Warm Bodies Author Isaac Marion On the Perception of Success

Your debut novel, Warm Bodies, took off to become an amazing success. It's been made into a film and translated into 25 languages. Yet, you've shared on your blog how the follow up title The Burning World did so poorly that your lost your publishing house, and your actual house - the roof over your head. Authors are often viewed as successful, even when our truth is something quite different. Your thoughts on that?

There's this idea that once someone achieves any level of success, they get lifted up to live among the gods and never have to struggle again. If you've heard of their work, they must be Famous, enshrined and protected by some vast corporation, so they certainly don't need you—an insignificant mortal!—to support them. It's been really eye-opening to see it from the inside and realize what a fable all that is. A lot of writers and musicians who are household names barely make enough to pay rent. Those Soundcloud rappers are renting all that bling!

Most artists are a lot more vulnerable than we imagine. And as our culture continues to devalue art and turn the idea of paying for it into a dorky anachronism, it's only getting sadder. I really encourage people to recognize the connection between what they support and what gets created. All it takes to put a bestselling author out of a job is one year of "I'll check that out later."

You put ten years into writing this series, and have chosen to bring the culmination - The Living - into print on your own, having them bound as hardcovers and signing each of the 3,000 copies. You came to this decision after looking into all the avenues available. Can you talk more about why this was the right choice for you as the author, and for this work as a whole?

It was a necessity that evolved into a choice. When Simon & Schuster dropped me I assumed that it'd be easy to find a smaller, weirder publisher who would recognize the opportunity. When a book sells 350,000 copies and its critically acclaimed sequel sells 5,000, it should be obvious that there's a glitch somewhere and whoever fixes that glitch could make a lot of money.

But what I discovered is that no one wanted to take on that challenge. No one was interested in the strange context around The Burning World's failure and no one had a vision for reigniting the series, it was all just numbers to them. I could have kept looking, tried even smaller houses, but I'd wasted a year already and I was fed up. I still had a lot of readers waiting for the end of the story and I just wanted to give it to them, career be damned. I'm still hoping for a wider release eventually, but for now I just want to get the conclusion out there so my readers and I can share these final moments.

Life as a creative is difficult. I know that from personal experience as well as having spent years talking to authors about their careers and hardships along the way. At the same time, I'm a farmer's daughter. One of my first jobs as a kid was a duty called "picking up rocks," which is pretty self-explanatory. What we do as writers is not physical labor, yet I would never argue that our lives are easy. What are your thoughts on the differences between physical and mental toughness and how they apply to our lives as writers?

Oh I know about Pick up Rocks. Farmer's son, here! Creative labor is exhausting in a very different way. If I have to dig twenty fence post holes in the rain, it's not fun, I'll get cold and wet and tired, but the job is clear: dig the holes. There's no question of "Will I be able to dig the holes? What if I get to the twentieth hole and my digger disappears?" And I don't have to invent a new kind of digger for every job! But ultimately, I think the toughness is the same. It's just a basic foundation of resilience, the idea of "This is the job and I'm going to do it."

A lot of people tell me they can never seem to finish any writing, they get halfway and then wander off, and I don't really know what to suggest for that problem because I think the real problem is further behind it. What really matters to you? Do you know why you're writing? Are you just following a whim that can be easily overwhelmed by the pull of Netflix? Or is there a fire inside you that has to come out? Writing is a conflict. The whole world is trying to talk you out of doing it. You have to become a bit of a hard-ass to slam the door in its face and get to work.

What's up next for you now that your series is finished?

I have several big ideas lined up waiting to be written but honestly, this thing is far from finished. It's going to be a long time before I can retreat from society and start writing again. My job for the next several months is going to be running around the world shouting about The Living. Even when I had a publisher this was an overwhelming task, but now that it's just me out here it's going to be all-consuming. I don't even want to let myself think about the next book yet, because it's calling to me, but The Living is the culmination of a decade of my life and I have to give it the parade it deserves.

You Are the Villain

One of the things I always tell aspiring writers is to remember not to make their villains unsympathetic. As tough as it is to swallow, everyone has a reason for being the way they are. Even the most reprehensible character (and people in real life) have traveled a path to become who they are. Note that I say reason - not excuse.

Recently while teaching a writing workshop I stumbled onto a truth you won't hear very often.

Everyone knows we are the heroes of our own stories. This is true. Whether you're having a good cry in your car - yes, you were at fault in that fender bender but you just have so much going on right now - or calling to check in on that friend who is down on their luck, we are usually doing the right thing... or at least if we do the wrong thing, we have justification.

Perspective is key in these situations. The person you just rear-ended most definitely isn't feeling that narrative about how stressed you are right now. They've got bills to pay, and by the way that wasn't even their car - that was their mother-in-law's car - and you just made their life a shit show.

Much like in books and movies, the audience's sympathy is going to be with the person they were following right before the crash. Are they in the car with you? Or the person you hit? Their sympathy will lie with whoever's POV they are in, because they've already identified with them and understand the circumstances that led up to the crash - or the impact of the fallout.

In real life, we are always the heroes of our own stories. It's our narrative. We know the ins and outs of every moment that has made us into who we are today. It shapes our perspective and determines where our chief sympathies lie.

How is this a writing tool?

While standing in front of my class and talking about the hero perspective we use in our daily lives, I suddenly realized the flip of that - every single one of us is also someone's villain.

That's right. You're the villain in someone else's narrative.

Think about that.

If you want to use it as soul-cleanser, go ahead. That's up to you. I'm looking at it from a writing perspective. I know more than a few narratives where I figure in as the villain, and I'm sure there are plenty I'm blissfully unaware of.

If you know yours, cool. If not, give it a second.

I'm confident that in your version of the narrative you are not the villain. Much like our fictional counterparts, you have a reason for whatever action (or inaction) that cast you in that role. I doubt you have to stretch yourself to come up with a sympathetic angle.

Apply this same thinking to your fictional villains, and you will have believable, three-dimensional, sympathetic, dynamic, interesting characters populating your pages.

Just like a real person.

Top 5 Mistakes For First Time Queries & Making Yourself Write

First of all – if you haven’t already realized this I’m going to say it again – we all generally hate ourselves when we sit down to write. I’m currently holed up in a hotel room working on this podcast instead of writing, because it seems I have completely forgotten how to.

I’ll remember, maybe after a nap, but I have the luxury of knowing that I will remember how to write. I’ve been here before, in this doubtful place with a blank screen and a cursor staring at me, a gulf of indecision and inadequacy opening up inside.

I’m sure that feels familiar to you if you’re a writer, but like the listener posing the question on Twitter, you might not have that resource to fall back on – knowing that you have done it before, and will again. Eventually.

Maybe after a drink.

Or perhaps petting the cat.

For an hour.

Also, I have to pee.

This is called procrastination. Writers are excellent at it. It’s an answer to our problem of fear – being afraid of failing. We can’t fail at something we don’t actually attempt, can we?

You also can’t succeed.

Making yourself write is most definitely the way to put it. It truly is a forced endeavor, at times, and often I meet aspiring writers who feel like they aren’t writers because it’s such a struggle, because they have to force themselves to do it.

For example, just last night in the elevator with writing friends I squared my shoulders right before the door opened on my floor and said, “Okay, I’ve got to go write.”

To which one said, “Don’t do that to yourself.”

Yep. In an elevator full of traditionally published, successful authors, absolutely everyone – including myself – was in pain just at the thought of writing.

If this is you, take heart.

But Mindy, if it’s truly a passion, truly a love, truly a creative instinct and drive – shouldn’t you want to?

No, not necessarily.

I absolutely love my boyfriend. I don’t want to be with him every moment of every day. That’s emotional work.

So is writing.

Work, hard work, work embroidered with your soul – work that someone else might hate, work that – when shared – feels like disrobing, an intimate moment. If you don’t want to do it, the best thing to move yourself is to ask yourself why?

Is it because you are afraid of failing?

Realize that you might. Then ask yourself if you’re okay with never trying.

Is it because you aren’t feeling inspired?

Me neither. Writing is not (usually) a disembodied fever dream that flows from your fingers. Those moments do happen, but they are rare and I don’t question them, or dissect how they came to be for fear of killing it through observation.

I’ll add that those fugue state words are often ones that need a lot of heavy lifting after the fact – serious editing to – in some cases – inject logic into what they are trying to convey.

On the other hand, those tedious paragraphs that took me hours to deliver? They don’t need a lot of polish because I spit on each word and gave it a serious side-eye before moving on to the next one.

Two weeks ago I talked about word vomits – getting words out while not overly considering quality. Quantity is the aim in a word vomit. You’ll clean it up later.

What I’m talking about right now is a dry heave – painful excretions of each syllable. And – much like a real dry heave – less to clean up.

Are you not writing because you have other, more pressing things in your life?

Is it your family? Valid. Is it your friends? Valid. Is it your day job? Valid. Is it Netflix? Is it your bladder? Is it an excuse?

Are you not writing because you don’t know how?

Answer – do you read books, watch TV or movies, or go to plays? Then you know how. Do it.

Are you not writing because when you put down five words they look so small on that white page?

Put down five more. That’s ten. Do it.

Are you not writing because someone told you there are rules and a right way to create a novel and you’re afraid of doing it wrong?

They’re wrong. Do it.

You probably picked up on the refrain – do it.

That’s the best possible advice I can give on writing. You just have to do it. When I first started writing, I would put myself in front of my laptop and say, “Alright Mindy, make some shit happen.”

If it helps to swear at yourself – do it.

This question came from Facebook, a poster asked me to share some common mistakes for first time query-ers and submit-er’s.

Can do.

First – don’t bulk email query. Many agents prefer a personalization in queries they receive – a reason why you are querying them. This will definitely get their attention, but I do like to stress that it’s not a necessity. I landed mine with the simple, Dear Ms. Ranta, followed by a hook. But what they don’t want to see is a BCC in their email, knowing that they were just hit with a query that not only wasn’t personalized – but the writer didn’t even bother to send it to them as an individual. What’s worse? Not BCC’ing, so that everyone can see who else got the email. It’s like getting a prom invite that says, also, if you say no, I’ve already asked Sherry, Jana, Emily and Darlene, so, no pressure, but also don’t feel special, kay?

Second – don’t respond to a rejection. A simple thank you for your time is fine, but also unnecessary – hopefully that was your closing line in the query or submission, anyway. Most rejection responses are inherently defensive in nature, border on passive aggressive – or, are flat out aggressive. I’m going to assume you are smart enough to not do any of those things, and move on to the next point. Let’s be honest – why are you responding? Because there was a minor compliment in the rejection and you want to hear more about what’s working in the manuscript? Of course you do – but, that’s also not the job of this agent… that’s the job of your agent, yes. But this person isn’t your agent – they just rejected you. You’re asking them to do their job for free… nobody likes that. And again – why are you responding? Because you are hoping that your response will be so eloquent and beautiful or witty and moving that they change their minds. That’s why you’re responding. They’re not going to. Move on.

Third – DO follow query and submission guidelines. Yes, I know. They are hoops you don’t want to jump through. It’s arbitrary. It’s annoying. It’s not part of your creative process. When I first started doing the processing at my library job, one of the things that the woman who held the position before me did was handwrite the barcode on page 25 of every single book. That’s ridiculous, I thought. I’m cutting that step out. Then a book came back to the library with the dustjacket (therefore, the barcode) torn off. I couldn’t return it. I didn’t know whose it was. I couldn’t put it back in the system. Oh… so this is why she did that. Guidelines and processes exist for a reason. It may not be obvious to you why they exist, but it’s not arbitrary, and it’s not a game to see if you’ll do it right, only to buzz you out if you don’t. Going rogue and doing your own thing is cool on the creative side, not so much on the business side.

Fourth – Don’t slam someone already established in the industry. Yes, you may think you are a better writer than they are, in fact you might actually be. It doesn’t matter. They are successful for a reason – one that you haven’t figured out yet. Maybe they had an awesome hook, or a high concept plot. Maybe a frantic bidding war made that book sell for way more than what you deem it worth. Maybe you just don’t like them, personally. Doesn’t matter. Publishing is small, and if you are trashing a writer on Twitter, their agent will see it. And you might want to query them.

Fifth – Don’t tell an agent or editor in a submission that if they pass they will regret it. It will be the biggest mistake of their lives. You are a genius who is breaking down creative walls and history will remember them for being the person who held their sledgehammer for them. Quite frankly – don’t be a dick. Flip side – Don’t tell the agent or editor that this is your first novel, that you don’t really know what you are doing, that if they pass you will understand, because honestly, it’s probably pretty bad. In other words – don’t sell yourself short. Yes, these queries DO happen and either way, you’re presenting yourself as someone they don’t want to work with – the diva or the needy.

Hope that helps – some of these things are obvious, I know, but you’d be surprised how often they happen.

As always, if you have a suggestion for something you’d like me to address dealing with writing, publishing, or questions for me in general – feel free to ask! Email me at Mindy@MindyMcGinnis.com or ask me on Twitter.