BarryHutchison

In the last two blog posts we’ve looked at tips 1-8, so logically let us now conclude with tips 9-12.  Then I can get back to writing any old guff about wasps or whatever on here, instead of trying to seem all clever an’ that.

9.  Experience beats research
The internet is great.  In fact, I can honestly say that I would seriously struggle to readjust to a world without the internet.  I’d probably go quite, quite mad with grief, and never quite get over that gnawing sense of loss.

That said, there’s more to life than the internet, and while Google and the like are very useful tools for checking facts and figures, they don’t come close to being able to replace actual real life experience.

Take, for example, the third book of the INVISIBLE FIENDS series, which I’m currently working on.  There’s a mobile phone mast in it, and it plays a (vaguely) important role in the story.  I’ve read lots about mobile phone masts (technically known as ‘base units’) over the past few weeks and have studied lots of pictures.  I know what kind of heights they range from, what they actually do, and even have a vague idea of how they’re put together.

I learned all this via a few searches in Google, and I thought I was as clued up as I needed to be.  Until, that is, I decided to make the two-mile hike up a hill to my closest mobile phone base unit.  Suddenly the facts and figures I had learned seemed less important, replaced as they were by just a general feel of the size and scale of the thing.

Yes, the research was useful – I could guess what some of the bits of equipment jutting out from the mast were – but it wasn’t really until I was right up close to the base unit that it solidified properly in my mind.

Research can often give you a detached, abstract view of whatever you’re reading up on.  If you have a chance to go and see what you’re researching first hand, jump at it.  It’ll only help make your descriptions more believable.

10.  Think about sequels
When you’re coming up with a story idea, it’s often useful to consider whether it could lead to a sequel or a series.  This is especially true when you’re writing children’s fiction, where series’ are rapidly becoming the norm.

I’m not suggesting you write a sequel – in fact, I’d advice you never to write a sequel unless a publisher has bought your first book and asked for more – but it’s worth mentioning in your query letters to publishers or agents if you think your manuscript could turn out to be the first of many books featuring the same characters.

Not only does it make the publisher/agent aware that follow-ups are possible, but it also shows you are thinking long-term about your career.  A one-hit wonder isn’t much good to a publisher.  They need to know you will consistently turn in work, and mentioning sequel potential is one way of doing this.

11.  The Query Letter
This leads on nicely from the last tip.  Query letters are something of an art, and one I’ve luckily never really had to master.  They are probably the most important weapon in your writer’s arsenal, though, and there are some pitfalls you should do your utmost to avoid:

• Don’t try to be funny. Even if you are genuinely amusing.  Even if your book is a side-splitting comedy, never, ever try to be funny in a query letter.  The letter is your professional calling card.  You (hopefully) wouldn’t turn up for a business meeting wearing a red nose and clown’s shoes, so don’t attempt the literary equivalent.
• Don’t big yourself or your manuscript up too much. Yes, you’re allowed to believe your book will be the most explosive blockbuster in the history of publishing, but don’t tell the publisher that.  All they’ll hear is those dreaded “amateur” alarm bells again, and if they do bother to read your manuscript they’ll already be very cynical about it.
• Don’t address a publisher or agent as “You Great Big Love Lummox”. It’s just not acceptable.
• Don’t say how much your friends enjoyed it. Your friends are your friends for a reason.  They like you.  That means they’re not impartial, so dropping the fact into the letter isn’t going to help your case any.
• Don’t threaten to kill yourself if they turn you down. Seriously.  I know of an agent it happened to.  It’s unlikely to help your professional career.

Basically, a query letter should be short and to the point.  It should introduce the concept of the book, briefly introduce yourself and any major writing achievements you have (previously published works, competitions won, etc) and then it should invite the publisher/agent to request the manuscript.  It should normally be accompanied by a detailed synopsis and the first three chapters, but that’s all down to the publisher’s guidelines, so refer to those before sending anything.

I know I mentioned referring to possible sequels in the tip above, but be sure not to dwell on this at the query letter stage.  You’re selling the first manuscript, not potential future ones.  Just slip in that further installments are possible, and leave it at that.

12.  Never give up
Even when you wake in the night soaked with sweat, full of self-doubt, don’t quit.  People will tell you you’re never going to make it.  Often they’ll believe they’re saying it for your own good, and they probably are, but don’t listen.  You’ll sometimes have days when you panic that you’re throwing your life away chasing a silly dream.  Pick up a pen and write about the feeling until it goes away.

This is the most important tip of all.  I can’t tell you you’re going to make it as a writer – no-one can tell you that – but I can tell you that if you give up you definitely will not.  The book you are writing now may not be published, but the next one will be better.  I don’t know if that one will be published, but if you don’t write it you’ll never know, either.

Keep trying.  Keep learning.  Keep writing.  You’ll get there.