So you want to write a novel? You’ve got an idea, some notes scratched on pieces of paper, a journal, a scene or two in mind, and a few characters you love. Between this moment and the completion of your first draft of your first novel lies many hours of effort, whether you write by talking into a tape recorder, scribbling on a notepad, or typing on your laptop.
There are as many ways to write, and as many ways to organize your writing as there are writers. There are some chestnuts of wisdom that you will crack open and find the nut of truth within, and there are some that are duds, and you’ll just throw them into the compost heap with the rest of the cooking scraps. What I want to say, loud and clear, is that you must find your way through the mire of advice and head-nodding, the certainty that others will have about what is essentially one of the most personal processes on the planet. Your novel can only come about when you make the commitment to yourself to be true to your process, your characters, and the aliveness of your dream.
Now that I’ve said that, there are two questions I ask new clients when they’re just getting started. These questions will help you make some writing decisions that will be very useful when you are further along. Some people feel overwhelmed by these questions - if that’s you, I say, just write your first scene and see what comes out. You might surprise yourself with a flash of insight that helps inform the rest of the book!
Here are the questions:
Who is your ideal reader?
Be as specific as possible. It might be you, right now, or it might be a teenager in a midwest small town, struggling with drug addiction and his mom’s suicide attempt. The more specific you can be, the more you’ll know if you’ve achieved success when your carefully selected group of first readers gives you feedback.
Don’t say “everyone” because it’s downright impossible to know if you’ve achieved success with “everyone.” Even books that achieve massive readership are almost certainly written for someone specific within that readership. When you write for everyone, you are writing for no one, because you can’t define what they like and don’t like, what they’re familiar with and what they’ll need explained, and whether they’ll reject your book because you got the details of their world wrong, or embrace it because you got those details right.
While J.K. Rowling wrote the Harry Potter series, she probably wasn’t thinking about her Chinese teen readers, though she certainly has a Chinese teenage audience. Her Chinese editor and translators probably helped clarify parts of the book that wouldn’t make sense to Chinese readers. But truly, those readers don’t want to read a book where everything about British school life at Hogwarts is explained to them. They want an experience of immersion. When we immerse our readers in a very specific world, we have succeeded in creating a deep connection between reader and book. That’s what it’s all about.
What do you want your ideal reader to think, or feel, or know when they are finished reading your book?
You might want your readers grinning because they just finished a rip-roaring adventure with a funny ending. Or, you might want to write the next great American novel, full of originality and ready for English 101 college class analysis across the US. Try to be specific with this answer as well. An inspiring feel-good book will have a different build-up and emotional story arc from a dystopian science fiction novel. Even within the literary fiction world, there are types and styles of book. If you are struggling with this question, write a list of your favorite reads, and write down why you love them. Would you like your book to be similar or different, and how?
For example, when you are writing for our teen reader struggling with drug-addiction and a suicidal mom, perhaps you want him to know that he’s not alone, and that while his situation seems really hard, that the greatest hope lies in his friendships and connections with others. Maybe you also want him to know that he can’t change his mother’s choices, and that her choices aren’t his fault.
Now, this is not to say that you are going to write a preachy novel of advice-giving. That would fail to reach this reader. Instead, by reflecting a character struggling with similar problems and working through them, you offer the reader an emotional experience that mirrors his, and through scenes that show the character struggling and succeeding, you achieve the experience you want for the reader. It might be premature to think this way, but I find it useful to help me brainstorm scenes that will create the greatest impact and meaning for my readers. Give it a try and let me know what you think.
When I’m coaching clients, their answers to these two questions help me begin to build an image of their book, their readership, the writing voice they’ll need to use, and the publishing and marketplace strategy they’ll take to bring their book into the world. We’ll go through those steps together in the next blog entries, so you can see how it works.
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