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  With a bit of luck, the list that follows will provide some useful hints to some writers. Since misery loves company, we writers tend to share advice with each other. Unfortunately, since we're all banging our heads against the same walls, much of the advice tends to come out as same old, same old. Sorry about that. The odds against success are pretty steep, but you might want to look up the article, "Stranger Than Fiction" in the October, 2002, issue of Forbes Magazine if you want a morale-boosting look at what success might look like.

1. ADVICE/OPINIONS - There are few, if any, absolutes in writing. Advice that works for one person may not work for another. Consider the editor who rejects a manuscript that later proves to be a bestseller. It just didn't 'work' for that editor. And, if you've ever read a bestseller you didn't like at all, remember that you've stood in the shoes of that editor who rejected a bestseller.

2. AUDIENCE - If you have more than one book to write and are trying to choose between them, consider the audience. Who might be interested in your book? All other things being equal, choose the largest audience. In a sense, the book publishers are your first audience. Go through the list of book publishers in the latest issue of Writer's Market (published yearly by Writer's Digest Magazine) and list possible publishers of each of the books you have in mind. Again, all other things being equal, the longest list wins.

3. CHARACTERS - One trick I use to keep fictional characters on course is to model them in my own mind after a memorable TV or movie character. (TV sitcoms depend very much on memorable characters.) Then I can ask myself, "What would the model character have done in this situation?" You can also model your characters after people you know, but this requires great care to disguise the characters so as not to lose friends or invite lawsuits. (Surely you know at least one person whose decisions and motivations puzzle you. This is fertile ground for a fictional character.) When your first draft is done, ask yourself whether there are characters you ought to rename or change in some way (hair color, height, etc.) to avoid trouble. Likewise, if you are writing nonfiction, be careful who you identify by name, especially when the episode is not complimentary. Provable truth may be a good defense, but the other guy may call it malicious.

4. CONTRACTS - One day I got a phone call from a publisher I had submitted a manuscript to. He said he liked the book in general, but I'd have to rework it in a manner that would fit a series he was publishing. I agreed to do that and spent the next three months on the revised manuscript I submitted. That publisher never acknowledged receipt of the revision or answered any of my follow-up letters or phone calls. (Many years later, having forgotten that publisher, I sent another query to him and got the same sort of phone call in reply. The phone call was unmistakeably similar, refreshing the old memory. It may be that this is a dirty trick the S.O.B. plays often.) Hard experience tells me that my reply to the phone call should have been, "That really sounds interesting, but I won't be able to put my current projects on hold for it without an advance and a written contract." And when a publisher does offer a contract, read it carefully and know that some of its terms are negotiable. Negotiate the best deal you can, but don't overestimate how much the publisher needs you. After you've read a contract, try to think of what the contract doesn't say. It's easier to think about what the contract does say than it is to recognize ommissions. "Mastering The Business Of Writing"(Richard Curtis, 1996, Allworth Press) is one book that presents a good understanding of writing contracts.

5. COPYRIGHT - You own the copyright to your work without formally applying for it, however, if you ever sue anyone for infringement, your chance of winning is much better if your copyright is registered. Formally applying for a copyright certificate is not difficult or expensive and doesn't require a lawyer. I did it once for a completed nonfiction manuscript which languished for a few years afterward. Then I did a considerable revision. And that left me worrying (needlessly) about whether the earlier copyright would block a new copyright. In any event, I had wasted my time. Still, I've shown "Western Limericks" samples to so many people that I did get a formal copyright for it, just to be on the safe side. The fee is $45 these days.

6. DESCRIPTION - In high school I read "The House Of Seven Gables" and told the English teacher it wasn't a good book because it had too much description and too little action. My short-changing of description may actually go back to that experience and is excessive. Recently, I read "Jitterbug" by Loren Estleman (Forge, 1998) and was very favorably impressed by descriptive details in the novel. Unlike Loren (a fellow member of the Western Writers of America), I'm old enough to remember many details of life in the USA during WW II. And I found his descriptive details bringing that time back with something akin to historical accuracy. They obviously improve the novel by reinforcing that sense of being in the scene he creates. So, yes, pay great attention to your use of descriptive details. Each time you review your manuscript, think about those details and whether they are adequate to create a sense of being there.

7. FICTION / NONFICTION - Fiction is much easier to write than nonfiction, but I think a unique work of nonfiction has a statistically better chance of holding its audience over a longer span of years. Nonfiction can require a lot of work to confirm that your memories are correct and perhaps to locate people who were involved. Fiction allows the writer to build an audience by following a strong character through sequels, but there may be nonfiction events that only you can write. For myself, "The Green Flame" was that 'absolutely must write' book.

8. FINANCES - It's been said thousands of times, but I'll say it again, "Don't give up your day job!" No matter how great you think your book is, don't bet that the publishing or reading world is going to agree with you. Just the sheer volume of other books being published will make it hard for your book to be noticed. Do try to make money at writing, and, if that's your intention, start keeping detailed records of your income and expenses, adequate for income tax purposes. In the absence of proof of a profit motive, the IRS will declare your effort to be a hobby and will disallow your expenses as a deduction. (But, just the same, be prepared to accept the satisfaction of a job well done as your main reward.) As a stepping stone to a writing career, you may note that many published writers have worked for newspapers or are college professors (usually historians or English literature professors). Of course, that doesn't apply to myself. You may note that much of my advice is in the nature of, "This is probably what I shoulda done."

9. GENRE - Most writers choose to write what they enjoy reading, or at least write on a subject they know a lot about. There are at least two good reasons for sticking to one genre; (a) it saves a lot of work because info and ideas that don't fit in one book can be used in the next, and (b) publishers like their writers to stay with one genre because it builds author name recognition and each succeeding book helps to sell the next. Authors who write in more than one genre are apt to use a different pen name in each genre to avoid confusing their readers. (An analogy frequently given is that one shouldn't put peaches in a can labeled, "pears.") Why switch genres? Well, they go in and out of vogue. If you're in a dying genre, you may switch to one that's hot. Note that I don't follow this genre advice myself. This leaves me free to pursue any good idea that comes along, but I do pay the penalties inherent in not following the above advice.

10. GRUDGES - Don't hold any! Rejections are a frequent fact of life for most, if not all writers. Don't take them personally! Keep your sense of humor. Holding grudges will harm you more than anyone else and sometimes block good things from happening. And to paraphrase something else that's been frequently said, "Forgive thy enemies. It will keep them in a great state of confusion." Our notions of getting even, or getting revenge, are all screwed up. Revenge doesn't erase the original hurt or damage. I'm not a bible-thumper, but I think the bible is right on that point; "Revenge is mine, sayeth The Lord." Revenge is something we can't have. Try forgiveness. That works.

11. LEGALITY & LIABILITY - Give due thought to staying out of court. Don't do any needless harm to anyone's reputation. Never plagiarize. If you must quote another author in any substantial way, get written permission. If a setting you have in mind is a real place and something terrible happens there, you may want to alter the setting enough so's not to pinpoint the place. A case in point was The Amityville Horror, which identified a certain house as being haunted. An owner of the house sued, saying that the book had badly damaged the resale value of the house. And, if your setting is identifiable, check the phone book for that area to see if any of your fictional character names happen to match real people in the area.

12. LOCATION - It is convenient to have a real location in mind when writing fiction and I have done that. The advantage is that distances, climate, topography, and descriptions fall into place easily and accurately. But, in one case I transplanted the location to a different state and in another, I changed town names and installed a non-existing road. I wasn't sure that it would have done any damage to anyone if I hadn't disguised the locations but why leave such possibilities open to the sue-happy?

13. MEMOIRS - The book I'm finalizing now, 'WNS', is a memoir which reaches into distant memories and teaches me, once again, how strange memory is. By its 3rd or 4th revision, all the key things in the tale were in place, but in going through the entire manuscript over and over again from beginning to end, I find that little details pop out of memory that aren't key to the story, but give a more complete picture of the time. Sometimes these pop-out details come as I re-read the manuscript, and sometimes they come out of nowhere during the day. I've carried file cards in my shirt pocket for many years now, and find them very handy to capture those pop-out details as soon as possible after they pop. If you're writing a memoir, don't get in too much of a hurry. The memories return in their own sweet time, not yours. Also, if you're young, get some pictures now of things that might not be there years later if there's a possibility that they could be useful in a future memoir.

14. OMISSIONS - One of the most annoying of all omissions, is the one you think of after your book has gone to press. It's usually nothing humongous. Just little things that would have been an improvement. It happens.

15. PAUSE - Somewhere in writing a book, the project is apt to grab you. It becomes your top priority. You can't wait to get it done. You become preoccupied with getting your characters through the next scene. Learn to take a long pause from time to time. Give it a rest after the first draft and each draft thereafter. Take time to re-think the overall plot. It will help you avoid some of those omissions mentioned above. Also, it will help you to spot awkward sentences that tend to become invisible when the text is too fresh in your mind.

16. PICTURES - Except for The Green Flame, my books to date have been devoid of pictures, a mistake not repeated in "Western Limericks", which has a sketch to go with each limerick. Way back in grade school I used to flip through a book to check its picture supply before deciding whether or not to read it. Today, I still tend to check the pictures first if there are any. I've found the sketching effort to be remarkably like writing short stories. There are many layouts that might show what you hope to show. You choose one and start on it. Many revisions later, you come close to something that works. Later still, you edit in a few more revisions. Try it. There may come a day when you'll want some pictures in your book. Likewise, if photos of certain locations, buildings, or people would be appropriate for your book, try to take those pictures in advance of needing them, then store them where you can find them. My next book is a memoir of things that happened long ago and I certainly wish I had photos of scenes long gone except in memory.

17. POETRY - Many people can tell you that there's little or no market for poetry, and, unfortunately, that's probably true. And, by now, you may have noticed that I often don't follow my own advice. The book I'd still like to find a publisher for, Western Limericks, is poetry of a sort. I have a quarrel with the stuff many folks call poetry today. It's really prose with a ragged right margin. It too often consists of beautiful thoughts, but lacks the rhyme and rhythm that makes real poetry so difficult to compose. To do the limericks, I start with a subject, write any and all lines that come to mind that are appropriate to the subject, then search among those lines for any that will work with the limerick format. With enough work, a suitable limerick takes shape, though the rhythm often doesn't match that of the classic limericks that stick in the mind. That's why classic and memorable poetry is such a small percentage of what's been published. Will "Western Limericks" ever be accepted by a conventional publisher, or will the author have to chalk it up to experience? Stay tuned. (Meanwhile, I expect to add a few pages as time permits.

18. TIME - Time is scarce, and, therefore, valuable. Most people are awash in family and work obligations that would seem to rule out any serious writing effort. But it's not hopeless. Can you find at least 30 minutes per day? Carry with you a few sheets of folded lined notebook paper. Parts of my novel, Thirsty, were written that way at a very busy time in my life. If you're a compulsive writer, as I am, you'll find that there's a classic monkey on your back that will nag you to write and lay a guilt trip on you when you could have and didn't.

19. TITLE - Do spend a lot of time thinking about the best title for your work. Make lists of possible titles. Think about the nature of your book, the audience you want it to reach, and how strongly the title relates to what's in the book. The book I'm writing now (and sort of code-named "WNS") started as a memorial to a wonderful person I knew. During the first four or five years I had this book in mind, I had fixed on a particular title. Then, writing the first draft convinced me that I had to change the title and broaden the subject. I have no regrets about any of the titles chosen for my books so far and that results partly from considering it a crucial choice.

20. TOOLS - In case you're wondering about the writing tools pictured at the top of this page, the colonial inkwell and quill pen were before my time, but the Remington portable typewriter is the one I did the novel, Thirsty, on. (The inkwell has been in the family about 70 years now and is reputed to be 'Mad Anthony Wayne's Inkwell' because it was found at a location once occupied by General Wayne.) If you must use a typewriter, I recommend that you use one with large type that doesn't need frequent cleaning. I had a fairly new typewriter when I was working on Thirsty, but it had a typeface that plugged easily and I paid $10 for the second-hand Remington to save time. I've always done the first draft of my book-length projects in ball-point pen on lined 3-hole notebook paper. Deletion is done by crossing out lines, which is much faster than erasing. The pages are numbered, and text is added or moved via margin notes reminding me where things should go. This ends up looking very messy, but I think it's the fastest way to get that first draft done. I got my first computer in 1987. It had no hard drive, but I was able to do The Green Flame on it and I would never go back to a typewriter. My third word processor is the one I did the Xlibris books on. It's nine years old and getting obsolete in that (a) Windows 98 is close to obsolete, (b) I see signs that 3.5" disks are losing favor, (c) it needs a CD burner, and (d) its 'camera port' doesn't match the cable on today's digital cameras. I'm keeping this old computer for e-mails and internet searches. Now I have a new one that I hope to never ever connect to the internet; that infernal source of viruses, pop-up ads, and liars. The time-saving ease of changing text and doing print-outs on a word processor is a boon I'm grateful for, but I don't enjoy crossing swords with the damned things when they get as obstinate as I am. I know a very successful writer who finds his typewriter quite friendly and comfortable. If you also feel that way, maybe you really are right to ignore the computer world. (Most publishers still want queries & proposals in hardcopy, but those same publishers are also likely to want a full manuscript on computer discs. No problem if there's a computer savvy secretary in town who will do the job for a price, saving you the price of a computer & software.) By now, I'm comfortable enough with word processors to do short stories and articles from scratch on the word processor. Whether book manuscripts or short pieces, I probably do a complete re-read and edit about ten times before I consider the job done. And I may always do first drafts of book-length work and some short stories with ballpoint pens.

21. VOICE - What the heck is a writer's 'voice'? I think it's something that includes a writer's style and outlook on life. In my own case, I try to emphasize plot, minimize description and choose characters to fit the needs of the plot. Also, I hope never to have a villain who is totally evil and finds great joy in tormenting anyone. And I expect that most of my 'good guys' will survive the plot. Also, friends tell me I write the way I talk, though that isn't obvious to me. These are the sort of things that tend to add up to a writer's 'voice'. Other writers may emphasize description, a certain location, or characters for their own sake, and their voice evolves from that.

22. WRITER'S BLOCK - This is no problem unless you've saddled yourself with a tight deadline. I usually have a plot outline fairly well in mind before I have anything on paper. If the draft gets stuck somewhere, I just jump ahead to another scene and give the sticky spot time to sort itself out. And if it stays stuck, I skip to an entirely different book length plot. Right now, not counting "Western Limericks", I have one complete non-fiction manuscript ('WNS') that I hope to soon find an agent for, a philosophical manuscript started, and two fiction books in mind to start on shortly thereafter. I think it will always be somewhat that way.

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