By Amy Wegner Kho
When I attended author Jeffery Deaver’s session at the Pikes Peak Writers Conference, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The title of the session intrigued me: “Writing for the Most Important Person in your Life: Your Reader,” and I was not disappointed. The small hotel meeting room was quickly filled, and a dozen people crowded around the open door to hear the lecture.
After polling his audience about their preferred flavor of toothpaste, Deaver opened the session by imparting great wisdom: “Proctor and Gamble don’t market liver flavored toothpaste because no one wants it… Novels are also consumer products. We must respect our marketplace, and we owe it to [our readers] to give them what they want.”
I laughed and took notes rapidly, struggling to keep up with his lecture, which was as well crafted, outlined, and full of details as his novels.
Deaver laid out the set of writing rules he follows, which helps him to avoid giving his audience “liver flavored toothpaste”. These rules apply to every style of writing, but with one caveat: “Everything I say can be completely wrong.”
The first rule in writing, according to Deaver, is to “Write what you read or something you enjoy reading. Readers know when you are faking it… It sucks to write, but it sustains us if we like the genre we’re working in.”
Secondly, plot and character are the two most important aspects of any book. Everything else is secondary.
Third: “Rewrite, rewrite, and rewrite,” he said. Cut out the superfluous words and descriptions.
As authors, we craft our work to satisfy both ourselves and our readers. Both are imperative to writing that sells. We don’t want to give them liver flavored toothpaste; we want entertain and inspire our readers. And in the end, even successful authors know that it’s still all about revision, and polishing that manuscript until it shines.
[Editors Note: Watch for more on Jeffery Deaver and PPWC 2009 in the upcoming issue of the NewsMag]
