Steven James - Troubleshooting Your Novel: Essential Techniques for Identifying and Solving Manuscript Problems

Steve Berry

When my friend Steven James asked me to write a foreword to this book, I was flattered. Steven is one of the best writing teachers I know. In 2014, when we started Master CraftFest, which involves a day of extensive training with a small group of students at ThrillerFest each year, Steven was our first choice to be an instructor.

Our instincts proved correct. His classes have been widely popular.

Steven sent me the manuscript, and I thought, Okay, Ill skim through it to get the gist of things and then write a few kind words. I started on page 1 and read a little. Then a little more. Then a little more after that. A few hours later, I finished the entire book. Every word.

And was amazed.

For years Ive said that someone should write a practical, hands-on, how-to guide on polishing a manuscript. So many writers bang out that first draft and then have no idea what to do next. The art of self-editing is a lost one. Writers today are in a hurry. The world of independent publishing has ushered in a generation of impatience and, to some degree, carelessness.

In my day the gatekeepers were New York editors. They decided what was published. Those days are gone. The gatekeepers today are you, me, and every other reader in the world. We determine whats popular, what endures, and what comes next. And if you thought New York editors were tough, the entire world makes them look downright kind.

All of which means that now, more than ever, writers have to master the art of self-editing. And it is an art. In the following pages Steven whittles down that task to a clear, concise, and succinct form. Hes created a book that needed to be written, and thank goodness he was the one who wrote it. Steven holds a masters degree in storytelling, which in and of itself is impressive. Hes taught writing all over the world. Hes published fifteen novels, along with another terrific book on writing, Story Trumps Structure. This man just doesnt talk the talk; he walks the walk.

From the day I wrote my first word to the day I sold my first word was a span of twelve years. During that time I completed eight manuscripts, five of which were submitted to New York publishing houses. They were rejected a total of eighty-five times. It was on the eighty-sixth attempt that things happened for me. Unfortunately, in the 1990s, no book like this existed. You learned manuscript polishing through trial and error, writing every day, and taking heed of the many rejections that came your way. That path was both instructive and painful. Steven has now taken some of the pain out of the process.

I encourage every writer out therewhether published, about-to-be published, or just with the desire to be publishedto read this book. Then apply its principles to your own writing.

I assure you, the finished product will be a thousand percent better.

Ill definitely be doing that.

And well all have Steven James to thank.

Steve Berry is the New York Times and #1 internationally best-selling author of sixteen thrillers. His books have been translated into forty languages, with more than twenty million printed copies in fifty-one countries. He also teaches writing as part of his History Matters foundation, which raises money for historic preservation. To date, nearly three thousand students have taken his course.