Why a 60-75 Page Partial?

The craft book I'm reading this month is Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell, part of the "Write Great Fiction" series by Writer's Digest Books. I'm just starting Chapter 3, but have already learned some real techniques to apply to my writing. Chapter 2 is about the three-act structure and it got to me to thinking.

You're probably familiar with the three-act structure and this may be old news for you. But in case you aren't - or, as in my case, don't know as much about it as you think you do - here's an overview of how Bell explains it. A story (whether a movie, play or book) should be broken into three parts. Act 1 sets up the protag's world and a disturbance to that world (inciting incident), and ends with a "doorway" - when the protag makes a decision or does something that is irreversible. It's the first point of no return. This doorway leads into Act 2, where the protag faces confrontations and obstacles that move her to the second "doorway," another point of no return. Act 3 is the climax when everything comes to a head and explodes.

You often see books split into three parts, following this three-act structure and those parts are usually pretty equal in length. In a live play production, you're given intermission between acts and those intermissions are evenly spaced apart. According to Bell, however, the acts shouldn't be even.

In a movie, Act 1 is about the first 1/4 of the movie and Act 3 begins with about 1/4 of the movie left. So the middle, Act 2, is about 1/2 the story. For books, he says, Act 1 should be over even sooner - about 1/5 in. We need to get to that first doorway sooner rather than later. Otherwise, the book seems to drag.

This made me think about my book Promise. Although the majority of readers say they're hooked from page 1 and can't put it down, a few - those who are the hardest to impress, to suck them in - have said that the first 70-100 pages drag or, simply, "it's hard to get into at first," but the rest is un-put-down-able. In my mind, my three-act structure broke the story into three even parts. The first mini-climax, where Part 1 leads into Part 2, is when Alexis learns about Tristan's secrets. That part starts at page 98. See the correlation?

However, with Bell's point that Part 1 ends at the first doorway, that really happens when Alexis decides to give Tristan the benefit of the doubt. Her point of no return is really on page 63. And of a 355-page book, that's just within Bell's suggested 1/5 mark. So why do the hard-to-capture readers say it drags? Apparently because I didn't emphasize enough that she'd passed through that doorway. Or that it was even a major threshold for her to cross. I can easily see this now.

So all of this got me to thinking...is this why agents ask for 60-75 page partials? That's 1/5 through a 300-400 page novel. That's enough for them to get to know the narrator's voice, the author's writing style and the premise of the book. But maybe it's that specific number of pages because they want to see that the author has taken them through that first doorway by this time. And they want that doorway to be clear and exciting. After all, agents are going to be the hardest-to-capture readers. If you can impress them, you're on the right path.

Just something to think about as you're crafting your story and when you think you're ready to query (or self-publish). Look at those first 60-75 pages and ask yourself if your protag has gone through that first doorway yet and if it's obvious that he's crossed a point of no return. I could be wrong about this being the reason agents ask for 60-75 page partials - I'm certainly not an agent - but, really, it should be your goal to suck them (and readers) in by then anyway. To get them beyond that point of no return so they'll keep reading to the last page.

What do you think? Do you think this is why agents ask for that many pages? Have you followed Bell's structure when planning your novels? Can you think of a book you love that doesn't have the first doorway in the first 1/5-1/4 of the book?

Getting Crafty

Not crafty as in arts-and-crafts. I dabble in that but really, I'm not very good. I'm talking crafty as in writer's craft. And craft books.

As I'm going through revisions on not one, but two WIPs, I've been consulting a couple of my favorite craft books: Writing the Breakout Novel and Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook by Donald Maass and Don't Sabotage Your Submission by Chris Roerden. I also like Hooked by Les Edgerton and The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman, but I've yet to crack those open again - I'm still working on plot and characters, not worrying about how beautifully the first few pages shine yet.

I've realized I should do more reading on craft. There are several books I still want to read (The Art and Craft of Fiction by Victoria Mixon, Architecture of the Novel by Jane Vandenburgh, The Art of War for Writers and Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell and others...) and I'm sure I can learn something from each of them. We should always be working on improving our skills and although writing itself is the best way to improve, so is learning from the experts.

On the other hand, we can't go too far with "expert" advice. I learned this the hard way with Promise. Experts give all kinds of great advice and various sets of rules we must follow (although they often conflict with each other). Doing so will make our stories so much better. Our writing will glow like a hundred-watt light bulb. Our characters will pop off the page. And not doing these things will cause ultimate failure.

My lesson: With Promise, I followed all the experts' advice in the multitude of books I read. I revised, rewrote, edited, proofed and spit-polished exactly how they said to do it. I took out the big no-no's. I replaced them with what "really makes a story good." I was a model student. And when all was said and done...I hated my story. Hated it. Following all their rules and advice created an uninspiring narration that was the equivalent of cardboard pizza.

I also realized that I had come to the point where I was changing things just to change them - I wasn't making the story any better. Despite what the experts said.

So I went back and revised again. No, I didn't undo everything they suggested. Many of their recommendations did make the story better. But I did undo/redo the lifeless parts. I took my story back and made it mine. And I'm so freakin' glad I did.

Craft books, conferences, professional critiques/editors...they're all great. We need them. We must continuously grow and learn or we start dying. But we also need to know how to apply what we learn, know when to take something and when to leave it. Because all those experts only know what works for them, their clients/students/friends/past successes/etc. They don't know our story. And every story is unique.

Keeping that in mind, I'll be making a point of reading more craft books. I have a ton of fiction to read (did I tell you we cleaned out Borders' paranormal section? And there was a lot still left at 80% off!) but I need to make a point that for every two or three novels I read, I must read something about craft or the business of writing.

So...what are your favorite crafty books? Have you read any of those I mentioned? What has been your experience when applying what you learn? Do you do any arts-and-crafts?

My First Ever Book Show

I've been to an author festival and school book fairs, but never to a trade show. This past weekend, my publishing team and I made the trek to Daytona Beach for the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) annual trade show. Holy cow! What fun!!!!

We had no idea what we were getting into. We realized before even going that we should have had a booth. See, the publishers have the booths and the indie store owners do the browsing. Probably should have been obvious, but we just didn't know. Besides, by the time we joined SIBA, it was too late anyway. So this was entirely a learning experience.

We romped the show floor, hung out in the lobby and bar and met lots of people and made some great contacts. And now we know what to do next time. Yes, there will definitely be a next time.

I handed out a few copies of Promise and lots of literature. Hopefully some of these indies will be selling Promise soon.

But almost as good (okay, a part of me says even better, but don't tell my publisher), this:

Saturday's haul by all three of us. We added nearly this much on Sunday.

And this:

My own personal loot...spread out...and not including tote bags and other fun items. Yes, those are Nightshade and Across the Universe ARCs!!! And many more I can't wait to delve into!

All stacked up...except for the book I brought home for The Man, which he's already reading in the other room.

Oh, yeah. I have lots of reading to do and reviews to write. Still can't decide where to start. For now, though, I'm finishing up edits on Purpose so it can go to the printer for ARCs. Yep, you read that right. Purpose ARCs coming soon. I see a contest in the near future...

Important Life Lessons

Don't forget to enter the 50 to 100 Giveaway!!

One recent night, as I was drifting off to sleep I had an idea for a book. Of course, this happens a lot, but this one surprised me because it’s totally not the kind of writing I do. It would be a “things you should know” humorous non-fiction piece and I guess I was thinking about little lessons my kids should learn before they go off to the real world, which, by the way, is approaching way too quickly.

Ever since I thought of this unoriginal idea, I’ve been seeing these little lessons pop up in daily life.

For example, don’t do anything in public you don’t want on the Internet because it might find its way there. But, more importantly, don’t do anything in private with friends and family around because it will definitely find its way there. And it will be there forever. So, yes, Son#3, the silly video you did with your friends and put on YouTube…your future boss or wife will likely see it. Good thing it was clean and kind of funny and you didn’t make too much of a fool of yourself.

We women know the obvious one we preach to the males in our households: Don’t leave the toilet seat up any time, but especially at night because that feeling of falling and then the, uh, rest, just plain sucks. Especially when you’re half asleep.

But here’s a related one: If you usually leave the bathroom door open, always leave it open. The other night I had that urgent middle-of-the-night nature call. Refusing to wake up all the way, my eyes were only slits as I shuffled through the dark bedroom. I intuitively avoided the dog bed and then the dog who doesn’t sleep on his bed. I missed the bags of clothes for charity that have been sitting there long enough to know they’re there, even in my sleep. Then…

Face-plow into the bathroom door. The noise was enough to wake The Man, who sat up and barked, “What the hell?!” And my reply: “You left the effin’ door closed!” Though, it wasn’t nearly so nice because by then I was awake and grouchy.

I’m not alone in this experience. About a year ago, my friend got up to use the potty and had a nice sized lump on her forehead for the next few days. So, a little lesson for life. It goes the other way, too: If you usually leave the door closed, always leave it closed. I can imagine someone stumbling in the dark and raising their arm to where they instinctively know the door is, leaning in to open it and it’s not there. Face meets bathroom floor. And that’s just never good.

The book will probably never become a reality. Like I said, it’s just not my usual style. If anything, I might put something together as a tongue-in-cheek graduation gift (which starts up next year – yikes!). So, I will be looking out for these little lessons.

What about you? Any funny anecdotes we should all learn from? Anything I can share with the Herd of Teenagers? Maybe we can all collaborate on a book for charity. That could be fun. So…let’s hear it! (Pssst...don't forget, a comment here gives you an entry into the giveaway.)

Head-Injury Ramblings

I had a couple great ideas for this next blog post, but they’ve been put on hold. They require more brain power than I have available right now. You see, I was a dumbass and rammed my head into the corner of the oven hood while making dinner tonight. It’s a feat only I can manage, especially considering I’m height-challenged – I didn’t even know I was tall enough to reach the hood! But apparently, I am, at least, in my Nike Shocks, I am. And apparently I’m not coordinated enough to talk on the phone – on a Bluetooth earpiece, no less – and take a pot off the stove at the same time. Geesh! And I was so motivated to do some actual work tonight. Instead, I’ve been nursing a terrible headache that, so far, two Advil have not tamed.

It did allow me to finish this:

Thanks to Anne Riley and her suggestion, I downloaded it to my Kindle for some lunchtime reading and finished it tonight. It’s only 150 pages and a very fun read. I laughed out loud several times. My family kept wondering, but since they’re all guys and haven’t read the Twilight books, I just shook my head and went back to reading and laughing. Unfortunately, laughter has not been the best medicine for my head. But it was worth it.

Also today, I joined Goodreads. I checked it out briefly a while ago and don’t know why I didn’t join then. If you’re a reader or a writer, or both, and haven’t joined, you should. It’s a social networking site for bookworms. You “friend” people and then get to see what they’re reading now, what they’ve already read, reviews they’ve written, authors they’ve fanned, etc. You also rate and can review books you’ve read, adding them to your virtual shelves. You can create a “to-read” shelf to track all those books on your wish list. Just by seeing what my friends have read or are reading, I’ve added several more titles to my to-read list. Like I need more, but, dude, there are some good ones out there!

And one day in the not-too-distant-future, you will see my books up there. And if you don’t read and review them, I’ll hunt you down. My trusty Beagle will catch your scent and lead me right to you…if you’re a squirrel anyway. But I’ll find you, don’t worry. Bwahahaha!

Okay, I’m wondering how serious my little head injury is. I’m having delusions of being a ninja now. Too bad I’m not making sense, or I could be writing a great story right now. Instead, I guess I’ll do some browsing for this little project I’m working on – you know, the one that gets my books into your eager hands (because I know they are soooo eager!!). I owe a little time to my biz partner. After all, she did some seriously major networking tonight that I’m trying not to get too excited about.

I’m so not excited, I won’t even bother telling you about it. Except that it’s a SINGLE degree of separation from a very famous, influential woman…from Chicago…and one of her names begins with O. Oops. I might jinx myself. Saying no more. Because, you know, I’m not excited at all. I’m sure the butterflies in my tummy just thinking about it are from my head injury. Really.

So, yes…better get to work on something besides rambling.