THE HALLMARKS OF GREAT WRITING
A Sound Premise and Compelling Themes
Last week, I discussed the need to identify your story’s themes in order to construct a sound premise that will convince both an editor to publish your book and a reader to buy it. Please join me in welcoming Brad Windhauser as the first guest blogger in this series on literary themes and premise.
Brad’s Bio
Brad is originally from Southern California and now lives in Center City, Philadelphia. He has an M.A. in English/Creative Writing from Rutgers University (Camden campus) and an MFA in Creative Writing from Queens University of Charlotte. In addition to being one of five regular contributors to 5Writers.com, Brad is an Assistant Professor in the English Department at Temple University. His academic essay “The Power of Confession: the Closets of Dorian Gray” appeared in In-between: Essays & Studies in Literary Criticism (2005). A handful of his short stories have been published, most recently in The Baltimore Review (2008). Regret, his first novel, was published in 2007 by Star Publishing.
You can follow his work on 5Writers Blog, where, as one of its founding authors, he is a regular contributor. You can also read his new blog project where he, as a gay author, is chronicling his journey reading the Bible for the first time: The Bible Project. Brad is currently writing a novel: This Too Shall Pass. As a resident in a gentrifying neighborhood, this novel grew out of his concern for what constitutes a community and the types of tests that bring out the best and worst in the people who reside there.
Brad’s work-in-progress novel
This Too Shall Pass is set in a gentrifying South Philadelphia neighborhood. The story is about an accident involving a white driver and a black bicyclist. Carol Jones, the mother of the injured bicyclist, is drawn back to the neighborhood she had abandoned years ago for a posh suburban life. Ms. Rose, a neighborhood old head who works at a Laundromat, must decide the extent to which she can stand behind the white driver, who is a loyal customer of hers. Michael, the white driver and recent home owner in the neighborhood, must find a way to embrace his community and overcome his guilt over the accident, all under the cloud of betrayal by his ex-boyfriend. The journey these three undertake brings them in contact with several other key neighborhood residents.
The premise of Brad’s novel
The dictionary defines gentrification as, “the process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents.”
Brad lives in such a neighborhood, the one in which his novel is set. As one of the people seen as responsible for this change, he felt the eyes of the people who weren’t so happy about it. They saw people like him as the reason they were losing their community (displacement). He saw his presence as helping turn a community in crisis around (renewal and rebuilding). Since the two sides don’t often coexist well, he wondered what would happen if an accident involving a white driver and a black bicyclist brought this tension to a head.
And so the story begins: When an accident involving a white driver and a black bicyclist tests the social tension created by gentrification, three individuals are drawn together and are challenged to confront their identities and stakes in a volatile community looking for any excuse to fight for what’s already been lost and against what threatens to reshape their neighborhood.
The themes that drive Brad’s story
The novel deals mostly with the theme of gentrification; however, the story also explores the sub-themes of community, recovery/rehabilitation, family, race, class, immigration, and change.
Remember, effective book publicity relies on strong promotional messages, which are extracted from the themes contained in your writing that, collectively, make up the premise of the story.
Promotional opportunities for Brad’s book
The dominant theme of gentrification is one with which several readers will identify even if their position on the issue varies. With many communities across the country experiencing these transitions, a useful promotional tie-in would be to arrange readings/discussion groups at a local coffee-house. Since the book is designed to be a conversation starter, after a reading, we could discuss plot points and see if they highlight certain issues of that particular community. The major benefit of this type of promotional tie-in is that it would hopefully get people to continue talking about the book long after the gathering.
Join me as I discuss the need for compelling themes and a sound premise with published and newbie authors over the next few months. If you want to participate as a guest blogger in this series, please do not hesitate to contact me for details. You can also participate by leaving a comment for Brad below.
This sounds like being an intriguing book. I often marvel at the complications people introduce into their own lives, often through misunderstandings based on uninformed prejudice, as is likely to happen in Brad’s scenario.
I wonder if he’s going to explore what might happen in a community where the incomer makes active efforts to become integrated before introducing changes, and then brings everyone else along with him. I’ve seen this happen in a run down area of Glasgow. There the resident community was not displaced but raised and renewed themselves, becoming more ‘gentrified’ as a result. Thirty years later the old timers are still there and very much central to the community.
Sadly, this doesn’t often happen, which will make Brad’s book all the more poignant.
I agree with you, Ian, about that first statement about prejudice. Yes, this is a wonderful concept to explore, so I look forward to reading Brad’s book, hopefully one of these days.
Ian,
There is an element of people with slightly better means using their money for the good of the community. The change, though, is not met well in all cases. There are still some long-time residents who want no change whatsoever.
I titled the book This Too Shall Pass in order to highlight the inevitability of change. You can’t stop it; the issue is, how do you handle it?
Thanks for the comment.
I wasn’t thinking of people with resources coming in and using those to influence or cause change as much as those who settle in and then work from within to adjust things so that everyone gains something. This usually comes from public spirited individuals who value the community as it is but can still see aspects which might wear improvement. Their efforts invariably take time to get started but once the movement begins it gathers place and nobody wants to be left out. It’s an osmotic process, but it can be driven.
This is the technique I used to employ when initiating development projects in Africa. If applied with care, it works, even with people who say they want no change at all. It is part of the psychology of such people that they want to maintain the status quo but they also want to keep their own standing and position in the community. The latter is the more powerful motivator and thus becomes the doorway to change.
Yes indeed, there is lots to explore in this topic.
I can see lots of opportunity for publicity, including speaking engagements to building and construction associations, neighborhood associations, architects etc.. Good luck with the book, Brad!
Ah, Cynthia, you’re so right about all those relevant outlets. Brad could have a lot of fun marketing this book. Thanks for stopping by
Thanks Belinda,
Another marketing outlet I would explore would be to suggest a reading group in these gentrifying communities, perhaps targeting first local libraries to help organize.
Thanks Cynthia,
One of the things I kept at the forefront of my mind while I was writing this book was that I wasn’t trying to solve a problem; rather, I was trying to include all sides of the problem so that I could explore how various people from different backgrounds would approach (or avoid) it. For me, the fun is seeing what happens; from there, I hope my readers would discuss the decisions, see how they would react. This is how positive change begins: through communication.
Pingback: Brad Windhauser Announces Launch of New Writing Project (and other activity) « Five Writers
By the way, Brad, the photo I included is one we took last year on a trip to Detroit, where the same issue is playing out. This morning, I came across an article (link below), which I think you might find interesting. Since gentrification is such a widespread issue – and to Cynthia’s point – you really could think of planning a book tour aimed at speaking as some kind of expert/celebrity at such community events all over the country.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-mangona/gentrification-detroit_b_1662070.html
I’m wary of being called an expert since somebody pointed out that ‘EX’ in a has been and ‘SPURT’ is something wet under pressure.
That having been said, Go out and speak at every opportunity. Someone with direct personal knowledge who is a charismatic speaker can be well worth listening to. It can be a great way to sell books.
Do you have literary festivals in your area? Those can be ideal events for publicising a book, generating interest in all your other work, and for selling signed copies. When people have met you and heard your enthusiasm for the story, they will begin reading with a more positive and attentive mind. They are more likely to enjoy your book and then tell other people about it.
By the way, when I sell books like that, I always ask people not to pass them on to friends (family is OK), but to tell their friends to buy a copy. That way I sell more! (but some still pass them round).
Ian,
Locally, we have thew Philadelphia Book Festival in May and The Collingswood Book Festival in October (just over the bridge in South Jersey). For my first book I had a table at both. Both are great opportunities to get the word out there. The trick is finding the gimmick that will draw people to your booth. I would imagine I would get blown up versions of the types of photos Belinda includes here. They create the: “What’s that?” reaction, which (hopefully) people would then explore.
That’s an interesting expose of your book festivals. We do things slightly differently in UK with Literary Festivals where authors get one hour sessions to talk about their books of to be interviewed by one of the festival team. Some use visual aids, others do reading, the format is quite flexible. The organisers generally set aside a location where the public can buy all the books involved in the festival and get them signed after the author’s presentation. Trying to get in on the circuit is highly competitive, but every one provides a potential audience of between fifty and three hundred people. Authors who can pull a crowd and keep them interested get invited to other events.
We also have Book Fairs, which sound far more like what you put above, but these often don’t have the opportunity for public reading or author presentation. they’re essentially book trade shows.
Thanks Belinda. A few years ago I attended a talk by a professor who specialized in this area. He lived in Detroit. What’s interesting is how–even given the diversity of some many communities–the same issues affect people again and again.
Great post, Belinda. Brad’s next novel sounds intriguing, especially to a reader who grew up in areas where these issues existed based on race and/or religion decades ago. Depending on society’s current issues, our opinions and feelings will also change. I think Brad has hit on an important premise and theme.
Thanks, Sherrey. You’re right about Brad’s story; I think he did the right thing from the start to write about a topic he understands and is passionate about – that’s a great recipe for success.
Thanks for the vote of confidence Sherrey. It is nice when something that interests you happens to be an issue that has wide appeal.