Have I Learned Anything About Writing? You Can Let Me Know, a Post by R. Clint Peters

As I’ve reported in this blog several times, I have been studying how to write, using “Characters, Emotion, and Viewpoint” by Nancy Kress, “Fiction Writer’s Workshop” by Josep Novakovich, “The Technique of Fiction Writing” by Robert Saunders Dowst, and several adventure writers gleaned from Amazon.  I have also collected other writing tools, including a book called “Boundless Writing”.  Its statement of purpose is to the point:  Boundless is better than your assigned textbook.

So, what have I learned?  First, that good writing is something an author needs to learn about and then practice.  Writing expertise does not fall from the sky like rain, or cats and dogs.  It comes from long hours of studying how to write, and then even longer hours of writing.

The Internet has been both a blessing and curse to writers.  As a blessing, the Internet provides a place for writers to gain all the knowledge they need to become good.  Finding answers is as easy as asking the question.

Almost two years ago, I discovered a website that offered to critique the first three pages of one of my novels for free.  I submitted The Alberta Connection, a Ryce Dalton novel, at that point, the fifth novel I had written, and the one I considered to be my best.

Much to my dismay, I was informed I had much to learn.  My pride and joy had more red  marks than the U. S. deficit.  However, I had gained a great deal of knowledge about what I was doing wrong by studying the critique carefully — after I had dug my way out of my depression .  And, I learned about some rules of writing.

The first rule I mangled was telling the story, not showing.  As I look back, I had a very boring book.

The second, and very important rule, was keep the sentences at or below twenty words.  I was writing the way I think, in blocks of fifty to sixty words per sentence.  But, an even bigger problem was I was including three or four thoughts in those sixty words.  Confusing?  Certainly.  Readable?  Not so much.  As one of my relatives said about one of my books — “I think I liked reading it but I certainly didn’t understand it.”

After that first critique, I re-wrote The Alberta Connection.  Did I have a quality novel?  I thought so.

However, as I mentioned, the Internet has been a blessing and a curse.  The blessing is the vast amount of knowledge available to authors.  The curse is the potential for the author to fulfill their dreams without acquiring that knowledge and paying their dues.

I think the curse can be best explained by using my own experiences.

My first three published novels were offered to a vanity publisher.  A vanity publisher does one thing — publishes novels on demand.  They do not provide any editing, unless it’s paid for by the author.  They do not provide any marketing, unless it’s paid for by the author.  In my case, they provided really nice covers for my books and the ISBN.  But, to acquire those items, I signed a seven year contract with a dismal royalty schedule.

As I said, the Internet is a curse for new authors.  Why?  Because it gives everyone the opportunity to be a published without knowing how to be an author.  For The Alberta Connection, I used CreateSpace.  I created the cover, I did all the page formatting, I did everything except have the novel professionally edited.  And that’s the curse of the Internet.  If an author doesn’t know how to write but is given the opportunity to write and be published, albeit by their own hands, without the guidelines of legitimate editing, the results will be the books that are flooding the reading market — pure garbage.

I have been a voracious reader for the past six weeks, reading more other authors than writing my own book, Operation Second Cousins.  That reading has shown me one thing — there are good writers and there are bad writers, and the bad writers far out-weigh the good.  Probably ten to one.  Most of the books I have read are free e-books.  I don’t think any of them have been published by a traditional publisher.

I read somewhere that over a million books are being published yearly, with the vast majority self-published.  Based on what I have learned in the past four months, that group of authors could use a little knowledge.  No, they could use a lot.

The final comment I would like to make is about reviewing books.  Someone asked a question recently, which I wrote about in this blog.  I’ll ask it again — Is it honest to an author to only provide 4 and 5 star reviews?   There’s a review blog that refuses to publish a review that is not 4 or 5 stars.  I don’t think that is fair to the author.  And, I don’t think that is fair to the reviewer.  The author’s reputation as an author is on the line.  If he or she is a 1 start author, it is dishonest to promote them as a 4 or 5 start author.  The reviewer’s reputation is even more important.  If he or she only gives 4 or 5 star reviews, they are being dishonest in their evaluation. Eventually, they will have no legitimacy as a reviewer.

I read one novel a couple weeks ago that had a dozen reviews,, mostly 4 stars.  Using the formula that a good review is a good book, I read the book.  It was so bad, I was forced to give it a review.  No, I did not award it a 4, or a 5, or a 3, or even a 2.  I gave it a 1 because there was no zero in the review menu.

If the Alberta Connection had been reviewed and had been given a 4 or 5 star review, I would have never expended the effort to learn how to write.  I want to be the best that I can be as a writer.  If I am writing a novel that deserves 1 star but it is given 4 stars, I will never obtain my goal.

And now, the reason for this blog.  Operation Second Cousins is almost ready to be placed in CreateSpace.  If you’d like to give me an honest review, I would be pleased to send you a PDF copy.  Send an email to rclintpeters@gmail.com and ask for your copy.  But, please be honest.  If you don’t like the novel, don’t say it’s the best you have read.  Your review will be posted on Nothing But Book Reviews, no matter what you say.  I want my reputation as an author to remain intact.  More importantly, I want the reputation of The Book Reviewers & Authors Club to remain intact.

#RClintPeters #TheAuthorsClub