I've written seven novels and have four in progress. My most recently-finished one got some interest from an agent last year, but after she asked to look at the whole novel (on an exclusive basis, some exciting words for an unsold novelist!), she ultimately told me she didn't think she could sell the novel because it was too long.
It is a fantasy novel, and even though fantasy is the genre that is the most forgiving of LONG books, my book was still twice the upper limit of what the literary world is comfortable with accepting from a "new" author. (Yeah, I don't FEEL "new" since I wrote my first novel in 1992, but if you're unpublished, it's always your "first.")
This year, I'd like to finish a novel that's currently in progress whose overall plot may just allow it to be a shorter book. If it's short enough, that same agent said she'd like to take a look at it. And if I ever get established as an author, longer books can be a possibility; everyone knows that even with success stories such as J. K. Rowling and Stephen King, they got their feet in the door with short first novels.
So we'll see. And then just for personal satisfaction I'd like to finish one of the other books I'm writing, though THOSE I don't think are publishable because they are later volumes in a series whose first two books need pretty much complete renovation. Let's not talk about that.
I'd like to be finished with the pet project by maybe the end of March, but even if that turns out to not be possible I still want to devote more time to writing this year. 2006 had far too little writing in it. 2007 should be different.
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Comments: 6
Thank you for your lovely comment.
In answer to your specific questions, my long novel was a little over 250,000 words. It's currently entered in the First Chapters contest here at gather. As for the series, no, it is not published. (Not even self-published--which I do not consider a crime but is also not in any way shape or form a goal for me.) The series is very special and important to me, of course, but the first book of it was written more than ten years ago, and while I hold a special place in my heart for it, I do know it is not even close to publishable. Unfortunately, the books later in the series are, if I may say so, really frickin' good! I have to decide where and how to start this series before I can tell those later volumes of it.
As for "what is a story," my belief is that a story is always about people. Too many stories that are boring or just don't work are that way because the author seemed to believe that a story is about THINGS happening to (people), rather than about PEOPLE to whom (things) happen. A character IS a story.
People--characters--move stories. They make things happen, and while an author can choose a setting and a situation, the best stories are always the ones in which the action is moved by the people in it rather than reading like characters reacting to a script. If everything is controlled by the author, nothing about the story can be authentic.
Character-oriented stories of course sometimes start fading into being character sketches rather than plots, but even though the author must come up with (things) to happen to her PEOPLE, a lot of the time the plot is either there before one starts digging (because of where one decided to dig), or it evolves naturally because of the kind of people the characters are.
And that's about all I have to say on the subject for the moment. Thanks again!
Dedication, huh? Why do you say that? Just curious.
I've written a lot of books that just aren't mainstream or probably would be too much of a risk to publish as an author's first book, so I'm thinking maybe it's time I just try to write a safe one. That's kinda what I'm doing now. It's going to be short and it's going to be not too ridiculous in any one of the respects that I've previously been ridiculous in (hopefully), but I've accepted that I might have to make a sacrifice in that arena in order to get some of the projects closer to my heart published. In the past it's always been "write something and then find a market for it; don't write FOR a market," but I think I'm not going to get my foot in the door until or unless I try to tailor at least one project to an audience I know is buying. . . .
We'll see.
And you don't have to tell me to keep writing, 'cause there's no way I'd ever quit!
Hey you're the Bad Fairy woman huh? My buddy Lisa F. turned me on to it. I was way impressed with that entry. It's not the kind of stuff I generally read but gave it a 9 or 10 if I recall because of the strength and originality of the work.
I'd love to hear what you have to say about my novella excerpt (on my page-Cherry's Last Trick)...that is if you've got time with all these entries to read.
Best thing? Get some excerpts published as short stories.