Write a Western in 30 Days

With Plenty of Bullet Points!

By Nik Morton

John Hunt Publishing Ltd.

Copyright © 2013 Nik Morton
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-78099-591-5

Contents

1. Introduction……………………………………………………12. Preparation…………………………………………………….103. Research……………………………………………………….214. Theme and ideas…………………………………………………435. Point of view decision…………………………………………..566. Book and chapter titles………………………………………….687. Plot-plan………………………………………………………728. Character creation………………………………………………879. Get writing…………………………………………………….10710. Dialogue………………………………………………………11411. Description and Visualization……………………………………12812. Symbolism and Layering………………………………………….13813. Beginnings and Endings………………………………………….14214. Self-edit……………………………………………………..14515. Synopsis and Blurb……………………………………………..15516. Marketing……………………………………………………..161Appendices………………………………………………………..A. 30-day countdown………………………………………………..164B. Word count……………………………………………………..165C. Publishers and Literary Agents……………………………………167D. Formatting the manuscript………………………………………..174E. Western Fiction book list………………………………………..176F. Selection of western series characters…………………………….183Index…………………………………………………………….186

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

Why write a western?

Received wisdom would have us believe that the western genreis dead. It died in the 1970s, buried by detective and spy fictionthat swamped the market. Though seriously wounded after afew skirmishes, in fact it didn’t die, because there was a renaissancein the late 1980s. But then after that western books fell intodisfavour yet again … The western had a foot in Boot Hill, itseemed. That might have been the rumour a few years ago, but itwould appear that, to paraphrase Mark Twain, the reports of thewestern’s death were exaggerated. Over the last couple of years,there’s been a definite resurgence in the western.

Go online and check out the number of western novelsavailable, particularly new authors and books, and you’ll besurprised at the sheer volume. Western authors have embracedthe digital age. Before the release of Stagecoach in 1939, there’dbeen a slump in western movies; that film’s Oscar-winningsuccess spurred on more films in the genre. So popularity of thewestern rises and falls. Now, more western films are being madethan for many a year. The critical sniping at Spielberg’s Cowboys& Aliens didn’t do it any harm at the box office: the film isseventh in the list of top grossing western movies; Dances withWolves is still top.

Before Avatar and Star Wars (‘cowboys in space’) there wasJohn Carter, the ex-Confederate Captain created by Edgar RiceBurroughs; Carter begins his adventure prospecting for gold inthe Old West and ultimately finds untold wealth, love and a newplanet, Barsoom (Mars). The unjustly maligned film actually didthe book A Princess of Mars (1912) justice. Burroughs joined the7th US Cavalry in 1896, at Fort Grant. Several westerns followedhis successful Tarzan books.

At the time of writing, independent filmmakers are embracingthe genre, too. Meek’s Cutoff has achieved critical and audienceacclaim. Other film projects upcoming include Johnny Depp,Quentin Tarantino, Val Kilmer, and Luke Perry being involved indifferent movies. Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones and HilarySwank are on-board for a new movie, The Homesman. And there’sa string of 2012 TV westerns – Hell on Wheels, Goodnight for Justice,Gateway, Hatfields & McCoys, Hangtown and Longmire.

In the UK, Robert Hale Ltd has been publishing westerns since1937, and the Black Horse Western imprint since the mid-1980s,and has a strong showing even today – up to eight new hardbacktitles per month. Many of these titles go on to Large Printeditions, earning their authors additional royalties, and of coursethen there’s the Public Lending Right annual payment, too. ThePLR tends to lend credence to the assertion that westerns are stillpopular. My first western novel for Hale is five years old, andover that time it has been borrowed at least 5,800 times andcounting – that’s almost 6,000 readers of a single western. So,there is a readership out there.

Welshman Gary Dobbs, a taxi driver and bit-part actor, haspenned to date five westerns under the penname Jack Martin. Hisfirst, The Tarnished Star (2009), was the fastest-selling Halewestern ever, and a bestseller.

Alfred Wallon is a German writer; he recently signed with apublisher to write four more westerns in two on-going series.American James Reasoner is a prolific writer of crime andwestern novels and produces half a dozen western novels everyyear. Indeed, a great many crime novelists write westerns as well,among them Bill Pronzini, Bill Crider and Elmore Leonard. Manyof Leonard’s books have been filmed, including Hombre, 3:10 toYuma and Valdez is Coming.

Now, with the ubiquitous e-books, westerns are read – andwritten – worldwide. Westerns are produced by writers living inNew Zealand, Australia, Japan, Spain, UK, Germany, Canadaand the US.

So you don’t have to be an American to write a western. Andthat’s been the case for a long time, too. Prolific author J.T. Edsonpublished over a hundred westerns, covering nine seriescharacters between the 1960s and 1980s. In the 1970s and 1980s,a group of British writers met at a Piccadilly pub and developeda number of western series. The group became known as thePiccadilly Cowboys; between them, they produced over threehundred of the most violent westerns ever published. TerryHarknett, Mike Linaker, Angus Wells, Ken Bulmer, LaurenceJames, John Harvey and Fred Nolan came up with the names ofAdam Steele, Josiah Hedges, Jubal Cade, Cuchillo Oro and manymore while huddled together in the pub.

The website Tainted Archive regularly runs Wild West events,encouraging bookstores around the UK and worldwide to participate.

The fourth Saturday in July is the National Day of theCowboy in the US.

Relevance of the western

Many westerns’ elemental and compelling narrative appeal maybe due to that sense of the endless possibilities of adventure forthe hero and heroine. There’s always some new excitement alongthe trail, over the next ridge.

Westerns these days come in many guises. Long ago, thewestern escaped its straitjacket of men in white and black hatsshooting it out. Of course, there’s gunplay and death, but thatwas an aspect of the Old West, though not as commonplace aswe’re led to believe. Yet modern western novels can contain somuch more.

Revenge is the staple plot for much Renaissance drama and ofthe Victorian melodrama. Revenge is a sure-fire motive for awestern and there have been scores of books and films that havedealt with the subject. Yet there are still plenty of inventive variationson this age-old theme. The revenge is often driven by thehero’s sense of personal honour, an inner compulsion rather thanan external threat. We’ll discuss the Code of the West later.

It’s always refreshing to read humorous western tales,whether that’s dark irony or off-the-wall slapstick; there’s neverenough humour, apparently. Blazing Saddles still sells well as aDVD, almost forty years after its release.

Unscrupulous builders, politicians and bankers are not new,even if they’re in the news these days; their type figured in theOld West too.

The Old West was not tamed solely by men, of course. Womenplayed their significant part and are often major characters inmodern versions of the Old West. Women in the westernrepresent the alternative to violence. There’s a paradox here, ascivilization depends on there being men who will not choose theseductive comforts the woman offers: it’s as though a societywithout violence, a society indeed fit for women, can only comeinto being through violence.

Western writing is not the domain of male writers alone, andnever has been; a number of female writers have producedmemorable work in the field, among them Annie Proulx, JanetDailey, Dorothy M. Johnson, Amy Sadler, and Gillian F. Taylor(the latter is a Mastermind finalist). Some use male pennames,such as Amos Carr, used by writer Jill McDonald-Constable,Terry James used by Joanne Walpole, Tex Larrigan, used by IreneOrd, and Terry Murphy used by Theresa Murphy. Others haveopted for unisex pennames, such as M.M. Rowan and D.M.Harrison.

Every genre needs new blood, since the readership has avoracious appetite for more of the same. As it says on the cover,this guide seeks to encourage new writers to tackle the westernand do so within a limited time period.

The western can cover all manner of storylines relevant totoday’s readership. Dysfunctional families, domestic strife,racism, greed, crooked business, and even supernatural elementsare all grist to the mill for modern writers of westerns.

Essentially, the western has a broad canvas, rich in historyand imagery, a period from the 1860s to the 1890s, where mythand history intermingled. The Old West was a melting pot ofnationalities, of religions, and of morality. The human conditioncan be examined using the mores of the western archetype. Newstories of the Old West can move readers just as effectively, if noteven more so, than competing genres. The only limitation is theskill of the writer.

Cliché avoidance

Remember, too, that the western genre is full of stereotypes – grizzledgunslingers, heroes who can outshoot a dozen men inthe blink of an eye, shady gamblers who live by the cards and theDerringer up their sleeve, hard-faced saloon girls who have softhearts, etc.

Some of these things may be the reason why readers areattracted to the genre. They’re comfortable with the familiar.Common sense tells you that these stereotypes are not all that awestern comprises. Filling your book with every cliché you canthink of will not make it a good western.

These days, readers have certain expectations and so youshould use this knowledge to surprise them. Break the mould,think laterally. Give your characters more than one dimension, ahint of realism and a personality that distinguishes them fromthe run-of-the-mill characters of yore. That way, readers willhopefully come back to your books because they’re that little bitdifferent, and not simply formulaic stories found elsewhere.(Every genre has its formulaic series of books, not just thewestern).

The novel’s origin

What’s the impetus to write a novel? It can be an idea, a phrasefrom a book, an incident read in a periodical, or an inspirationfrom some person or incident.

For The $300 Man, I stumbled on an interesting fact whiledoing research into another western. The Union draft allowed fordraft dodgers – if they paid a substitute to take their place – andthe going rate was $300. The title of The $300 Man was born.

In 1861, Andrew Carnegie, 25, invested in Columbia Oil Co.He never enlisted in the Civil War but purchased a substitute. Hisfirm pumped 2,000 barrels a day; he also invested in the new steelindustry. Two years later, at the war’s height, John D. Rockefeller,23, built with four partners an oil refinery in Cleveland nearCuyahoga River. He avoided military service by buying asubstitute.

Once I had my title and the initial idea about a substitute, Ithen had to decide on why anyone would accept the money to goand possibly get maimed or killed. The thought of being maimedbrought to mind a few heroes (and villains!) who wore a hook. Idecided my hero would lose a hand in the Civil War and a hookwould replace it. A special hook, however, that is adaptable foruse with other tools or utensils.

You might be able to start straight in on your novel – or youmay need to plot it first. That’s entirely up to you. Working froma rough plot makes the going easier – and there are still usuallysurprises on the way to make the story interesting to you, thewriter. There’s a separate chapter on plot-plans.

For this novel, which would take place some years after thewar, I wanted to mention $300 early on – and decided that thehero would always carry that amount – a significant reminder forhim. And to create action to hook the reader, I’d have him gettingrobbed. These are the first words of the book, in the Prologue:The Hook:

‘$300 – that’ll do nicely!’ said Bert Granger as he finishedthumbing through the billfold Corbin Molina had beenencouraged to hand over. As added persuasion, Bert held arevolver in his other hand.

‘That’ll do nicely’ is a modern American phrase which I used fora bit of fun.

I wanted the novel to be more than a traditional western,though it would contain many of the genre’s traits. As I built upthe storyline, I found that it contained romance, action, betrayal,family disputes, historical events, and courage. A good mix.

The writing doesn’t always go from beginning to end. That’swhy I use a plot-plan document. Certain scenes might pop intomy head concerning particular characters – but those scenes maybe further along in the story. It doesn’t matter – put them into theplot-plan till you need them. Think of how films are made – scenesand characters are rarely filmed in linear fashion (usuallyit’s for convenience and cost reduction) – the film’s all slottedtogether in the correct order at the editing stage.

How can a book be written in 30 days?

In the days of pulp fiction, when authors were paid cents orpence per word, many genre writers produced novels in a matterof days. Among them was Jim Thompson, a crime novelist whowas read by millions. Since he died, several of his books havebeen filmed, to considerable acclaim. Dickens was wordybecause he was paid by the word. Michael Moorcock was knownto write a fantasy novel in his Elric series over a weekend.Georges Simenon used to shut himself away for a couple of daysand produce a Maigret novel.

Lauran Paine wrote over 900 books, among them romance,science fiction, mystery novels and hundreds of westerns, one ofwhich was filmed as Open Range, starring Kevin Costner. Painealso wrote non-fiction books on the Old West, military history,witchcraft, and other subjects. Because his publishers onlyaccepted a limited number of books under a single author’sname, he adopted dozens of pseudonyms.

Since 1965, the phenomenal Jory Sherman has published over400 novels and 500 short stories and is currently writing books inseveral western series for Signet and Berkley.

Writing from nine to five, five days a week, Terry Harknett,author of the Edge western series and many others, couldproduce a western novel in eleven days. The Edge books arebeing reprinted; there’s a market out there, all right.

Back in 1995 I entered the One Day Novel Writing competitionin London and finished joint-fourth – producing 18,000 words intwo 12-hour shifts. That amounted to a novella, really, but it wasstill a book. In the Get Writing section I will show how you canproduce about 2,000 words a day.

My first western took me a total of 19 days from conception tocompletion. Subsequent westerns have taken me a little longer,but not much. If I combine all five, they actually average out atwell under 30 days per book.

In the old days, say the 1950s and 1960s, most genre novels ranto about 156 to 180 pages – 50,000 words or thereabouts. Theywere designed for a quick visceral read and had no pretensionsto being great literature. Books to entertain. That’s still true today,though perhaps the readership is more knowledgeable andexacting in its expectation now. Many film scripts have beenbased on genre fiction – the pulp length lends itself to theconstraints of movie scripting. A film script doesn’t contain manywords, has lots of white space and usually runs to about 120pages. My film script for my vampire crime thriller Death isAnother Life (2011) came to 22,500 words, while the book wordcount was 80,000.

Most genre westerns will be about 40–45,000 words in length,though they might possibly stretch up to 60,000. If they’re longer,then they probably fall into a category other than western genre,for example Historical or Saga fiction. This book is intended toencourage you to write a western genre novel of about 40–45,000words.

Speed of production should not compromise quality of thework. If you follow my guidelines, you will still be able toproduce a good quality piece of fiction – without investing a yearor more in it.

The main thing to remember is that a novel requires:

• commitment,

• discipline,

• effort.

Still, it should be possible to sustain all that over a 30-day period.While the 30 days don’t have to be consecutive, it will help if youcan write every day for that period, as you will find yourselfbeing carried along by the characters and the flow of thenarrative. However, the choice is yours. It can be one day a week,for thirty weeks, if that’s all you can manage.

The first priority is to prepare yourself.

CHAPTER 2

Preparation

Write that story straight away!

Don’t – don’t dive in and start writing that novel.

There are storytellers and there are writers. Storytellers cantell a good yarn, but very few can write a cohesive, dramatic,page-turning fiction book without strong editorial help.Professional writers learn through experience and time and knowwhat’s required to keep the readers’ attention. A writer who hasbeen published might be called an author.

But which one are you?

It doesn’t matter, really. All types may blend and merge. It’s allsemantics.

But what each one of them has to do is plan before beginningthat novel. Even those writers who say they don’t plan a book,and don’t know where it will lead when they start out, they toohave a plan for that beginning at the very least. Whether they likeit or not, their subconscious is planning and plotting, thoughhopefully not towards the same end as can be found in StephenKing’s The Dark Half (1989).

Some writers are quite happy to start with an idea, letcharacters enter the tale at random and stir the pot to see whathappens. That works for them – but there’s no guarantee that themethod will lead to a finished book. Others write a first draft,then a second, and a third, until it feels right, and then stop. Thatworks for them – but it’s wasteful of time.
(Continues…)Excerpted from Write a Western in 30 Days by Nik Morton. Copyright © 2013 Nik Morton. Excerpted by permission of John Hunt Publishing Ltd..
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