Writing advice from Nora Roberts

[someoneyouknow]

I was listening to NPR who was interviewing Nora Roberts. They went over when she started to write (1979), why (snowstorm) and so on. In the interview she was asked, "Do you ever get writer's block?" This is her response:

I don't let myself believe in it. I feel very strongly writing is habit as much as an art or a craft. And if you write crap you're still writing. And you can fix that. But if you walk away then you've broken the habit.

http://www.npr.org/2017/02/18/515781132/not-my-job-author-nora-roberts-aka-jd-robb-gets-quizzed-on-j-d-salinger

 

[sr71plt]

One of Nora Roberts's secrets is to always have a new book out--and in her case the new book is always on the New York Times best-seller list, so that helps her repeat sales a lot and leads to another one of her secrets--know how to tap into a large audience that buys and reads.

 

[SamScribble]

I've been trying to read a Nora Roberts novel for the best part of a year. But then maybe she doesn't enjoy my stuff either. And I'm pretty sure I know which one of us gets the larger royalties cheques.

 

[sr71plt]

I don't have any record of reading a Nora Roberts book either. Astonishingly enough that hasn't prevented her from becoming a best-selling author.

 

[SamScribble]

I don't have any record of reading a Nora Roberts book either. Astonishingly enough that hasn't prevented her from becoming a best-selling author.

I wonder if she goes to bed worrying about us, Pilot.

 

[sr71plt]

I wonder if she goes to bed worrying about us, Pilot.

Well, she plays on Internet discussion boards, so I'm sure she's mulling that question now.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

I read few female writers, and discard most of the few I like. God knows I tried to cultivate a taste for them but all are crazy, frustrated, and angry. Females are no slaves to logic and reason.

 

[Green_Knight]

I don't have any record of reading a Nora Roberts book either. Astonishingly enough that hasn't prevented her from becoming a best-selling author.

Never even heard of her and I certainly don't remember seeing any of her books on the shelves. Over here, with a name like that, she's going to get confused with Nora Batty, which won't do her image a lot of good.

Why does the thought come to mind of those artists of times past who had a studio full of assistants, churning out paintings so that all the master had to do was add a few finishing flourishes? Or maybe, as she was quoted earlier, when she gets writer's block, she writes crap and she's got a very good team of editors.

 

[someoneyouknow]

Why does the thought come to mind of those artists of times past who had a studio full of assistants, churning out paintings so that all the master had to do was add a few finishing flourishes? Or maybe, as she was quoted earlier, when she gets writer's block, she writes crap and she's got a very good team of editors.

That is what Patterson has become. He's involved with 3-4 different series yet somehow manages to put out, it seems, two news books every year.

As a side note, Sinclair Lewis wrote It Couldn't Happen Here between May and October and had the book published that same year.

 

[Green_Knight]

That is what Patterson has become. He's involved with 3-4 different series yet somehow manages to put out, it seems, two news books every year.

As a side note, Sinclair Lewis wrote It Couldn't Happen Here between May and October and had the book published that same year.

Even that pales into insignificance compared to Roberts' output.

She seems to be slowing up a bit now but in many years she's been churning out more than one book a month.

 

[sr71plt]

Your jingoist provincialism is screaming again, GK.

Not having heard of Nora Roberts (also published as J.D. Robb) is hardly Roberts' fault and is probably the result of provincialism and tunnel vision. She writes mainly Romances and mysteries, but she's in the upper echelons of best-selling authors in the United States, the world's biggest market, with more that 200 titles and is perpetually on the New York Times best-sellers list--quite often going to #1. She's right up there with Patterson and Gresham in this regard.

I'm sure she writes her own books, as it's not hard to write two or three novels a year if that's your occupation and you're in a writing groove. (I write some half million words of published material a year, which would be at least three books.)

This just flies in the face of the industry formula, which is one book each year. Writing several a year also can really bog down your life if you are a notable author. You're not just writing. You are writing in one phase, getting the book edited and reviewed (assuming you have a running contract with a publisher and don't have to find one for each book) in another phase, publicizing and doing book signings of a recently launched book in another phase, and researching a coming book in yet another phase--all of this going on at the same time.

The thread question was on writing advice she's given, though not on whether she's a known author or if you read her or not. That's all about you, not her.

 

[Green_Knight]

Your jingoist provincialism is screaming again, GK.

I don't know where this 'provincialism' jibe comes from. For the next two years, at least, the population of the European Union is 508 million inhabitants, compared with the 319 million of the USA. You will also be aware of the USA's famed isolationism dating back over many years which Trump seems determined to reimpose. And, whether you like it or not, the fact that many European nations have had empires in the past 150 years (Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Holland, etc) inevitably means that those countries tend to be outward-looking.

Not having heard of Nora Roberts (also published as J.D. Robb) is hardly Roberts' fault and is probably the result of provincialism and tunnel vision. She writes mainly Romances and mysteries, but she's in the upper echelons of best-selling authors in the United States, the world's biggest market, with more that 200 titles and is perpetually on the New York Times best-sellers list--quite often going to #1. She's right up there with Patterson and Gresham in this regard.

With the exception of a few big names, literature doesn't tend to cross the Atlantic very well - in either direction, rather like cars. I could point to countless best-selling authors over here that most Americans have probably never heard of – to name just a few: Rachel Joyce, Ian Rankin, Catherine Alliott, S J Parris, Bernard Cornwell, Philippa Gregory, C J Sansom, Peter Ackroyd, and Len Deighton.

I'm sure she writes her own books, as it's not hard to write two or three novels a year if that's your occupation and you're in a writing groove. (I write some half million words of published material a year, which would be at least three books.)

This just flies in the face of the industry formula, which is one book each year. Writing several a year also can really bog down your life if you are a notable author. You're not just writing. You are writing in one phase, getting the book edited and reviewed (assuming you have a running contract with a publisher and don't have to find one for each book) in another phase, publicizing and doing book signings of a recently launched book in another phase, and researching a coming book in yet another phase--all of this going on at the same time.

Of course two or three novels a year aren't hard, especially with romances. They're like Lit stories in that respect.

But she published 11 books in 1998, 9 in 1999, 10 in 2000, 10 in 2001, 6 in 2002, 7 in 2003, 6 in 2004, 6 in 2005, and so on. These figures exclude compilations of older works on which she might also have done some updating work. Maybe she doesn't have the time or inclination to get over to Europe to promote her books. She doesn't seem to have been out of the USA for the last 18 months. That is Roberts' fault and yes, it probably is the result of provincialism and tunnel vision – hers. Maybe that's why she's not known here.

The thread question was on writing advice she's given, though not on whether she's a known author or if you read her or not. That's all about you, not her.

It's impossible to value the advice of someone who fails to make herself known to most of the world. How are we supposed to judge it?

 

[sr71plt]

Well, at least you are consistent in your provincial arrogance.

Fun posts from someone who has no work listed at Literotica. I know, I know, you say you post under other names. First, that's just your assertion; there's nothing that backs it up. Second, it's cowardly.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I could point to countless best-selling authors over here that most Americans have probably never heard of – to name just a few: Rachel Joyce, Ian Rankin, Catherine Alliott, S J Parris, Bernard Cornwell, Philippa Gregory, C J Sansom, Peter Ackroyd, and Len Deighton.

"over here"?

Bernard Cornwell was born in the UK, but he he moved to the USA many years ago, after meeting an American woman in 1978 and eventually marrying her. As far as I know he's lived in the USA since then. He started writing the "Sharpe" series while living in New Jersey, because he was out of work due to lack of a green card. He's made the NY Times Bestseller List quite a few times with fiction and non-fiction.

Philippa Gregory has also had a string of NYT Bestsellers e.g. Three Sisters, Three Queens.

Len Deighton also did well in the USA, although he hasn't been very active in the last 20 years so I would expect he's less well recognised now, on both sides of the Atlantic.

But she published 11 books in 1998, 9 in 1999, 10 in 2000, 10 in 2001, 6 in 2002, 7 in 2003, 6 in 2004, 6 in 2005, and so on. These figures exclude compilations of older works on which she might also have done some updating work. Maybe she doesn't have the time or inclination to get over to Europe to promote her books. She doesn't seem to have been out of the USA for the last 18 months. That is Roberts' fault and yes, it probably is the result of provincialism and tunnel vision – hers. Maybe that's why she's not known here.

It's not like she's unknown in the UK. She doesn't top the charts there, but per this report and those for other years, she's among the top-ten most borrowed in UK libraries.

It's impossible to value the advice of someone who fails to make herself known to most of the world. How are we supposed to judge it?

Per this report, she was the #3 best-selling author world-wide for 2001-2014. Evidently she's found a strategy that works pretty well for her.

 

[sr71plt]

It's impossible to value the advice of someone who fails to make herself known to most of the world. How are we supposed to judge it?

I'm sure it would astonish you to learn that what you know and what the world knows aren't necessarily the same thing.

 

[ChloeTzang]

I could point to countless best-selling authors over here that most Americans have probably never heard of – to name just a few: Rachel Joyce, Ian Rankin, Catherine Alliott, S J Parris, Bernard Cornwell, Philippa Gregory, C J Sansom, Peter Ackroyd, and Len Deighton.

This little provincial has just finished reading C J Sansom's "Winter in Madrid" and enjoyed it. And I also love Bernard Cornwell's historical novels set in the Hundred Years War. I'd agree there's authors that don't cross the Atlantic either way too well, but there's many that do. There's romance sub-genre's like motorcycle gang romances that I've only seen in relation to here, never written or set anywhere else, and they always feature Harley's. I doubt those sell much in the UK.

On the other hand, I think any eclectic reader in either country will have read books by authors from the other side of the Atlantic, and even occasionally from Australia and those little islands off the Australian coast where New Zealander's live. Colleen McCullough ("The Thorn Birds") for example, as well as Nevil Shute ("A Town Like Alice, On The Beach. ....). There's lots more, those are just ones I remember right now coz they're in front of me.

Where the lack of awareness lies is I think with those who read a lot less and who ARE provincial by choice in their reading. I mean, I had a housemate at college who never read a book - outside of whatever textbooks she needed to read, her choice of reading was Cosmopolitan or Vogue and stuff like that. I think she was vaguely aware that we had a President and that some people went to bookshops and that was about it. She used to look at my bookcases with horror. It was actually quite funny sometimes.

We're off in our own little literary bubble sometimes and we completely forget that there are people out there that don't read and a surprising number that are actually functionally illiterate. Kind of scary.

 

[lovecraft68]

The USA has Roberts. UK gave us E.L. James....game over people.

 

[SamScribble]

The USA has Roberts. UK gave us E.L. James....game over people.

Hey, we all slip up from time to time.

 

[sr71plt]

The USA has Roberts. UK gave us E.L. James....game over people.

But the UK also gave us P.D. James, so that more than negates the other James.

 

[norfolklad]

.....

 

[lovecraft68]

But the UK also gave us P.D. James, so that more than negates the other James.

Hmm, true. Unfortunately-and showing you where society is-"E.L" is a more household name right now

Did you know her 'new' trilogy is the same three books from the original trilogy rewritten from Gray's pov? Seriously...don't know what's worse, that she considers that writing or that people will buy it...meh, guess its the people because she'll profit.

Good news is unless there was a cat watching the whole thing to provide another POV this trilogy will be the last we hear from her.

 

[sr71plt]

Did you know her 'new' trilogy is the same three books from the original trilogy rewritten from Gray's pov?

No, I didn't know that--because I don't obsess over E.L. James.

 

[ChloeTzang]

No, I didn't know that--because I don't obsess over E.L. James.

I don't obsess over her but that's downright scary.

 

[AMoveableBeast]

I don't obsess over her but that's downright scary.

It's not scary. It's business. It's fucking Snicker's with almonds.

Most people like comfortable. Being able to come out with a book that is so similar to another book that you've written that people know before they even pick it up that they'll like it IS THE BUSINESS MODEL RIGHT NOW. That's where literature is heading and has been heading for the last fifty years.

Industry writing, from every perspective except the artist's, is about money. Just like every other business. You make more money selling Ford F-150's than you do GT's.

 

[ChloeTzang]

It's not scary. It's business. It's fucking Snicker's with almonds.

Most people like comfortable. Being able to come out with a book that is so similar to another book that you've written that people know before they even pick it up that they'll like it IS THE BUSINESS MODEL RIGHT NOW. That's where literature is heading and has been heading for the last fifty years.

Industry writing, from every perspective except the artist's, is about money. Just like every other business. You make more money selling Ford F-150's than you do GT's.

Yeah, my comment was a bit tongue in cheek. You're right, but good series writers have done well. Find a good formula and stick with it I guess.