The Spaghetti Theory of Writing

By Susan Gable

You know how to test spaghetti for doneness?  You throw it against the wall and see if it sticks.

I know a lot of people who write like that.  They write something, and then they start throwing it at markets, hoping it will stick someplace.

More often than not, it just slides off the wall.

Here's a startling (okay, not really) revelation that can increase your chances for success if you're writing with the goal of getting published:  Know the specific market you're targeting before you write the article/short story/novel.

Sounds simple enough, right?  But many people prefer the spaghetti method.  Let's talk about it in terms of category romance, since that's the area where I'm published.

Many aspiring category novelists plunk down the story, then try to figure out where it will fit.  They have to consider things like content (Is it romantic comedy?  Does it have suspense or a critical element of faith in the plotline?) tone, word count, and hooks.

Okay, they'll say, it's got a mystery in it.  Perhaps it's an Intrigue.

They rush to check the word count guideline:  70-75,000 words.  Oh, rats, they think, the manuscript is only 60,000.  Oh, well, that's okay - if the editor likes it she'll just tell me to add another 10,000 words or so.  

And blap, they throw it at the wall, and get discouraged when the rejection letter comes rolling in.

Oh, well, maybe it was really a Silhouette Intimate Moment.  They do a lot of books with romantic suspense.  The aspiring writer now goes and checks those guidelines.  Yikes!  80,000 words.  Perhaps if she throws in a sub-plot?

Wouldn't it have been better to have planned in advance which line it was going to be?  To have known approximately where you need to come in with the word count?  To know what tone best suits that category line?

You have to do your homework.  You have to have some knowledge of the market you're writing for, and where your voice and stories are going to be best suited.  Read.  Editors are forever telling aspiring writers to READ their line/magazine/journal.  That's how you get a feel for what they're looking for.

That's how you learn to distinguish between a romantic suspense story that feels/sounds more like an Intrigue than an Intimate Moments.

It's so much easier to plan in advance to fit a market than it is to try to force it into a certain mold once the story is already finished.

That's not to say that if a story is rejected by the line you wrote it for, that you can't send it elsewhere - just be prepared to revise the manuscript first with the new market in mind.  Do you need to change the word count?  How about the tone?  Tone is very important.  Level of sensuality?

Stop blindly throwing your writing at the wall like spaghetti and hoping it sticks.  Get a plan.  Do your homework. (Research the line!) Write the thing. (Or majorly rewrite it based on what you've learned.)  Then send it out.

And maybe this time it will stick.