101 Habits of Highly Successful Novelists: Insider Secrets from Top Writers

s1 The101

HABITS

of highly successful

NOVELISTS

Insiders Secrets from Top Writers

Andrew McAleer

Copyright © 2008 by Andrew McAleer

All rights reserved.

This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any

form without permission from the publisher; exceptions are

made for brief excerpts used in published reviews.

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Adams Media, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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ISBN 10: 1-59869-589-4

ISBN 13: 978-1-59869-589-2

eISBN: 978-1-44051-524-8

Printed in the United States of America.

J I H G F E D C B A

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—From a Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations

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To my daughter, Trinity McAleer

An altar, not a station

And to my dear friend, Robin Moore

A Boston Brahmin adventurer

CONTENTS

Foreword

Introduction

Contributors

Part I: PASSION

Chapter 1: A Portra it of a Novelist

1. Being Creative and Original

2. Being a Natural Storyteller

3. Being a Natural Observer

4. Embracing Solitude

5. Having a Driving Reason to Write

6. Believing You’re Talented Enough

7. Being a Voracious Reader

8. Being Passionate about the Craft

9. Being Passionate about Novels

Chapter 2: Commitment

10. Understanding the Downside of Being a Novelist

11. Committing to a Career, Not Just One Novel

12. Having Precise Goals, Not Just Wishes

13. Holding True to Your Dreams

14. Being Professional

15. Being Willing to Work Hard

16. Setting a High Standard of Excellence

Part II: CREATIVITY

Chapter 3: The Creative Process

17. Finding Inspiration

18. Coming Up with Ideas

19. Exploring the World

20. Being Open to Experiences

21. Studying the Market

22. Knowing What Makes a Great Story

23. Writing about What You Love

24. Writing about What You Know

25. Joining a Writer’s Group

26. Attending Writing Classes and Workshops

Chapter 4: The Writing Environment

27. Finding Time to Write

28. Finding a Place to Write

29. Assembling Your Writing Tools

Chapter 5: The Writing Process

30. Developing Your Imagination

31. Doing Your Research

32. Becoming Possessed by the Story

33. Nurturing Your Creativity

34. Recording Your Ideas as Soon as They Appear

35. Collaborating

36. Outlining Your Story

37. Choosing Your Point of View

38. Plotting

39. Finding Your Pace

40. Getting the Basics Down

41. Creating Characters

42. Writing Dialogue

43. Making Conflict Work for You

44. Writing a Few Chapters at a Time

45. Discovering the Ending

Part III: DISCIPLINE

Chapter 6: The Writing Hab it

46. Setting Reasonable Goals

47. Making Writing a Pleasure

48. Writing Through the Blahs

49. Exercising Your Body

50. Finding Time to Recharge

51. Getting A Good Night’s Sleep

52. Making Your Health a Priority

Chapter 7: The Challenges

53. Writing Through Your Fears

54. Silencing Your Inner Critic

55. Dealing with Distractions

56. Annihilating the Time Burglars

57. Making Sacrifices to Write

58. Enjoying Times When You’re Not Writing

59. Overcoming Procrastination

60. Facing the Blank Page

61. Overcoming Writer’s Block

62. Sticking with It

63. Meeting Deadlines

64. Coping with Rejection

65. Not Being Afraid to Fail

Chapter 8: The Editing Process

66. Completing Your First Draft

68. Asking for Feedback

69. Letting Your Manuscript Steep

70. Writing a Pitch Synopsis

71. Asking Other Authors for Blurbs

72. Sending Off Your Manuscript

73. Developing a Track Record

74. Accepting Criticism

75. Trusting Your Instincts

76. Saving Everything

Part IV: The Business

Chapter 9: Networks

77. Learning from Other Writers

78. Shopping for an Agent

79. Writing a Query Letter

80. Working with Your Agent

81. Working with Editors

82. Having Mentors

83. Becoming a Mentor Yourself

84. Not Burning Your Bridges

85. Building Your Reputation

86. Being Courteous

87. Not Being Difficult to Work With

Chapter 10: The Publishing Business

88. Learning about Publishing

89. Promoting Yourself

90. Seeking Online Reviews

91. Creating a Website

92. Venturing into Online Publishing Markets

93. Knowing the Pros and Cons of Self-Publishing

Chapter 11: Your Readers

94. Targeting Your Readers

95. Not Underestimating Your Readers

96. Not Boring Your Readers

97. Writing for Yourself

Chapter 12: The Future

98. Not Taking It Too Seriously

99. Trying New Things

100. Keep Writing, No Matter What

101. Continuing to Learn and Grow

Epilogue

FOREWORD

BY BILL PRONZINI

Professional writers are a highly diverse group. Not only do we produce many different types of novels, we tend to view the craft of fiction writing in a manner as individualistic as our subject matter, styles, and visions. Put a large group of us together in a room and call for a general theoretical discussion of what makes a successful novel and a successful career, and you’re certain to have disparate opinions and more than one heated argument.

Yet when it comes to analyzing the nuts-and-bolts specifics of writing and selling as a guide for the beginner, our views and advice are remarkably similar. This is because professional writers are practical to a fault; the one principle we all agree on is the necessity to create the very best novels of which we’re capable in order to realize the optimum financial and critical benefits. Literary theory and philosophy are excellent fodder for conversation and argument, but they’re not what professional writing is fundamentally about. Nor are they what The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Novelists is about. The purpose of this book is to help you do what we do: write the best novel of which you’re capable, experience the pleasure and satisfaction of seeing it published, and then reap the rewards. In short, it’s a straightforward, no nonsense, professional approach to fiction writing.

Andrew McAleer has done an outstanding job of organizing the material here into chapters that combine the instructive words of novelists past and present with his own expert commentary. Every aspect is covered: important general topics such as being creative and original, the art of natural storytelling, commitment to success, setting realistic goals and high standards of excellence; detailed how-tos and don’t-dos of plot construction, characterization, dialogue, conflict, and other story elements; tips on marketing, finding an agent, utilizing promotional options, and networking; even counsel on how to deal with such drawbacks as rejection, criticism, and fear of failure.

Read the individual quotes carefully, not only for their practical advice but for the insights they give into the men and women who wrote them. For this is how successful novelists think. Understanding the professional mindset can help you adopt a similar perspective toward your own work.

In a sense, reading this book is like being invited into the roomful of established storytellers, being given the opportunity to sit down with each of us and get to know us while we discuss the various tricks of our trade. There are no better teachers, after all, than the voices of experience.

As practical and invaluable as The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Novelists is, you should keep in mind that it does not contain a magical formula for becoming a published writer. There is no such formula, nor are there any shortcuts to success. The instruction offered here is strictly utilitarian, remember; it must be studied, taken to heart, and then adapted and incorporated into your own work and work ethic. The key to success lies with dedication, perseverance, and—the ultimate goal of pros as well as beginners—the consistent desire to become a better writer tomorrow than today.

Good luck!

INTRODUCTION

Everything nourishes what is strong already.—Jane Austen

When I first set out to write The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Novelists, I had one goal in mind: to help aspiring novelists achieve their dreams of publishing novels. I believe firmly— thanks to the generous contributions of some of the best and most experienced novelists of our time—that my goal has been brought to bountiful fruition.

What you have hitched your wagon to here is more than a book. It is a bumper crop of literary harvest propagated from the arduous toil of the contributors. You have at your fingertips the advice and wisdom of novelists who have successfully dug in and made fourteen-carat hay out of this business, some for more than half a century. This book is filled with advice from the most successful novelists from the most successful genres— romance, crime and suspense, Westerns, science fiction, and fantasy—such as Mary Higgins Clark, Elmore Leonard, Robin Moore, and Lawrence Block.

I’m not going to take much credit for this work because it wasn’t written per se. It was germinated, and I just tilled the soil a little bit. This book was sown from the struggles, perseverance, and triumphs of its contributors, who simply would not quit when critics told them it couldn’t be done, that they were wasting their time, that they shouldn’t quit their day jobs, that writing was too tough, and that dreams are a waste of time. These novelists would have none of it, and you are the benefactor of the fruits of their labor.

The contributors to this book have brought a burgeoning cornucopia to the table. It’s a crop consisting of nourishing words on how these indefatigable artists write continuously with such success. You can use their experience and advice to cut away the underbrush and prep the soil for planting. Further, you will be able to call on their advice again and again as if they were your helpful neighbors ready to roll up their sleeves and pitch in to help whenever needed.

I hope that this book will become your most trusted writing companion to nurture your muse. And it won’t even need watering. Not like those corn plants that the damn rabbits got into.

CONTRIBUTORS

LORI AVOCATO Award-winning and bestselling author of the Pauline Sokol mysteries, including A Dose of Murder; The Stiff and the Dead; One Dead Under the Cuckoo’s Nest; Deep Sea Dead; Nip, Tuck, Dead; and Dead on Arrival

BRUCE BALFOUR Author of Prometheus Road, Jack the Ripper, The Digital Dead, and the national bestseller The Forge of Mars

MARY BALOGH New York Times bestselling historical romantic fiction author of the Bedwyn series, including Slightly Married, Slightly Scandalous, and Slightly Wicked and Indiscreet, Unforgiven, and Irresistible

JILL BARNETT Golden Choice nominee and New York Times bestselling historical romance and contemporary novelist of critically acclaimed novels such as The Days of Summer, Wicked, Wild, and Wonderful

BEVERLY BARTON New York Times bestselling romantic suspense author of the Protectors series, including Penny Sue Got Lucky, Ramirez’s Woman, Laying His Claim, and Keeping Baby Secret

STEPHANIE KAY BENDEL Author of Making Crime Pay and the critically acclaimed romantic thriller A Scream Away (written under the pen name Andrea Harris) and Ellery Queen contributor

JO BEVERLY Winner of five RITA Awards and two Romantic Times Career Achievement Awards and New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than twenty historical romances, including Lady Beware, The Rogue’s Return, and To Rescue a Rogue

JENNIFER BLAKE New York Times bestselling author of Love’s Wild Desire, Guarded Heart, and Rogue’s Salute and recipient of the prestigious Golden Treasure Award for Lifetime Achievement from Romance Writers of America and the Frank Waters Award for Excellence in Fiction

LAWRENCE BLOCK New York Times bestselling author; Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America; and Edgar Allan Poe, Shamus, and Japanese Maltese Falcon Awardwinning novelist of the Matthew Scudder, Bernie Rhodenbarr, and Chip Harrison novels, including Eight Million Ways to Die, A Ticket to the Boneyard, A Dance at the Slaughterhouse

JOHNNY D. BOGGS Multi-Spur Award–winningnovelist of Camp Ford and Western Heritage Wrangler Award–winningnovelist of Spark on the Prairie: The Trial of the Kiowa Chiefs and writer of other novels, including The Big Fifty: A Western Story, Northfield, and the Spur-nominated best Western juvenile novel The Hart Brand

RHYS BOWEN Romantic Times top pick. Agatha, Anthony, and Herodotus Award–winningauthor of the Constable Evans mysteries and the Molly Murphy mysteries, including Evans Above, Evan Help Us, Evanly Bodies, Murphy’s Law, and In Dublin’s Fair City

MICHAEL BRACKEN Derringer Award–winningauthor of Tequila Sunrise, All White Girls, and Yesterday in Blood and Bone; vice president of the Private Eye Writers of America; and vice president of the Southwest Chapter Mystery Writers of America

REBECCA BRANDEWYNE New York Times, Publishers Weekly, Los Angeles Times, and USA Today bestselling author of The Crystal Rose, The Ninefold Key, The Love Knot, and The Outlaw Hearts. Recipient of the Historical Romance Novelist of the Year Award and the Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Western Romance

PATRICIA BRIGGS New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of On the Prowl, Blood Bound, and Moon Called. Author of the Mercedes Thompson series and the Anna and Charles series

SUZANNE BROCKMANN New York Times bestselling author, RITA Award–winningauthor of the Troubleshooter series about U.S. Navy SEAL Team Sixteen and the Tall, Dark & Dangerous series about SEAL Team Ten, including Into the Storm, Force of Nature, and All Through the Night

JAMES M. CAIN Grand Master Award winner of the Mystery Writers of America, and author of The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity, Love’s Lovely Counterfeit, and Mildred Pierce

LIZ CARLYLE New York Times bestselling author of the Sins, Lies, and Secrets trilogy and other novels of romance, including Never Lie to a Lady, Never Deceive a Duke, and A Woman of Virtue

CINDA WILLIAMS CHIMA Skyline Writer’s Conference winning author of The Warrior Heir (which was also a BookSense Children’s Pick in summer 2006) and The Wizard Heir

MARY HIGGINS CLARK Grand Master Award winner of the Mystery Writers of America, past president of the Mystery Writers of America, and worldwide bestselling author of Where Are the Children?, The Cradle Will Fall, A Stranger Is Watching, and The Christmas Thief (with Carol Higgins Clark)

BARBARA D’AMA TO Past president of the Mystery Writers of America; past president of Sisters in Crime International; and Mary Higgins Clark, Agatha, and Carl Sandburg Award–winningnovelist of Authorized Personnel Only, Death of a Thousand Cuts, White Male Infant, and the Chicago Police series

KIT EHRMAN Award-winning novelist and Kentucky Literary Award nominee of the Steve Cline mystery series, including critically acclaimed novels such as At Risk, Derby Rotten Scoundrels, and Triple Cross

ED GAFFNEY Author of the critically acclaimed legal suspense thrillers Diary of a Serial Killer, Premeditated Murder, Suffering Fools, and Enemy Combatant

ROBERT GOLDSBOROUGH Nero Wolfe Award–winningnovelist of the Steve Snap Malek mystery novels and the Nero Wolfe novels, including Shadow of the Bomb, Three Strikes You’re Dead, Fade to Black, and Murder in E-Minor

LORI HANDELAND Romance Writers of America RITA Award-winning and USA Today best-selling author of the Nightcreature novels, including Blue Moon, Dark Moon, Midnight Moon, and Hidden Moon

STEPHEN HARRIGAN New York Times bestselling author and Spur, Western Heritage, TCU Texas Award–winningnovelist of Aransas, Jacob’s Well, The Gates of the Alamo, and Challenger Park

ELOISA JAMES New York Times bestselling romance author of the Essex Sisters, the Duchess Quartet, and the Pleasures Trilogy series, which include bestsellers Much Ado About You, Your Wicked Ways, and Potent Pleasures

SABRINA JEFFRIES New York Times bestselling author of the Royal Brotherhood, Swanlea Spinster, and Lord Trilogy series, including bestsellers Beware a Scots Revenge, Only a Duke Will Do, A Notorious Love, and The Pirate Lord

JOAN JOHNSTON New York Times bestselling author of contemporary and historical romance novels including the Bitter Creek, Captive Heart, and Hawk’s Way series, including The Next Mrs. Blackstone, The Bridegroom, and The Temporary Groom

ELMORE LEONARD Edgar Allan Poe Award–winningnovelist; worldwide bestselling author of Get Shorty, The Big Bounce, Hombre, Be Cool, Mr. Majestic, and The Bounty Hunters; and past president of the Mystery Writers of America

WILLIAM LINK Multi Edgar Allan Poe, Ellery Queen, Emmy, Golden Globe, and Peabody Award–winningauthor; cocreator of Columbo, Mannix, and the Cosby Mysteries; past president of the Mystery Writers of America; coauthor of Fineman and The Playhouse; and cocreator of the Murder, She Wrote television and novel series

JULIA LONDON New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Thrillseekers Anonymous, Lockhart Family, and Rogues of Regent Street trilogies, including critically acclaimed books such as The Perils of Pursuing a Prince, The School of Heiresses, The Secret Lover, and Highlander Unbound

PETER LOVESEY Crime Writers’ Association Golden Dagger, Anthony Awardwinning, and bestselling novelist of the Sergeant Cribb and Peter Diamond mystery series, including Wobble to Death, Abracadavar, The Last Detective, Bloodhounds, and Upon a Dark Night

KAT MARTIN New York Times bestselling historical romance, romantic suspense, and contemporary author of Scent of Roses, The Summit, and The Devil’s Necklace and author of the Bride’s Necklace Trilogy

JOHN MCALEER Pulitzer Prize nominated and Edgar Allan Poe and Sherlock Holmes Revere Bowl Award–winningauthor of the number one bestselling Unit Pride and Coign of Vantage. Past vice president of the Mystery Writers of America and coauthor of the number one bestselling Mystery Writing in a Nutshell

MARY REED MCCALL Romance Writers of America RITA Award finalist, Romance Times BOOKreviews 2006 Best Medieval Romance winner, and bestselling novelist of the Templar Knights Trilogy, Sinful Pleasures, Beyond Temptation, The Crimson Lady, and The Templar’s Seduction

GREGORY MCDONALD Multi Edgar Allan Poe Award– winning author of the Fletch and Flynn novels, including Fletch, Confess Fletch, Fletch Too, Flynn, and Flynn’s World; past president of the Mystery Writers of America; and recipient of the Trophees 813 Best Foreign Novel in 1997 for The Brave

ROBIN MOORE New York Times number one bestselling author of nearly 100 books, including The French Connection, The Green Berets, The Happy Hooker, and The Khaki Mafia

JAMES F. MURPHY JR. Author of They Were Dreamers: A Saga of the Irish in North America, Quonsett: A Novel of Terror, The Mill, and Night Watcher; professor of English Literature at Boston College; and contributor to Chicken Soup for the Veteran’s Soul

T.M. MURPHY Bestselling author of the young adult Belltown Mystery series, including The Secrets of Belltown, The Secrets of Cranberry Beach, The Secrets of Cain’s Castle, The Secrets of Pilgrim Pond, and The Secrets of Code Z

KRIS NERI Derringer Award winner and Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity–nominated author of the Tracy Eaton Mysteries, including Revenge of the Gypsy Queen and Dem Bones’ Revenge and author of the standalone suspense novel Never Say Die

T.J. PERKINS Award-winning author of the Kim and Kelly mystery series, including Fantasies Are Murder, The Secret in Phantom Forest, Trade Secret, and Image in the Tapestry, and other critically acclaimed novels such as The Fire and the Falcon, Wound Too Tight, Mystery of the Attic, and On Forbidden Ground

CARLY PHILLIPS New York Times, Publishers Weekly, USA Today, and Waldenbooks bestselling author of the Ty and Hunter stories, Costas Sisters, Hot Zone, and Simply series, including Cross My Heart, Summer Lovin’, Hot Item, and Simply Sexy

BILL PRONZINI Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America, multi Shamus Award–winningand Edgar Allan Poe Award–nominated author of the Nameless Detective series. Mystery, suspense, and Western author of critically acclaimed novels such as The Stalker, Scattershot, Mourners, and Savages. Past president of the Private Eye Writers of America and recipient of its Lifetime Achievement Award

ROBERT J. RANDISI Author of the Rat Pack and Texas Hold ’em mystery series and the Gamblers old West series. Author of