Great Writers Don’t Write Great Stories

Great stories are written by good writers who act on intelligent criticism.

No matter how good a writer is, it's almost impossible for anyone to write a truly marvelous story on our own. We’re too close to our own work.

While I’m writing my first novel “Sex Whiskey”, I’ve been fortunate to receive honest criticism from people that I respect and admire. It hasn’t always been what I wanted to hear.

They've pointed out problems with character development, pacing, plot holes, descriptions, and other issues I would not have identified on my own.

Because of their honesty and intelligent insights, I can go back and work on my book to make it the best it can be.

Early in my career as a freelance writer, I learned to embrace the ugly first draft. I also learned to listen to the questions and revisions that my clients had, so that I would achieve the goals they have for that content. Having had this experience, it makes it easier for me to accept and consider fully the suggested revisions by my beta readers.

Beta readers are a special breed. Reading, analyzing, and critiquing an entire novel is an enormous undertaking. Instead of reading a finished book for enjoyment, they consider every element of every scene and think about what works and what doesn’t.

I’m eternally grateful to many people who have given so freely of their time to help me. I especially want to thank Anne Armstrong, Judy Bradt, Chris Bridgham, Brad Bass, Tom Temin, Jeff Kaczmarek, Esther Smith, and Alan Caudill.

With their guidance, I am currently on the third revision of my book. It may take several more revisions before I can read the entire manuscript and think, “I’m proud of this book.”

But with their help, I know I’ll get there.

What Disney Taught Me About Writing

By Tim Karney

“It all begins with a story.”

That simple phrase was the cornerstone of Walt Disney’s empire. He understood that stories are an essential part of the lives of every one of us.

We grow up learning by listening to stories. We tell stories to ourselves and to others every day. And the way we tell stories affects how others see us, and how we see ourselves.

As both a freelance content writer and a novelist, I’m constantly looking for ways to improve the way I tell stories. Recently, I watched “The Imagineering Story” on The Disney Channel, and it crystallized several concepts that I think we can all learn from to tell stories that connect with impact.

The team at Disney put forward an “Imagineering Pyramid” which has five tiers of fundamental principles.

The bottom tier of the pyramid has six principles.

1.        It All Begins With a Story -The first question I ask myself is “Who is the ideal reader for the story I am telling. In a freelance piece for a technology client that might be a CIO or a Program Manager. For my Amateur Sleuth mystery novels, my research indicates that the average reader of this genre is a college-educated, middle-class female between the ages of 45 to 65. In each case, I try to have a clear picture of one reader in my mind, which helps me understand what they want to get out of the story.

2.        Creative Intent–In freelance writing, this involves knowing what action I want the reader to take because of the story. In fiction, I want to know what will deliver the satisfaction the reader wants from uncovering the killer.

3.        Attention to Detail–In writing white papers, case studies, and other content, I do extensive background research, interview subject matter experts, and identify the key takeaways the reader should have and present an outline to the client before I write a single word. In my first mystery novel which is set in the Hunt Country of Virginia, I researched equestrian events like polo, show jumping, and riding to hounds. If the details are not believable, the reader will disengage.

4.        Theming–In both freelance writing and fiction, I must hook the reader in the opening. Early in my career, I leaned that, “The purpose of the headline is to get the subhead read. The purpose of the subhead is to get the first sentence read, etc., etc., etc.”

5.        Long, Medium, and Close Shots–in content writing, leading your audience from the general idea to the specific proof points that convince them to act. In a novel, I build layer on layer of character development, plot points, description and dialogue to make the story compelling, and keep the reader’s interest.

The second tier of the pyramid is Wayfaring. This is focused on guiding the reader to a successful conclusion by making transitions as smooth as possible.

The third tier is Visual Communication. It might seem that the writer doesn’t need to worry about this tier. But a smart content writer knows that a strong hero image, a well-designed infographic, bullet points, and white space may be the difference in enticing a reader to read that content instead of all the other content competing for her attention. Authors learn quickly that the cover design of their book is the single most important marketing device they have.

The fourth tier is Make it Memorable. Our audiences are constantly inundated with content. Social media, TV, websites, emails, podcasts and many other types of content are competing for your reader’s attention. If the business content you write is not memorable, it won’t have the desired impact on your reader or convince them to buy the product or service you are promoting. If the novel I write doesn’t captivate my readers, they won’t buy the sequel.

The top tier of the pyramid is Walt’s Golden Rule. Simply put, a writer must be constantly asking themselves,” How do I make this better?”  As a writer of both content and fiction, I have learned to embrace the ugly first draft.

I step away from it for a while. I come back with fresh eyes. I revise it. In the case of a freelance piece, I then send it to the client for comments and revisions. Only once they are satisfied do I write the final draft and send it to production.

I have already done scene revisions and sentence revisions of my novel.  I currently have ten beta readers reading and commenting on my novel. Once I have their insights, I’ll revise the story again and step away from it. Then I’ll do line-by-line revisions before having the book proofread and formatted for publishing.

I know that after all that, I still will know the book won’t be perfect. So, I’ll try and write a better book in the sequel.

And so, the story goes on.

Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz

The Susan Ryland mysteries by Anthony Horowitz are one of my all-time favorite amateur sleuth series by an accomplished master of the genre.

I became a fan of his after finding out that he wrote the first seven episodes of Midsomer Murder. He’s written numerous standalone books and series including the wildly popular Alex Rider Young Adult books, as well as authorized Sherlock Holmes and James Bond novels.

He appears as a main character in his series, Hawthorne and Horowitz. You can learn more about his books on his website.

https://anthonyhorowitz.com/

In the Magpie Murders, editor Susan Ryland is struggling to edit the latest manuscript of her bestselling author, Alan Conway. His fictional detective, Atticus Pund is investigating a murder at Pye Hall, a local manor house.

Horowitz manages to artfully deliver a novel within a novel ,which challenges us to attempt to solve both the fictional murder, as well as unravel secrets occurring in Susan’s time. The multiple points of view in each plot will keep you guessing to the very end.

The book was serialized on BritBox in 2022. It starred Lesley Manville as Susan Ryland and Tim McMullin as Atticus Pund.

Let me know if you have read Magpie Murders or any other books by Anthony Horowitz in the comments below.

Let me know if you would like to participate in a

Zoom Amateur Sleuth Book Club Meeting!

Email me at tim@timkarney.com for more information

What’s an Accidental Author?

I never intended to write a mystery novel.

I've been a freelance writer for over a decade. Most of my freelance projects are marketing materials, use cases, and white papers for major technology companies.

Not exactly the stuff of dreams, but it pays the bills.

So after all these years, I asked myself, since you've been spending all your time learning to be a great storyteller, why aren't you telling a story that you enjoy?

So I began to write a fictionalized version of my time in the military as a combat interrogator. Not exactly a laugh riot. After about 30,000 words, I took a look at it and said, this is boring. Nobody wants to read this. I don't even want to read it.

 So to cleanse my palate, and try something different, I assigned myself a one-page writing exercise.

I decided that since I like mysteries, and especially humorous mystery novels like those written by Carl Hiassen, Richard Osman, and Robert Thorogood; that I would attempt to write a one-page intro to a mystery that was set in the Washington, D.C. area, but with a wisecracking humor columnist as the main protagonist.

It was a crazy idea, but it was worth trying. And so at the end of that page, I said, this is fun. I'm enjoying writing it. Let me see where I can take this. And before I knew it, I had the first few chapters of a mystery novel.

Fast forward six months, and I had completed the first draft of SEX WHISKEY.

The book is built around an unlikely trio of amateur investigators and is set among the beautiful rolling hills of the Hunt Country of Virginia. My “fish out of water” protagonist, Grady Gallagher finds himself teamed with Lord Sinjin Ravenshire, a mysterious British Viscount, and Elena Verity, a stunningly beautiful equestrienne as they investigate the murder of Sinjin’s niece.

I had so much fun writing SEX WHISKEY, that I’ve already started working on a sequel!

Please take a moment to sign up for my newsletter so I can let you know how to download a free sample of the book when it is published in the Fall of 2025. I’ll also keep you informed of the sequesls in the Grady Gallagher series and other special events, and offers.

I hope you have as much fun reading the book as I had writing it. If you do decide to read SEX WHISKEY, please leave me a review on Amazon.

Have any questions about Sex Whiskey?

Leave me a comment below.

A Leap of Faith

Writing a novel is scary.

Especially if you’ve never written one before.

Or if you decide to place your novel in the equestrian world of the Hunt Country in Virginia and you haven’t been on a horse in twenty years.

I don’t know what possessed me to do it but one day, I just started writing a monologue for a character I had in my head. And I liked how it sounded. So I added another character and a plot sprung into my mind.

Now, common wisdom says that you should never write a mystery without knowing the ending. But I had no idea where this story was going.

But the characters took over.

They fleshed themselves out. They drove the plot. They connected to each other.

And for an aspiring writer, that’s heaven.

They say there are two kinds of writers, plotters and “pantsers.” Plotters make detailed story outlines before they write a word.

Pantsers sit down and start typing. The story reveals itself to us, almost as it does for you as the reader.

Both plotters and pantsers not only have to write the novel, they have to revise it. And revise it again and again, until it becomes the story we’ve been dying to tell.

My hope for you is that you will have the same sense of wonder and delight in reading the book as I had when I wrote it.

Some surprises are too good not to share.

Have you ever thought about writing a novel? What’s holding you back?

Leave me a comment below