10. How Should a Writer Respond to Reviews?

I’m changing the subject today because of two reviews I received recently on Amazon. Like all writers, I’ve had to learn not to take feedback--whether positive or negative-- personally. When the feedback is from an editor, I accept it and work with it, simply and professionally making the requested changes.

On Amazon.com, feedback  from readers as well as professional reviewers is posted along with the book information. This feedback can make the difference between a sale and a click to another page. A couple of weeks ago I received the following review from someone unknown to me, on Pandora’s Genes:

Meh...Interesting plot, lacks skillful writing, and too abrupt of an ending
My title pretty much sums up the book. I really liked the story. The beginning of the book was actually pretty good and I got drawn into it fairly quickly. Once halfway through, I felt like I was being rushed through the plot by the author, wanting to make sure she explained what was going on so we didn't get lost.... Towards the end of the book, it seemed to get even more rushed and lacked any kind of artistic writing skill. It gave the facts, went through the time line and POOF! The End. I will say the plot was really interesting. It could be made into a decent film if anyone ever decided to do so and in this case might be one of the rare movies that's actually better than the book.

This reader gave me three stars, and had some positive things to say, but all I could see was the phrase “lacked any kind of artistic writing skill.” How dare she? I thought. What does she know about skillful writing? She’s probably never written anything more complicated than a grocery list. I have to admit that this review stung. But, as with all feedback, I shoved it into a corner in the back of my mind and returned to working on the third Pandora’s book.She is, after all, just one reader, and most of the other reviews are overwhelmingly positive.

Yesterday, I received this four-star review from someone unknown to me, on The Ptorrigan Lode.:

A nice read
This was definitely a short one..What I found amazing is the author was able to set up a world, several well defined characters, and introduce a well devised conflict in such a short period of time. I found the protagonist self-absorbed (as he should be based on his circumstances) and related well with the course of action that he chose. If the author chooses to expand on the ground work that this story laid, I would purchase it.

Ah, what a difference! This reader is obviously a man of great literary acumen. He GETS what I’m trying to do. I wonder if he’d like to be my Faceboook friend? I will eventually shove this review into that corner in the back of my mind, with all the others, but for now... I’m basking in it.

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9. Keeping it Real: how to make imaginary locales seem realistic

In yesterday’s post I told you about the maps I consulted for my fictional works located in Washington, D.C., and New York City. They helped me keep the basic details of my books true-to life. Even in the case of Pandora’s Genes, which takes place toward the end of the present century, knowing what those places looked like back in the 1990’s helped me to imagine what a century of neglect and bad weather would do.

But what about completely imaginary locales? What about, say, fantasy or science fiction locations? One of the commenters on yesterday’s post is an sf writer who sets her stories on made-up planets. She says that having been an atmospheric scientist in real life helps her to construct (in imagination) her locales.

I have never been a scientist, but I’ve read a lot of science and science fiction, and that has helped me have a feel for many possible science fictional locations.
My hard-sf novella THE PTORRIGAN LODE takes place on a space station in the asteroid belt. There are no maps for such a place, but I’ve been visiting such structures in science fiction stories since I was a teenager (for example, in The Rolling Stones, by Robert A. Heinlein), so  I already had  a general idea of what such a place (one with artificial gravity) might be like.

I did some further research on the web, perusing scientific articles describing the sort of space station I had in mind. I drew my own map of “Station,” so I could keep track of where the main character was at any given time, and how he would move from level to level. And I spent a lot of time inside his head, trying to imagine how it would feel to live in a sealed, closed station, no matter how big it is.

When writing about my fictional space station I did not go into a great deal of detail, because the novella is largely a story of character, but I worked to make those details I included seem plausible and familiar to readers of today. Jay’s small cubicle on Station,  for example, is small and bare, with everything built-in, but he keeps an old-fashioned acoustic guitar on the shiny metal wall.

A few short scenes toward the end of the novella take place inside a small spaceship and on the surface of a tiny asteroid. To create these, I mainly drew on my years of reading sci fi books and watching sci-fi movies. My general knowledge of science let me know what seemed realistic and what didn’t, and my imagination helped me to feel what the characters felt in these places.

I think the takeaway here is that research is essential to constructing the scaffolding of your novel, but it takes hard thought and imagination to bring the story to life.

Tomorrow I will continue with what keeps it “real,” in a discussion of continuity.

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8. Where in the world are we? The novel’s geographical and local setting

For those who haven’t read Pandora’s Genes, or who have read it but couldn’t get a fix on the location, it happens mostly in the area in and around Washington, DC. I have lived and worked in the Washington area, and always liked it, especially the historical buildings and the beauty of the surrounding countryside.

I never said directly that is where the book takes place, but dropped plenty of hints, including the fact that the area ruled by the Principal is known as “the District.” . A number of scenes take place in the Principal’s private office, which has “rounded walls.” Other parts of the White House are featured too. I needed to get a detailed map of the White House for some of this material.

Many scenes take place on the Mall, which they actually do call “the mall” in the Pandora’s books, and a crucial scene occurs at the Lincoln Memorial, which is described but not named. Zach’s and Evvy’s travels take place through Maryland into Pennsylvania and Ohio.

A scene from the Prequel that made it into Pandora’s Children takes place in the Metro. The Principal and Zach begin their final assault on the corrupt, evil President from a distant station across the river. The only identification that survives are the letters A SQUA. Which were on the sign for Virginia Square, the station near my parents’ apartment in Arlington.

Even though I was familiar with all these locations, I consulted maps, and even made a map to keep track of where my characters were at any given time. After writing my first draft, I revisited the Mall area to refine my descriptions, though I never did visit the White House (“the Principal’s Great House”).

I’ve made use of maps and personal visits for other books as well, most notably my YA novel GOING TO SEE GRASSY ELLA, which takes place mostly in New York City (where I lived for 20 years). After finishing the manuscript, again I went back and double-checked my recollection, especially for the area where the girls encounter the seedy Elvin Hotel.

Even though your work is fiction, it’s important to be as true to life as possible. This will give your made-up parts added credibility. Anything that CAN be checked, MUST be checked. Maps are easy enough to find and to consult. But what about fictional places? Tomorrow we’ll take a closer look at keeping it all as real as possible.

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7. Five Reasons to Write a Novel*

Of all the writing classes I’ve taught, my favorite has been Writing the Novel, because--as I always tell my students--writing a novel is one of the most rewarding things a person can do in life.

I know from my own experience and what my novel-writing students have told me that the most rewarding part of writing a novel is not the finished product, but the process of writing it. So without further ado, here are five reasons to write a novel*:

*whether it gets published or not

1.  It’s a chance to play god. Do your family, friends and colleagues sometimes disappoint you? Do you become hoarse trying to explain to friends what you REALLY mean? Well, writing a novel offers a chance to create other human beings from scratch. You can give them any character traits you wish (though many characters will disconcertingly take on a life of their own).

Many fictional characters are based on people the writer knows. You need to disguise them, of course, but within the constraints of libel this is a chance to improve your brother-in-law’s character or get even with him.  As a teen, I wrote stories about my ex-boyfriends. My mother once said about a fellow I dated but broke up with after two years: “You’re not over him, you know. You haven’t written a story about him yet.”

2.   Writing a novel will Improve your writing skills. Whether you write nonfiction, term papers, or emails, writing a novel is an excellent way to improve your writing skills. A novel is long. It’s offers lots of practice. For your novel to work, you must learn to handle point of view, write good descriptions, and master dialogue. It’s a great chance to learn by doing. I will discuss each of these writing skills in future posts.

3. Novel-writing forces you to get organized. Remember how hard it was to write your first term paper? You had all this research and no clear way to put it together. The same thing happens when you are writing a novel. You may start out with a strong story that grabs you (as the white-hot draft of the first part of Pandora’s Genes did me). But after the first 100 or so pages are down on paper, what then? Do you keep ideas on note cards? Write a formal outline?

A novel forces you to be organized in your daily life too. Writing a novel is a real commitment, of time and psychic resources. You will never be able to do it if you don’t schedule regular time to work on it.

4. Novel writing is a chance to learn more about yourself, both as a writer and as a human being. You will quickly learn which writing situations are easiest for you--and which most difficult. For me, writing Pandora’s Genes taught me that I’m good at depicting thoughts and dialogue, and that the hardest thing for me to write is description, especially of people. Knowing this, I always pay extra close attention to anything I read to see how other writers handle this technique.

5. Writing a novel is fun! When I’m writing a novel,  I find myself thinking about it in odd moments, scribbling notes on napkins, having imaginary dialogues with myself. Writing a novel is the surest way I know to wake up my brain and make me feel alive. This is beginning to happen with the new Pandora’s novel I am currently working on.

Looking back to writing the rough draft of Pandora’s Genes over twenty years ago, I remember  thinking, “This is what life is about. This is what I am meant to do.”

Tomorrow: WHERE in the world are we?

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6. How to Avoid Writing

This post is for anyone who has ever written anything on assignment--from a commissioned book to a term paper. If you are like most writers, your mind will find any number of things to do other than actually writing your assignment.

If it is a term paper or an article, the temptation is to over-research. I have done that many times with nonfiction books and articles. I was surprised to find out that over-researching was also an occupational hazard when I began writing Pandora’s Genes.

Like character names, research is important to the final product, but at some point you need to say “enough” and start writing. I did not do much research when I first started writing Pandora’s Genes, because of the way it spilled out. But when I got to the remaining three parts of the book, I needed to do geographical and scientific research, particularly on genetics. I also had to research the history of technologies, and some ancient fighting methods. This was all fascinating, but I had to force myself not to overdo.

Here’s what I learned about avoiding Paralysis by Research: begin with general research only. For example, learn the basics of how aerobic exercise works, but don’t worry about the specifics of how many calories each form of exercise burns per minute. You can always find and insert that information later. But if you sweat the small stuff in the beginning, you may become so taken by the details that you never even start the actual writing.

Once you have a good grasp of the period, or the genetic mechanism, or whatever your overview involves, just start writing and keep going. When you come to something for which you need further research, put a squiggly line under it or otherwise highlight it to research more fully later, after you have finished your draft. Then forget about it.

A related problem a lot of beginning--and established--writers have is spending too much time on small grammatical or stylistic details. Trying, for example, to get that first sentence (or paragraph, or even chapter) JUST RIGHT before going on. This practice is a trap, because perfection in writing is elusive and usually impossible. Besides, when you get farther along in the story you’ll often find that you didn’t need that sentence or paragraph in the first place. You may also find that the first thing you wrote down was fine as is.

To become a professional writer you must learn to be ruthless with yourself. Do not allow yourself too much time and energy on procrastination of any sort. For most of us, It’s much better to just keep writing and work out the details later.

Tomorrow: 5 reasons to write a novel.

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5. What’s in a Name?

When I used to teach novel-writing, I noticed that some students spent way too much time deciding what to call their characters. I don’t mean to suggest that your characters’ names are not important--they are. But often getting to know the character better will lead you to the perfect name.

In the case of Pandora’s Genes, the Principal is a case in point. When I began writing, he was known only as “the Principal.” That came to me without much thought, but it made sense in that I wanted a Leader-sounding name, but didn’t want to use “President” or “Commander” or “Commissar” or any similar title. “Principal” worked for me, because the Principal sees himself not only as a leader, but as an educator. His role model is Alexander the Great, who endeavored to spread Greek civilization throughout the known world.

I was well into Part II before I learned the Principal’s  given name: “Will.” This worked for me also, because he has a very strong will. The name and the title are used more or less interchangeably throughout the book, but I tended to use “the Principal” more when he was acting as a leader and “Will” in private moments. When other characters (like Zach) are displeased with him, or otherwise feeling distant, they tend to refer to him by the title, rather than his given name.

Zach’s name took a long time for me to settle on--I think I didn’t have it until near the end of the entire manuscript (rough draft). At first, I called him “diSachs,” because that was the name I’d seen in the dream I had that started my writing. I realized after a while that this probably came from a historical character in my favorite opera, Hans Sachs, from Die Meistersinger. In the opera, Hans Sachs is tempted by and perhaps in love with a young girl, which resonates with Zach’s situation, but the name never seemed right to me, so I changed it to Zach, and that worked.

Evvy’s name came from a couple of preteen kids who were hanging out at the running track in Riverside Park in NYC, where I used to jog. One afternoon shortly before I began writing Pandora’s Genes, I was stretching on the steps while the kids argued with each other. I couldn’t help noticing how beautiful the girl was. “Darn it, Evvy, stop that!” the boy snapped at her. I’d never heard that name before and loved it instantly; it was the only name I ever considered for my heroine.

Tomorrow: distractions that can prevent you from writing

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4. Who Are These Guys?

“The Principal was in a rage.” So begins Part II of Pandora’s Genes. As with the first part, the second seemed to come to me as if it had been dictated. I still didn’t know much about the Principal; but as I wrote more I came to  learn the following things about him: that he was a brilliant and charismatic leader who was dedicated to restoring civilization; that he was given to drinking too much and to volatile mood swings; that he hated and distrusted women, yet had a compulsion for sex with very young girls; and that he loved and trusted Zach above all others and found it difficult to carry on without Zach’s presence and counsel.

The story is written throughout from alternating points of view. As I continued to write, into Parts III and IV, I came to know Zach, Evvy, and the Principal as well as any real people in my life. I thought about them constantly, and dreamed about them.

I am sure that for most fiction writers each character comes from a part of our own personality, which is transformed through  creative alchemy. Obviously I have never been the charismatic leader of a society, nor a brave warrior; I have, however, been a fourteen-year old girl, yet I never had any more doubt about what Zach or the Principal would do than I did about Evvy’s actions.

I’ve been asked which of the characters I most identified with, and though you might think it would be Evvy, it was actually the Principal. He is a very complex man, and though several readers have expressed misgivings about his sexual predilections, I always saw him as a very sympathetic character, a good but deeply flawed man.

Tomorrow I’ll tell you a bit more about the Principal and where he and the others got their names.

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