up on the library app, and it seemed like exactly what I needed to get this work in progress back on track. While I've already started my story, Nash actually recommends working through her steps prior to getting started. However, in my process it’s perfect timing. I tend to write to see where a story goes and then nail down exactly what I’m trying to say. But I do think it’s super important to have some idea of where your story is going.
Listen, you may be the most talented person on the earth who can write a book down from start to finish without any hint of an outline. And I applaud you for that. And you may sell that book. But the rest of us mere mortals, may need a bit more work to ensure that our stories are connecting with the reader. It’s certainly possible to have a story with a bunch of stuff happening, and some great writing to cover up what it’s lacking in arc and plot.
I’ve used this example a lot, but in writing my first novel, somewhere in the story I referenced Dylan as one of Carli’s closest friends. Upon reading, my editor was like, “hmm, you say this, but I don’t see this in the story.” I had to go back and make Dylan much more present in Carli’s life from the beginning of the book. So that you could see their connection was more than simply working together in the studio. This helped build more tension in the moment when Dylan found out about Tau. This is easily something I feel like I would have seen with a little more planning in advance of the novel. But let me be honest, I never thought I would sell my first novel. So I was out here just vibing baby!
Now that I have my first novel under my belt, I can see where I want to feel like I have more command over the story. I think one of the early exercises in Blueprint for a Book is important to the process of keeping yourself honest. It’s sooo easy to get away from what you’re actually trying to say in the story when you’re writing without direction. A blueprint isn’t a final say, there will still be room for unexpected things to take place in your story. Like this one project I was working on, all of a sudden my character was in therapy. And I was like okay, we’re in therapy now. That wasn’t a part of the original design. But like the contractor of a home can decide to make the closet a little bigger, you too, can make alterations to your book’s blueprint.
Back to the exercise, what is the simplest iteration of your story? Whew. So important. Think logline. Think pitch. The reason I decided to check out the book was because the young lady in the class had such a great command over being able to tell us what her story was about. Do you know how many times I’ve had to rehearse “Good Morning, Love is a story about an aspiring songwriter who is stuck between a day job and a dream until a chance encounter with a rising R&B star?”
Anyway, if you’re working on a novel this month specifically for NaNoWriMo or not, try to write a stripped down version of what your story is about, and see if it’s helpful to you. 20k words in, doing this exercise helped me figure out what I was actually writing. I started based on a goofy thought I had, but the work now is making it into a real story that will make people feel connected to it.
Here’s my Example for my work in progress (I will certainly still be tweaking this):
Harlem Mitchell wants to get her life back on track to prove to herself and her family that she’s not a screw up but her fear of failure and a budding new romance almost makes her miss the opportunity of a lifetime.
Anyway, this is just one exercise to try, but definitely check out the book if you’re interested, like I was, in giving your book the cohesive structure it deserves.
Writing/Job Opportunities
Personal Essay Submissions: Shondaland is looking for more excellent personal essays to run in early 2024. If you feel you have a great story to tell, choose one of these two prompts when crafting your essay:
1. Tell us a story about a time you said "yes."
Or
2. Tell us a story about the most important relationship in your life and how it has shaped you.
Please send your pitches or essays to pitches@shondaland.com. Whether it's funny or sad, moving or ridiculous, your stories help people feel less alone in the world.For these essays, please type: Personal Essay: Yes or Personal Essay: Relationship — in the subject line of your email to us. We typically look for essays that range from 1500 - 2500 words.
Nicole Pasulka is the new senior features editor at Cosmopolitan and looking for pitches. She wants to be fascinated, shocked, delighted, enraged in around 3K to 5K words. Pay is $1.50-$2/word. nicole.pasulka@hearst.com.
Essence’s fashion vertical is looking for pitches for engaging essays, thought-provoking op-eds and features! Rates are determined by the type of story. Email robyn.mowatt.editorial@essence.com.
Bustle Digital Group (“BDG”) is seeking a Managing Editor who will help guide the strategy for NYLON’s editorial coverage as well as manage the editorial team. ($100-110k)
Bookpage seeks nonfiction reviewers who love sharply observed histories, journalistic deep dives and unusual general interest books. Opportunities for interviews/features. Writers from diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply.
To Be Read
The Author Fighting Back Against Book Bans
Bigger Trade Shows, More Nontraditional Booksellers
In Cleveland, Ohio, a Quest for Poet Langston Hughes
Celebrate Short Story Month: 9 Craft Books to Help You Write Your Collection