Backman’s First Law of Writing Success

Okay, so I only have one made-up law so far, but I’m not going to be a pessimist just yet and call it Backman’s Only Law of Writing Success. I just need to come up with one more idea before I die, dammit. And if that’s not happening, I’ll just fling out some weak rephrasing of Butt in Chair before I turn 80.

Why writing laws?

Well, it’s sort of a tradition within fantasy and science fiction. Many of the greats have them. Asimov had the laws of robotics, because robots were his thing. Brandon Sanderson has his laws of magic, because he’s really into original magic systems. Heinlein had his rules for writing and publishing, because… well, I don’t know. He liked to write and publish stuff.

Before we get to the law itself. It’s time for a few disclaimers:

Firstly, no, I’m not claiming that I’m a great speculative fiction author. Yet. But if I do become one someday, then, hey, it’s never too early to add to my backlog of memorable quotes. And if I never become a great author, then nobody will ever care or remember what drivel I spit out, so no harm done.

Secondly, no, I’m not the first person to think of or even coin the basic idea of my first law. As with all great ideas, it’s been had a million times over, so much so that nobody has any idea who first phrased the very similar: “The harder you practice, the luckier you get.” Though, this maxim, in my opinion, misses the finer points as it equals hard work/practice with skill and creates a direct correlation between skill and luck for the individual.

Okay so here goes. Backman’s First law of how to become a succesful writer is:

• The better you are, the more likely it is that luck will strike you.

 

So my “law” mentions skill level instead of amount of work/practice. Just because you’re working hard or practicing a lot doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily be luckier.

If you put in twice as many hours at work as one of your colleagues, but your boss can see that your colleague is the one who actually knows how to fix the problems you’re company is having while you’re just wasting time, who do you think will mostly likely get a raise next time? Who’s more likely to be cut doing the next downsizing?

Yep, it’s your skill level that matter. Of course, hard work does lead to skill improvement if you combine it with the right kind of practice.

Also, my law mentions likehood of luck striking not just that luck will come as you get better. And this is a crucial distinction.

Sadly, there are plenty of good, even great writers who haven’t achieved much success. Writers who are underappreciated, who haven’t achieved the kind of literary recognition or commercial success which their writing merrits. Likewise, there are writers who’ve become rich by publishing stories which are mediocre at best or who win awards even though they don’t seem to be able to create compelling characters or know what pacing is.

But if you read a lot, read widely, and analyze the stories you read (as you should be doing if you want become a better writer), then you’ll see that the vast majority of successful stories are pretty well written or at least have one or two really strong aspects. And if you read slush-pile stories or amateur fiction, then you’ll likely see that a lot of it just isn’t publishable.

The core idea of what is now my first writing law really struck me because I’ve been reading a lot of novels and short stories by mid-list writers lately. Writers who are both way better and more succesful than I am or can hope to become within the next decade but still haven’t had their big breakthrough.

While many of these stories were pretty good and the writers obviously relatively skilled, it was also clear that none of these stories were going to be their big breakthrough. The authors may have written better stories or will do so later in their carreers, but the ones I read weren’t going to be bestsellers or award winners.

A good example of this is N.K. Jemisin who, until a 2016, was a moderately succesfull but far from famous mid-list author. She’d been nominated for both the Hugo and Nebula awards, and though it was clear she was skilled, those of her short stories I had read before her big breakthrough didn’t indicate to me that she was about to be the next big thing within fantasy and science fiction.

But then she published Obelisk Gate, the first book in her tremendously succesfull Broken Earth series. The book had already won the Hugo Award by the time I read it, but it was clear from the brilliant world building, exciting plot, and beatiful prose that there was reason Jemisin got lucky with this particular book. She showed writing skills on an entirely different level from what I’d read by her earlier.

Jemisin, by the way, kept being lucky as she kept producing high quality work. Book two in the Broken Earth series also won a Hugo as did book three, writing Hugo Award history. Book three also took home a Nebula and Locus award. Yeah, you should definitely go read Obelisk Gate.

EDIT: Coincidentally, Jemisin l’suck building as she kept producing quality work, ties well into my second law of writing sucess.