BEYOND BRIEFS: Part Three

If you’re ready to dive into the world of writing fiction -- I mean commercial fiction; I’ve seen many a brief that might also qualify -- a basic decision you’ve got to make at the start is the genre in which you’re writing. Genre simply defines the type of book you’ve written. It’s important because knowing the genre sets the tone for the reader. Mentally, a reader approaches a thriller differently than a romance. From a publisher’s standpoint, it has an even bigger meaning: It determines on which shelf the book will go at the bookstore. It can even drive the publisher’s decision whether to acquire a new novel in the first place, and it certainly is important in helping you target which publishers to submit to.

Genres generally break down this way:

· Commercial fiction: Basically a broad catch-all for fiction that doesn’t fit neatly into other genres, but books for which there is a wide readership potential. Think Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code.

· Crime fiction: Stories that revolve around the crime—caper stories, for example—and are often noirish or written from the viewpoint of the criminal. Think Elmore Leonard.

· Detective fiction: Once considered a sub-genre of mystery, this features private or police detective procedurals. Think Ed McBain, James Lee Burke, Robert Crais, Robert Parker.

· Fantasy: Usually involving the same types of elements as found in old legends and folk tales, often with past or future otherworldly settings. Think Lord of the Rings. Again, I sometimes think of briefs I have read.

· Horror: A combination of fantasy and terror, usually fast-paced and often invoking the use of the supernatural. Think Stephen King, Dean Koontz.

· Literary fiction: Can fit in any or all genres, but features the written word as art. Think Joyce Carol Oates, Ayn Rand.

· Mainstream: Another catch-all, novels that don’t fit other genres but which don’t have the same wide commercial appeal as those that would fall into the commercial category. Think Alice Sebold, Wally Lamb.

· Mystery: Mystery doesn’t really have a hard and fast definition. It’s the term that used to be applied to detective stories, but now seems to have a broader definition. At its most basic, it involves the solving of a crime by uncovering clues, ultimately leading to the unknown criminal. There are cozies, which usually involve an amateur sleuth and are somewhat milder in tone, language, and action, and hard-boiled, which usually involve a private eye or police detective and which tend to be more graphic in terms of violence, sex, and language. Think Sue Grafton, Agatha Christie, Mary Higgins Clark.

· Romance: Love stories, often formulaic, that can take on a number of sub-genres: historical romance, time travel romance, romantic suspense, Victorian romance, etc. Think Nora Roberts, Johanna Lindsey.

· Science fiction: This involves fiction arising out of the use of science or technology, often set in the future. Think Michael Crichton.

· Suspense: This crosses a broad range of genres, but always involves creating and maintaining suspense. Think Alfred Hitchcock.

· Thriller: Sometimes viewed as a sub-category of mystery or a hybrid of suspense, thrillers often involve a hunt or chase, usually with the protagonist or someone close to the protagonist placed in jeopardy. They can involve espionage, international intrigue, the medical or legal fields—or just about any other. The idea is that, where the mystery creates uncertainly and suspense, the thriller creates…well, thrills. Think Thomas Harris (Silence of the Lambs), James Patterson, John Grisham.

· Western: Tales of the old west, usually post-Civil War, and extending even into the early 1900s. Think Louis L’Amour, Zane Grey, Elmer Kelton.

· Women’s Fiction: A broad catch-all for books that largely appeal to women readers, but don’t fit into the romance category. They often feature strong female characters and are often told from a female point of view. Think Danielle Steele, Nicholas Sparks.


Mike Farris

(214) 979-0100

mfarris@tiptonjoneslaw.com

BEYOND BRIEFS

Over the years, I’ve heard from a lot of lawyers who want to write. Goodness knows plenty have made the successful transition: John Grisham, Scott Turow, James Grippando, Steve Martini -- and the list goes on. So this is for all you lawyers out there who want to tap into that storytelling urge buried deep in your soul.

Let’s start with this inquiry for starters: Why do you want to write?

That seems like a pretty basic question, but it’s one you really need to answer before you get started. After all, you’ve poured three precious years of your life into law school -- too late to get it back now -- and embarked on a noble legal career. An esteemed member of society, you are “Lawyer,” successful in your chosen profession, respected by your peers, king of all you survey. So why would you want to chase after a writing career? One that is sure to frustrate you; one in which success is never guaranteed but, rather, chances are huge that you will fail in the ultimate goal of either being a published novelist or produced screenwriter.

That’s right, chances are good that you’ll never be published or produced. Truth be told, chances are good you may never finish writing the great American novel or completing that screenplay. You might even have better chances of success if you were to enter the space program with aspirations of becoming a space shuttle astronaut.

So let me repeat the question: Why do you want to write?

There are probably as many motivations for you to write as there are lawyers writing, but I suspect most of them can be boiled down into several broad categories. For some of you, a writing career may offer an opportunity to leave the practice of law, to simply walk away from billable hours, depositions, contentious partners meetings, cranky judges, uncooperative clients, and opposing counsel from the pits of hell. Yeah, staying at home, controlling your own time -- and not keeping track of those hours -- while hunched over your computer, spinning yarns, holds great appeal.

For others, it may all be about ego. Go figure -- a lawyer with an ego. You want to see your name on the cover of books in the bookstore, your smiling face peering out from the photo on the book jacket, or your name splashed in huge letters across a silver screen. If that’s your motivation, my advice is to keep practicing law. Believe me when I say that law practice will better fuel the fires of your ego than will writing. If you don’t believe me, just wait until you have enough rejection letters from agents, publishers, and producers to paper the walls of your house. And your second house at the beach. And your kids’ dorm rooms.

Yeah, writing can be an experience in ego-shattering humility.

Some of you want to get rich. Three and four and five hundred dollars an hour, or forty-percent contingencies, just doesn’t seem to be getting you there. You see some author’s name in Forbes Magazine and say to yourself, “Yeah, I could live on thirty million dollars a year.” Or you read about the latest spec screenplay sale for three million dollars and figure that’s not a bad return on 110 pages. If you’re in this to get rich, I’ve got advice for you as well: Buy a lottery ticket; your chances of untold wealth by winning the lottery are better.

But some of you may feel you have a story to tell. It’s been rattling around in your head for years, monopolizing valuable brain cells, distracting you from your law practice, your family, your friends. You’ve got to get it out of your head and down on paper. If someone buys it, that’s just gravy; the reward for you will be in the writing. If that’s your motivation, then go for it.

Mike Farris

(214) 979-0100

mfarris@tiptonjoneslaw.com