| Best sellers take creativity and compromise, says acclaimed author BY MATT GETTY
Photo by Bill Petros
Keith Donohue, author of The Stolen Child |
Best-selling author Keith Donohue offered AU students and local writers some tips on vaulting from obscurity to literary fame at a recent “Business of Fiction Writing” conference cosponsored by the MFA in Creative Writing Program. According to Donohue, whose debut novel, The Stolen Child, earned rave reviews and cracked the top-30 on the New York Times best-seller list last spring, the secret is equal parts creativity and compromise. When it comes to writing a novel, Donohue said, authors should pay no mind to the literary market. “I think it’s a fool’s errand to pursue some preconceived notion of what might be successful in the marketplace,” he explained. “I don’t know the first thing about consciously writing a best seller and would advise against trying to do such a thing.” The Stolen Child, which tells the tale of a boy kidnaped by fairies, Donohue said, wasn’t written as an attempt to cash in on the recent popularity of fantasy novels. In fact, he admitted, it wasn’t even written as a fantasy novel. “It just seemed the best way to get at the story I wanted to tell, which had to do with the doubleness of life—how we all grow up and yet remain in some sense the child we once were, and how from time to time that child . . . comes back to visit us,” he explained. Once you’ve written the novel, said Donohue, finding an agent and a publisher takes stubbornness. Before it was published to those rave reviews, he revealed, his book was rejected by 30 agents, 20 of whom declined to even read the manuscript. “It took me two years [to find an agent],” he explained. “And I was about ready to abandon the effort.” According to Donohue, signing with an agent is the point where fiction writing turns from art to business. While creativity ruled earlier in the process, he explained, compromise is now king. When an agent finally called to say he loved the novel and wanted to represent it, he added that he had “just a few suggestions.” A week later, said Donohue, those suggestions arrived in the mail in the form of a five-page letter proposing “major structural changes.” Rather than balking at such feedback, said Donohue, writers should embrace it. “Be prepared to acknowledge that the story you thought was perfect is far from ready for publication,” he said. “This is the place where art collides with commerce.” In the case of The Stolen Child, he added, the collaboration and compromise continued even once it was accepted by a publisher. “[The publisher] will tell you this is your book, it’s your choice, your decision, and then they’ll ask you to get rid of a major character or plot device,” he said. “Take this as an opportunity to become a better writer. Listen, choose. Some of the best scenes in The Stolen Child were added after I thought it was completely finished . . . My favorite parts of the book were added after the agent and after the editor.” In addition to Donohue’s talk, the “Business of Fiction Writing” conference, which was also cosponsored by Washington Independent Writers, held panel discussions with editors, agents, and other authors offering advice on breaking into print. Though business ruled much of the day, speakers often stressed that the first order of business for any writer is the craft of writing itself. As Donohue put it at the close of his keynote address, “The real business of fiction writing is achieved through your love of the word and your desire to tell the story.” |
