Wednesday, July 13: Mystery Masterclass
Although he is the author of several books—including the young adult romance Just in Time for Love and the hardboiled private eye novel All White Girls—Michael Bracken is better known as the author of almost 900 short stories in various genres. He began writing professionally while still a teenager and has been a full-time freelance writer/editor since April 1, 2003. Learn more at www.CrimeFictionWriter.com and CrimeFictionWriter.blogspot.com.
—Rob Lopresti
IN PRAISE OF TECHNICIANS
by Michael Bracken
When we discuss writers, we often place them on a continuum somewhere between pure storyteller and pure stylist. The pure storyteller has such innovative ideas and such a strong grasp of plot that readers are willing to forgive infodumps and clunky dialog in their rush to learn what happens next. The pure stylist has such a wonderful command of language that readers are swept along by the flow of words and may not realize until later that what they read has no substance.
There’s a third type of writer whose skill set overlaps both storytellers and stylists, but whose existence remained largely hidden by publishing’s gatekeepers until the recent self-publishing boom exposed their paucity: The technician.
The technician is equal parts grammarian, who comprehends the difference between a dependent clause and an independent clause and the difference between “insure” and “ensure”; typographer, who comprehends the difference between a hyphen, an en dash, an em dash, and the even more esoteric 2-em dash and 3-em dash; and techno geek who knows at least three different ways to indent a paragraph in Microsoft Word and comprehends why all three methods should not be used in the same manuscript.
While the technician’s manuscripts can be put into production with little or no effort, the process of traditional publishing masked the paucity of technicians because copyeditors ran interference between the writer and the reader, cleaning up as much as possible given whatever time and budget constraints they faced. Now, with many small presses and self-publishing writers failing to hire copyeditors, it has become quite easy to tell which writers are and which writers are not technicians.
Does it matter to the average reader whether a writer knows the difference between an apostrophe and a single opening quotation mark? Apparently not. Many readers also don’t know the difference.
But it does matter.
Repeated exposure to raw manuscripts—both fiction and non-fiction—leads to the inescapable conclusion that the best technicians are often the best writers. Why? A technician’s skills are all learnable, and a writer who takes the time to master grammar, typography, and word processing software is a writer dedicated to mastering the tools of his trade, and anyone in any trade who masters his tools will be a superior craftsman.
They might even become an artist.
So, whether you are a storyteller or a stylist, whether you desire to impress an editor or you choose to approach readers directly through self-publishing, whether you’re just beginning a writing career or are already several years into one, it behooves you to become a technician.
Copyeditors will love you and your readers will appreciate it.
Michael,
As an English teacher who taught writing courses both at the university and high school level for many years, I applaud and appreciate your discussion of the “technician.” I believe good writers need to be technicians. Paying attention to details is important and most certainly to crime writers.
Jacqueline Seewald
THE TRUTH SLEUTH
Great essay!
As an author, I’ve been thinking a lot about this new exposure of technical weakness in writers caused by advances in technology. There’s nothing to replace solid chops, no matter what your field.
Strangely, though, in my other job as a music teacher, I’ve been finding the opposite issue: New technology is making it increasingly possible for so-called musicians to hide their lack of technical skills. Doesn’t hide it from the trained ear, but it does from most of the public (or so one gathers from iTunes sales).
I suppose, eventually, publishing will catch up, and there will be viable editing software that can disguise lack of skill in the self-published author. I dread that day, since, as you so rightly point out, the best technicians are often the best writers.
I agree with what you say, Michael. I’m one of those folks who can read a book and always find errors. Sometimes those mistakes turn me off and my interest in reading the book or article quickly evaporates. I think every writer needs to hone not only their story telling skills but their technical skills as well. I don’t think only the self-published writers need to do this, but all writers. Even the best editor will miss some of an author’s mistakes.
I confess, I’ve always felt—about people who got their undies in a knot when I used hyphens for dashes—exactly the way other people seemed to feel when I pointed out that they’re usage was not all their. However–mostly to see what the software does to double hyphens and ampersandmdashsemicolon–I’ll thank you for the impetus and Wikipedia for the immediate access to the required lesson.
Excellent piece, Michael; very thought- provoking.
Being an aspiring crime writer – who’s finally put himself ‘out there’ in the last couple of years and is having progressive successes – I appreciate what you’re saying here. I’ve been striving to develop and hone the necessary writing skills for years, and know there will always be room for improvement in us all.
This tsunami of e-book self-publishing concerns me, however. Looks like I’ll have to embrace it at some point, but I don’t think you can beat the feel (and smell) of a good book. It’ll be interesting to see where it all leads…
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Regards to all,
Col
Ps. Cool site, BTW!
Michael,
Nicely said.
Now where can I get one of those briefcases?
Stephen
Thanks for all your kind comments.
And, Stephen, I think the case is Rob’s. Mine’s still missing a few tools.