I want to write a book. I was inspired by an interview I heard recently with Vince Flynn by Dennis Miller. In it Flynn recalled Tom Clancy’s beginnings and said to himself, “I can do that!” The rest is history. Well, I want to take a crack at it, do a book in the same vein as Clancy and Flynn (though leaning more toward Flynn).
But I realize my woeful lack of any significant military/special forces/covert ops knowledge. Heck, I’m not even all that clear on what agencies would be involved in responding to, say, a dirty bomb threat. FBI? Probably, but in what capacity? CIA? NSA? Homeland Security? What would be going on at the White House?
So, I need to research this stuff but I don’t know where to go. In fact, I’m not even sure what are the right questions to ask. That’s why I’m here. What can you tell me? Can any of you suggest books to look at, agencies to talk to (that won’t get me put on a list…), resources to mine? I know the information is out there, I’m just not sure where to begin looking.
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Start where you’re most likely to meet with success: your local police department.
Set up a meeting with the public relations guy, explain your purpose, then ask your questions.
Move on to county and state police, using their information to back-check what you’ve received from earlier interviews. Use those contacts to make appointments with (or at least provide names of) people in your area for the FBI, Homeland Security, etc. Having the locals provide your bona fides to the federal agencies will help to both get you in the door and get reasonable cooperation.
While you’re at it, go to the main branch of your public library and be nice to the reference librarian. You’ll be amazed at how much information those men and women have at their fingertips.
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I’ve know someone who works here. Might be a good place to start.
http://nnsa.energy.gov/
Wouldn’t it be easier to carefully read 5-6 novels of the same genre, and make carefully computerized notes of whose agency does what?Â
By the way. These novels are not graded for specific accuracy. All they must have are interesting plots and narrative story lines. You either have readers who will buy the books, which pays for their publication and your royalties, or you have nothing whatsoever.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI
Clancy was extremely popular in military and government intelligence circles even before he got famous, and he was so popular with them because he worked so damned hard to get all the details right. Most of Clancy’s biggest fans love it that he writes with authority on how things really work in military and clandestine services.
Kevin’s got the right of it: if you want to write a good book, you really *should* do your homework that will give your story a feeling of authenticity that just making crap up can’t do.
Arnold,
Reading 5-6 novels in the same genre, while useful in some ways, makes it very easy to parrot that work – even if done unawares. Yes, I could forgo realism and save myself a lot of legwork but I like Clancy and Flynn because of the realism. I’d like to be as accurate as possible. However, my story won’t be a slave to it. There will be, as there must be in all things, give and take.
John_B,
Good advice. I’ll look into it.
Jay,
I’ll take a look at the site but, at this point, I’m not sure if I’m going to use a nuclear threat. The dirty bomb was just an example of a serious threat and my lack of knowledge regarding what various governmental agencies would to in reaction to it.
Kevin, I cannot think of a more sincere form of flattery for an author than to be emulated or even plagiarized.
There are a lot of authors out there, few widely known or acclaimed. If you want immortality, try founding a new religion, which is exactly what L Ron Hubbard did with spectacular success. But if what you want is to make a living as a writer, try emulation and plagiarism.
I’m not purposely trying to sound sarcastic; just realistic.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI
Emulation is flattery. Plagiarism is litigious.
But even with emulation you must be careful. Why read you when they can read the guy you’re emulating?
Probably what you want, Kevin, is to start looking for people actually working in those fields to talk to. It wouldn’t surprise me a bit if there are people working for, or who used to work for, the various relevant agencies and who have blogs. I doubt you’d have any active spooks or undercover agents who could talk to you, but retired ones, or people who’ve gone from undercover/covert to desk jobs? Surely they’re out there, just like our friend John Burgess (who was not that I know of a covert op, but is a former fairly high-level foreign service operator and is often willing to talk openly of his experiences).
Start smaller. Write about something you know first. Do some short stories and work your way up.
must agree with bones on this one. Â why are you looking to write about a subject with which you have no experience. Â especially if you are looking to break into such a crowded field as the literary community. Â you need to be playing to your strengths as much as possible. Â save the risky stuff for when your publisher will put out whatever you put on paper.
Dean: Definitely never a spook, though one of my brothers, my father-in-law and a sister-in-law were. [Note: As they're retired or dead, they're also out of cover. I'm not blowing any cover here!]
I do know quite a bit about how the CIA works, or at least worked until recently, until my retirement anyway. If I can be of use, ask away.
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I can’t say I agree with Bones or Zach. The adage "write what you know" has been common for decades, but, from what I’ve seen is really really questionable. Especially if you want to write fiction that’s exciting and interesting. While real life experiences can be helpful, when you look at really successful literary figures, how many of them were writing "what they knew?" Has Stephen King ever fought ghosts, goblins, demons, and people with psychic powers? Did Agatha Christie (arguably the most successful fiction writer of all time) solve even one real life murder mystery in her entire life? Tom Clancy was never a spy and never even served in the military. William F. Buckley Jr., the well-known conservative commentator, was also a QUITE successful spy novelist.
Did Isaac Asimov ever build a robot? How much time did Tolkein spend hanging out with Elves, Hobbits, and Ents? Heck, how many Danish royal families was Shakespeare hanging around with when he wrote Hamlet?
No, I don’t buy the "write what you know" stuff. In the last ten years I’ve worked as a computer technician and a blogger, with a brief stint as a technical trainer and project manager. "Write what I know" would hardly be exciting.
And, the idea that you need to start by publishing short stories and working your way up is also highly questionable. The market for short fiction is VERY crowded and pays VERY poorly. My advice is that if you WANT to write short fiction (some people love doing it) then sure, write a lot of short fiction. But if you don’t WANT to write short fiction, why would you bother? There are countless published novelists out there with very few, or even NO, short fiction published.
What you’re really looking for is VERISIMILITUDE. And you can get that by studying human psychology, by talking to people who work in a field, and by reading up on the procedure manuals and stuff that they use.
I guess that’s all generic, I’m mostly just arguing with the "write what you know" folks. That seems like bad advice to me. Write what you LOVE and can MAKE COME ALIVE. That’s what you want.
Dean,
Clancy had a very aggresive and long-cultured interest in the military and military intelligence long before he ever wrote a novel. Â Asimov was a Ph.D. and professor, Tolkein drew heavily on Old English styles and tropes, and King has the luxury of writing about things that are already in the realm of the fantastic.
I should clarify my advice that Kevin certainly doesn’t need to write what he knows, but yes, write what he is passionate about. Â In other words, the things he already knows backwards and fowards. Â If he doesn’t know enough at this point to even know how to ask the right questions about espionage or military intelligence AND wants to write a novel that has Clancy-level accuracy behind it, then I’m led to think that it isn’t one of his overriding passions and that he would be better served starting somewhere else. Â If that advice is off base, Kevin is more than welcome to tell me where to shove it, and I’ll happily do so.
Furthermore, yes the short story community is quite crowded, but it’s not like the long fiction community is any more sparse, and there are arguably many more outlets for short stories (including online publications) than there are for books. Â Not only that, but who ever said you had to publish your short stories just because you wrote them? Â The advice stands that short stories can help hone a writer’s skill, help them keep plots and language tight, and allow them to find their own voice.
I’ll add a qualifier on King’s writing, too…
I grew up maybe 100 miles from King, in the same generation. The mise on scene of his stories is dead-on accurate, from the slang to the general biases, assumptions, and ‘knowns’ like the brands and heroes of the time and place. That is what makes his writing most interesting to me, not the (usually pretty lame) monsters.
It is indeed the verisimilitude that makes his writing work, all the way down the the product placement some find obnoxious.
And in his latest, he sets his story at least in part in Sarasota, FL… guess he’s a fan of mine!
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Zach: Most of that’s fair enough. Maybe I’m too hard on "write what you know," since most of the time I’ve heard it from people who seem to be saying you should only write about your personal experiences. If we broaden "write what you know" to "subjects you’re passionate about and have put lots and lots of study into," then, it’s probably pretty good advice.
As for short fiction, it is true that there are more outlets available for short fiction. My take though is that short fiction is a different animal from long fiction. And both are different from screenplays or playwriting. I think knowing a bit about each discipline is good, but if you’re planning to become a novelist by "ramping up" as a short fiction writer, well, I hope you’re doing it because you like short fiction and feel like you can do it well.
I guess I’m just saying, having looked at the market a long time, it doesn’t look like there’s any "right" path to getting published. What worsens it is that the entire publishing industry is currently in a state of upheavel, and the market today is hugely different than it was even 5 years ago, let alone 10 or more years ago.
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