Writing Fiction: Seeking the Light Bulb Moments

By Libby Hellmann

You’ve undoubtedly heard those annoying TV commercials where the little girl says somewhat arrogantly, “Wow… you guys have it easy. Back in my day, we didn’t have…”  and proceeds to talk about how wonderful the product is.

The same can be said for publishing. Back in my day—alas, only ten years ago—publishing was static. There were publishers, authors, and agents. Everyone knew their place, and while you didn’t have to like it, you had to play by the rules.

Things change.

What we have now is chaos. Revolution. The Wild West. Roles and rules evolve on a daily basis. Authors become entrepreneurs. Agents become publishers. Publishers hang on to whatever they can.

Thankfully, though, one thing has not changed, and I hope it never does.  That is the craft of writing.

Notice I call it a craft, not an art. Writing fiction can be taught. I know. I had to learn. It took me four years and four manuscripts before my first thriller, AN EYE FOR MURDER, was published. And while I’m still not sure why I was stubborn enough to persist, I’m glad I did. I look back on those “practice” manuscripts now, and I am appalled by what I didn’t know. Or thought I could pass off— the “well, they’ll know what I mean” school of writing.  (Btw, they don’t know what you mean.)

So I understand where you’re at. I wish I could make it easier for you; I wish you could wake up one morning and know not to put in too much backstory… or how point of view works… or how to build suspense… but each writer has to learn on their own. Some of you will learn quickly; for others it will take time.

I do remember a few “light-bulb” moments, however, and most of them came from listening to other authors talk about how they approached their writing. Which is why I started teaching. And probably why ITW is offering a series of blogs devoted to craft. I applaud them for their foresight, wisdom, and willingness to offer you a light-bulb moment or two. Because if you don’t know how to craft a great thriller, the rest of it doesn’t matter. Story trumps everything in today’s publishing world.

My video series, WRITING LITE, is my way of providing some light-bulb moments.  They’re not long, certainly not intense, but you just might learn something that you can apply to your writing.  At least I hope so.  My plan is to have a new installment every week or ten days, so check back whenever you have the chance.

Good luck. I hope to see you on the Best Seller Lists soon.

BIO:

Libby Fischer Hellmann writes Compulsively Readable Thrillers. Her 10th novel, HAVANA LOST, a stand-alone literary thriller and love story set in Cuba will be released in September, 2013. A BITTER VEIL, another stand-alone thriller, is set in revolutionary Iran during the late ’70s and was released in 2012.

SET THE NIGHT ON FIRE (2010), a stand-alone thriller, goes back, in part, to the late Sixties in Chicago. She also writes two crime fiction series:  
EASY INNOCENCE(2008), DOUBLEBACK (2009), which was selected as a Great Lakes Booksellers’ Association “2009 Great Read,” and TOXICITY (2011), a police procedural thriller, all feature Chicago P.I. Georgia Davis. In addition, there are four novels in the Ellie Foreman series, which Libby describes as a cross between “Desperate Housewives” and “24.”

Libby has also published over 15 short stories in NICE GIRL DOES NOIR and edited the acclaimed crime fiction anthologyCHICAGO BLUES. Originally from Washington D.C., she has lived in Chicago for 30 years and claims they’ll take her out of there feet first.

HAVANA LOST coming September 2013:
On the eve of the Cuban Revolution, headstrong 18-year-old Francesca Pacelli flees from her ruthless Mafia-boss father in Havana to the arms of her lover, a rebel fighting with Fidel Castro. Her father, desperate to send her to safety in the US, resorts to torture and blackmail as he searches the island for her. So begins the first part of a spellbinding saga that spans three generations of the same family. Decades later, the family is lured back to Cuba by the promise of untold riches. But pursuing those riches brings danger as well as opportunity, and ultimately, Francesca's family must confront the lethal consequences of their choices. From the troubled streets of Havana to the mean streets of Chicago, HAVANA LOST reveals the true cost of chasing power instead of love.

Hang In There, Baby, & You'll Find Your Story

By D.P. Lyle

“There’s a story in there somewhere, I just can’t find it.”

My agent Kimberley Cameron said that to me many years ago. She wasn’t my agent back then, but she is now and advice like this is one of the reasons. I had written what was without doubt the greatest piece of literature ever penned by mankind. Really, it was. It was destined to be a number one bestseller. I had no doubts.

After all, I’d done the work. I’d read hundreds of novels. I’d devoured scores of books on writing. I’d attended dozens of writing conferences. I did my homework. I’d written late into the night on countless occasions, struggling to get the story on the page. And two and half years later my “great American novel” was completed.

I had met Kimberley some years earlier at a conference and we instantly hit it off. At that time I told her I was working on my first book and she requested to see it once it was finished. So, I packaged it up and sent it off. A week later, I got a call from her and she delivered her pronouncement: “There’s a story in there somewhere, I just can’t find it.”

Along with her pronouncement on the quality of my masterpiece, she added an apology for being so blunt. She’s nice that way. She was also right on in her assessment.

The problem? The novel was 138,000 words of garbage. I didn’t know that at the time, but now through a retrospective lens it’s crystal clear. It was overwritten, poorly plotted, and slow. Painfully slow. Too much detail, not enough suspense. Too much description and inane activities. Too much boring dialog. In short, too much of everything.

Back to the drawing board.

Making a very long story short, over the next decade I wrote and published many other books, with Kimberley’s steady guiding hand, but that story wouldn’t let go. It kept creeping into my peripheral vision, nudging me in the dead of night when all writers awaken with a story in their head. It’s part of the process.

That nagging led me to 27 re-writes, 4 changes in title, 4 changes in location, and an entirely new protagonist. The only things that remained the same were the bad guy and the basic premise of the story. And after all that ripping and tearing and writing, writing, writing, ten years later it became STRESS FRACTURE, my first Dub Walker thriller.

What’s the take home message in all this?

Writing is hard. Writing well takes time and repetition. Writing well requires copious reading, learning the craft, giving attention to detail, and practice, practice, practice. Or as Bryce Courtney (The Power of One) often says: “Writing requires one thing. Bum glue. Glue you bum to the chair and write.”

So true.

Becoming a successful novelist also requires that you absorb criticism you’d rather not hear. But hear you must.

“There’s a story in there somewhere, I just can’t find it.”

Don’t fear such criticism. Embrace it. Use it to improve your skills and to motivate you to write a better story. Authors who get it right the first time around the block are rare indeed. You know the stories. Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and even the great James Lee Burke struggled to get their words in print. Rejections were common. But give up? Not an option.

About RUN TO GROUND, a Dub Walker thriller:

What if a forensic evidence and criminal behavior expert must track down a seemingly average, very religious couple who murdered the killer of their only child, dumped their entire lives, and disappeared.

What would you do if someone brutally murdered your only child, got off on a technicality, serving only months for a minor infraction, and continually taunted and threatened you from behind bars? Could you hide your growing rage from family and friends? Could you gun the killer down? Could you change your ID and leave behind your entire life---family, friends, jobs, home---and disappear?

For Tim and Martha Foster the answer to each of these questions is yes.

This is the scenario that faces Dub Walker in RUN TO GROUND.

Connect with DP Lyle, MD:

Website: http://www.dplylemd.com

Blog: http://writersforensicsblog.wordpress.com

FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/DPLyle

Bio: D. P. Lyle is the Macavity Award winning and Edgar, Agatha, Scribe, and USA Best Book Award nominated author of the non-fiction books FORENSICS FOR DUMMIES; FORENSICS & FICTION; MORE FORENSICS & FICTION; and HOWDUNNIT: FORENSICS; the Samantha Cody and Dub Walker Thriller series; and the ROYAL PAINS media tie-in novels. His short story “Even Steven” appears in ITW’s anthology THRILLER 3: LOVE IS MURDER.

He has worked with many novelists and with the writers of popular television shows such as Law & Order, CSI: Miami, Diagnosis Murder, Monk, Judging Amy, Peacemakers, Cold Case, House, Medium, Women’s Murder Club, 1-800-Missing, The Glades, and Pretty Little Liars.