A Walk 'Round the Block to Talk

"Let's take a walk," she said, "and talk about this." It wasn't an "oh no" moment in the relationship, at least not between me and her. And it was a lovely day. So we walked around the upper part of town, my fiancee and I, and talked plot and conflict. Conflict should more drive the plot, after all; and plot should at best add to the conflict, not make up the conflict. And, see, when I first sat down to write my novel as an immature writer, I sat down to write a plot. As a maturing writer, I knew I needed conflict. And I've been trying to wrangle a conflict from the plot. Write and tell me how many professional writers think that's a good idea.
While you're doing that, the rest of us who know better already will continue. The problem first arose as I tried to perfect a query letter. I feel like I'm perhaps too close to the novel: what makes my novel worth reading? How should I know? I know what makes it worth writing; but I can't talk about that without sounding pretentious. Well, what's your novel about? Umm, how much time do you have? And the agents in the room say: "About half a page...."


So minor details are pretty much out. Have you ever tried to condense an entire novel into two or three paragraphs? Did it still sound interesting? (How the heck did you do it?) I've read plenty of sample queries that contained a really strong hook; but I can't say mine has a really strong hook anywhere in it. It's more about the entire story than one quirky piece. No young boys adrift on a raft with a tiger (Life of Pi). Think, if you've ever read it, Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon. What's the hook there? A sheep-farmer's daughter doesn't want to marry the pig-farmer's son, so she runs off and joins the army. Maybe in the 80's/90's that has a little more zing than today, but I'd be surprised. Obviously Ms. Moon had something else going on.

But, happily, all is not lost. In fact, I'm very near a query I'm comfortable with. And I have an agent nearby who's willing to look at the manuscript once I'm ready -- ready meaning putting together a package that shows I'm dedicated to the business of writing and publishing, and I'm not looking for an easy shortcut by approaching him through a friend. And if he passes on it, I have a list of other agents whom I can start querying.

As with anything good in life, writing to be published is difficult work. And as much as I keep harping on enjoying the craft of writing, I'm not going to naively use that as an excuse to not do the research and footwork I need to break into the industry. Off I go now, into the weeds of synopsis writing.

Wish me luck, and see you Friday.