October Murder with McBain
ReadersRoom: Good morning, Evan, and welcome to the November issue of Murder with McBain at ReadersRoom.com.
Ed McBain: Great to be here again!
ReadersRoom: Before we start, I understand congratulations are in order. Your wife, Dragica, has become a citizen of the United States.
Ed McBain: On October 16th, yes indeed!
ReadersRoom: Congratulations, Evan!
Ed McBain: Thanks. We're both proud as can be.
ReadersRoom: Okay, now, are you ready for this month's topic?
Ed McBain: Yep.
ReadersRoom: This month's topic is from Dan "Skinny" Melendez, and reads: "I'm a writer myself (unpublished, alas), and I would really like to read a discussion with you about the "how to's" of writing. Do stories ever just die on you? Do you ever start something, put it away for a few months, or years, and then go back to it? When do you know a book is "there", and -- conversely - when do you know a book just isn't going to get "there". Finally, are there any tools or "tricks" of the craft that you can impart to a starving artist?" And there we have it -- tools of the writing trade.
Ed McBain: Let's take these one at a time before I faint.
ReadersRoom: Beginning with "do stories ever just die on you?"
Ed McBain: Do stories ever just die on me? Rarely. If they're going to do that, I hope they do it early on, before I'm well into them. I once got 100 pages into a novel titled S.P.Q.R., about a screenwriter doing a script on the Roman Empire. Dropped dead on me, so I put it aside. Never went back to it. You usually know early on if a story or a novel is going to come to life. It's best to let it lead you and see where it will take you. Usually, it will let you know if there's anything there or not.
ReadersRoom: So, that would answer the second part of the question -- do you ever start something, put it away for months or years, and then go back to it? You never find yourself picking up something you started before and then abandoned?
Ed McBain: I've written the Great American Novel ha....
ReadersRoom: I thought Philip Roth wrote that!
Ed McBain: ...that I keep going back to, and back to, and back to, and I haven't got it right yet. One of these days I'll crack it ... meanwhile, it's a continuing challenge...
ReadersRoom: It is hard to start something and then let it go.
Ed McBain: Like throwing your own baby in the river.
ReadersRoom: How long have you been working on it?
Ed McBain: This one I finished, actually finished. And yet it's not finished because it's not right, it doesn't WORK. Those are key words for an aspiring writer. DOES IT WORK? You will know if it's working. It will ring true. To go back to the original question, I quit something when it isn't WORKING.
ReadersRoom: Following up on the idea of what WORKS, let's go back to your first 87th Precinct Novel, Cop Hater. Was there a point when you were working on that novel that you said to yourself: "This is it -- this is the franchise?"
Ed McBain: It was a franchise to begin with. I had a contract to write three realistic novels about cops. The title Cop Hater was sort of ironic, in that no one really likes cops.
ReadersRoom: And yet we are totally fascinated with cops. Look at all the novels and television shows and movies ABOUT cops.
Ed McBain: They represent civilization. A body of law upon which we premise our daily lives. Without law, there is anarchy.
ReadersRoom: Let's go back to your comment, Evan, on the key words for an aspiring writer -- DOES IT WORK? I have talked to many an unpublished author who felt their book really DID work. But multiple agents and editors said no. What advice would you give them about knowing who to believe? Should they trust their own instincts about it working, or listen to the industry professionals?
Ed McBain: Trust the pros. Oh, I know, Catch-22 was seen by a thousand publishers before Simon and Schuster took it on, but those instances are rare. One thing you can count on -- a publisher knows what he wants, and if your book doesn't do it for him, forget it. I papered an entire small bathroom with rejection slips before I decided to STUDY THE MARKET and see what these people were publishing.
ReadersRoom: Studying the market is excellent advice. Evan, how has the publishing world changed since you were first published?
Ed McBain: I once wrote a magazine article that was never published, titledThe Pulps Are Dead Long Live the Pulps! Its premise was that publishers are really publishing the sort of stuff that used to be in the pulp magazines, except that now they sell zillions of copies! I think publishing standards have sunk to an abysmal low. Having said that, here's another tip for the beginning writer. Never think MY STUFF IS TOO GOOD FOR THEM. Chances are, it isn't.
ReadersRoom: Why do you feel this has happened?.
Ed McBain: I think the big conglomerates have taken over publishing, and they're interested in the big buck, and so the smaller book, the so-called 'mid-list' book, hasn't got a chance.
ReadersRoom: If I could return back to your series work for a moment, I know you are currently working on Hark!, the next 87th Precinct novel.
Ed McBain: Having a ball with it.
ReadersRoom: Have your writing processes changed at all since you first did Cop Hater almost fifty years ago?
Ed McBain: My how the time does fly when you're having a good time! But to answer... I still work from ten in the morning to six at night, five days a week. I still start with a title -- it keeps me focused throughout. I still jump right in to see what will happen, no outline. I write maybe 10-12 pages to get the feel of it, then write a talky outline to myself. With some books, as with Hark!, because the Deaf Man is such a complex character, I'll do an elaborate outline from minute one. But an outline is never sacrosanct. Otherwise, it becomes TYPING rather than writing. I always let the characters go where they want to go. That's another way to know that something is WORKING. The characters come alive. They are no longer yours, they are their OWN living breathing people. You know... I hope writing is FUN for all of you out there. If it isn't, then dig a ditch or plant a row of corn, but don't work at something that is painful for you. All right, Evan, come up for air!
ReadersRoom:Very good advice, though, Evan. And sticking with the series work for a moment and particularly the recurring characters -- since there are so many of them, I have to ask, how do you keep them all straight?
Ed McBain: Who says I do? But to answer ... I made a dossier when I first started the series. I never refer to it anymore because I know the characters so well -- although they do continue to surprise me, which is part of the fun.
ReadersRoom: Evan, you spoke of loving your characters, but often you have to kill them off. Is this hard for you to do?
Ed McBain: Easy come, easy go. Depends on who's getting killed. I don't like to see good guys go, but the series is supposed to be realistic and cops do die.
ReadersRoom: Have you ever had a character take over when they were supposed to be minor? Letting them "run the show" as you do?
Ed McBain: Oh yes. Fat Ollie Weeks is the prime example of that.
ReadersRoom:You didn't intend Ollie to be as ... er ... big as he has become in your books?
Ed McBain: Ha! I think in his first appearance he was truly obnoxious -- if one can imagine that. He's mellowed a bit over the years. Wait till you see him in The Frumious Bandersnatch!
ReadersRoom: I am wondering if there are any differences from how you approach the series work to how you approach the stand-alone novels you write as Evan Hunter?
Ed McBain: Very different. The series voice is always the same. The Hunter voice changes according to theme. The narrator of Last Summer could hardly be the narrator of The Chisolms or Lizzie. By the way, it infuriates me when I see an Evan Hunter novel in the mystery section of a bookstore.
ReadersRoom: So you need to put yourself in a different mind set for the stand alones.
Ed McBain: I have to find a new voice for each Evan Hunter novel. Takes maybe 50 pages or so to get the feel of it, to see if it will WORK. There's that word again.
ReadersRoom: Evan, if you could give struggling writers ONE piece of advice, and only one piece, what would it be?
Ed McBain: Write with your head and your heart. Your head to keep it on track, your heart to keep it true. And don't give up. Rejection slips make good wallpaper.
ReadersRoom: Okay Evan, this has been both fun and enlightening, and I think old Skinny got his money's worth out of his question!
Ed McBain: I hope he's put on a little weight.
ReadersRoom: Looking forward to next month, we discussed the idea of doing something of a free-for-all as far as questions are concerned.
Ed McBain: Our Christmas party!
ReadersRoom: As Fat Ollie would say: "Ah yes". Anything and everything is fair game, correct?
Ed McBain: Yep. A shooting gallery.
ReadersRoom: All right then Evan, thank you for another fascinating Murder with McBain -- and we shall see you next month!
Ed McBain: Thanks for all those good questions. See you when the frost is on the pumpkin.
Copyright 2003 by ReadersRoom, LLC. All rights reserved.
