I read something about self-publishing over at Pimp My Novel that bothered me. Basically it said that self-publishing is a waste of time, because 90% of everything out there is crud, what you have is most likely crud, and nothing good comes out of the experience. You’re not going to sell more than one or two books anyway, so why bother. (I was told, by just about everybody, that grass clippings in my garden would sour the soil, but it was the best thing I ever did. I may have grown only one 43 lb watermelon, but the other two almost weighed 20 lbs.) Here’s my point: It doesn’t matter what you do; have a dream, start a business, or write a book; there will always be people out there who want to shut you down, stop you with negativity, or want to put you in your place. Many self-published books have gone on to lift their respective authors up, into the larger world of corporate publishing. The Self-Publishing Hall of Fame is a fun read. It serves to remind me that assholes seem to be everywhere, and are meant to be ignored!

　

Plot is cause and effect, not the idea behind the story. We established that, but why do I mention this a second time? I take the time to know my characters, and because of that my characters do come alive for me, and they do lead me through their stories. It’s more real to let them do what they need to do, without me forcing them into some kind of cookie-cutter mold. I know how the story starts, and I know how the story ends, but their actions and reactions take me from A to Z. I provide the details needed to keep the story moving with real depth, without slowing the pace, but the characters themselves make it real.

　

What I do is layer in levels of sophistication.

　

I think a lot of books out there fall short when it comes to this storytelling technique. How many mediocre books have you read lately, knowing something was wrong with them, but not knowing what the problem was? If I start at the top, there has to be a level of sophistication present, looking at the book as a whole. The big idea (never outright mentioned) behind the entire story. The best example of this comes from Peter Straub’s Ghost Story. The idea behind the entire novel: Immortal shape-shifters with supernatural powers are responsible for all the ghost stories everywhere, from the beginning of human history.

　

Cities need levels of sophistication, and most do, if you know where to look. Clubs may run the gambit from country, to gay, to goth. Neighborhoods or apartment buildings can also have a level of sophistication, when one looks at the neighbors. Characters too need to have levels of sophistication. What defines them. What they do, or say, that makes them real. My protagonist is killing a nest of vampires, and I add this: Another pitcher stepped up to the mound, and my next swing took the husky bald guy’s head clean off. I watched him twitch all they way to the floor. I like it when they twitch all the way to the floor. My mind later replays that in slow motion. It’s how I get my jollies on.

　

There is the action itself, and how my character thinks in response to the action. Insight into who he is as a person. It’s a little thing, his thoughts to this one death, but it adds to both the story and to my protagonist a level of sophistication. When the opportunity arrives, things, thoughts, insights, they get slowly layered into the book. They are not dumped into the novel all at once.

　

To come to your own understanding of this (unknown, lost, but amazingly vital) process, a process nobody ever really talks about, think about the books that most impressed you. Pick the best one and reread it. Look for these levels of sophistication, starting at the top. (One ring to rule them all and in the darkness bind them.) Work your way through each tier, each level of sophistication. What is real to you, and why is it real to you? What tiny details does the author add, giving this world, city, building, character levels of sophistication?

　

And that, to me, is the difference between what makes a classic stand out from the ordinary, and the ordinary from the forgettable. See you next week.