The Writer's Life

Book Review

Writing the Breakout Novel

Donald Maass

Writers Digest Books

Donald Maass is a prominent New York City literary agent whose clients include some of the best selling writers in the world. He is also a best selling author and novelist himself. So he should know what he’s talking about. And he does.

This book seems to be aimed, not only at the published newcomer but also the midlist veteran who suddenly finds himself without a publisher. Regardless of past glories, the veteran’s novels are no longer selling. And the primary question is why? I’m doing the same things I’ve always done, the vet says. What is the problem?

Maass answers, that is the problem. Doing the things you used to do simply doesn’t work anymore. Novels are not the same as they were ten years ago. The readers aren’t either. Nor is the publishing world. The bottom line is: if your sales drop, you’re out of business.

So what does the midlist veteran do to boost his or her sales? Simple. Study the books that are selling today, figure out what rules the writers are following, and adapt your writing techniques to those new rules.

Unfortunately, there are a handful of best sellers that are popping up every week. So unless you are a speed reader with a sponge-like brain, you’ll soon be snowed under with Must Read books.

There is another way, however. You can restrict your focus to a few good how-to books that were written by successful insiders. Donald Maass is one such successful insider. And Writing the Breakout Novel is one such book.

Maass covers just about all of the essentials needed for the Breakout Novel. Premise, stakes, time period, setting, characterization, plot, conflict, voice, tension, viewpoint, pace, theme; in fact he covers nearly everything that goes into the construction of any good novel. But he applies those principles to the bottom line of what’s selling today, and what isn’t selling today. And that is now the only question most publishers care about, whether we writers like it or not.

That is also the primary question that most bookstore chains are asking. And as we all know, the relationship between publishers and bookstore chains continues to grow more and more symbiotic every day. In some respects, it is the bookstore chains that now control the publishing industry, not the other way around. It is the chains that decide how much shelf space will be allotted for how much time. And the largest blocks of shelf space and time are reserved for the books that fly past the cash registers on their way out the door.

Book store owners do not ask the publisher: is this book well written? What they ask is: is this book selling? And when contract time comes around, publishers now apply the same question to all of their writers. What are your numbers? How many copies did your last book sell?

To deal with this kind of mindset, the writer needs to ask the same questions of his own product. What are the numbers? How is it selling? And what can I do to make the next one sell better?

Donald Maass may not have all the answers to those questions. But he certainly has some of the answers. So if you really want to find out what characteristics are required to produce a book that sells a lot of copies, Writing the Breakout Novel is as good a place to start as any.

Russ Heitz

This review first appeared in The Rap Sheet, newsletter for the Florida Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America (www.mwa-Florida.org)

One Outline: good Two Outlines: better?

     My new suspense novel, Crosshairs, has been published and a second suspense novel is now in the works. I couldn't have done either one without an outline.
     I'm not talking about a Roman Numeral I, A, a (1) type of  outline. I'm talking about a narrative outline that is broken into chapters. Without an outline, a story can quickly conform to the  old Cowboy Posse Rule of "saddle up, and then ride off in all directions."
     To complicate my own novel-writing process, my short-term memory has always been made of Swiss cheese. Details dribble out of it as quickly as I put them in. The only way I can counter that is to get those details down on paper right away. And then to refer to them whenever necessary, which for me means constantly.
     Because of the need for a clear structure combined with the persistent leaks in my short-term memory, I have had to develop a  two-outline system. The first outline I call the Skeleton Outline because it includes only the bare bones of each chapter, the primary events that will move the story forward.

For instance, the following is my Skeleton of Chapter 2 of the novel I'm working on now:

Chapter 2. Thursday morning -- More details about Dani, intro to her twin sister, Deana (Dani is just thinking about Deana). There is suspicion about a letter Dani received. It looks like it might have been opened and then sealed again. Hint that there is something hidden in Dani's past, something she doesn't want to talk about. More details re: the Siesta Key/Sarasota setting and the people who live there.

I call my second outline my Detail Outline because, obviously, it includes a lot more details. My Detail Outline for the same chapter runs about a page and half. A small part of it looks like this:

Chapter 2. Thursday morning -- Dr. Dani Michaels takes a quick shower and gets ready for work. She has a rushed, light, healthy breakfast of yogurt, wheat toast, etc. She glances out of the window of her high-rise Siesta Key condo at the beautiful azure Gulf of Mexico. The sky is cloudless. She wishes she could go for a quick jog on the beach, like she usually does whenever she has the time, which will probably be less often now that the office is finally starting to get busy. Description of the type of clothing she wears, which is usually a lab coat or scrubs. But she prefers jeans and a tee like she used to wear most of the time in Pennsylvania, weather permitting. Subtle indication that she doesn't want to think about Pennsylvania right now. Maybe another hint that she has recently been hospitalized for an unspecified emotional disorder before she moved to Sarasota. Give more details about her physical appearance. Hint that she hasn't heard from her sister, Deana, for almost a week. She decides to call her this evening, and find out if she got that promotion. Etc., etc.

     Having a Detailed Outline gives me plenty of info to develop and expand upon during the first draft of the actual story -- usually more than I actually use. It also allows me to find the best place to insert clues retroactively as the story develops.
    The Skeleton Outline helps me keep the basic structure sound and clearly stated. In addition, the Skeleton also reminds me to keep the momentum of the story moving forward. It also points out any sags that are bound to occur; sags that will then be replaced by additional hints of danger and suspense.
   Whenever possible, I also try to have each chapter end with some sort of cliff hanger, or at the very least a question. The question should encourage the reader to turn the page and continue on to the next chapter.
    Two outlines for each chapter? It works for me. Maybe it'll work for you, too.

Russ Heitz