Received Agent Call

[Hedgetrimmer]

Hey, guys. I just wanted to follow up on my previous post regarding my efforts at placing SWEETNESS. I finally put the manuscript in the mail after an agent requested it but then went on and e-queried a few others. One agent passed, another wrote a personal stating that the voice was very lovely but that he did not feel enough tension in the writing and thus would also have to pass. He suggested I submit something else to him in the future. A third agent read the first page and asked for an exclusive. I wrote back telling him that another agent was already reading the book. He said to send it to him anyway. This morning I checked my voicemail and found that he had called me the next day asking me to give him a call back so we can "touch base" on the book. I hope like crazy he wants to offer representation, although I have read that some agents actually call writers to explain why they must turn down a project. I'll give him a call this afternoon and see what's up. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

[Little Red Barn]

Good luck!!!! Sounds very good! :)

[wyntermoon]

Any contact is good contact so fingers crossed for representation!

[Carrie R.]

I hope like crazy he wants to offer representation, although I have read that some agents actually call writers to explain why they must turn down a project.

So funny! This was my thought when I got a voicemail from an agent! Fingers crossed the call is to offeer representation and remember, even if it isn't, for an agent to call is a BIG STEP and means that you have a great book. I can't wait to hear how it goes!

[callalily61]

Good luck!

[qdsb]

Good luck! I hope this is it!!!

[Symphony]

Oooooooooooooooh - fingers crossed for you. Good luck. Very exciting.

Symphony

[speirbhean]

Just had to add my best wishes... Good Luck! And keep us informed...

[Hillary]

Can't wait to hear an update...

You must have a fabulous book on your hands to get a call. Big conrgats!

[Pamster]

Any news yet Hedgetrimmer? :D Wishing you luck! :)

[Chicken Warrior]

From what I've heard, phone calls can be revision requests, acceptances, and, perhaps less likely, rejections. At any rate, you deserve to celebrate for getting this far.

Good luck! :)

[JoNightshade]

Why would an agent call to reject you??? That would be really mean. :)

Good luck, man!

[Hedgetrimmer]

Okay, here's what has happened in the last few hours. I received an e-mail from the first agent who requested the book. He said he didn't feel he knew the right editors for it and, therefore, was declining to take it on.

I gave the other agent a call, who was out of the office. A little while later, he called back. He said a lot of wonderful things about the book, even saying he could send it out "as is" but that he thought the book would fetch a lot more money with revisions. He loves the voice and the character, but his main concern, as is with others in his office who read the book, is that there isn't enough conflict. He said while he personally loves character-driven books, he was worried that I might lose some readers along the way.

He said he and his staff feel the book can be something really special and strongly believe in it, and they would like to work with me on an exclusive basis. Next week he's sending me a list of comments they made to see if I can incorporate the revisions. I told him I was totally up for that, although in actuality I find revising a completed work extremely difficult.

So all in all, he didn't offer to rep me just yet, as I suppose it all hinges on how I handle the revising process.

[JoNightshade]

Wow, that's great!!! I'm sure you can do this!

[clockwatcher]

Hedgetrimmer, I think that's great news. I'm guessing the comments should make revising it a little easier. Good luck.

[wyntermoon]

That sounds like a great call, get on those suggestions and go out and slay 'em!

[Hedgetrimmer]

Thanks for the encouragment, guys.

One of the points the agent kept making was that the book was a bit too "quiet," although he understood that tends to be the case with character-driven novels. My concern is that they may want me to change the book to something plot driven, ultimately making it a completely different work. I'll wait and see what their comment list looks like. I've already begun thinking of various scenes to introduce more conflict without changing the tone and scope of the work.

[Toothpaste]

Yeah just wait to see what he says, don't get ahead of yourself just yet! I always do that, trying to figure out what it is someone is going to say instead of just waiting for them to say it, lol!

But congrats man, this is all really awesome!

[qdsb]

How exciting! Best of luck with revisions!

[awatkins]

Well, now! That all sounds very encouraging. Good luck with it!

[brittanimae]

Being stretched is what makes us grow. Your writing is beautiful and I can't wait to see it in print! Best of luck!

[MsJudy]

Truly awesome, and we all get credit for recognizing your brilliance first!

I've read at least one agent interview who said she ALWAYS sends the revision letter first before offering representation. It's a way for her to see if the author is really someone she'll be able to work with. Kind of a test.

Best of luck. I hope the suggestions are things that can make the book even better, things you feel comfortable with.

[MsJudy]

p.s. I'm totally jealous.

[Ziljon]

This is very exciting news! Give you joy, Hedgetrimmer!

[TrishD]

Sounds like good news to me, too! Congratulations :)

[Symphony]

Wow! Very positive and very exciting! Don't jump the gun - wait and see what they say - you might be very pleasantly surprised. I hope so, anyway. I'm doubtful that they would have come this far with you if they were considering you changing the entire 'voice' of your book to something 'plot-driven', as you say - wouldn't they have rejected it before then? I don't think you should worry. They obviously love the story so they're going to want to keep YOU on their side as well.

Fingers crossed ...

Symphony

[Hedgetrimmer]

I've read at least one agent interview who said she ALWAYS sends the revision letter first before offering representation. It's a way for her to see if the author is really someone she'll be able to work with. Kind of a test.

I've read this too, and it makes perfect sense. There are some writers who balk at the idea of making revisions and others who simply refuse to do so. I've been writing long enough to understand and accept that a big part of writing is rewriting. It's always been my philosophy that a work is never truly finished. It's simply let go and released to the public.

Thanks again everyone for all the support.

[MsJudy]

One of the points the agent kept making was that the book was a bit too "quiet," although he understood that tends to be the case with character-driven novels. My concern is that they may want me to change the book to something plot driven, ultimately making it a completely different work. I'll wait and see what their comment list looks like. I've already begun thinking of various scenes to introduce more conflict without changing the tone and scope of the work.

Okay, nobody take this personally, please, but I don't understand this. How can a book NOT be plot-driven? I mean, my understanding is that a story really begins when a character is confronted by a situation he or she wishes to change. Either something bad happens, or they want something they can't easily get. The story is about how that character takes action to deal with this situation, thereby revealing new depths, learning new lessons, confronting old errors, somehow becoming a newer, better version of his or herself. The action can be very subtle and personal, like in the O. Henry story where the wife cuts her hair and the husband sells his watch. It doesn't have to be action of the slay-the-dragon or defeat-Voldemort type. But if the character doesn't HAVE TO DO SOMETHING, what is the book about?

I'm just very confused by what people mean when they say a book is character-driven. Can someone give me an example of such a book? And explain to me how it works even though there's no plot?

[Hedgetrimmer]

In my opinion, every work has to have a plot. The difference between a character- and plot-driven novel is that in the former, plot plays less of a role. Certainly things happen, but they MC isn't always striving to achieve a stated goal. It's more passive, I guess, in that actions occur around the MC, in and about her world, and she responds to those actions, thus revealing character and growth. By the end of the book, the MC has undergone a change as a result of dealing with the circumstances around her, not necessarily trying to achieve something.

Plot-driven novels are more fast paced and have a lot of external stuff going on. Character-driven novels are more internal. Character-driven novels also lend themselves to the literary category, relying more on voice, symbolism, foreshadowing, irony and other literary techniques to create a sort of tone and mood. Hardly anything plot driven is literary.

An example, in my opinion, of a character-driven novel is Toni Morrison's BELOVED. The characters aren't trying to obtain anything. Yes, stuff happens, but a lot of stuff has happened in the past off the page. What the reader encounters is the reaction the characters have to the baby ghost that has possessed the house.

On a more contemporary note, I just finished Jerry Spinelli's EGGS. This too is character based. The MC doesn't set out to "do this or do that." What Spinelli does is show how the MC has been affected by his mother's death and the manner he goes about dealing with it. I find this kind of work quite engaging, and Spinelli did a damn good job of creating an emotional tone that pulled me in as a reader. Yeah, stuff happened throughout the book, but the most important stuff happening was within the MC's heart and mind. His everyday business was secondary. By the end of the book, the MC had not gained any external prize. Rather, he had come to accept his mother's death and better understand who he was as a son, grandson and friend.

As I have stated in another thread, character-driven novels must have a strong voice and other nuances that keep the reader enthralled. The reader is compelled to continue reading because the prose stands up off the page. Whenever I read work like this, I don't expect anything big to happen. On the contrary, I expect something little to happen (little in the sense of personal) but big nonetheless because it speaks to the overall human condition.

[MsJudy]

I still only part understand what you're saying. I haven't read EGGS, but I think Maniac Magee is one of the best books written about race in america, period, so I guess I'd better check out the rest of his books!

But as for Beloved....now, it's been many years since I read it, so I may have details wrong. But it seems to me that the story is driven along by a very critical plot: The family escaped from slavery. Their single, over-riding goal was to remain safe. When it seemed impossible to stay free, the mother chose to kill her children rather than let anyone take them back. It's her act of incredible desperation that reveals not only who she is, but also how terrible slavery is, that a mother would kill her own baby to save it. Yes, much of the book is about how everyone deals with what has happened. But the character development works because that one moment of action is so unthinkably powerful.

[Hedgetrimmer]

You're only partly right, JSK. The act of the MC killing her babies is the inciting event. The reader doesn't even get to witness these details. They are only alluded to as past events, and Morrison, being the writer that she is, does so quite vaguely and only halfway through the novel. The actual narrative is merely how those past events have changed everyone's life and the decisions they make to deal with them.

Also think of Holden Caufield in THE CATCHER IN THE RYE. Almost nothing happens in that book. Holden wanders around reflecting on his internal angst and past decisions, and yet therein lies the power and timeless nature of the book, as it speaks to everyman, not simply one particular man in a set of given circumstances.

If you haven't read EGGS, do so. It'll give you a better idea of a character-drive novel of recent years, as I hate to keep using dinosaurs as examples.

I'm off to work now, but if I think of others, I'll post them as well.

[Nahotep]

Just wanted to add congrats along with everyone else, Hedge! This is such a positive development. You are really on the road to publication.

At the recent SCBWI conference, one of the agents said much what others have put out there - that she likes to work closely with the writer on revisions and wants clients that are willing to make the manuscript as good as possible before it goes out. Hard work, but worth it if you really like the agent. Good luck!

[Beaker]

That is such an excellent description of the character-driven novel versus the plot-driven novel.

[MsJudy]

Okay, I'll post one more time, then shut up because I think I'm being annoying.

However....I'm still not convinced. In Beloved, the baby's death is chronologically the inciting incident, but the book isn't written chronologically. In the book's actual structure, it's the black moment, the crisis that forces the character to make her most difficult decision ever. The book builds in tension to that moment, and the tension continues after that because there is one terrible question to be answered: Can anyone ever find peace after such a thing? So yes, the plot is simple, but very, very powerful.

The plot, I think, is everything the writer structures to compell the characters to change, to grow.

Would you consider Mark Haddon's Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night to be character-driven? It's certainly literary.... The inciting incident is graphic, but brief, and most of the ensuing action involves a boy running away to find his mother. But because the boy has autism, every step of the journey is tense. The simple act of eating is drama in his life.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that I don't see the danger in intensifying the plot, if the agent feels that's necessary. It's all in how you focus it, the way the director points the camera. If you focus on the explosion, so will the reader. But if you focus on the child's face, then we will, too. From what I've read of the work that you've posted here, you're too good a writer and have too strong a sense of your character's voice to be in any danger of losing the heart of your book.

[Hedgetrimmer]

JSK, you're not being annoying at all. The whole purpose of this forum is to exchange meaningful dialogue. However, I'm going to leave BELOVED alone, as I don't think we'll ever agree about the structure. I haven't read Haddon's book, but I certainly will look it up and do so.

For our purpose, let me put a fictitious scenario to you. An MC's sister is about to get married, but he doesn't approve of her fiance. Rather than hurt his sister and cause familial strife, he chooses to feign his happiness. This causes him to undergo all sorts of internal struggle. Not only must he put on a facade for his sister and brother-in-law, but he must also grapple with not having spoken his true feelings. The ensuing book goes on to show his struggle as problems begin to arise in the marriage. How he deals with them shows his growth and character, but he himself is not trying to obtain anything. This would be character driven. The plot is loosely defined, but it is intact as events occur within and around him and cause him to act (his brother-in-laws cheating, sitting home and not working, abusing the MC's sister).

On the other hand, had the MC decided from the beginning that he was going to dissuade his sister from marrying this loser, that would constitute a more plot-driven piece. His intentions are overt to the reader (change his sister's mind). Yes, both structures reveal character, but one is internal while the other is external.

I appreciate your thinking so highly of my work that you don't forsee any problems with my making revisions. And I'm feeling a lot better about them myself. Since talking with the agent, I've read Cynthia Lord's RULES. While it is more character driven without a stated goal, I see how the author introduced conflict early in the piece and sustained it to end with a clearly-defined resolution. Reading the book from a writer's POV has given me a better understanding of what my work lacks and a possible method of correcting the flaw.

[MsJudy]

Sounds like you have a positive way to approach the agent's suggestions. Good luck with it!

[birdfeeder]

Congratulations! This is great news! May even greater news follow!

[Balthazar]

What happened with the revisions? I read all of these posts and am wondering what the latest is. Has anyone heard?

[Balthazar]

Hedgetrimmer, I think all of your decisions have been professional and reasonable. And since we're all new to this, it's a learn-as-you-go process.

I'm trying to take in as much of these threads and situations as possible, so they're in the back of my head when I start shopping my YA novel around.

Congrats though on at least getting agents interested!