Let's face it, there is a glut of books on how-to write books on the market. Those of us who subscribe to mailing lists and magazines are bombarded with new titles each month. It is difficult to choose. If we are perpetual students of the self-taught school of writing, we may join a book club in order to receive a discount. If we're lucky, we may be able to afford to buy a new title now and then. If the book we purchase is a disappointment, we feel guilty we spent money that could have been put to better use. On the other hand, we may take a book to heart and the author's advice leads us astray. If we apply new methods to our writing that degrade our work, then we have not only lost money, but time, and possibly formed a bad habit that is difficult to break. Eventually we may stop buying craft books, turn to the library, borrow a book from someone in our writer's group, or ferret out free articles on the Web.
Granted, all methods are valuable ways to learn, and being led down the wrong path a few times may be an integral part of the growth process, but what if we want to add books to our own reference library and we're on a budget, how does one select the best books on craft? One way is to read reviews; another is to find professionals who are willing to share their favorite titles. I consider the author's background: Is the book written by a seasoned author, a professional in the publishing industry, or is it written by someone I've never heard of before and may never hear of again?
Noah Lukeman is a literary agent located in New York City. His agency represents many award-winning authors. He reads thousands of manuscripts, and has gained much insight into the human psyche. He knows how to create conflict and suspense, and how to shape a story from the inside out. He has a gift for getting to the heart of his topic. For those of us who have ever grappled with plot, this is a godsend. The Plot Thickens is much more than a discussion of plot, however. It is about how to bring a story to life. It contains invaluable methods of exploring characterization both internal and external, along with suspense, conflict, context, and transcendency. Noah Lukeman also has experience as an editor, has worked as an actor, and instigated PrePub on the Web. He comes from a family of writers that includes his mother who is a psychologist and best selling author.
Over the past two years, due to our interviews, I've done a lot of research on this agent. I've read both of his books, read four titles on his agency's list, interviewed Kent Meyers--a new personal favorite--who happened to be a client of Lukeman Literary, and I have concluded Noah Lukeman has integrity: he's highly selective about who he chooses to represent. There is information in Noah Lukeman's books I have not read elsewhere. The most veteran author can learn from The Plot Thickens. Beginners will find a gold mine. I wish I could have read this book years ago.
For me, it's a relief to finally find a book for writers that lends itself to character-centered fiction or screenplays. I reflect on some of my favorite well-known films and books that I would normally associate with well-plotted stories: Gone with the Wind, Casa Blanca, Madame Bovary, The Haunting of Hill House, The Great Gatsby, A Tale of Two Cities, Cool Hand Luke, Of Human Bondage, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Papillon, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Dances with Wolves, Double Indemnity, Sling Blade, A Simple Plan, An Unmarried Woman . . . and I realize it is not the sequence of events in these stories I remember most, but the unique characters, their interaction and their evolution, their "journey", and what this all may have taught me about my life. That is why great literature or movies remain with me, and why I return to them years later to see how I respond. Below is one of my favorite passages from The Plot Thickens:
"The profound, internal journeys are, ironcially, often viewed as less substantial, less permanent, always shifting, subject to change; whereas most surface journeys, like the gaining of a house, are considered more permanent, more stable. The great tragedy of human life is that we allow oursleves to be distracted by these surface journeys and believe them to be the profound journeys. Posessions and ranks come and go, and ultimately it is the internal journey that remains. (The Book of Job) If handled properly, though, the surface journey can be a pivotal tool in leading a character toward a profound journey."
Although the Lukeman Literary Agency tends to represent literary works over genre, genre writers will be able to apply the same methods and exercises from The Plot Thickens to their manuscripts to make them the best in their category. Noah Lukeman's style is forthright and personable, never elitist or condescending. He often sites popular films as examples, as well as quoting classic authors and philosophers. I never tire of reading Noah Lukeman's work because his voice is eloquent, insightful, practical, original, and sincere. The man has respect for literature and it shows.
The end of the book supplies a list of films and a substantial reading list that includes classic literature, modern literature, more writing books, and books on language. Lukeman also recommends Web sites that are bound to remain valid. I can't tell you how many times I've run to my computer with a brand new book containing a list of links to find that many of the author's suggested sites no longer exist.
There are many books on the craft of writing that try to encourage the writer to follow the author's preferred technique and these so-called rules may confuse a beginner. The ones I used to grapple with were: "Don't let your characters take over. Always adhere to an outline. Don't you as an author lose control." Those phrases appear in more than one of my how-to books, and I have always intuited that the advice was misleading at best. For me, there is nothing more exhilarating than when a character comes to life, (in fact, it is the main reason I love to write fiction). In The Plot Thickens, this experience is encouraged, without minimizing the importance of structure. The Plot Thickens will show you how to get to know your characters so well with questions and exercises, you will have no choice but to watch them grow. There are no hard and fast rules for success in this book, no get rich quick schemes. Noah Lukeman puts the art back into writing and if you have read The First Five Pages, you already know he doesn't pretend it is easy to break into publication.
The Plot Thickens is not the type of book you want to check out from the library or borrow from a friend. It is the type of book you need to purchase so it can sit on your desk, dog-eared and underlined, worn from years of overuse. For the playwright, the screenwriter, the novelist, or the short-story writer, The Plot Thickens is more than a book on craft, it's a tool.
The First Five Pages is another important book for writers and according to St. Martin's Press, it "is a required text in the writing curriculums of universities across the country." You can find more information about The First Five Pages and Noah Lukeman and follow his personal journey by reading both of our interviews including the one that took place in 2000. Be sure to follow all relevant links at the end of each article.