Idea to Novel - Guest Blogger Rick Acker

I asked some writer friends of mine to share their process of taking an idea and turning it into a novel. Everyone is different, and has a different process, but one thing all novelists have in common is lots of ideas running around our brains. How do we weed out the merely interesting in order to nurture the truly compelling?

Rick Acker is here today to share a bit of his process. He's the author of Blood Brothers and Dead Man's Rule. Rick has been on the blog before, and he and I had a chance to yak and break bread at Mount Hermon this past April. It was great to get to know him a bit better - for a guy who works for the justice department, he wasn't the least big scary! You can find out lots more about him and his books at his web site.

Rick Acker writes while commuting to

and from his "real job" as a Deputy Attorney General in the California Department of Justice. He is the author of four published suspense novels and has a fifth under contract. Only one of his story ideas has failed to sell after reaching the proposal stage, though lots have died before then.

Story creation is (for me anyway) a lot like pearl creation for an oyster. It starts off with an irritating little idea in the back of my head that won't go away. If it doesn't get rejected during the process of adding layers to it, it eventually becomes a book. Here's how that layering process works:

Story summary. I try writing up a short informal synopsis of the plot. This is short--roughly 300-500 words. If I can't turn it into something that "sings," I know it's probably a dud and I drop it.

Partner review. Next I find out whether my idea sings to my wife and writing partner, Anette. Anette has a very good eye for stories that work--and those that don't. She's also perfectly willing to "speak the truth in love" when an idea doesn't

quite make the cut, which is absolutely invaluable. But if she likes the story, I know

I've got something worth taking to the next step.

Agent review. If Anette likes my idea, I turn the synopsis into something longer (ca. 1-2 thousand words) and more formal. I also do a little market research to make sure the story I'm proposing hasn't already been written. Then I send it to my agent. He'll let me know whether he thinks I've got a "big book" idea--one that's not just publishable, but has a "wow" element that will make it stand out from the rest of the market.

Proposal. The final layer (short of actually writing the book) is creating the proposal. If the story still looks like a "big book" after two or three sample chapters and a marketing analysis, my agent starts pitching it to publishing houses.

BTW, fewer than 1 in 10 ideas make it all the way through this process and wind up as proposals. But well over half of the proposals sell.

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Fewer than one in ten? Gak! That gives us an idea of how many ideas are swimming around that brain of yours, Rick. And this post gives all of us a window on the need for outside perspective for our ideas. Writers can lose perspective easily - we can get lost in the possibilities and swim in our ideas believing they are vast as the ocean when in fact, we are splashing in the kiddie pool. Having a team of bright minds around us help us see the larger landscape by asking questions and forcing us to focus on the aspects of the idea that simply won't work - or are too shallow or short to carry a novel.

Thanks Rick!

I bid you good writing.

The Tenacity Interviews - Rick Acker

Rick Acker writes his novels while commuting to and from his "real job" as a Deputy Attorney General in the California Department of Justice. His most recent novel, Blood Brothers, is an intense sequel to the legal thriller Dead Man's Rule. Christy award-winning author Randy Ingermanson calls Blood Brothers "an excellent legal suspense novel, with a strong biotech backdrop. It reminded me of Michael Crichton's latest novel, Next, except that Blood Brothers is better." Rick is also the author of the well reviewed Davis Detective Mysteries, a series of adventure/mystery novels for "tweens."

Rick is a transplanted Chicagoan who spent thirty-five years in the Midwest before finally trading the certainty of winter and mosquitoes for the risk of earthquakes. He now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, Anette, their four children, and two cats.

1) How long have you been writing?
Seventeen years, and I’ve been published for six.

2) Why didn’t you just throw your hands in the air and say “forget it!”
Oh, I did. More than once. But then I’d start writing again a few months later. I discovered that I loved storytelling more than I hated rejection.

3) Which personal strengths did you use to remain tenacious in your quest to be published?
Keeping things in perspective. Getting published was a major goal for me, of course, but it wasn’t the only reason I wrote. If my friends and family genuinely enjoyed one of my stories, I viewed it as a success even if it was turned down by every publisher in the English-speaking world.

4) Is tenacity something you learned along the way? Or does it come naturally to you?
My mom tells me I’ve been tenacious since birth, though she has a different word for it. ;-)

5) There is a difference between tenacity and being “bull-headed”. How have you been able to move your dream forward without turning agents/editors off?
By listening to them and taking their advice. It’s tenacious to keep coming back to an editor or agent who says no. It’s bull-headed to keep coming back to them with the same types of stories they’ve told you they don’t want.

6) Has your dream changed at all? Grown bigger? Smaller?
Well, my original dream was to publish a novel and I’ve published four now, so I suppose my dreams have gotten bigger. I still get a thrill out of holding a finished book in my hands for first time or getting an enthusiastic review, though. That never, ever gets old.

7) What encouragement do you have for a writer who just received a “no” from a publisher?
1. Don’t take it personally. The publisher said “no” to this specific proposal, not you as a writer.
2. Do learn from it. If you’re at a writers’ conference, you can often schedule a time to meet with the acquisitions editor who turned down your book. Do it, and have some nonargumentative questions ready (e.g., “What were the strong and weak points in my proposal?” or “What should I try to do differently in my next book?” not “Why didn’t you understand the insightful allegory in my story?”)
3. Don’t give up. Few novelists sell their first manuscripts, and those that do generally have had to go through several rounds of painful edits first.
4. Do get better. Read good “how to write” books, join a critique group, go to writing conferences. And above all keep writing. Writing is like playing the violin: It may not be pretty when you start, but with practice and good teaching you’ll make beautiful music someday.

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I have a feeling many of us will be printing out those four points of encouragement. Thanks so much, Rick!

I bid you all - good writing