Yesterday I listened to one of my favorite podcasts, Dedicated with Doug Brunt, and his interview with one of my least favorite novelists, Brad Thor. Actually, after reading his first novel, The Lions of Lucerne, I gave away my paperback and bailed on the entire series. The action was good, and the story isn’t bad, but the main character, Scot Harvath, was irritating.
Extremely irritating.
I know the books have a huge following. In the interview Thor said that when he wrote that first novel he didn’t foresee it becoming a series, so maybe Harvath gets better (from what I’ve been told, he does not). I don’t know, and I’m not apt to find out unless later books are dropped in my lap and I have nothing else within reach. There are too many other things out there to which I’d rather give my attention.
But I still listened to the interview, because I knew I’d get something out of it.
And I did.
Thor is a great guest. He knows how to talk as well as write. We may not agree on politics, or what makes a good protagonist, but he’s still a popular and prolific storyteller. At present, I’m neither. I may not like the results of his work, but I can respect it. My hope was that by listening to what he had to say I might learn some things and be encouraged, maybe even find some common ground. The truth is, I could never do what he does, with his attention to detail and knowledge of international affairs. I don’t want to deal with the nuts and bolts of reality that his stories demand.
But I do like that he writes at a big table.
Maybe it’s because I was homeschooled, but I’m more comfortable and focused at a kitchen table than I’ll ever be at a desk. Thor has a conference table in his home office for all his research materials, and when he shifts POV in his novels sometimes he moves to his couch. I get that. Maybe changing locations for different characters is something I’ll try someday. He doesn’t write in coffee shops, because his situational awareness (a side effect of writing thrillers, I imagine) is too distracting. I too am a people watcher and easily distracted.
I haven’t written in a coffee shop in years.
Another thing I found relatable is that Thor doesn’t outline. “Pantsing” is when an author writes by the seat of his pants. In film school we were required to provide detailed outlines before we could start our screenplays, so I understand how it makes the process go faster. We all hated it, but there’s no denying that it’s the most efficient way to write. Now that I don’t have an instructor looking over my shoulder, though, I skip it. Sometimes I feel guilty about skipping a step or taking too long to compose a story.
It seems that most fiction writers are in the same boat.
Thor’s perspective is that if the writer isn’t being surprised in the process, neither can the reader with the final result. I like that. He’s forever putting Harvath in impossible situations and sometimes comes home stressed about how he’s going to get him out of them. It’s good to challenge yourself as a writer, and Thor says that he always tries to reject his first four solutions to any problem. Joke writers also toss out their first few punchlines for the same reason.
Surprises are good.
Finally (and I’ve said this before), I love how Thor and so many other popular, mainstream, thriller writers got started by reading The Hardy Boys. It seems that those formulaic, all-American, blue hardcovers planted the seed for many of today’s most inventive storytellers. The irony that books those books weren’t just outlined, but all written to the same outline, have inspired generations of authors who reject outlining, isn’t lost on me. Sometimes you have to know the rules before you can break them.
It’s also a good reminder that there’s no right way to write.
