Writers in the Storm

I’m not one of those people who always knew I wanted to become a writer, especially not a fiction writer. I took a couple of creative writing courses during college and grad school out of curiosity. Let’s just say it wasn’t a natural fit. My creative muse laughed her butt off at me with each attempt.

But I thoroughly enjoyed writing and editing, and my first job as an editor at a trade publication was a dream. Then I switched to marketing and corporate communications. After fifteen years in the corporate world, I came to a somewhat sad realization--I'd abandoned all of my creative outlets. I’d started college as an art major. But along the way I stopped drawing and the only time my camera came out anymore was to take pictures of my new-born son or the cats.

When I told my husband I needed a creative outlet, he suggested I take the story ideas I kept torturing him with, and write a book. Snort … me, write a novel? Seriously? But the idea was planted and the more I thought about it, the more appealing it sounded. After all, I had nothing to lose. I signed up for a workshop, wrote a first draft, and fell in love with writing fiction.

Writing that first novel turned out to be the best (and cheapest) therapy possible. I found that creative spark that had been buried under years of corporate deadlines. As the workshop came to a close, the topic of publication was discussed. Woah! I hadn’t actually thought about publishing my book (okay, not quite true—there was that little fantasy about seeing my name on the bookshelves next to the authors I read).

But, the idea was planted. I submitted. I even received requests and positive feedback. That fueled another manuscript and more requests and more positive feedback.

With each new project, I found myself staring at the brainstorming board and asking more pointed, business related questions. What is the commercial hook? Is it high concept enough to sell? What’s the underlying theme I hope the readers will take away from this book?

About a month ago, I read an article in The Atlantic. The writer interviewed novelist Andrew Dubus III about the challenges and joys of writing without pre-determination. Mr. Dubus said: “When I began to write, I was deeply self-conscious. I was writing stories hoping they would say something thematic, or address something that I was wrestling with philosophically. I’ve learned, for me at least, it’s a dead road. It’s writing from the outside in instead of the inside out.”

I was frustrated with a story idea because the “high concept” felt puny and I couldn’t get to the heart of what I really wanted to say. I was trying to write from the outside in. That’s when the idea of a summer “writing vacation” came about. I was going to find that creative spark again and NOT worry about writing for publication. Cool idea, right? (For those of you who read my June post, we’ll take a quick break until you stop laughing.)

Shiny, fun new idea? Check. Let the brainstorming begin. Then in the middle of a frustrated rant, Laura called me out on the burr I was sitting on—my brainstorming had shifted to “does this idea have potential for a sale?”

Mr. Dubuis, in that same article wrote: “I do not ever think about career when I’m in my writing cave. I do not. I try not to think; I dream. It’s my mantra. I just get in there and try to be these people.”

Granted, he has a writing career that, he admits, is how he makes most of his living, but what he said hit home. The creative spark burns best when I let myself dream. It took some mental bargaining and bribing but I finally managed to let go. And guess what? The new story started coming alive and the “people” are keeping me company everywhere I go. I have a bunch of what ifs and plot ideas on the white board that came from dreaming up twists. But I will confess that there are three words I haven’t erased at the very bottom of the board—“high concept enough?”

So, here are my questions to WITS readers:

1) Once you’ve decided you want to become a published author, can you write without that constant thought of “will this idea sell” coloring your story decisions? Should you?

2) Are you able to compartmentalize—career thinking only in the business cave, not the writing cave?

3) And here’s a twist, can you read a novel without thinking “what made this a best seller” or “what about this concept/writing attracted an agent/editor”?

About Orly

After years of pushing the creativity boundary in corporate communications, Orly decided it was time for a new challenge. Three women’s fiction manuscripts later (plus a handful of picture books), it’s safe to say she’s found her creative outlet. When she’s not talking to her imaginary friends, she’s reading or at least trying to ignore everyone around her long enough to finish “just one more paragraph.” Orly is the founding president of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association.

You can find her on Twitter at @OrlyKonigLopez or on her website, www.orlykoniglopez.com.

I admit, odd people fascinate me. The marginal personalities, the walking damaged, the wierdos. When I look back in my life, it seems I’m the Pied Piper of The Quirky (Or maybe it just takes one to know one ;))

They show up in my novels often. I've written a New York fashionista transplanted in Texas Hill country, an L.A. up-and-comer on a Colorado cattle ranch, and a soldier suffering from PTSD on the bull riding circuit.

But the last two books I’ve written pushed the limits, tipping from quirky to borderline bad/odd people. And though they fascinate me, these characters can irritate readers. Jane Porter has written characters like that, and Catherine Ryan Hyde (wrote Pay it Forward) is famous for it.

A case everyone should be familiar with is Florence ‘Rusty’ Dennis, the mother in the film, Mask (played by Cher). She was in a gang, and a drug user. And yet, by the end of the movie, though you still may not like her, you have empathy, if not sympathy for her.

How the heck did they do that?

I recently wrote my first women’s fiction story. The main character, Harlie, was damaged and independent to a fault. She has a distorted view of the world that she’s seen from the trailer park and has made some questionable decisions because of it.

I loved this character.

The book was rejected by an editor, because the character was ‘one dimensional’. I had no clear idea of what that meant, and was afraid that I’d have to gut this strong but flawed character to sell the book. And I wasn’t willing to do that.

Thank God I have an incredible agent, who can read a book and not only tell you what’s wrong, but how to fix it. She told me that Harlie wasn't a well-rounded character because we didn't see anything different in her thoughts than we saw in her actions. In both, she was damaged, irascible, and closed off. It was basically repetition: the reader got that in the scene, by the way she reacted, AND in the sequel, when Harlie thought about what had just happened.

Queue the paradigm shift!

To fix that, all I did was go to those scenes and show, through her thoughts, WHY Harlie acted the way she did. It’s an opportunity to show what she’d never reveal to others – that she was vulnerable, lonely and afraid. Show why she was stuck in her thoughts/actions. In other words, what was her flaw – her misconception about how the world worked, that was holding her back from growing.

It’s like a small dog that bites your ankles. It doesn’t do it because it’s mean. It does it because it’s afraid. In showing that in Harlie’s thoughts, it made her much more relatable and likeable. I think readers will forgive a character almost anything, if they can relate to them. I know I’ve lashed out at others when I’ve been afraid, and I’ll bet you have, too.

The other story I wrote with an unlikeable character is Twice in a Blue Moon – and today is its release day!

 

Danovan DiCarlo is a winery manager, with several problems. He is gifted, but overly ambitious and arrogant. The unwanted son-in-law to the biggest winery owner in the valley, when his infant daughter dies and the marriage falls apart, his ex FIL makes sure he’s blacklisted in the Central Valley wine community.

Oh, and he lies. Over and over. Ugh. Tough sell, right?

With Danovan, I went back and read Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat! If you don’t have his book on your writing craft shelf, you should. It’s my go-to book, and is dog-eared and full of post it notes. He said,

“Because liking the person we go on a journey with is the single most important element in drawing us into the story…..I call it the ‘Save the Cat’ scene. It’s the scene where we meet the hero and he does something—like saving a cat—that defines who he is, and makes us like him.”

I needed a couple of ‘save the cat’ moments for Danovan, because he had SO many flaws! Here's what I came up with:

• He truly loved his wife – until she revealed herself as a narcissistic spoiled brat. Even then, he tried to make the marriage work, even to the point of leaving his job and opportunities to move away from her family.
• His beloved daughter died in a crib death when he was watching her. Not his fault, but he feels shame and guilt.
• He lies in the beginning to get the job at the heroine’s winery, but he offers to teach her the business. Each of his lies become less egregious from there – one being a lie of omission, and the last, to save her winery, which is, in an odd way, very heroic.

Only my readers can tell me if I succeeded in making Danovan likeable . . . and I’m giving you the chance to decide for yourself:  I’ll randomly choose two commenters to win Twice in a Blue Moon.

So what do you think, WITS readers? Have you ever written an unlikeable character? Have any tips for us?  Can you think of a Save the Cat moment in a book or a film?

About Laura

Laura Drake is a city girl who never grew out of her tomboy ways, or a serious cowboy crush. She writes both Women's Fiction and Romance.

She sold her Sweet on a Cowboy series, romances set in the world of professional bull riding, to Grand Central.  The Sweet Spot won the 2014 Romance Writers of America^®   RITA^® award in the Best First Book category.

Her 'biker-chick' novel, Her Road Home, sold to Harlequin's Superomance line (August, 2013) and has expanded to three more stories set in the same small town. Twice in a Blue Moon Releases July 1!

In 2014, Laura realized a lifelong dream of becoming a Texan and is currently working on her accent. She gave up the corporate CFO gig to write full time. She's a wife, grandmother, and motorcycle chick in the remaining waking hours.

Twitter  Facebook

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Susan Spann

I talk a lot about contracts, here and in other #PubLaw posts. Most authors know that a contract is needed, and many even know what terms to request.

However, we don’t talk nearly enough about how to request those terms.

Negotiation isn’t a topic most of us learn in school, and many authors feel adrift when it comes to the negotiation process. In light of that, my summer posts here at WITS will take a closer look at negotiation—and offer some tips and strategies to help you negotiate with skill and style.

Good negotiation doesn’t happen “just by chance.” Successful negotiation requires proper planning, preparation, and execution.

This week, we’ll look at a successful negotiation strategy. Next month’s post (2 weeks from now) will follow up with detailed strategies to prepare for your negotiation, and in August…you guessed it…we’ll look at how to execute a successful negotiation.

Although these posts are designed for use in the publishing context, the strategies I’m discussing here apply to all forms of negotiation, from “can I have a cookie” to “avoiding a land war in Asia” (though, in the case of that last one, my best advice is “don’t get involved in the first place”).

Ready? Let’s get rolling.

NEGOTIATION STEP #1: Understand Your Objective.

I could talk at length about the terms an author should try to obtain in a publishing contract. However, in the context of negotiation, the objective is not only the contract, but also what the author wants to achieve from the negotiation process.

The twin objectives of publishing contract negotiations are:

1. Reaching a mutually-acceptable set of contract terms, and
2. Establishing the basis for a positive business relationship moving forward.

Both of these goals are equally important. However, it’s hard to establish a positive relationship in a negotiation that feels like a street fight—even if you ultimately get the terms you wanted in the end.

It’s critical to negotiate in a manner that achieves acceptable contract terms without alienating the editor or publisher on the other side of the bargaining table. Fortunately, it’s usually possible to obtain the terms you want without creating a hostile environment if you take the right attitude—and the right strategy—into the negotiation.

NEGOTIATION STEP #2: Selecting the Proper Strategy

Two of the most common negotiating strategies are “Zero-Sum” (or “Zero-Sum Game”) and “Mutual Benefit.” Let’s take a look at each strategy, and use translation rights (aka “foreign language rights”) as an example to show how each one might play out in a publishing contract negotiation.

Zero-Sum Negotiation / Zero-Sum Game

In economic and negotiating theory, a “Zero-Sum Game” is a mathematical representation of business actions in which each “point” in one party’s favor represents a loss for the other side. Negotiating by Zero-Sum tactics means approaching the negotiation, and the resulting contract, with an “I win-you lose” attitude.

People who negotiate this way are often aggressive and alienate the other side because they consider it imperative to “win” as many points (in this case, acceptable terms) as possible.

In a Zero-Sum negotiation, the issue of foreign language rights comes down to “one of us gets them, the other one does not.” Publishers often want to acquire as many rights as possible, and standard contract language almost always includes translation rights.

In a zero-sum negotiation, the author’s position would be, “You can’t have my translation rights (and that’s the end of the discussion).” Whoever ends up with the rights is the “winner” and the party without them “loses” on that particular point.

Unfortunately, zero-sum negotiation in the publishing contract often leads to loss of a publishing deal, because when the publisher won’t give in the author must chose between “losing” on the points at issue and walking away from the contract altogether. Even when the author “wins” on certain points, the negotiation becomes a tug-of-war between absolute positions. When the dust settles after a difficult zero-sum negotiation, the parties often feel stressed and unhappy about the points they “lost” rather than pleased to have closed a deal.

Mutual Benefit Negotiation

The “Mutual Benefit” strategy represents a better choice for publishing negotiations. Mutual Benefit negotiation starts from the theory that it’s possible to reach a contract situation where each of the parties ends up in a better overall position as a result of the negotiations.

The objective of Mutual Benefit negotiation is reaching a set of contract terms which, in the aggregate, benefit both sides and lay the foundation for a positive business relationship.

Foreign rights negotiation might proceed quite differently with a mutual benefit perspective. If the publisher wants the rights, and refuses to allow the author to keep them, the author can propose an alternative option that benefits both sides. For example, asking the publisher to allow reversion of the translation rights if the publisher hasn’t sold them within a stated time (usually 24-36 months) after initial publication of the work.

By offering a third solution—something beyond “one wins/one loses”—mutual benefit negotiation permits creative problem-solving that satisfies both parties’ needs. Even if the creative suggestion isn’t accepted, offers made from a mutual benefit perspective can defuse tension in the negotiation process and make the other side feel respected. (Many publishers negotiate in this manner too, when authors and agents ask for concessions in a respectful way.)

Approaching negotiations from a mutual-benefit perspective sometimes requires an attitude adjustment, and can be difficult when the other side doesn’t seem to return the favor. However, the results are worth it—even if the publisher uses a different tactic.

It’s worth the time to cultivate a calm, professional attitude and creative problem-solving skills. The benefits you gain will help your career in many ways, including (but not limited to) your contract negotiations.

I hope you’ll join me in July as we take a look at how to prepare for a mutual-benefit contract negotiation, and discuss some helpful strategies for getting the most from your publishing contract.

Have you ever negotiated a contract? What strategy and attitude did you take into the process?

*  *  *  *  *  *

About Susan

Susan Spann writes the Shinobi Mysteries, featuring ninja detective Hiro Hattori and his Portuguese Jesuit sidekick, Father Mateo. Her debut novel, CLAWS OF THE CAT (Minotaur Books, 2013), was a Library Journal Mystery Debut of the Month and a finalist for the Silver Falchion Award for Best First Novel. The second Shinobi Mystery, BLADE OF THE SAMURAI, released on July 15, 2014, and her third novel, FLASK OF THE DRUNKEN MASTER, releases in July 2015.

Susan is also a transactional attorney whose practice focuses on publishing law and business. When not writing or practicing law, she raises seahorses and rare corals in her marine aquarium. You can find her online at her website, http://www.SusanSpann.com, and on Twitter (@SusanSpann).