Writing into the Dark Read online

  How Can Professional Writers Help Newer Writers?

  1) Professional writers, keep firmly in mind that your way, the way you broke in might be wrong for just about everyone else in the room listening to you. Especially today, when the world of publishing is shifting so fast it’s hard for anyone to keep up. A story about your first sale in 1992 as a way to do it just won’t be relevant in any real way to a new writer in 2014. Be clear that you understand that.

  And remember, slush piles are gone. Writers are going directly to readers these days more and more. And then editors find them and make them offers.

  And remember, the contracts you saw in 1990 and 2000 don’t exist these days. Advances are much, much smaller and terms much, much worse. Don’t give contract advice unless you see the contract and understand what the young writers are seeing. You will be stunned at what publishers are offering young writers these days.

  2) Keep abreast of what the newer writers are facing. I get angry at times because newer writers keep accusing me of having some advantage. I don’t, really. I have years more of practice, sure, and I have more work in inventory, and I understand business better than most, and I have a better work ethic than most writers on the planet.

  But even with all that, I still have to get my work to readers in some fashion just as everyone else.

  There is no secret road to selling to readers (or editors) just because you have done it before. I wish like hell there was, but alas, if it exists, I haven’t found the entrance ramp yet. So to help myself, I keep abreast of what newer writers are facing, I help teach them how to get through the starting gate and become better storytellers, so I also know how to do it with my work. Duh. I learn from newer writers as I teach them.

  3) Stay informed as to the changes in publishing and don’t be afraid of the new technology.

  Bragging that you belong to the Church of Luddite or that you won’t touch any Apple product or that you hate smartphones sure won’t instill a lot of confidence in the newer writers who live with this modern publishing world and use the new technology. And wishing things would go back to the way they were just doesn’t help either.

  And for heaven’s sake, understand sampling and indie publishing and cover design and blurb writing and apps and all the basic skills needed by writers these days.

  Newer Writers Need Set Rules

  Writers, especially newer writers are hungry for set rules.

  This business is fluid and crazy most of the time, and the need for security screams out in most of us. So in the early years we writers search for “rules” to follow, shortcuts that will cut down the time involved, secret handshakes that will get us through doors. It is only after a lot of time that professional writers come to realize that the only rules are the ones we put on ourselves. In my early years I was no different.

  Writers are people who sit alone in a room and make stuff up. The problem we have is that when we get insecure without rules, we make stuff up as well.

  When we don’t understand something, we make something up to explain it. Then when someone comes along with a “this is how you do it” stated like a rule, you jump to the rule like a drowning man reaching for a rope. And when someone else says “Let go of the rope to make it to safety,” you get angry and won’t let go of that first safety line.

  In all these chapters, that’s what I will be trying to tell you to do: Let go of the rope and trust your own talents and knowledge.

  When I first wrote these chapters online over almost three years ago, my suggestions caused some very “interesting” letters from writers mad at me for challenging their lifeline rules.

  The desire for safety and rules is one of the reasons that so many myths have grown up in this business.

  Rule upon rule upon rule, all imposed from the outside. Most are just bad advice believed by the person giving the advice at the time.

  The key is to let go of the rope, swim on your own, and find out what works for you.

  If you believe you must rewrite, write a couple dozen stories and get them out to readers without rewrites to see what happens. If you are having no luck finding an agent, send it to editors instead. Or better yet, indie publish it.

  If you think you can’t write more than 500 words a day, push a few days to double or triple that and see what happens. Push and experiment and find out what is right for you.

  Will it scare you? Yes. But I sure don’t remember anyone telling me this profession was easy or not scary. Those two things are not myths just yet.

  Okay, all that said, here are a few major areas where following rules blindly can be dangerous to writers. I will talk about these in coming chapters. But for the moment, I want to touch on them right here because they are major.

  1) “You must rewrite.”

  This is just silly, since writing comes out of the creative side of our brains and rewriting comes from the critical learned side.

  Creative side is always a better writer. But again, this is different for every writer no matter what level. Some writers never rewrite other than to fix a few typos, others do a dozen drafts, and both sell. Those professionals have figured out what is best for them. But if a younger writer listens to someone who says you MUST rewrite everything, it could kill that writer’s voice. This rule is just flat destructive. Keep your guard up on this one. Experiment on both sides and then do what works for you, what sells for you.

  2) “You must have an agent.”

  This is such bad advice for such a large share of writers these days, it’s scary.

  These days there are many ways of not using or needing an agent.

  —Using an intellectual copyright attorney is one way. Cheap and you don’t have to pay them 15% of everything.

  —Doing it yourself is fine as well.

  —Indie publish it and let editors come to you.

  3) “Editors don’t like (blank) so you shouldn’t write that way.”

  I can’t begin to tell you how many thousand times I have answered questions like “Can I write in first person? Editors don’t like that.” No rules, just write your own story with passion and then figure out a path to get it to readers.

  If the readers don’t like it, they simply won’t buy it. No big deal. Stop worrying about what editors or agents want and write what you want. And then let readers decide.

  Be an artist. Protect your work and don’t let anyone in the middle of it.

  Think for yourself, be yourself, write your own stuff. No rules.

  4) “It’s a tight market so you need to do (blank).” or “I need to figure out a way to get my fiction noticed in the noise.”

  You want a secret? It’s always been a tight market and there has always been noise.

  Right now there are more books being published every year than ever before, more markets, more ways for writers to make money. This silly “tight market” statement always sounds so full of authority coming from some young agent or editor. And it will drive a new writer into doing a dozen rewrites on a novel for someone who really doesn’t know what they are talking about and couldn’t write a novel themselves if forced to at gunpoint.

  Again, my suggestion is stop letting others into your work and get it to readers. Let readers find it.

  Truth: Publishing and readers are always looking for good books and new writers. And it has always been tight in one way or another. And there has always been noise.

  Focus on what you can control such as how much you write, the quality of your own work, and where and how you get it to the most readers.

  A Brand New World

  Right now publishing is going through some major changes, all rotating around distribution for the most part. Writers have been so shut out with the system in New York that they are turning more and more to taking control of various aspects of their own work with indie publishing. POD and electronic publishing is allowing authors to become both writer and publisher and electronic distribution is allowing readers to find more work from their favorite
writers, often either new work, dangerous work, or work long out of print.

  This new area of publishing is quickly becoming full of “rules” and future myths. For the longest time publishing your own work was looked down on by “the ruling class” (whoever they are). Now, except for a few holdouts in the basements of the Church of Luddite, writers are taking the new technologies and running with them.

  Common sense: It takes a lot of practice to become a professional-level storyteller. You may think your first story or novel is brilliant because you rewrote it ten times and your workshop loved it, but alas, it might not be. In this new market, just as in the old one, the readers will judge. Let them, either through traditional channels or indie publishing. And then write the next book and the next and keep working to become better. Keep writing and learning.

  It’s called “practice” which is a term most writers hate.

  Now I’m Taking the Rope Away

  As I said above, writers tend to have this fantastic need for rules. We all want to make some sort of order out of this huge business. And actually, there is order if you know where to look and how to look. So instead of giving you rules, let me help you find order without myths and rules.

  1) Publishing is a business. A large business run by large corporations in traditional publishing or your own home business when you are indie publishing. But it is always a business. If you remember that, learn basic business, understand corporation politics and thinking, learn copyrights, most everything that happens anywhere, from bookstores to distributors to traditional publishers, will make some sort of sense. Don’t take anything personally. It’s just business and that is the truth.

  2) All writers write differently. And that includes you. My way of producing words won’t be correct for anyone but me. So instead of listening to others looking for the secret, just go home, sit down at your writing computer, and experiment with every different form and method until you find the way that produces selling fiction that readers like and buy. Find your own way to produce words that sell.

  3) Learning and continuing to learn is critical. This business keeps changing and the only way to stay abreast of the changes is to go out and keep learning and talk with other writers and find advice that makes sense to you and your way. Go to workshops, conferences, conventions and anything else you can find to get bits of learning. Read everything you can find about the business and the craft of telling great stories.

  My goal has always been to learn one thing new every week (at least). I’ve been doing that since my early days and it has worked for me, and kept me focused on learning. Find what works for you.

  I know those three things don’t seem to give you any secrets, don’t really show you the path to selling and getting readers to really want your work. But actually, they do. And if you just keep them in mind and don’t allow yourself to get caught in strange rules and myths, you will move faster toward your goal, whatever that goal in writing may be.

  It’s your writing. It’s your art. Stop looking for the secrets and stand up for your work.

  Trust your own voice, your own methods of working. Get your work to editors who will buy it. Or indie publish it and let readers buy it. Or both.

  And if your methods are not producing selling work that readers love, try something new.

  Keep learning. Keep practicing your art.

  The only right way in this business is your way.

  To read more of this book, click here for ordering information.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  USA Today bestselling author Dean Wesley Smith published more than a hundred novels in thirty years and hundreds of short stories across many genres.

  He wrote a couple dozen Star Trek novels, the only two original Men in Black novels, Spider-Man and X-Men novels, plus novels set in gaming and television worlds. Writing with his wife Kristine Kathryn Rusch under the name Kathryn Wesley, they wrote the novel for the NBC miniseries The Tenth Kingdom and other books for Hallmark Hall of Fame movies.

  He wrote novels under dozens of pen names in the worlds of comic books and movies, including novelizations of a dozen films, from The Final Fantasy to Steel to Rundown.

  He now writes his own original fiction under just the one name, Dean Wesley Smith. In addition to his upcoming novel releases, his monthly magazine called Smith’s Monthly premiered October 1, 2013, filled entirely with his original novels and stories.

  Dean also worked as an editor and publisher, first at Pulphouse Publishing, then for VB Tech Journal, then for Pocket Books. He now plays a role as an executive editor for the original anthology series Fiction River.

  For more information go to www.deanwesleysmith.com, www.smithsmonthly.com or www.fictionriver.com.

  Look for These Other WMG Writer’s Guides

  Discoverability

  How to Write a Novel in Ten Days

  The Write Attitude

  The Pursuit of Perfection

  Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Publishing

  Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Indie Publishing

  Sign up for the WMG Publishing newsletter to receive updates about new releases, bonus content and more at wmgpublishing.com

  Copyright Information

  Writing into the Dark

  Copyright © 2015 by Dean Wesley Smith

  First published in slightly different form on Dean Wesley Smith’s blog at www.deanwesleysmith.com in 2015

  Published by WMG Publishing

  Cover and Layout copyright © 2014 by WMG Publishing

  Cover design by Allyson Longueira/WMG Publishing

  Cover art copyright © Peshkova/Dreamstime

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  Introduction

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  Sample Chapter: Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Publishing

  About the Author

  Look for These Other WMG Writer’s Guides

  Copyright Information

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  Introduction

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  Sample Chapter: Killing the Top Ten Sacred Cows of Publishing

  About the Author

  Look for These Other WMG Writer’s Guides

  Copyright Information

  Table of Contents