Questions from an aspiring writer

The other day I got a note from a young man about to graduate from college and thinking about writing. He gave me permission to reply here:

"At the moment I am looking into writing historical fiction in the footsteps of G. Orwell, A. Huxley, and A. Rand. In the wake of financial meltdown and the disturbing political frenzies which have reached fevered pitches (screaming "You lie!" at the President comes to mind...) the attention drawn to dystopians has been considerable; the resurgence in popularity of Atlas Shrugs  is a testament to the genre's appeal. 

"Could you point me in the right direction about agents, publishing houses, and perhaps inform me about online self-publishing? How does a first-time writer break into the business? Where could I go to research agents? Does one write the whole book and then seek an agent or only a chapter to see if it's worth the while?"

Digging around on this site with the Google Search function could answer many of your questions, and you may also want to explore my do-it-yourself fiction course, Write a Novel. But I'm glad to try to respond directly.

First, be clear about you mean by "dystopias." They're not "historical fiction," though some have made history. Yes, Huxley, Orwell, and Rand all wrote them (I think her early work is more classically dystopian than Atlas Shrugged). I suspect they were all influenced by Yevgeni Zamyatin's 1920s dystopia, We. 

But they were writing from very different positions, with very different ideas of what makes a good and bad society.

They were also working half a century or more ago, in a very different world from today's. A writer setting out in this genre would first have to read their antecedents: Sir Thomas More's original Utopia, Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, and a host of others. Getting some grounding in critical theory would help too: Northrop Frye's Anatomy of Criticism taught me a great deal about dystopias in particular and science fiction in general.

Of course plenty of people are still cranking out standard SF about awful societies whose follies throw light on our own; the dystopia is a form of satire, after all. 

But it's a very tough genre for someone just launching a writing career. Mass market publishers find dystopias don't sell terribly well. An established mainstream author like Margaret Atwood is more likely to make a splash with something like The Handmaid's Tale or Oryx and Crake. And of course Cormac McCarthy's The Road is another example. (Much as I dislike it on technical literary grounds, The Road sticks in my thoughts.)

Bear in mind also that a good dystopia reflects its audience's current anxieties about social stability and threats against it. A really good dystopia gets deeper, into aspects of human nature (and human stupidity) that no one can remedy. That's why More and Swift are still relevant.

Of course, if you're writing to attack irremediable problems, why bother? And if you're attacking only the bogeyman of the moment, you'll soon be dated and forgotten.

I'm not saying don't write dystopias; just know what you're getting yourself into. And be aware that most novels have essentially no effect on the social issues they dramatize. One or two, like Bellamy's Looking Backward, actually inspired political movements to carry out their utopian programs. But even Atlas Shrugged, for all its continued sales, has made no perceptible dent in the American society it criticizes--however much it may have enriched Ayn Rand's estate.

To answer your practical questions: Write the whole novel, if only to prove you're capable of more than a few sample chapters. Research publishers' websites to see which (if any) are still considering submissions from writers without agents. Google "literary agents" and you'll find many lists of them, and detailed advice on finding one.

Online self-publishing is dead easy: start a free blog and post your chapters. Or pay some publication-on-demand house to design, typeset, and store your book on its servers, awaiting readers. But you're not likely, as an unknown novelist, to draw much attention.

My mentor Dalton Trumbo spent a decade or so working the night shift in a Los Angeles bakery while he wrote six novels and over 80 short stories. Finally he sold a short story (now an impossible market), and one thing led to another until he was one of the highest-paid writers in the world. He then became one of the most blacklisted writers in the world, but that's another story.

The money really shouldn't enter into it. Once, walking my dogs, I found a ten-dollar bill on the street. Never before or since. But the lack of ten-dollar bills doesn't make me a failure as a dog-walker; the dogs are happy, I get some exercise, and all is well. Writing should be the same: something you do because it's good exercise, forms interesting connections between brain cells, and gives you something to do besides watch TV and surf the blogosphere. If someone actually pays you for what you write, that's just luck.

Cheers,

Crawford

Comments

[Dan Poynter]

Crawford,

Welcome to book writing and publishing.
See the free
InfoKits. Detailed information on book writing, production and promotion.
http://parapublishing.com/sites/para/resources/infokit.cfm

[Sarah Allen]

Thanks for this great reality check :-) Being a writer is tough. But it is so absolutely worth it. I loved the analogy of walking the dogs. I have my own creative writing blog (http://fromsarahwithjoy.blogspot.com/) and I get wonderful tips from you!