Over the weekend, I read “101 Slightly Unpredictable Tips for Novelists and Screenwriters” by Larry Brooks, an accomplished novelist and writing teacher. This book describes itself as, “Innovative Ways to Jack Your Creative Productivity and Sell What you Write.” It retails for about $20.

Reading the book has given me thoughts on how to improve my copywriting, but also ways in which my copywriting methods may help me as a novelist. This realization led me to believe that maybe I can write that novel after all. Bear with me as I explain.

A Little Background:

I have dreamed of a writing career since age 13, but having no understanding of how to go about it and no self-confidence with which to steer my actions, those dreams languished. Still, life has been steering me back towards my dream slowly and progressively. Long story short, at age 36, I was laid off, made a go of it as a writer and here I am telling you all about it. I succeeded, but…

Writing how-to articles, sales copy and email marketing campaigns was not exactly what I had in mind back then. So when I dove into these tips, I was of two minds: the would-be fiction writer, hungry to understand how it is done, and an accomplished copywriter seeking tips and tricks to improve my writing. Both minds were satisfied by this book.

What to Expect

Larry will make you laugh, he may even scare you a little, but he will tell you the way it is. You see, many writing teachers are simply aspiring writers who never made it. Because Larry is both published author and teacher, he understands how to craft a novel and get it published.

I have read many books on how to write and most of them do not actually help you produce anything marketable. Such books are big on theory and short on practical advice. Instead, Larry gives it to you straight; just succinct discussion of what works, with simple examples from books and movies you already know. Larry assumes you are already a competent writer and provides tips on what it takes to be a published one.

Complaints

First off, no book is perfect and some things stuck in my craw. It bugged me when Larry plugged his upcoming book, but I guess it served its purpose; I am dying to read the book.

I also found one or two of the tips slightly repetitive, rather than slightly unpredictable. I guess I can forgive him this. He presented those tips a little differently each time, perhaps to drive his point home. Sometimes you have to hit people over the head with an idea before they get it. I am not one of those people and once would have been sufficient for me.

Enough of my whining; let us get on to the good stuff.

Something Wonderful

But here’s the thing: As you read through these short chapters, the logic of his arguments are inescapable. He gets it. The tips make sense for any writer.

Then one of his tips connects with an old frustration, a difficulty that you could never defeat. This tip works on you, burning a hole in the back of your brain. You start to work out how that old story idea, sitting dusty in your skull, might be cleaned up and made to work.

For me it was tip #87, “The ending of your story needs to be all about the reader’s emotions.” In this tip, he says, “The best endings are planned, or discovered early in the story development process…Whatever your ending, the key question you must ask – and answer – is this: what is my reader feeling as they experience this conclusion?” Then the spot on Jupiter started to grow and fill with monoliths.

Resurrecting the Dead

An old story idea, an image in my mind that always bubbles up and calls to me, reemerged. I began to consider the question, “what if?” I thought, “That image can be my ending. I do not have to start from the beginning; but if I start at the end, how do I get to the beginning? How could that happen believably?” I see the arc of the character and begin to wonder how to make a reader care about my hero.

Larry brought up these tenets of story structure throughout the book. In one shining moment, they all came together. I began to ask questions that led to answers and finally a story outline. This all came together effortlessly and it felt like MAGIC. It makes me hungry for his next book to see how I can put this all together.

What does that have to do With It?

Here is how this idea of starting at the end and working backwards applies to copywriting. If you start with your conclusion, the point you want to make, you can work backwards to reach your introduction.
In my articles, I usually do some research, looking up about 10 articles on my topic, then copying and pasting them into a word document. I then go through it all, deleting the junk that does not appeal to me or does not really help explain the topic. Then, I save it, close it and walk away.

Let it Stew

The research done, I let all this information churn in my brain. Eventually an idea arises. It may be a metaphor, a question or a difficulty involved with the subject matter that I would like to explore further. On that last item, I may need to do a little more research before I come up with my final point.

Walking Backwards

Now my metaphor, question for society or my point in how to fix a problem is the end that I am reaching for. Point by point, I work backwards from my ending to arrive at my introduction, with reference materials contained in one convenient document.

The realization that working backwards can help me in fiction as well as copywriting has gotten me excited about creative writing again. I do not know if Larry’s book will give you that same “ah-ha!” moment, but I hope it does. At the very least, let this tip help you in your copywriting.