Still Waiting to Buy the Yacht

By Dan Walsh

Founding Father John Adams famously once said, “Facts are stubborn things.” Over the decades of my life, this quote has guided me at least a hundred times (maybe a thousand) and kept me from living in a constant state of desires-created/desires-destroyed. A Scripture verse that serves the same role is: “Hope deferred makes the heartsick” (Prov. 13:12). Modern translation? When you want something badly and don’t get it, you get depressed.

The bigger the hope that gets crushed, the deeper the “heartsickness” that follows.

I’ve learned that my heart can crave or want something to happen fairly easily. But the overwhelming majority of these desires don’t pan out in real life. Why? Because facts are stubborn things. They could care less about the things I desire. So, I decided a long time ago to keep my heart/desires in check until I’ve uncovered the facts in a situation. And even if the facts line up, it’s no guarantee God will say yes.

What does this have to do with writing? Well, a lot I think.

Since last month’s column, I’ve read an Author’s Guild blog from January that laid out the results of an extensive survey done with over 5,000 published writers. It concluded that the average annual income for authors is around $6,080/year. And that includes everything. From book income alone, the average drops to $3,100/year. Which happens to be LESS THAN HALF of what it was 10 years ago. So, the trend is moving the wrong way. (Click Here to read it).

These are not encouraging stats. Even among authors who claimed to be “writing fulltime” the median annual income was only $20,300 (well below the Federal Poverty line for a family of 3).

These are the facts. And they are stubborn things. And these stubborn facts have been true for quite a long time. But I don’t think these facts are widely known or understood. SO many of the authors I’ve met these past 10 years (since my first book came out) cling to a strong desire to one day quit their day job and “write fulltime.”

According to these stubborn facts, my writer friends should let that desire go…completely. If they would, they would be so much happier. Treat it like that old hippie saying: “If you love something, let it go. If it was meant to be, it will come back to you.”

When my first novel came out in 2009, I don’t how many times people asked me: “So, when are you going to buy that yacht?” My answer was: “I actually only made enough to remodel our kitchen…and that’s with us doing most of the work.” Where do people get this notion that being a published author means you’ve hit the big time and money will start rolling in?

You know the answer. They get it from Hollywood (and the Hallmark channel). For some ridiculous reason, whenever authors are portrayed in TV or film—even if they just have 1 or 2 books published—they get filthy rich (like the TV character Castle). They’ve got the yacht, the beautiful lakeside cabin to write in, drive the best cars. And when they do a book signing, the line of interested readers goes out the door.

Based on the facts I’ve seen, that image only represents about 1% of published authors. And only about 5% earn enough to write full-time (and remember, the median income for these authors is below the Federal poverty line).

So, stop beating yourself up for your lack of success. Stop craving something that, most likely, will never happen. Write for the love of writing. Write for the joy of storytelling. If your books make even $3,000 a year, throw a party. Invite your friends. Of course, if you do, some of them will inevitably ask, “So, when are you going to buy that yacht?”

I have 21 novels out now. I’ve been fortunate enough to write full-time and actually make a semi-decent living.

I am however, still waiting on that yacht.

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Dan Walsh is the bestselling author of 21 novels (all available on Amazon), including The Unfinished Gift, Rescuing Finley, When Night Comes and The Reunion (now being made into a feature film). Over 750,000 of his books are in print or downloaded. He's won both the Carol and Selah Awards multiple times, 4 of his novels have been finalists for RT Reviews Inspirational Novel of the Year. Reviewers often remark about Dan's rich, character-driven storylines and page-turning suspense (even with his more inspirational books). He's been writing full-time since 2010. He and his wife Cindi have been married 42 years, have 2 grown children and 4 grandchildren. They live in the Daytona Beach area, where Dan grew up. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter, read his blog, or preview all his books by visiting his website at http://www.danwalshbooks.com Dan’s books: If These Walls Could Talk - DAN'S NEWEST NOVEL, When Night Comes, Remembering Dresden, Unintended Consequences,  Perilous Treasure,  Rescuing Finley, Finding Riley,  Saving Parker and  The Deepest Waters (2nd Ed)

I’ve Gotta Be Me, She Said, Part 2

By Dan Walsh

Last month, I began talking about how vitally important it is when we write to spend as much time, if not more, creating characters readers really care about, than it is spending time on things like crafting the story itself (did you catch the phrase “if not more”? I believe it matters more). If our characters are boring, shallow and/or totally unlikable for the reader, the book will flop (no matter how good the story is).

I ended talking about one of the big problems authors have creating these kinds of solid characters. Many writers THEMSELVES (in real life) are not solid, interesting, compelling and/or fun-to-be-with people. So, if you’re not that kind of person in real life, how can you create characters like that in your books?

I’ve Gotta Be Me, She Said

By Dan Walsh

My 21 novels have thus far garnered over 7,200 Amazon Reviews (Avg 4.6 Stars) and over 18,000 Ratings on GoodReads. The most consistent comment readers make (and my most favorite) goes something like, “Once I started reading the book, I couldn’t put it down.” They don’t just say this on my suspense novels but even the more romantic stories. Even with my Christmas novels.

But this month,

Why The Book is Always Better, Part 2

By Dan Walsh

In last month’s column, I talked about one of my Bucket List items that seems likely to happen, probably in the 2^nd half of 2019. One of my novels is being made into a feature film (The Reunion). I’ve had the pleasure of becoming friends with the 2 main producers of the project over the last 2 years (one of them is now an Oscar-winning screenwriter, and he’s adapted the book into a screenplay).

One of the biggest challenges he’s had was trying to keep intact all the important elements of the book (that made him want to make it into a movie in the first place), while having to cut out more than half the content, so that it can fit into a 2-hour movie. As I said last month, my novel is just over 300 pages. The script is about 105.

That got me thinking about why the overwhelming majority of people who watch a movie that started out as a book say, “The Book was SO much better.” Today, I want to talk about ANOTHER big reason people always like the books more. And this second reason goes to a big advantage novelists have over screenwriters when we set out to tell a story.

A novelist can take “the camera” to places a filmmaker can never go.

What am I talking about? I’m sure most of us have heard of the concept of “the close-up” in television and movies. That’s when the camera zooms in on the actor’s face. A director usually calls for this shot when he/she wants to convey to the audience what an actor is experiencing emotionally. Maybe it’s anxiety or fear, anger or hate, love or desire, sadness or joy. Any number of emotional reactions.

So actors have to learn how to do effective closeups, how to communicate using facial expressions alone: their eyes, eyebrows, their mouth and lips. But see, in a film, the actor’s face is as close as the camera can go.

As fiction writers, we can take the camera much deeper. We can bring the reader into the very mind and heart of our characters. It’s much more than simply stating a thought a character might have. Done properly, the reader will feel as if they are actually experiencing what the character feels as our story unfolds, to where the writing almost comes across like reading the pages of a character’s diary or personal journal.

Listen to how best-selling historical romance author, Tamera Alexander puts it:

“The primary reason readers read is to be moved, to be changed, to live the experiences of the characters themselves. They want to turn that last page and be different for having taken that journey with those characters they’ve lived with―they’ve become―over the past 350 pages. This happens when readers connect with characters who are real…”

―Tamera Alexander,
A Novel Idea (pg 47)

As an object lesson of what I’m talking about, read the opening paragraphs to my 2^nd novel, The Homecoming (and try to imagine a camera attempting to capture even a fraction of what is shared). Our main character is a husband who’s come home from WW2 to care for his son, because his wife has been killed in a car accident. He drives back to the place where they first met.

Shawn looked down at the empty seat beside him, trying to imagine Elizabeth there. He tried to remember the smell of her hair, the sound of her voice, one of her smiles. It all seemed just out of reach.

She wasn’t there. She would never be there again.

He came here, in part, thinking some time alone might help. He was tired of pretending to be fine. It was exhausting. Pretending to see scenes out the window, pretending to read a book, pretending to listen. Elizabeth preoccupied his every waking moment. Shawn had known a depth of love with her he’d never imagined possible, a love he was sure most men would never see, not in a lifetime…

…But the main reason he came back was to remember her, to reclaim moments of time, conversations they’d shared, places they’d visited. He wanted to see and feel all these things again. To do anything that helped him see and feel all these things again.

Compare these words and what they convey in just a few moments to the limitations of a camera doing a closeup shot of an actor—even a great one—trying to communicate to the audience through their facial expressions.

That’s a tall order, if you ask me. And another big reason why I believe “The Book is Always Better.” It’s not the movie’s fault, the screenwriter’s fault, or the director’s or the actor’s fault. It’s just the limitation of the medium used to tell the story.

Of course, I’m not sharing this to debunk movies or discourage people from watching them. I love a great film, and we’re hoping and praying The Reunion becomes a great one soon. But even the best of movies can’t take the camera to places a skillful novelist can go.

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Dan Walsh is the bestselling author of 21 novels (all available on Amazon), including The Unfinished Gift, Rescuing Finley, When Night Comes and The Reunion (now being made into a feature film). Over 750,000 of his books are in print or downloaded. He's won both the Carol and Selah Awards multiple times, 4 of his novels have been finalists for RT Reviews Inspirational Novel of the Year. Reviewers often remark about Dan's rich, character-driven storylines and page-turning suspense (even with his more inspirational books). He's been writing full-time since 2010. He and his wife Cindi have been married 42 years, have 2 grown children and 4 grandchildren. They live in the Daytona Beach area, where Dan grew up. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter, read his blog, or preview all his books by visiting his website at http://www.danwalshbooks.com Dan’s books: If These Walls Could Talk - DAN'S NEWEST NOVEL, When Night Comes, Remembering Dresden, Unintended Consequences,  Perilous Treasure,  Rescuing Finley, Finding Riley,  Saving Parker and  The Deepest Waters (2nd Ed)

Why The Book is Always Better- Part 1

By Dan Walsh

If you follow me on FB or Twitter, you might already know…one of my Bucket List items is likely going to happen, likely in the 2^nd half of 2019. That is, one of my novels is being made into a feature film (The Reunion). It’s been in the works for 2 years, but after chatting recently with Nick Vallelonga, the writer/director who’s adapted the book into a screenplay, some very big name actors and investors are already interested and reading the script. They’re hoping to have the casting and all the pre-production tasks completed by the end of this summer, then start shooting in the Fall.

We’ll see. I sure hope that’s how it goes from here.

In any case, I couldn’t be happier with the guy who wrote the script. You may have heard of him, Nick Vallelonga. In 2018, Nick won 2 Golden Globes and 2 Oscars for Best Original Screenplay for his movie, Green Book (it also won in the Best Picture category - here’s a pic of Nick holding his 2 Oscars).

Clearly, my book is in good hands. And Nick and I have become good friends. He’s kept the script as true to the book as possible, including the faith elements. Even with all that said, I’m pretty sure after the film is made (and hopefully becomes a smash hit), people who’ve read my book and also see the film will undoubtedly say, “The movie was good, but the book was better.”

Why do I say that? Because that’s what everyone always says about a book-turned-into-a-movie. “The Book was better.” A couple of years ago, I was speaking at a charter school to a middle-school group of honor students. It was a creative writing class, and all the kids said they wanted to be writers when they grew up.

Knowing most writers are avid readers, I asked how many of them liked to read novels. Every hand went up. I said, “Name some books you’ve read that were turned into movies.” Everyone began calling out popular movie names, lots of examples were shared. Then I asked, “Keep your hand up if you liked any of the movies better than the books?”

Every hand went down.

I asked it another way, “Did any of you like any of the movies better than any of the books? Raise your hand.” No one did. So, then we talked about why this is so. That’s what I want to talk about with you, this month and next month. Why the book is almost always better than the movie.

See, having worked fairly closely with Nick (and several other movie creative types) in the last few years, I’ve learned a little bit about that world and some of the unique storytelling challenges they face.  The first one I want to address goes directly to the reason the book is always better.

Turns out, most movie scripts are only between 100-120 pages long. The rule of thumb is, 1 page of script per minute of film (so, a 2-hour movie script would only be around 120 pages long). You can see the challenge right away. Most full-length novels average 300 pages, or more. The Reunion is just a few pages shy of 300.

Talking with Nick, that was his biggest challenge adapting it into a screenplay. Nick absolutely loved the book, as is. As novels go, he thought it was perfect and wouldn’t change a thing. But, there’s the rub. Even as a 2-hour movie, he had to cut out almost 2/3 of the book to get the story to fit the time constraint.

Of course, you can shave a few pages because you don’t have to describe very much in the script. One pan of the camera, and you set the scene. But that only takes out a little (especially in my books, I’m definitely a minimalist when it comes to descriptive paragraphs).

But see, this kind of challenge happens every time a novel is made into a movie. Can you imagine completing your full-length novel then having an editor hand it back to you saying, “Okay, we like it, but we need you to delete 200 pages, but still keep the best parts of the story intact.”

There are other reasons why I believe people always like the book better (we’ll talk about some next time). But this one alone has given me a new depth of sympathy and appreciation for screenwriters who try and tackle such a seemingly insurmountable storytelling challenge as this.

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Dan Walsh is the bestselling author of 21 novels (all available on Amazon), including The Unfinished Gift, Rescuing Finley, When Night Comes and The Reunion (now being made into a feature film). Over 750,000 of his books are in print or downloaded. He's won both the Carol and Selah Awards multiple times, 4 of his novels have been finalists for RT Reviews Inspirational Novel of the Year. Reviewers often remark about Dan's rich, character-driven storylines and page-turning suspense (even with his more inspirational books). He's been writing full-time since 2010. He and his wife Cindi have been married 42 years, have 2 grown children and 4 grandchildren. They live in the Daytona Beach area, where Dan grew up. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter, read his blog, or preview all his books by visiting his website at http://www.danwalshbooks.com Dan’s books: If These Walls Could Talk - DAN'S NEWEST NOVEL, When Night Comes, Remembering Dresden, Unintended Consequences,  Perilous Treasure,  Rescuing Finley, Finding Riley,  Saving Parker and  The Deepest Waters (2nd Ed)

The Power of Fiction

By Dan Walsh

If it would fit, I’d title this column: “The Power of Fiction to Influence the Way People Think.” That’s what I want to talk about.

What’s got me thinking this way?

It came out a few months ago, that after traveling 7 months through space (a 300-million-mile-journey) at a whopping speed of over 12,000 mph, NASA’s InSight Mars Lander finally reached its destination and landed safely on the red planet.

In the science world, this was big news. HUGE news.

But in the world of science fiction, such an achievement would have to be considered, at best, a boring disappointment. At worst, a total embarrassment (that anyone would celebrate such a pitiful accomplishment).

Here’s how a Star Trek fan might react: “It took you 7 months to travel from Earth to Mars (a planet in our own solar system), in an unmanned spaceship?” See, we all know that Captain Kirk would merely have to give the command, “Scotty, give me Warp Factor 8,” and the Enterprise could cover that distance in a matter of seconds. In fact, for a few seconds more, Scotty could get the Enterprise to far-away galaxies, allowing Captain Kirk and his crew (of hundreds) to “explore new worlds…to bravely go where no man has gone before.”

Of course, in the Star Wars universe, in his Millennium Falcon, Hans Solo could easily cover the same distance in half the time as the Enterprise using Hyperdrive. After all, Hans holds the unique distinction of having “made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs.”

Herein proves my premise, about the Power of Fiction to Influence the Way People Think. Tens of Millions of people (maybe hundreds of millions) have watched the Star Trek and Star Wars movies and TV shows in the last several decades. And because we have, we readily accept the idea that in the not-too-distant future people like us will be able to cover trillions of miles of space in seconds. How? Easy. We’ll just use the Warp Drive (of Star Trek) or the Hyperdrive (Star Wars). No big deal.

But in the real world, it takes us 7 months to reach a planet that’s, well, not that far away. And we can’t send a man on such a trip (let alone hundreds in a Star Fleet spaceship), because all our experiments on the International Space Station (orbiting our own earth) have shown, when we spend that much time in space our muscles atrophy, our bones shrink up, we experience balance and eye disorders, our immune systems weaken, and we even experience a significant increase in flatulence (pardon me, farting).

But seriously…who wants to see a movie showing all that?

Clearly, we prefer to believe in the fiction world the creators of Star Trek and Star Wars have provided. Not only do we readily accept what they say about traveling vast distances throughout the universe, we’re totally comfortable with the idea of hanging out with dozens of alien races, even those who look like huge insects (I’m always surprised at how all these alien insect-like races have advanced so far beyond us in technology when they don’t have opposable thumbs and can’t even hold a wrench).

But what’s the reality? Well, since the UFO craze began back in 1947 (over 70 years ago), no one has ever produced a single alien being, dead or alive. Or an actual alien spacecraft. But hey, they’ve got to be out there, right? The government has them hidden in underground bunkers in Area 51.

Well, maybe. Maybe not. But it doesn’t matter. We don’t need to see an alien to believe they exist. And we don’t need to be discouraged at how long it takes us to reach Mars right now (or how much everyone in our spaceship will be farting the whole time). We know it’s all true. We believe it.

Such is the Power of Fiction to Influence the Way People Think.

So in conclusion, my fellow fiction writers. Don’t look down on your profession, simply because “we make stuff up all the time.” In our pens (or on our laptops), we wield enormous power. If we learn our craft well, we can literally make people believe in things like warp drive, superior alien races (who can’t even hold a wrench), and huge theme parks filled with dinosaurs previously extinct for millions of years.

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Dan Walsh is the bestselling author of 21 novels (all available on Amazon), including The Unfinished Gift, Rescuing Finley, When Night Comes and The Reunion (now being made into a feature film). Over 750,000 of his books are in print or downloaded. He's won both the Carol and Selah Awards multiple times, 4 of his novels have been finalists for RT Reviews Inspirational Novel of the Year. Reviewers often remark about Dan's rich, character-driven storylines and page-turning suspense (even with his more inspirational books). He's been writing full-time since 2010. He and his wife Cindi have been married 42 years, have 2 grown children and 4 grandchildren. They live in the Daytona Beach area, where Dan grew up. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter, read his blog, or preview all his books by visiting his website at http://www.danwalshbooks.com Dan’s books: If These Walls Could Talk - DAN'S NEWEST NOVEL, When Night Comes, Remembering Dresden, Unintended Consequences,  Perilous Treasure,  Rescuing Finley, Finding Riley,  Saving Parker and  The Deepest Waters (2nd Ed)

Getting Rid of the Parts Readers Skip

By Dan Walsh

We've all done it. You’re reading a novel that’s captured your interest and, before long, you find yourself skipping several paragraphs to find “where the story picks up again.” The writer writes well. That’s not the problem. The problem is they write too much. Sprinkled throughout the interesting, exciting parts you find a lot of blah-blah-blah.

Like you, my life is pretty busy. When I get to read fiction, I do it to be refreshed and entertained. If a book has too much blah-blah-blah, I put it down for good. Guess what I don’t do after that? I don’t recommend it to others and, likely, won’t buy another book from this author. Neither of these are good things.

I’ve published 8 novels in the last 4 years, most with Revell. My novels have received hundreds of customer reviews on Amazon (most are 4-5 Stars). Perhaps the most consistent comment I get (and one of the most encouraging) is: “I couldn’t put it down.”

That’s the reaction an author wants from his/her readers, no matter what genre you write in. Readers who feel this way about your book, will tell others and buy your other books. Agents and editors will offer you more contracts.

As I look back I realize that some, if not a good deal of my success, ties back to my favorite writing quote by NY Times bestselling crime author, Elmore Leonard; “In your writing, try to leave out the parts readers skip.”

I latched onto this advice and have followed it ever since, not just when I write but especially when I edit my work. Here are 3 practical tips I’ve learned about getting rid of the parts readers skip before sending in your manuscript.

1. See Research as a Spice, not a Main Ingredient

Whether we write historical fiction or contemporary, research is a part of our writing life. We should be devoted to it if our stories are going to come across with relevance and credibility. But our tendency is to imagine that all these fascinating details will be as interesting to our readers as they are for us. It’s not true. Really, it’s not. Figure that 90% of your research will be blah-blah-blah to your readers. You spent all that time for the 10% you put into your book.

2. Descriptions? We Don’t Need No Stinking Descriptions

We are writing books for people who live today, not fifty years ago. We live in a video/visual generation. Most of our readers have watched hundreds if not thousands of movies and TV shows. Most of the words we write describing locations or what our characters look like are wasted. After a few lines our readers have already formed pictures in their heads and skip past everything else we say.

3. Resist Over-Explaining

At a social gathering, have you ever found yourself stuck in the gravitational pull of someone who talks too much? Don’t you hate that? Sadly, many writers suffer from the same malady. Not with our speech but with our pen.

Say what needs to be said well, but only once. Resist the urge to explain the same thing over and over again to your readers in different ways. It’s all just blah-blah-blah.

Learn to view the cutting room floor as your good friend. Think of it this way: the words lying there needed to be written so the better words could find their way. That’s the only thing that should wind up in our books, the better words.

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Dan Walsh is the bestselling author of several books, including; Remembering Christmas: A Novel, The Discovery and The Reunion. He has won 3 ACFW Carol Awards. Five of his books have won RT Reviews “Top Pick” rating. Two were finalists for RT’s Inspirational Book of the Year for 2011 and 2012. Dan is a member of ACFW and Word Weavers International. He lives with his wife, Cindi, in the Daytona Beach area where he’s busy researching and writing his next novel. You can reach him at http://danwalshbooks.com