David Morrell's Lessons From a Lifetime of Writing: A Novelist Looks at His Craft

If the author's name in the title didn't resonate with you, how about "Rambo"?

I thought it would.  Morrell wrote the initial Rambo book--his debut, BTW--that became movies that later became a book (read Lessons to understand that loop!).

In fact, because of his imagination immortalized on paper, " . . . Rambo went on to become so great a part of global popular culture that the character's name was listed as a new word in the Oxford English Dictionary" (p.214).

That's one of my aspirations.  To have my characters live on, born in fiction yet alive, become viral, known worldwide.  Like Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy.  Like Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler.  Like Eve Dallas and Roarke.  Like Stephanie Plum and Joe Morelli.

Anyway, back to the book which is the subject of this post:  David Morrell's  Lessons From a Lifetime of Writing:  A Novelist Looks at His Craft.

I reread this one from my at-home library--just finished it yesterday.  It is definitely a keeper.  I first read it 07.15.08 (I mark same on the inside), underlining the great points.  There is a lot of underlining going on.  This time, I'm gonna type up my notes (all those underlined parts) for a great overview for my personal use, from which I will create another version wherein I distill it down to the top ten (or one hundred) salient points.  That then gets printed and added to my Writing Gems/Cheatsheets notebook I'm compiling.

Since you can preview the TOC online, I will list the chapters here.

First Day of Class
Lesson One:  Why Do You Want to Be a Writer?
Lesson Two:  Getting Focused
Lesson Three:  Plot
Lesson Four:  Character
Lesson Five:  The Importance of Research
Lesson Six:  The Tactics of Structure
Lesson Seven:  A Matter of Viewpoint
Lesson Eight:  The First Person
Lesson Nine:  The First Page
Lesson Ten:  The Psychology of Description
Lesson Eleven:  What Not to Do in Dialogue
Lesson Twelve:  Dealing With Writer's Block
Lesson Thirteen:  Getting Published and the Business of Writing
Lesson Fourteen:  Rambo and the Movies
Lesson Fifteen:  Questions I'm Often Asked
Last Day of Class

As you can see, Morrell structured the book as if teaching a class, which he is.  I was struck by his bald honesty and his humor and his self-deprecating admissions, usually prefaced with "Just to show you how humble I am, . . .".  He's very amusing in print.

While all his material is worthy of a full read or three, I especially liked those dealing with the behind-the-scenes writing life, "secret" details in book publishing and movie production, but above all the more psychological topics:  "Why Do You Want to Be a Writer?" followed by "Getting Focused" and "The Psychology of Description."

Without giving away his copyrighted material, he does confirm what we authors should already know:  hooks, concrete nouns, active verbs, fresh writing, fact-checking via valid research or experts.

We may be writing fiction, but the components still have to be true.

I'm not sure if he knew it when he wrote and published this book in 2002, but he makes good arguments for going Indie without ever directly discussing it.  Maybe I'm just finding it with my all-Indie mentality.  But it is there, nonetheless.

So, if you want another great book on writing, I'm recommending this one.

Denise Barker, author + freelance copy editor + blogger

Good Ole Boys, a love story at http://amzn.to/GoodOleBoys

http://bit.ly/BNGoodOleBoys

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/168444 (Good Ole Boys)

http://amzn.to/CopyeditingChecklist

http://amzn.to/WordsRuleTheWorldQuotes

http://amzn.to/BeforeYouIndiePublish

http://amzn.to/QuitYourCurrentDayJob
http://amzn.to/HowToIndiePublish

Smashwords, More Thoughts

Both of my e-books are still pending review for Premium Catalog status.  Even being live less than fifteen hours, my two offerings (one fiction, one nonfiction) have already made a few sales.  That's great!  I cannot tell which version is being bought each time.  I'll figure it out and let you know.

Also, Smashwords sends an email notification with each purchase.  Gotta love that.

For all the newbie Indie authors out there, get your novels uploaded.  It may not be officially summer as June 20 is still over two weeks away, but it is "vacation time" once Memorial Day weekend comes--that's the unofficial beginning of summer.

Kids are out from school.  People are reading by the beach or at the airport on the way to the beach.  Vacation time reading has commenced.

So take advantage of that and put up your books.  I know the first time (and the fifteenth) can be scary (fear of failure, fear of criticism, fear of ridicule, even fear of success) but keep these thoughts in mind:

1.  Nobody reaches all readers (music lovers, foodies, whatever the category).  Not Stephen King.  Not Nora Roberts.  Not Stephenie Meyer.  Not J.K. Rowling.  Not Suzanne Collins.  We aren't meant to.  We reach the readers we're supposed to.  True confession:  I was never into the Beatles.  I may be the sole member of that club.  It wasn't that I hated their music. I was not a fan.  Sacrilege, right?  Sorry.  Just like this blog.  Sometimes I wonder why I'm nudged into writing a particular post.  Maybe it is just for me.  Even if it was only for one other person out there--someone who "got it" and maybe was no longer depressed or was now encouraged to follow their heart--then I'm happy.

2.  Don't read reviews.  Good or bad.  It is just one person's thoughts per review.  Kind of like one acquisitions editor at a publishing house reading one submission and then one committee determining the minds of millions of readers out there.  Just cannot be done.  First, we're all human and have great days and not-so-wonderful ones which color our mood, our perception of things.  Second, there's that insightful quote from an episode of Northern Exposure where Ed is telling Ruth-Anne that the good reviews can give us writer's block just like the bad.  Remember, you write because it is in you.  A story to be told that needs to be let free.  Some will receive it.  Some won't.  They need other stories by other authors.  And that is fine by me.

3.  I was watching One for the Money again yesterday and I was struck with how the Stephanie Plum character faces all those fears mentioned above.  She gets laughed at.  She "fails."  Her self-confidence or her perseverance or her survival instinct or her emotionally charged emotions or all of the above remain intact while she is making fun of herself on top of all the other jokes and comments and brushes with crimes and criminals.  She keeps at it--with no overblown ego thrown in.  Even with a background in lingerie sales, she does what the (overly?) seasoned Morty Beyers cannot do.  She gets Joe Morelli and the $50,000 bounty fee at the end.

Maybe a life lesson there, huh?

Have a wonderful week, everyone!

Denise Barker, author + freelance copy editor + blogger

Good Ole Boys, a love story at http://amzn.to/GoodOleBoys

http://bit.ly/BNGoodOleBoys

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/168444 (Good Ole Boys)

http://amzn.to/CopyeditingChecklist

http://amzn.to/WordsRuleTheWorldQuotes

http://amzn.to/BeforeYouIndiePublish

http://amzn.to/QuitYourCurrentDayJob
http://amzn.to/HowToIndiePublish