Guest Post: Naked Truth by Rick Pullen
Rick Pullen’s latest release, Naked Truth, was just released. Naked Truth is available in eBook, paperback and hardback online almost everywhere. Or order from your favorite bookstore. His other novels are Naked Ambition and The Apprentice.
Released: Sept. 24, 2018
Publisher: KoehlerBooks
Rick@RickPullen.com
@RickPullen
Writing Naked Truth: A Struggle with Plot and Success
My just released thriller, Naked Truth, is the sequel to my 2016 bestseller, Naked Ambition. Naked Ambition was a complete surprise. I was an unknown first-time novelist. I worked on the novel for more than four years. During that time, I not only learned how to write fiction (I’m a journalist, so believe it or not, it was foreign to me.), but also learned a great deal about book publishing. So I knew this isn’t easy and the odds were extraordinary that Naked Ambition broke out of the pack and became number one in the thriller genre on Amazon.
So for a relative newbie to the genre, the question for me was simple: What do I do for an encore?
Ugh. I tried to ignore my own success and just started to write my next in the series.
The title was Naked Aggression, a novel about the U.S. Congress. But the writing wasn’t going anywhere. And then something happened. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died at a private resort in west Texas at a meeting of a secret society. Following his death, a decoy hearse left the resort that afternoon to throw journalists off the trail. Instead, sometime well after midnight, a convoy escorted Scalia’s body under the cover of darkness to El Paso.
I couldn’t resist. Too many coincidences. A secret society? A decoy? It just begged to written.
So I put down Naked Aggression and began working on Naked Truth. Plotting is difficult for me because I like twists and turns and they aren’t as easy as they may appear, especially if you want them to seem plausible. But when the Associated Press and The Washington Post handed me a plot, or at least the beginnings of one, I was on my way.
I had always intended in the future to write a novel about the Supreme Court. It just came earlier than expected. I wrote the first chapter, which is no longer than a page, and loved my beginning. If it doesn’t grab you, then, well, you probably don’t like the genre, or my writing—or both. (Check out the first pages for free on Amazon. And remember, this is fiction. Only the germ of an idea came from reality.)
Plotting is my nemesis. My first drafts are nothing more than poorly written plot outlines. I would be embarrassed for anyone to read them. But that’s not their purpose. I’m writing down plot elements before I forget them. I will leave myself a note in the middle of dialogue if I’m intensely engaged in some really productive writing. The idea is not to forget anything, which given the chance, I will.
I love twists and turns, but to do them right, takes a lot of effort—a lot of back and forth, a lot of what ifs. Then they must feel real. I’ve left the clues for the reader to follow but I hope the reader is heading in one direction while the twists go in another. My readers are struggling to solve a puzzle and outwit me. So my goal is to give them a big surprise.
The difference between many other novelists and me is my plots usually have multiple twists. Some writers I read have one big one. That doesn’t make either better than the other, just different. My books usually have multiple twists in the last third of the story. Even if it makes my job more difficult, the idea is to speed up the pace and end like a Mickey Spillane novel—leaving the reader begging for more. Or at least I hope they do.
So after my first draft is done and the plot is ninety percent there, I begin to rewrite. This is the part I love. The pressure is off with the plot, so now I can concentrate on writing each sentence and making the text sing. I love to turn a phrase, but unfortunately, can’t do it often enough to my liking. I also love witty dialogue, which ain’t easy. My inspiration is Dashiell Hammett and Lawrence Block. I love reading Block’s Bernie Rhodenbarr burglar series because the dialogue is sensational.
I also struggle with setting. So while I’m rewriting, I reread Mary Buckham’s book series on “Active Setting.” I find her series essential and recommend it to every writer I know.
Once I’ve completed the rewrite, and my beta readers and critique groups have had their say, it’s time to proof and maybe rewrite again. I’m a regular attendee of ThrillerFest, the International Thriller Writers annual conference in New York. One of many things I’ve taken to heart from some of the masters is to never turn in your manuscript until it is the best you can make it. So if it needs even another rewrite, it gets one. Then finally, it’s off to my agent where the process is likely to repeat itself.
As I said, it ain’t easy.
Rick Pullen
Writer, Editor
Author, Naked Ambition, The Apprentice, Naked Truth (Sept. 24, 2018)
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