I have reached some sort of blog milestone in that I was halfway through writing a blog post about some writers focusing too much on the themes of their book in queries before I realized….. something felt a little familiar.
Then I realized: I’d written the exact same post before. Right down to the blog title. Whoops! Luckily I remembered before I unconsciously plagiarized myself.
Here is the original post, from March 29, 2007, which most definitely still applies, this time with feeling:
So you know how you spent four or more years in college learning about what books mean and how to analyze novels for hidden meaning, and where you learned that the best books are the ones with subtext upon which you can write a twenty page paper on the use of metaphor as an elucidation of the philosophical constructs of the protagonist’s society?
Yeah. Forget all that.
I get quite a few query letters that sound like this (btw this is made up, I will never make fun of your query letter in this space, agent’s honor):
“My novel explores themes of love and themes of passion. The protagonist fights against the evils inherent in our society and must come to terms with his inner sense of frustration and futility. But ultimately the novel is about how we as human beings must develop a sense of self and prevail in the face of society’s obstacles.”
No offense to myself for writing that, but that does not exactly make me want to read more of my own writing.
It’s really the oldest writing advice in the book: Show don’t tell. College teaches you to tell. It teaches you to look for subtext and it conditions you think you should pack your novel full of references and themes so future scholars will have a job. And then people write their query like it’s a term paper.
I’m not (praise Tyra) planning on writing a twenty page paper on your novel, so don’t tell me what your novel is about. Tell me what happens. And hopefully you’ve written a novel in which things actually do happen. Because I like novels where things happen. Happening is good.
To expand further on this topic, I recently attended a football game, (chronicled hilariously here by my friend Holly), and we were talking about how much some aspiring authors want to leave behind books with artistic integrity that they’re proud of even if they don’t sell, and I definitely respect this. (What else would you talk about on the way to a football game??).
At the same time, it got me to thinking: are writers artists or artisans?
I think the drive to write Literature/art sometimes leads some very talented writers, especially young ones, to write books that as an agent I can’t sell because there’s too much attention paid to the themes and the subtext and the meaning and other English-class-type concerns, rather than the narrative and the plot and the craft and other sausagemaking-type concerns. And this is reflected in how they think of and describe the work: these types of novels tend to correlate with queries that read like the aforementioned college papers.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with artistic integrity and thinking deeply about the meaning in your book and writing books that are dense, weighty, and/or wildly experimental. But particularly in this day and age, the audience for novels where too little attention is paid to narrative and plot and storytelling was already small and seems to be shrinking by the moment. There are definitely a few places that still are open to this type of writing, but they tend to be small presses/collectives and you don’t necessarily need an agent to find them.
I also think that some of these writers have a bit of a mistaken belief about the books that are published these days that are instant Literature, like GILEAD and ATONEMENT and OSCAR WAO. These books have plots. They are not impenetrable. The narratives are complex and they flow. Yes, the writing is beautiful and meaningful and there’s so much to take away, but Robinson and McEwan and Diaz also not only prose artists, they are fantastic storytellers and craftsmen who keep their readers spellbound.
Please know that I’m not making value judgments about writers as artists vs. artisans – I love all types of books and they all have their place. But as an agent, I have to follow the market. If you want to write Literature and also be published by a major publisher, these days it’s rare to find a book that just has deep themes in an otherwise impenetrable book. It also takes a story that people can’t put down. While there are some exceptions, for better or worse mainstream literary fiction is increasingly found at the intersection of quality and accessibility.
Liberal Cowgirl says
Oddly enough, Mark Barrett over at Ditchwalk just did an entire "Theme Week" where he features several posts on this subject as well as an outstanding essay by Thomas McCormack.
https://www.ditchwalk.com/
Anonymous says
Thanks for the explanation.
It's really cool all you do.
Davin Malasarn says
Nice post, Nathan. LIke you say, this is a decision we writers must face. We have to know what we want to write and then be willing to face the consequences of that choice.
Jil says
I happen to be listening to Stephen King's "Cell" right now and even though I see numerous things a good editor would correct, as well as lack of character development, I am thoroughly enjoying being swept along on the strong current of his story. Mind the Reader is very good and that may help. But when I am finished I will forget it.
A really well written book will leave me thoughtful and silent at the end and i will remember it forever.
I would love to write the latter.
Terry says
I like some of the deeper old novels. But I was halfway through my own novel before I even realized it had a theme.
Happy Birthday Ink!Have a corndog on me.
Lindsay Terris says
Being a Cal grad (I love you anyway, I promise), I have to say that I was a bit surprised that all you had for your tailgate was wine and pizza. I thought Stanford tailgates were much more fancy…you can find wine and pizza at Cal tailgates too. Maybe we aren't that different after all…
june says
We must be on the same wavelength Nathan! I just wrote a blog post yesterday with a similar "theme" (smile). I discussed how different the skill set is between academic/scholastic writing and creative writing. Glad to know I'm on the right track!
Laura Martone says
Unlike Margaret, I DO hope to leave behind quality literature that can be analyzed by English majors like me. While I hope to educate, I hope to do it in an entertaining way. Although it makes me a little sad, I realize that modern novels can't resemble those of yesteryear… unless it's historical fiction.
Hence the need for a revision. What can I say? I've always been a late bloomer.
Ink says
Terry,
I shall eat a corndog for every commenter on Nathan's blog today! I'm selfless that way. I mean, the things I do for people…
Nathan Bransford says
lindsay-
Yes, you're definitely right that the normal Stanford tailgate is fancier. I would be ashamed, only that's some insanely good pizza (from Applewood's).
Laura Martone says
Oh, but, of course, no offense to Margaret and others who only hope to entertain with their work. I can fully appreciate that – and I love plenty of books that do little more than entertain. I guess I'm just hopeful that it's still possible to multi-task as a modern-day writer.
I'm naive, I know. 🙂
writingisablessing says
We must be on the same wavelength Nathan! I just wrote a blog post yesterday with a similar "theme" (smile). I discussed how different the skill set is between academic/scholastic writing and creative writing. Glad to know I'm on the right track!
Kelly Bryson says
I like my novels to have some depth to them…but subtle depth. Entertainment AND enlightenment. The books I love best do both.
I'm talking about Harry Potter, TLOTR, Cry The Beloved Country, Narnia. I've enjoyed some Faulkner, too, but never Hemmingway and never Steinbeck. Bleh.
Emily White says
I think that the first priority of any writer should be to write a good story. I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting your story to follow a certain theme, but it shouldn't be to the detriment of the story itself.
Do I want students to some day analyse my book and find the hidden meanings? You bet! But for now, I want readers to be entertained.
Laura Martone says
Geez, Bryan, how many corn dogs might that be? What a great way to kickstart your birthday!
Oh, happy B-day, BTW! I'll send you a case of Pepto Bismol to celebrate!
Lindsay Terris says
Well Applewood is a different story. It's no Zachary's or Cheese Board, but it'll do in Cardinal territory…and now I'll spend the rest of the afternoon missing Berkeley's pizza. Regardless, it sounds like you'd do just find at our tailgate. You are more than welcome, just ditch the red shirt first:)
Ink says
Laura,
How can you go wrong with corndogs?
And Pepto Bismol.
Sara Tribble says
Good indeed! Nice re-post! =D
Anonymous says
Where Plot is a train track, Character is the train, Setting is the train era's milieu, Theme is the train master organizer. Without a theme a story is a meaningless ramble. But a theme doesn't have to be so complex that it's impenetrably dense, though few really are in well-crafted stories. A theme can be as simple as the poetic justice one inherent in the currently fashionable action-adventure spectacle genre. Good will triumph and be rewarded, evil will fail and be punished.
Theme is one of a multitude of indivisible but distinguishable literary elements that comprise a well-crafted story. However, by itself theme doesn't make a story.
And when a story is lauded as a work of art, it's not the writer saying so; it's an audience consensus saying so. A writer can no more force a meaningful work of art than any artisan.
I wonder why there's a "grumpy" discourse in the realm of screening readers toward writing program writers, the so-called MFAs. It's one approach to writing that has no more and no less greater potential than another. So why is it singled out as a less than worthy route? Perhaps a bit of academically directed envy?
Franzine Kafka says
Nathan, I agree with your point about storytelling, but I am curious as to your take on writers like Aimee Bender, Yannick Murphy, Lorrie Moore and Mary Gaitskill. Gaitskill's "Veronica" is told in short bursts, jumping throughout time. Her strength is truly in her manipulation of language. The storytelling is not gripping. Off-kilter writing is sold to large presses all of the time. Maybe we are speaking about different shades of gray here.
Would you say that less accessible/traditional writers must develop a readership through literary journals or perhaps study under a successful writer who will endorse them? What are the paths one would take to publication if writing more like Lorrie Moore than Wally Lamb?
While I am on the topic of the high-brow, I am curious to know what you think of m.f.a.s. These programs seem to cultivate stylists, not necessarily storytellers. In one sense, this seems like a disconnect to the publishing world. At the same time, it seems that "high-brow" writers are able to legitimize their work by either hooking up with already established writers, or simply through pedigree.
I know many agents claim that m.f.a.s don't matter, but wouldn't you receive Nathan Englander's manuscript differently knowing that he is a graduate of Iowa and recommended by so and so? If it came into your inbox cold, his manuscript might seem a lot less marketable and the storytelling might seem flawed.
Are there two different paths to publication for commercial fiction and literary fiction, or does the traditional query process work just as well for both?
I am always seeking more information on how a literary writer can break through (other than by publishing in journals first), so your thoughts are appreciated.
Nathan Bransford says
franzine-
Those are all very good questions that I don't have any easy answers for. I do wonder if it's harder now for very literary and unconventional writers to break out than it used to be, now that major publishers are shying away from risks and particularly risks in literary fiction. David Foster Wallace was paid quite a lot of money in the past decade, mainly on his potential. Would that happen today? I don't know. I don't know that it's more difficult for the existing "names," such as the ones you named, but I do tend to think it's much harder for those attempting to break in.
On the MFAs, I'm of two minds. On the one hand I appreciate that there are institutions that cultivate writing as art and as an ideal, and I know many writers who appreciated the time to incubate and focus on their writing. On the other hand, if the goal is to train writers for the marketplace they are going to face upon graduating and have any hope of repaying the cost of the program through their writing….. well, I don't know that many are succeeding at that.
And yes, I do think that "branding" and credentials, whether from a prestigious MFA program or through publication in prestigious journals, are very important for a writer hoping to publish literary fiction, especially short story collections. It seems to me that publishers increasingly want their literary fiction authors to be a name even before they're published, and as an agent I have to respond to that. It's hard for writers to make themselves a "name" even before they're published, but there are so few slots for "breakout" literary writers that it's just kind of the way it is right now, at least in my experience.
AM says
The message has to ride the story.
If the story drags, the message stops – no matter how nicely it’s dressed.
susiej says
This post reminded me of the hilarious I Capture the Castle. The American visitors tell Cassandra that professors in America still lecture over the themes in her father's novel. When she tells her father, he just laughs having no idea how they came up with all that stuff.
Anonymous says
You're preaching to the choir here in wannabe genre-writer land! I'm guessing a lot of 'em never even made it to the AP English level.
~Anonymosity
Amber Argyle-Smith says
I'm with you, Nathan (and I'm not just sucking up).
The best novels are balanced novels. They need a strong plot, characters, voice, language, etc.
I strive for the kind of balance.
Anonymous says
Every good story has at its heart the theme of revenge. In the end, there are no other themes. I will get you; oh yes, I will get you.
~Anonymonopeia
Susan Quinn says
My crit-group friend with an MFA once told me she thought it actually "held her back" from writing the stories she wanted to write. Not that the time spent learning the craft wasn't well spent – it was. But that the emphasis on dark, brooding themes, just wasn't the writing she wanted to do – and she didn't really write well until she had freed herself from that stricture.
And Happy day of birth, Ink! Maybe the City of Windsor will name a day in your honor. 🙂
Anonymous says
To me it's not "craft" or "art," it's just work. I don't wait for "the muse" to hit me, I don't have writer's block ever because there's no time for it. I've got more stories outlined than I can ever write in my lifetime.
I call myself The Worker. that's really how I think of myself, craking out 1 widget after the next for a paycheck. Yeah, it makes me hapy that people do obviously get some enjoyment out of my work, but hey–people get enjoyment out of fast food workers' work, too, right? And auto designer's work and a sewing machine operators' work.
In the end, it's just work, and if you don't think of it that way, you prpobably have a dayjob.
~Anonypalooza
Anonymous says
Good observation Anonypalooza. The biggest misconception among the newbs haunting the agent blogs is that being a published writer is some kind of glamorous achievement. It really is just work–it's genre fiction, not Pulitzer Prize winning literature!
Also, many don't realize that to stay in the game and write books for a living, you may even have to write stuff you yourself don't even like! Happens all the time! But you know you'll get paid for it, so off you go back to the 'puter again. Sure, it's nice not to have to show up at an office at a certain time everyday–I'll give you that–but that's about the only difference. Besides that it's a business–tracking expenditures, profit, taxes, promotion, manning the "assembly line" of new stories to meet deadlines and satisfy contracts. It's a far cry from the romantic image of some 'artist" wiling away the hours in some forested glade pontificating about the meaning of life or the human condition.
Ooops–gotta go pay the cable bill or I won;t be able to update my social nets with the next book release date. Ciao and good luck with your themes!
-Anonytron2000
Disgruntled Bear says
Nathan,
Thanks for the link to Holly's blog post about the game. I did a total spit-take at the Mama joke you put in her comments!
Now I have to clean my keyboard.
Scott says
A very smart post that made me a little sad. Maybe it's because I fear we're all overjoyed with literary cheeseburgers, and that it's perfectly awesome for everyone to want to write something easily consumable that no one will ever want to read twice. Weee.
Nathan, you refer to "right now" when putting existing trends in context. I wonder, do you think "right now" represents a decline in significant literature onward to shelves full of memoirs and beach books or do you think it's just a blip caused by the surge of immediate technology? In other words, do you think we as a society are interested in important fiction anymore or has that imagination and depth been veritably replaced by the glut of easily accessible reality in all its forms?
Aw hell, let's just make everything a talking graphic novel aimed at newspaper reading levels and get on with, I guess.
pjd says
Many years ago, I used to try to build stories with a deep, meaningful message that would make people Think. About Things. Important Things. It always resulted in contrived, stilted, soulless writing.
Then one day I realized I could start with a story and draw the theme out of it through the writing. Resulted in better stories, yeah, but the more important effect was to make writing fun again.
Nathan: You are hereby officially invited to my Big Game viewing party… that is if you're not already planning to attend the game in fancy VIP seats. You can wear red, too. (As a bonus, I just found out that a local high school near my house is offering swine flu vaccine that day.)
@Lindsay Terris: Go Bears! You can come to my party, too.
Anonymous says
Shakespeare was the Stephen King of his day, right?
But as time went on and 1) more and more people learned to read and 2) the world pupoulation mushroomed, it meant that the reading level for the public had to be "dumbed down," as it were; this, combined with the natural language changes and colloquial shifts that occur across multi-generations, and you have arrived at the current literary landscape.
~Anonymatic
Donna Hole says
I had to go back and look over my query to be sure I didn't harp on the theme. There is only the one line, in the closing. There is something happening in the query.
I am, however, someone who hopes to write the next great Literary Novel. (sighs)
Oh well, maybe in 20 or 50 years people will again want to be moved by a story. Or I could ghost write someone's memoire . . .
Thanks for the insights Nathan.
………dhole
Anonymous says
It's all about the LCD, baby! the lower the common denominator you can appeal to, the more copies you're gonna sell. What does EVERYBODY love?! The more complex and "highbrow" it gets, the smaller the audience gets. Whoa re you writing for? everybody? Only Americans? Only American romance readers between the ages of 21-55? Only the Nobel Prize Committee?
That's what slingin' books is all about. Knowing your target audience and delivering to them. The lower the LCD, the bigger the audience. Put another way, The LCD is inversely proportional to the size of the audience. The lower the CD, the greater the audience.
-Anon without a cute anony-name
Anonymous says
Well then I guess what everbody loves is kids in wizard school and secret societies. And vampires and zombies.
…cue joke ideas to end up in NanoRiMo about books featuring all of the above…
Pat Fogarty says
Thank Nat for taking the time to share some of your knowledge. Any advice on how to present the driving question ina short story?
Pat Fogarty
Poughkeepsiepat@aol.com
Nathan Bransford says
Scott-
My feeling on "right now" is that it's a combination of economics (literary fiction was never very profitable to start), competition with other media and a decline in the number of people willing to devote their concentration/time to an inaccessible literary novel, and a cultural pendulum swing toward democratization and accessibility away from elitism (not meant derogatorily) and the esoteric.
Jen P says
Hear hear. Thank you Nathan. Let's hear it for sausagemaking. This is one of the most useful yet simple pieces of advice I have heard in the last couple of years and consciously remind myself from time to time, to 'just write!'. I got hung up for ages because I knew I shouldn't let prepositions hang….'the book he spoke of' became 'the book of which he spoke', type of thing, to ensure my writing was 'correct'. It was awful. And slowed down the flow something dreadful. Then I just realised I needed to write a darn good story and fix the bits that got in the way later.
Jenny Tyler, Publishing Director at Usborne told me last year, "Don’t get too precious about what you’re doing. Unless it’s War and Peace, don’t forget there’s lot and lots and lots of people who want to write, and who do write, and not many of them make it.”
She meant the same thing – stop trying too hard.
Anonymous says
ha!
A high school football game between 2 arch-rivals is to be played on Halloween. As part of the festivities, one team will dress for the game as zombies, the other as vampires. Unbeknownst to the players, the head coach of each team belongs to a secret small town society called The Lions Club (oh wait, no..The Gladiators Association of York).
As gameday approaches, a dyslexic math wizard uses his iBook to hack the opposing team's playbook…
Anonymous says
"Elitism" is a great way tp put it. Because., let's face it, why should reading only be for those who can understand it because they could afford years of expensive schooling whilst not having to work? In a way, "literary" writing is a form of discrimination–it alienates those from poor backgrounds not priviledged enough to have been able to educate high enough.
swiftj777 says
… mainstream literary fiction is increasingly found at the intersection of quality and accessibility.
This is where my biggest dilemma lies… I am having the hardest time putting my book into a genre due to it's story and the breakdown of what each genre entails…
I eventually just settled in to calling it an Upper Young Adult Mainstream Literary Novel…
Then after reading this post I have no idea what that jumble of verbal diarrhea gives off to the reader and agent…
I know, let the story speak for itself, but it's hard to get someone past the query and onto the story if they have biases towards the label of the story…
I guess I said all that to say "I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!!!" HAHAHAHA…
I would love to just have people pick it up, read it, enjoy it and if they find a deeper meaning "GREAT" if they simply find a pleasurable passing of the time story "GREAT"…
JUST READ IT!!! LOVE IT!!! COME BACK FOR MORE!!!
(Yeah this is my first comment, so I don't really know the protocol just yet) hahaahha
Terry says
Ink – You truly are selfless, but I suspect you'll appreciate Laura's Pepto.
Francy says
The blog seems to have loosened up/Is someone calling me. Nate you never bothered to answer Danielle's request to read our synopsis. I know it's not what you request but I already explained that I'm too lazy to rework a query. Couldn't you bend a little/or am I being too aggressive and you have not gotten to it yet/I hope that's the case. This subject seems roughly ethereal/why does someone put themselves through the process/how defined is the commitment/can the individual writer do any thing else (serious joy of wood-working),does the person want to meet other intellectuals while they keep their day jobs. I reserved myself to be an actor/met my husband/in 1970/was getting cast primarily in soft porn/print work in "Sexology", a popular Times Square journal,at that time I was not interested in doing plays without pay/though I had the union cards/(act-the way an actor gets experience)and I didn't have the money for the required head shots and resumes/I only worked once after that in 1979 with Don Knots/a bit part. After four children and a move from Quebec to Atl.,Ga- I defined myself as a poet/serious and committed taking on the oral tradition and the competitive desire to be the strongest poet in the land/an expert/a diva/ "Qualified"/Nurtured and paid. First they threw tomatoes at me/then I evolved into a working poet/now it's my time to give back/to share what I know.
Anonymous says
"I eventually just settled in to calling it an Upper Young Adult Mainstream Literary Novel…"
dude, do yourself a favor and don't call it that. Just call it "YA" before you call it that.
Anonymous says
Harry Potter is as much a literary work of art for its theme and message as Michelangelo's Pietà is for its theme and message. Will Potter be as timeless is a matter for the future to decide. L. Frank Baum's Wizard of Oz is a timeless classic with a similar audience appeal. The rest of the Oz series, not as much.
The central Potter theme is a simple one, that of a loss of innocence, coming of age orientation conventional to young adult literature. Potter's an orphaned young person striving to forge and own his emerging adult meaning space in the absence of parental guidance. The story's message so subtle that it's subliminal, and timely: No one, not least of all adults, have all the answers, it's up to young people to forge and own their own meaning space. Same for writers. Qué el metafique.
P.A.Brown says
I always hated those classes. They ruined many a good book for me. It was a long time before I realized that the truth is, the authors of the books now seen as classics and full of themes and symbolisms and all, didn't set out to do that. They wanted to write a good story, to be enjoyed by their readers. In their day, many of them were looked down on as common, with no social status.
When I write the only thing I want to do is write something worth reading. Something that tells a story, pure and simple. And you can find all the meaning you want in it, but please, just enjoy the book.
Ink says
Susan,
I'm not holding my breath…
joelle says
This made me think about something I've come across in the acting world. Some of the best ad most uninhibited actors tend not to have studied theatre at all, but something similar. Like music or dance. And I've noticed how many writers have theatre degrees. It's kind of a joke amongst us that we couldn't get any work so we took to writing (a so much higher paid and easier profession! Haha), but I'm starting to think that all that script dissection and learning how to create characters translates well to writing without all the English Major baggage. I can pick out a theme, but I don't really care much about it!
Karen Dietrich says
Interesting post…and comments. Just saying de-lurking to say hello.