Capturing the essence of your story in a couple of paragraphs is a huge challenge, and it can take a lot of work to get it just right. And plan to invest time in your query letter! I spent more hours writing (and rewriting, over and over) my query letter than I did drafting the last several chapters of the book. Or rather, write the you thing, whatever that happens to be.
So, I guess my advice is: write the odd thing. Well, I do realize how incredibly lucky I’ve been! But I can’t tell you how many times I really doubted even querying because my book didn’t seem to fit neatly in a marketable category. What advice would you give to authors hoping for the same result? Remarkably Bright Creatures is already making waves since its release earlier this month. Maybe I even felt a little like Marcellus with his journal entries, firing off words into some sort of void, not sure anyone would ever receive them. To me, at the time, it all just felt so presumptuous. In your recent LitHub article, “Lessons Learned from a Year Listening to the Fictional Octopus in My Head,” you remind us that “you write…therefore, you’re a writer.” Why is this mantra so important when writing your debut novel?įor anyone who produces any sort of creative work, writing or otherwise, I think there’s this leap when you go from having it be a private hobby to sharing it with others. I knew I was not writing a fantasy novel and didn’t have much latitude with world-building rather than creating a world where octopuses can communicate, I needed to create a communicating octopus that felt at home in the real world. An octopus narrator is already weird, at least in a book that’s otherwise realistic. There’s also the matter of where readers would draw the line. But, eventually, I realized I needed his communications to flow one way to reflect his loneliness.
How did you decide the limits of his voice?įiguring that out was one of the most challenging things about writing this book! At various times while drafting, I played around with allowing him to write (could an octopus hold a pen?) or perhaps chat with the other sea life at the aquarium. While his wit and charm appeal to readers, Marcellus doesn’t talk. In your new novel, Remarkably Bright Creatures (Ecco, May 3), an unlikely narrator-an octopus-steals readers’ hearts. This month, NLA had the pleasure of interviewing Kristin Nelson’s client Shelby Van Pelt, author of the debut novel Remarkably Bright Creatures.
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