Guest Post by David Grace

So, You Want To Write A Novel?

Some Thoughts By David Grace

If you have question about something you can post it on Quora.Com and interested people can post their answers. Recently, someone posted a question along the following lines: "I have an idea for a novel that I've decided to write. How do I get it published?"

You want to write a novel and your only question is how to get it published? 

How about this: "I've decided to build my own home. Where is the best place to buy the picket fence to put on the front lawn?" Or, "I've decided to climb Mt. Everest. What is the best camera to use to take my picture when I'm standing on the top?" Or, "I've figured out how to create peace in the Middle East. How much money will they give me when I win the Noble Prize?"

Do you see my point?

Let me take you through the process, or, at least, a process for writing a novel, assuming that you have the craft and talent to write a good book. I will use the imaginary book, The Slime From Mars, as my example.

First, you've got this idea for a book: A ship from earth visits Mars and encounters some pathogen, virus, plague or whatever that I will call The Slime From Mars. But an idea is not a story. You need a story.

Second, you figure out the story. For example, the Slime infects the ship's captain who brings it back to earth where it begins to infect others with grievous results. The Hero realizes what is happening and after many challenges, defeats the Slime. There, that's the story, isn't it? No, it is not.

Who is the hero? Who is the villain? What, exactly, does the Slime do to people? How do they stop it? Who stops it?

So, you get back to work and actually come up with a real story. The captain is a woman. The first officer/co-pilot is a man. They used to date. The woman is driven and scheming and power-hungry and the first officer is true, blue, and an all-around great guy. Now the captain and the first officer are secret enemies. She views him as a boy scout and a rival. He views her as a mean, deceitful, narcissistic bitch. They are stuck on this ship together and she is the boss. He doesn't like that. The rest of the crew like her, except for one women who has crush on the co-pilot but he doesn't see her as anything but a friend. The Captain gets infected with the Slime. The Hero is the only one who suspects. The Slime gives her additional intelligence but is slowly taking over her mind with the goal to get her to infect others and turn them into Slime-Meat-Puppets. She infects them by having lots of sex with them.

The Hero (first officer) tries to alert people to the menace but fails because all the men want to sleep with her. She is hot! Blah, blah, blah. In this fashion you write out in prose who does what in the book. Who does what -- that's what the story is. Let me repeat that: The story is a factual summary of Who Does What. It should be at least five to ten single-spaced pages long.

OK, now that you have written down five to ten single-spaced pages of prose describing Who Does What, you're ready to begin writing Chapter One, right? Wrong.

Third, you need to create biographies for each of the major characters. Why? For two reasons (1) so that you know their backgrounds (a person's background affects his/her actions) and (2) because doing that will help you discover if you are missing some important characters or if you have two characters performing the same role in the story.

You bio needs to include a time line for each character. When were they born? Why do I need to know that? You obviously need to know your character's approximate age at the time of the story. Suppose your character is 35. If the story takes place in 2012 then he was born in 1977. Suppose he decides to break into an office to steal some vital information. Will he turn to his sidekick and say, "Let's Watergate it"? No, because he wasn't even born when Watergate happened. Is he going to mention Nixon? No. If he hits a figurative home run will he hit it like Ted Williams? No. Like Mickey Mantle? No. Like Barry Bonds? Maybe.

So, you need to know when he was born, where he was born, what his parents did for a living, what kind of a childhood he had, where he went to school, etc. All of these things help you create a 3-D character and avoid making a fool of yourself. If you say that your character fought in Vietnam and then say that the year before the book takes place he was asked to try out for the U.S. Olympic team most people are going to start counting on their fingers and say, "Uhh, wait a minute." 

All right, now you've come up with the idea, written down the detailed summary of the story and you've created both bios and time lines for each major character. Can you now begin writing Chapter One? No. You still need a time line for the book itself. These folks are flying to Mars on a rocket ship. When is this? 2015? 2018? If it's 2018 you need to adjust all your other character time lines including dates of birth backwards from a "now" of 2012 to 2018. When was ship launched? How long did it take to get to Mars? How long did they stay there? How long will it take them to come back?

Fine, you say. I've done all that. Can I start writing now? No. You still need to outline the book. Your story summary is most likely written in chronological order but the book won't necessarily be in chronological order. There may be flashbacks. An outline is often one or two sentences telling what is going to happen in each chapter and it is in the order in which the chapters appear in the book.

It might start with: (1) Captain and Hero argue on the day before launch. Hint of trouble and their history. (2) Jump to ship landing on Mars. (3) Strange events that alert the reader to the possible threat to the crew. (4) The Captain ignores advice because of her bitchy personality and gets infected with Slime. Etc. Etc. Etc. Continue in this way for 50 to 80 chapters. 50? 80? Which one?

My average chapter is 1,750 words. Shorter chapters make books easier to read. If  your average chapter length is 2,000 words and since you want your book to be at least 100,000 words that means 50 chapters minimum and maybe 75 maximum. If your outline runs out after only 34 items then you have not thought your story all the way through. It is too simple. You need add some twists and turns, maybe another subplot or two. You always need at least one or two subplots in addition to the main plot.

Eventually you get the outline up to say 62 chapters. Good, now you can start writing Chapter One.

Is writing the book the only thing you need to do? No. You need to keep a concordat as you write. What's that? It's an inventory of your characters, places and things. Here is just a small section of the concordat on my latest book. Single spaced, the entire concordat is about five pages long:

Alphonse Gagliardi -- County D.A.

Amy Ellison -- Pearl Girl

Anders, Angela -- kidnapping victim

Anderson, Edward James -- murderer whose conviction is on appeal

Angela Anders -- kidnapping victim

Art Wayman -- lead detective on Angela Anders case

Ben Cerutti -- contractor who needed supplies

Every time I name anyone they go into the list twice, once as "John Smith" and once as "Smith, John" because I never know which name I will remember and which I will forget. "I know the neighbor is named Bob something" or "I know the neighbor is named something Smithers". Also, you want to avoid too many uses of the same name. Look down the list. Do you have a John Baker, Jon Carlisle, Johnny Danvers, and a Jack Taylor? Throw in a few Pauls, Ralphs, Stewarts and Blakes.

Keep a list of other things like guns. If the hero uses a Glock is the villain going to use a Glock too? Maybe the villain uses a Beretta. And what kind? A Glock 17? A Beretta 92?

And when you finish the manuscript you are not done. You still need a title, a back cover blurb and a cover.

Now you are getting an inkling of why I was concerned that the only question the would-be author had was how to get his book published.

Links and personal information

David Grace Website: http://www.DavidGraceAuthor.Com

Amazon Author Page: http://www.Amazon.Com/Author/DavidGrace

Smashwords Author Page: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/DavidGrace54

David Grace Email: DavidGraceAuthor@Gmail.com

My Work: Twelve novels. Eleven available at Amazon and Wildside Press (http://www.wildsidebooks.com/GRACE-David_c_1514.html) as trade paperbacks for $7.99 and $8.99 depending on the length. All twelve available as ebooks on Amazon, iBooks, B&N, Smashwords and others for $4.95.

My top five favorite books: Shooting Crows At Dawn, Doll's Eyes, Easy Target, A Death In Beverly Hills. My least favorite book: The Forbidden List

David Grace Interview

Interview Regarding Shooting Crows At Dawn and

Easy Target

By David Grace

--How did you get the idea for the [Shooting Crows] story? 

I've always liked heroes. Real heroes, not drunks or depressed whiners pining for a lost love. I might start with a hero with a problem but I need to have him or her heal by the end. When I think of heroes, one sort that always comes to mind is the old-time lawman. I can still see Gary Cooper telling Grace Kelly that he just can't run from those killers heading for town in High Noon.

For this book I knew I wanted an heroic sheriff but I didn't want to write a period piece. I wanted my sheriff living  in contemporary times. And it was too much of a stereotype to make him look like a movie star or James Bond. Most people, most heroes, aren't like that at all. The more I thought about Jubal Dark the more I saw him as a man in his late fifties, a bit overweight, maybe his hair is starting to thin a little, but a man with the heart of a warrior if not the appearance of one.

Once I knew who my hero was, Jubal Dark, then I asked myself what his life would be like. I realized that he might have lost his wife, his only wife, to cancer and that with CSI on TV the voters might be wondering if he wasn't too old and out-of-date for his job. So there would be a challenge there. But what would the story be?

It had to be from "bad guys" menacing his town. Jubal is the shepherd who has to protect his flock, so who would he be protecting it from? Escaped convicts immediately came to mind. And the story grew from there.

--Which [Shooting Crows] character would you most/least like to have dinner with?

I think you mean which character from this book, correct? If so, Jubal Dark is not a conversationalist so he probably would not be the best choice. I think I would enjoy talking with Holly Sharps who is still full of life and energy, plans and dreams.

--What are some of your favorite books? 

I think you mean favorite books I did not write. The Godfather, December 6 by Martin Cruz Smith, Hyperion by Dan Simmons, The Blue World by Jack Vance, The Silence Of The Lambs.

--Do you still have much time to read?

I read every single day. I usually read crime novels but also some science fiction. I usually read from 11:00 p. to about 11:30 or midnight. Right now I'm reading The Closers (terrible title, good book) by Michael Connelly, a very good writer.

--Do you have any other works in progress? Any teasers or release dates?

Yes, I have just finished what I think is my best book ever. I don't want to mention the title until it is released which should be in about two to four weeks -- by July 15^th if not a little earlier. It is very emotional. I tell people that if at least half the women and many of the men who read it don't cry at least once then I will be surprised and disappointed. It has several heroes not just one. I love one of the female characters, Jessica, who is twelve when the book begins and seventeen when it ends. She is moderately autistic and I have several sections where the story is told from her point of view. I absolutely love those sections which explore how she sees the people who love her, an emotion, like many emotions, which she finds difficult or impossible to understand.

--If a fairy godmother told you your life could be like a favorite book for 24 hours, which book would you pick and why?

Because most of the books I read involve murder, kidnapping, interstellar war and the like I probably would not want to be thrown into the middle of such a situation. But if we can assume that the fairy godmother would also give me the powers and abilities of the character I would assume, then I might enjoy being Kirth Gersen in Jack Vance's The Face. Gersen is very wealthy, extremely physically talented and obsessed with killing the arch-criminals who enslaved his family. Wealthy, talented and with a noble mission in life is not such a bad way to spend a day.

--Do you need anything to write (music, coffee, etc)? Are there any songs on your playlist- songs that inspired you or that were playing while you wrote?

I start every morning with a cup or two of Twinings Prince of Wales tea (loose not tea bags) but that's about it. I find that music helps me think but distracts me from writing. I have to hear the words in my head. Prose has a cadence to it if you do it right and a dull thud if you do it wrong. Music interferes with my ability to hear that cadence.

--If you could have any superpower what would you choose?

Power is often a curse. My inclination is to want more intelligence but super-intelligent people are not necessarily happier ones. Sometimes the opposite. I would like to be able to paint really, really well. I cannot draw a good picture of a dog. I'm hopeless that way, so, I would like the ability to be able to paint like Rembrandt. 

--Besides writing, what do you like to do in your free time?

I cook, take pictures, hike, travel, spend time with friends.

--Is there anything else you want to add or say to your readers?

Yes. Every time I start a book I want it to be "better" than the last one. What is better? For me, better is more emotional. I want to write books that make your heart beat faster, that make you desperate to get to the next chapter. It is a long, long road learning how to do that well. If I had a time machine I would go back to some of my earlier books and write them differently or write a different book in their place, but no one has a time machine so I just have to apply those efforts to the next one. Success is a relative thing, just a point on a continuum, never an absolute result. And I know that no matter how well I think I may have done, I will never succeed with everyone.

People like different things. I know I will never write a book that everyone likes. I think that if The Silence Of The Lambs had never been published and if you gave a copy of it to a thousand people who said they loved crime novels, at least 20% of them would rate it a 7 or less on a scale of 10. I think at least 10% would rate it as a 6 or less. I would give it a 10. One of my favorite books and when asked about it, lots of people would say, "It was all right, I guess." That is a hard truth to accept. 

As a novel Moby Dick was a failure. It was panned. The critics hated it. It just about ruined Melville's career. Moby Dick!

Van Gogh never sold a single painting. People thought they were no good. Van Gogh!

I hated Angels and Demons. I couldn't get past about page fifty. I thought it was a terrible book. I would rate The Da Vinci Code a 4 on a scale of 1 to 10. What does that make me? Clearly, millions of people disagree with me. Maybe Dan Brown is right and I am wrong. These are difficult possibilities to accept.

In the end writers can only do what they think is a good job. The rest is beyond our control. Not having control is difficult for everyone. It certainly is for me. Reading a bad review of one of my books, if I think the reviewer got it wrong, makes me crazy. If I have to admit that  the reviewer got it right then I'm embarrassed. But that is something I signed up for. No one made me become a writer. As Hyman Roth said in The Godfather II, "This is the business we've chosen."

Easy Target Answers

--How did you get the idea for the [Easy Target] story? 

I saw the movie, Capote, and I was fascinated by the stark scenes of Kansas in the dead of winter. I started thinking about setting a story there, one that started around Halloween and continued through spring.

I had two choices, either write a story centering around a local person or one with an outsider hero. I liked the "stranger moves to town" idea because he could see things differently from a local. But who would that be? Because I write crime novels I decided to make him a retired cop. Since I have friends on the NYPD I decided to make him a retired New York City detective. Then I started building the personality and history of Greg Webster. I didn't want some bitter loner. I wanted a three-dimensional person with a good marriage and a friends and a real life, but not a perfect life. Real people don't have perfect lives. 

The story grew organically from there. When I finished the manuscript I asked my friend who was at that time the Commander of the Internal Affairs Division of the NYPD to check it for police-department accuracy and he was a great help in that regard.

--Which [Easy Target] character would you most/least like to have dinner with?

While I like the hero, Greg Webster, I think his friend, Dr. Terry Singleton, would be a more interesting dinner companion. He's clever, witty, and a little bent so I think he would be fun to talk with.