| Q and A
with Barbara ADVICE TO WOULD-BE WRITERS: Answers to frequent questions about getting started, marketplace changes, writers' groups, agents |
| Where do I begin if I want to write a novel? |
| Read. Read. Read. Find the kinds of books you most love. Read them once, twice, even three times. Study their structure by outlining them. Then outline your own book, using that model as a guide. Unfortunately, writing is a business. What that generally means is that if you want to sell a book, the books by other writers that you have loved, outlined, and used as a model should be current. A book that is new to the stores this year is a better indicator of what publishers are buying than a book that was published ten years ago. This isn't to say that imitation is the only way to go. When I wrote my first book, what set it apart (I was later told) was that it had a fresh voice. Basically, I had taken the model from which I was working and had given it my own twist. This is what you need to do. The other thing you need to do is start. That's it. Start. Sit down, set goals for yourself—even small ones, like writing a page or two each day - and do it! |
| If I am 51, am I too old to start writing? |
| Definitely not. I think the danger is more at the other end, when people are in their twenties and simply haven't had enough life experience to write a book. I started writing at 34, and couldn't possibly have written anything worth reading much before that. I just didn't know enough. There are exceptions, like the 15-year-old who wrote a fantasy novel, but that was fantasy. I do get a kick out of the occasional teenage celebrity who is contracted to write his or her biography. |
| How has the market changed since you started writing? |
It's gotten tighter. There are more and more books out there vying for the attention of fewer and fewer publishers, and those publishers are more and more attuned to the bottom line. That means fewer new authors have the opportunities they might have had ten or fifteen years ago. |
| Are writers' groups worthwhile? |
| Far be it from me to say that they aren't. All I know is that they don't work for me. I've always been a solo practitioner. But then, I've always had the luxury of getting feedback on a book from an editor who is already committed to buying it. Too often, I fear, writers go over their work ad infinitum with a writers' group as a means of postponing a submission. As long as the group keeps suggesting changes, the writer can avoid the potential rejection by a publisher. Unfortunately, he or she also avoids a potential sale. Let's face it: you can edit forever. At some point, you have to fish or cut bait! |
| Do I need an agent? |
Yes. I fear you do. The occasional manuscript is still picked up out of the slush pile and sent to the top of the bestselling lists, but this is growing more rare. A good agent can place a book with the right publisher and negotiate a solid contract. A good agent can guide a writer's career. |