Successful Books Begin With A Promise

“You promised!” is a cry often uttered by frustrated toddlers denied a treat. Frustrated readers feel this way when a writer makes a promise they don’t keep.

One of the most important things you as a writer need to decide before you publish or pitch a book is what kind of promise are you making to your reader? When a reader buys a book they want to know  what kind of adventure they are settling down to read. Readers find comfort in certain story forms. Just like ordering from a menu, you want what you want, not what someone else thinks it should be.

You can add stars and quotes and reviews all over the cover, but if you haven't told them: come aboard, ride with me, this is the kind of story I want to tell, it's all wasted effort. Your story promise in the one thing that matches the right audience with your product.

Premise is the story idea, such as a tragic love story about ferrets. The premise could feature giant cockroaches invading the planet, a guy meeting the girl of his dreams, a terrorist attack, aliens descend, a murder is committed, an asteroid heads toward earth, a mysterious virus strikes, a heist is planned, a criminal breaks free, a thief needs to be caught, a monster eats Manhattan, or an evil wizard seeks control of Wonderland. Translating the story idea into a novel-length manuscript is where the work begins.

You must pick a promise which ties in to genre. 

The term genre is often considered a four-letter word. I say genre is the skeleton key that opens doors instead of a locked door that limits your freedom. Genre plays an important role in storytelling. Ancient man did not sit down at the communal fire and promise to tell a testosterone-filled tale about hunting then launch into a boring account of how he picked nits from his partner’s hair. He would have been justifiably chased into the woods by people armed with clubs.

A premise can combine several ideas such as vampires and a love story. However, you must decide if the focus is going to be on vampires killing off humans thus preventing the lovers from getting together or a Romance about people who happen to be vampires. Right off the bat, the concept of vampires will intrigue some and repel others. That is acceptable. You can’t please everyone. If you want to write a vampire tale, write it. If it is good, there will be an audience. If it is bad, there might be a key element of it that attracts readers anyway.

Romance genre readers may not read Horror and vice versa. Horror stories can have light moments, but Horror fans expect to be frightened from page one. If your story does not deliver on that promise, Horror fans are disappointed. Regency Romance lovers expect a love story set in Regency England. They are offended if you throw in a serial killer.

If a reader is warned beforehand that your story explores the mind of a pedophile, she may pass it by. If the cover tells her she is getting a lighthearted Romance and you toss in a pedophile, she will toss your book in the nearest trash bin. Next time she sees a book written by you, she will shudder and move on. I once sat down to read what was billed as a lighthearted Comedy. There were some funny lines, but the story was about child abuse. I was not amused.

Carefully select the promise you want to make to the reader then keep it. It’s the secret to winning loyal fans.

But my novel is full of lots of things! I see this often. That means you are confused about what your plot really is. 

There can be several layers to a story. You can have a Fantasy novel with Romance layer. You can have a Sci-Fi novel set in the old West. You can have a Road Trip that is a serious literary journey or a comedic romp. To help you parse what layers your story has, next week we will look at the importance of the Central Question.

If you want to learn more, you can check out Story Building Blocks at www.dianahurwitz.com for free information and forms. 

You can follow new posts on this topic on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/storybuildingblocks or opt for an email through follow.it.

You can check out the Master List of blog posts at  http://dianahurwitz.blogspot.com/2021/10/master-list-of-mini-courses.html

As always, if you find this information useful, hit the like button and share.

The Magic of Mark Budman

 I just finished the most delightful book by Mark Budman, The Shape-Shifter's Guide to Time Travel.

It is suitable for any age, not just YA. The main character, Rose, travels to the last land of magic in the modern world, fictional Temnova, as an exchange student. She teams up with the Prince of Talents, an advanced shape-shifter named Gavrilo. Together they must go back in time to find an antidote to a drug that suppresses the power to shift. The government has imprisoned the rebel leader and only the antidote can free her and aid their cause to overthrow the totalitarian dictatorship.

The narrative voice makes the characters and setting come alive in a truly divine way. I'd give it six stars if they were available. 

Mark Budman is a first-generation immigrant. His fiction has appeared in Catapult, Witness, World Literature Today, Mississippi Review, The London Magazine (UK), McSweeney’s, Painted Bride Quarterly, and elsewhere. He is the author of the novel My Life at First Try, published by Counterpoint, and co-editor of immigration-themed anthologies published by Ooligan Press, Persea, and the University of Chester (UK). One of his short story collections from Livingston Press received a starred review at Kirkus and another received an honorable mention by the Forward Indies 2022 Award.

I had the pleasure of chatting with him about his writing career.

1.  What led you to your path as a writer?

As soon as I learned the letters, I began to put them together, and I enjoyed the process so much that I switched to assembling words. The sentences came a little later. By the time I progressed to novels, I immigrated to America and had to learn another language.

2. Are you a plotter, pantser, or combination?

A pantser all the way. That is why my pants need replacement more often than the rest of my wardrobe.

 3. How has your background as an immigrant informed your writing?

I answered a bit in #1 but in addition, I consider myself a champion of immigrant fiction and as such I co-edited an immigrant-themed anthology and penned an immigrant-themed novel and two short story collections. All were moderately successful. For someone who learned English at the age of 30.

4. What was your inspiration for The Shape-Shifter’s Guide to Time Travel?

I love fantasy. I love the what if question. I asked myself, what would happen if two people with disparate powers fell and love and combined their powers? What if this would have happened in an oppressive country like my native Soviet Union?

5. Is there anything you would like your readers to take away from this book?

Be young in spirit and adventurous no matter how old you are. And have a good friend. They come in handy. Just come in handy for them as well.

6. You write multiple genres. Do you have a favorite?

Magic realism is my number one love. To combine realistic and surreal in one believable blend. If you make it real, what can be more magical?

7. What is your advice for someone who dreams of writing?

If you have a wish, don't squish it. Work hard and turn the naysayers into admirers. 

8. Do you have a favorite author or two?

Mikhail Bulgakov. I reread his Master and Margarita several times. I imagined myself both of them but not at the same time.

9.  What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

Watch fantasy shows. Currently, it's Foundation.

While I believe anyone can learn the craft of writing, some are just born with natural wit and story-weaving capability that sets them apart. Mark Budman is a natural. In addition to devouring the Shape-Shifter's Guide to Time Travel, I have his book The Armor Thieves on my Kindle to read next. Pick up your copies today!

https://www.amazon.com/Shape-Shifters-Guide-Time-Travel-ebook/dp/B09BBY2QYG/r

https://www.amazon.com/Armor-Thieves-Mark-Budman-ebook/dp/B0BN7182CD/

In a country ignored by most search engines, Andrey and Nina, a brother and sister, take opposite sides in a civil war. Both wear the pieces of an ancient queen’s armor protecting them and only them from any modern weapon and from each other. They both are brilliant and attached to their causes. He’s twenty. She’s eighteen. He’s a modest archivist. She’s a rising star in the Secret Police. He’s a newbie superhero, and she’s a novice super-villain. He loves her. She hates him and his friend Vesna. She wants to fight. He has to fight. Only one can win but many can lose as a result.

I look forward to reading many more stories from this talented author. 

Separating the Writer from the Story

There is a mistake most beginning writers make. They think, or have been told, they have an anecdote or situation from their life that would "make a good book." Chances are, it doesn't. Not that it isn't an interesting story, perhaps an important story of survival or overcoming a trauma, but that doesn't build a plot. 

Many writers start off this way. I certainly did. I thought well, this was a unique situation. It was. But it wasn't a good fictional situation. Plot is not situation. Plot is when an inciting incident happens forcing a protagonist to face obstacles to a achieve a goal that has stakes. 

The problem is that most beginners attempt to shoehorn a real life situation into a fictional framework. But fiction doesn't work that way. You can't write the first half as autobiography then twist the story into a genre plot. The frame is poor and the glue won't hold.

I am not saying that a writer can't be inspired from things in real life. I am saying there are requirements of a good story and genre expectations.  Readers have expectations. They want to know what kind of story they are buying. They want it to meet certain minimum requirements. They really hate bait and switch: when it appears to be one kind of story but turns into another story form they don't like. The biggest problem with this approach is that many readers will walk away unsatisfied. Worse, they will voice their displeasure in a review. They may never give your writing another chance.

So what is the solution? There are multiple options. 

1. You can write an autobiography.

Autobiography is a chronological narration of your life. You takes notes about the important bits and cut the boring bits. Think of it as a highlight reel. Hopefully the content is interesting enough that other people want to read about you. It helps if you are famous or have some illustrious career or fascinating hobbies.

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-write-an-autobiography

2. You can write a memoir.

A memoir is a group of anecdotes related by a theme: love, loss, relationships growing and dying, life beginning and ending. It can feature a series of successes or failures. It can be a tale of overcoming a disease, an addiction, a trauma. Finding your audience depends on the theme.

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-start-writing-a-memoir

3. You can take elements from your personal narrative and turn it in to a literary drama.

You have to let go of the idea that it is your personal story and make all elements serve the plot. 

But it is true! But that's what really happened! It isn't that simple (insert complex explanation). 

That has to go. Do you want to write a memoir or a sound fiction story? There's no point twisting yourself into a pretzel to try to make a biographical anecdote fictional. It's just not worth the effort. The story will be weak.

Subgenres include: 

● Activist/Cause Literary examines the ramification of a social topic, politics, religion, man's inhumanity to man.

● Coming of Age Literary examines an adolescent facing adulthood.

● Crime Literary examines the impact and fallout from a crime for the victim, victim's family, the perpetrator, or his family.

● Disease/Death Literary examines the effects of a serious illness or the impact of a death.

● Friendship examines the building, maintenance, or unraveling of a friendship.

● Historical Literary examines the impact of a pivotal point in history on a person and/or their close personal friends and family.

● Legal Literary examines how upholding or contesting the law impacts a person or group of people.

● Malfeasance Literary examines how a corporation or group has damaged people and how their crimes are exposed.

● Multi-Generation Family Saga examines the lives of two or more generations in a family.

● Relationship Literary examines the building, maintenance, or unraveling of any relationship.

● Romantic Literary examines the building, maintenance, or unraveling of a romantic relationship as opposed to the happy-ever-after expectation of the Romance genre.

● Revelation Literary examines the impact of the revelation of a secret or a universal truth.

● Situational Literary peels back the layers of a problem to reveal the cause.

● War Literary explores the cost of war.

4. You can write a story from any other genre. 

There may be elements that inspire your fiction, but don't let your life story hinder the mechanics of a fictional one.

For more on literary drama and other genres you can put your idea through the story sorter here:

http://dianahurwitz.com/theory.html

If you want to learn more, you can check out Story Building Blocks at www.dianahurwitz.com for free information and forms. 

You can follow new posts on this topic on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/storybuildingblocks or opt for an email through follow.it.

You can check out the Master List of blog posts at  http://dianahurwitz.blogspot.com/2021/10/master-list-of-mini-courses.html

As always, if you find this information useful, hit the like button and share.