Blog for Bristol Services Intl.

An author wrote to me, concerned that his book’s sudden switch in direction may be a problem for readers.
The answer is simple: do you offer a thread of continuity anywhere? If, at the outset on the new section, this is the same locale only a century later, or same date but in another country, or same dog but in a different park pestering different characters, then the reader sees a thread of connection. Their brain says, “Okay, same place (or day or dog), new era (or place or characters), let’s see what’s going on.”

Remember, readers are very familiar with stories whose parts seem very separate until “Wham!” somehow they collide into a central plot. The key is having some small thing that is a tenuous thread between them. It can be locale (same place, different time), family (same family, different offshoot or different generation), some big turmoil (same war, different front or battlefield), an object (anything that can end up in someone else’s hands at a different place or time), etc. Just a thread is all we astute readers need. And then we’ll willingly (most of the time!) jump right into the other section, trusting our author to pull the fabric of the story together later.

TONE/GENRE: If we don’t go along so willingly, this can be caused by any number of reasons. For instance, if the overall tone of the original section of the book varies greatly from the next section, now that can be a problem. The reason is that the reader might not have even started your book if that second tone had been there at the outset. It is like starting a fantasy (which I like) and then being switched off to a modern romance (not my preference in reading at all). That wouldn’t be fair and, most likely, I’d quit reading–never a good thing! Potential publishers will, likewise, be turned off by that much of a genre switch–they won’t know what audience would be appropriate for marketing. And marketing is their primary focus.

TIME VARIABLES: Jumps in time will always have tonal variations simply because in each era people speak and think differently. Yet most of the time the author’s voice will still be consistent even while writing for various eras, so there is an underlying author’s tone that will carry us readers through.

Bottomline: Just keep in mind the reason that you have both these plots going simultaneously in the same book and keep hints of that reason and their similarities apparent to your reader as you write.

A writer wrote recently about sending me his book for my editing services and he included this comment:

“Smart as I know you are, you will not know what will happen next. I did not know and was surprised while writing it.”

The Writer’s Job:
To be honest, whenever I read this kind of statement by an author, I worry more than a little bit. This is really NOT a good sign. As a fiction editor I recognize that new writers are thrilled with their new task of writing. And it is true that readers love to sit back and read a story that provides fresh perspectives, interesting changes and twists along the way. But often new writers sometimes forget that they are not a reader anymore. They don’t have the option to just sit back and read this book as they write it—they have the responsibility as the author to stage, direct and produce the story for other readers. Not near as much fun, certainly not relaxing, and in fact, lots of work!

Stories Should Evolve, Not Mutate:
Yes, stories grow and change and evolve as they are written–that is all good and fine. This evolution of a story is what keeps the sparkle and vitality within the words. Writers have the joy of being inspired by those very changes as they fire off in the author’s creative brain. Yet all those changes need to be kept within the bounds of an original premise, idea or plot. If these surprises go too far afield, the whole concept of what you started with will fall apart. It is like a knitter who starts knitting a sweater and decides mid-way to make socks instead. Yes, the result will be interesting, but not wearable at all!

Keeping the Good Stuff:
I’ve read many stories whose authors were similarly enthused about their stories because it was so surprising even as they wrote it and in every instance the lack of direction, focus or continuity were obvious. As you write the initial draft, enjoy the surprises that crop up and keep as many of them as you feel work during that initial draft. Then, as you revise, determine which of these new directions really worked overall, which were fun but superfluous, and which really didn’t integrate into the story. Keep only the ones that really functioned well for the story at hand. But save the others in another file! Those great surprises that you just can’t get rid of, the ones that didn’t really fit this story but, gosh, are so great, can make the perfect starting place for … your next story!

Writers often ask me what I like to read.
For business purposes, I try to keep up with the latest “hot” books in the subjects I edit most: suspense, fantasy, memoirs and children’s books. But when I read them I have my editor’s cap on, looking at the techniques the authors used.

For pleasure I tend to read nonfiction, older classics, the philosophical-type SF (preferably from the ’60s) and young readers books–all of which I find refreshing for my brain for various reasons.

As for young reader’s books, I like a variety of them, seldom sticking to one author. The first Harry Potter, Frank Perretti’s Cooper kids adventures (Flying Blind most recently), The Voyage of Prudence Goodspeed (an award winner and I could see why); these are examples of my eclectic tastes. Just what appeals for me to pick up whenever I spy it.

For instance, I recently found a book “The Ugly Dachshund” first written in 1938 that is a little classic and I was hooked on it just glancing at the first couple pages. The Ugly Dachshund is kind of like Charlotte’s Web or Jonathon Livingstone Seagull. It is–on the surface–a kid’s anthropomorphic story of animals. But the language is more sophisticated than most kids’ books and the messages behind it are deep and wide. This one is great fun for me. The language is a bit “old-worldish” with overly long sentences, yet they flow and my mind flows right into them. Is this the kind of book publishers are clamoring to buy now? No. Yet that doesn’t mean they aren’t still great reading. And will be for generations to come, too!
In The Ugly Dachshund, Tono is a Great Dane puppy who grew up in a family of dachshunds and believes he is one too. He finds himself totally inept, clumsy and not treated fairly at all. “Why don’t the Legs pick me up too and cuddle me under their arms like the other dachshunds?” he laments. Ahh, aren’t we all like that? Wondering why our lives aren’t as neatly tucked into cozy patterns like (it seems) others’ lives are? Why are we unable to squeeze through the fence hole like everyone else? Or unable to pigeonhole our stories to fit the current needs of publishers? Or … well, you get the drift.

Such stories resonate on many levels. We learn from little classics and children’s tales, from fantiasies of other worlds and memoirs of other’s lives. That is what reading is all about: gaining perspective for our own lives through the actions–fiction or otherwise–of others.

What should writers read?
Certainly the newest and greatest being published in the genre they are writing–this is smart business sense. But don’t forget the value of reading in itself. Read anything that appeals, teaches, and encourages our own creative juices to flow.