Susan Walter's Blog: Susan Walter writes for fun

The 2020-2021 school year was hard. I was living in Canada with my two daughters while my husband was living and working in the States. Schools in LA, where we lived when the pandemic hit, had closed their doors, and there was no promise that they would reopen. But Vancouver schools were all in-person. So we packed our car and made the move.
My husband visited as often as he could, but the border was closed and it was difficult. I was alone a lot. Vancouver weather is rainy and cold - a big change from Southern California sunshine.
All around us people were scared. Some were sick. Some had lost loved ones. There were no concerts or parties. Restaurants and bars were closed. Our friends were 1000 miles away and it was difficult to make new ones under the circumstances. My kids were lonely. I was lonely. I didn't realize how uneasy I was until I reread the book I wrote during that time.
OVER HER DEAD BODY is darker than my first novel. The characters have profound conflicts and difficult pasts that they are struggling to overcome... and I wonder if that's because I was struggling too?
The characters voices are darkly humorous - perhaps because I needed to diffuse my pain and theirs? I like a happy ending, and tried to move toward one, but the path zigged and zagged. The turns are sharp. I went to the edge of the cliff and peered down and saw blackness... you will, too, when you read it.
I would love to hear from other authors who wrote books during this time. Did dark feelings creep in? Are they reflected in the characters? The narrative? The ending?
Grateful for all of you for engaging with my posts and books. I learn so much from you all, and the creative process.
Over Her Dead Body
Good as Dead
Susan Walter
-Susan Walter

You wrote a book. It may not be worthy of a Pulitzer, but it doesn't suck. Your friends like it. Your Mom thinks it's terrific. You worked hard on it and you're proud of the writing. So why won't it sell?
After 25 years as a professional reader and then a writer, here's what I have observed. Agents and publishers don't snap up the best material. They snap up material that they think they can sell.
I worked in development before I became a writer. I read upwards of ten scripts per week. I can tell you FOR A FACT it is not the "best" writing that sells. In fact, it's very rare that a screenplay or novel sells on the quality of the writing alone. Buyers look for "elements." An element is a marketing angle (something they can lean on to get readers to buy your book). Is beautiful writing an element? Of course. It is the most important element? Mmmmm.... no.
There is no official list of important elements (to my knowledge) , but here's mine:
1. STAR POWER. In movies it's actor / director / producer / writer, in that order. Movie agents can sell *almost* any movie with Matt Damon attached to star or David Fincher attached to direct. This is also true in the book world. a NYT best-selling author will sell a mediocre book way easier than a newcomer will sell an exceptional book. Why? Because known writers have built-in audiences, and an agents and publishers will have confidence their books will sell.
2. IDEA. Is the plot easy to summarize? Is there a big idea in there? Is the poster/cover obvious? If a marketing team will have a hard time selling it to an audience, you are going to have a hard time selling it to a buyer.
3. GENRE. Thriller / women's lit / horror / action-suspense... which one is it? Does it sit squarely in a genre? Crossovers can be a hard sell. If the librarian doesn't know where to put it an agent won't either.
4. VOICE. Plots can be reworked. Pacing can be fixed. But it is very hard to overcome a "voice" that is inconsistent or clumsy. Mediocre writing does sell, that's why I put this fourth not first. If you have a slam dunk idea your novel / script still has a shot. In publishing they will hire you a crackerjack developmental editor to rework the prose. In movies they will buy your script then hire someone else to rewrite it. But a fresh, fun, zippy voice can translate into a fresh, fun, zippy back flap, and style is something an agent / publisher may be able to sell, so they look for it.
5. WHO YOU KNOW. Some people will put this first, because it's huuuuuge. Your associations with other writers or producers give you credibility. Agents may read you as a favor to an important colleague. But no one is going to spend money to publish / promote your book or screenplay just because your dads play golf together. It still has to have other elements.
Bottom line: DO NOT TAKE REJECTION AS A SIGN YOUR BOOK IS "BAD." A pass is a reflection of the agent/publisher's lack of creativity, not yours. Unique books without "elements" are a tough sell. So often they go unpublished. That's as much our loss as readers as it is yours. Susan Walter Good as Dead

Good as Dead I wrote screenplays for 20 years before I wrote my first novel, and people often ask me why I made the switch. The truth is, I didn't do it on purpose! The idea for GOOD AS DEAD just came to me as a book. I heard the characters' inner thoughts, and they were too intriguing to ignore.
That's one one of the big differences between a book and a screenplay. Screenplays are tight. There's no room on the page to describe what a character is thinking or feeling. You can only reveal how they feel by what they DO.
HOLLY, my main character in GOOD AS DEAD, loses her husband in the first few pages. When I wrote her, I was grieving the loss of my father, who died suddenly at the age of 72. Holly helped me work through those feelings. Will it ever be a movie? I hope so! But it was always going to be a book first.
If you are curious about screenwriting vs. book writing, watch this space! Excited to share my journey and process with you. :)
s.