Les Edgerton grew up in a Texas bar owned by his grandmother, reading Dostoevsky and Balzac. He saw his first murder by the time he was twelve. At age 68, he has published fourteen books, teaches writing classes and gladly shares what he’s learned about making a living as a writer.
“The unkindest thing you can do to a writer is tell them what they’ve written is alright when it’s not.” He believes critique groups aren’t necessarily helpful because too often they’re your friends. Plus they only hear pieces of your novel, which makes it difficult to judge the overall work. After years of writing, he trusts his gut and depends on only his agent and editor for feedback. He helps other writers polish their work through his on-line Writer’s Boot Camp, where he admits he is brutally honest.
What is Les’s recipe for success? He writes seven days a week, usually skipping breakfast and lunch in lieu of work. “I love writing,” he says and by that he means he’s at his desk writing articles, novels, blogs, teaching and talking about the craft. “Every time I see a successful writer, I know their past.” He knows that they read and write every chance they get. When he hears someone wants to be a writer, but they haven’t read a book in a year, he knows they won’t make it. “There comes a point when there aren’t any more secrets to learn. You need to read books and when something affects you emotionally, you need to study it. Learn from it. Do it.” His novels usually percolate in his mind for seven or eight years and then take about six to twelve months to pound out on the keyboard. His plotting method involves writing a short outline that includes the inciting incident, three major developments and their results, plus a resolution that is a win and a loss. This outline can be adjusted as he goes along which he says “makes the writing as much fun as the reading.”
A big misconception people have is that you’re going to get rich writing. One fan who read Edgerton’s Hooked wrote to say he’d quit his job as a hotel manager in order to write full-time. Les shakes his head in disbelief. He says you need to “forget about material things” when you consider the lifestyle if a writer. Right now the publishing industry is in an upheaval due to e-publishing. “We’ve lost the traditional gatekeepers and legacy publishers are trying to figure out how to navigate this new world.” Les never thought he’d embrace e-books. Like many readers, he loved the feel and smell of real books. Now that he has a Kindle, he can’t believe how convenient it is. Despite e-readers, he predicts that publishing will always be 60% paper books and 40% e-books. But he humbly admits this is just a guess.
Les has four books coming out next year and is the editor-at-large of Noir Nation, an International Journal of Crime Fiction. He’s especially proud of his upcoming short story collection Gumbo Ya Ya which includes his commencement speech about “how political correctness is the worst thing to happen to this country.” He believes most writers come from a dysfunctional family, like he did. In spite of his dicey background, he still has that Puritan work ethic.
When does Les Edgerton feel satisfied at the end of the day? “I always do.”
Les Edgerton’s novel, The Bitch, recently won the Preditors & Editors Reader’s Poll for best thriller. Be sure to visit Les Edgerton’s blog on writing. You won’t be disappointed: http://www.lesedgertononwriting.blogspot.com/
Karen Lenfestey writes women's fiction and is honored to have learned about inciting incidents from Les. Her books are A Sister's Promise andWhat Happiness Looks Like available at Amazon.
“The unkindest thing you can do to a writer is tell them what they’ve written is alright when it’s not.” He believes critique groups aren’t necessarily helpful because too often they’re your friends. Plus they only hear pieces of your novel, which makes it difficult to judge the overall work. After years of writing, he trusts his gut and depends on only his agent and editor for feedback. He helps other writers polish their work through his on-line Writer’s Boot Camp, where he admits he is brutally honest.
What is Les’s recipe for success? He writes seven days a week, usually skipping breakfast and lunch in lieu of work. “I love writing,” he says and by that he means he’s at his desk writing articles, novels, blogs, teaching and talking about the craft. “Every time I see a successful writer, I know their past.” He knows that they read and write every chance they get. When he hears someone wants to be a writer, but they haven’t read a book in a year, he knows they won’t make it. “There comes a point when there aren’t any more secrets to learn. You need to read books and when something affects you emotionally, you need to study it. Learn from it. Do it.” His novels usually percolate in his mind for seven or eight years and then take about six to twelve months to pound out on the keyboard. His plotting method involves writing a short outline that includes the inciting incident, three major developments and their results, plus a resolution that is a win and a loss. This outline can be adjusted as he goes along which he says “makes the writing as much fun as the reading.”
A big misconception people have is that you’re going to get rich writing. One fan who read Edgerton’s Hooked wrote to say he’d quit his job as a hotel manager in order to write full-time. Les shakes his head in disbelief. He says you need to “forget about material things” when you consider the lifestyle if a writer. Right now the publishing industry is in an upheaval due to e-publishing. “We’ve lost the traditional gatekeepers and legacy publishers are trying to figure out how to navigate this new world.” Les never thought he’d embrace e-books. Like many readers, he loved the feel and smell of real books. Now that he has a Kindle, he can’t believe how convenient it is. Despite e-readers, he predicts that publishing will always be 60% paper books and 40% e-books. But he humbly admits this is just a guess.
Les has four books coming out next year and is the editor-at-large of Noir Nation, an International Journal of Crime Fiction. He’s especially proud of his upcoming short story collection Gumbo Ya Ya which includes his commencement speech about “how political correctness is the worst thing to happen to this country.” He believes most writers come from a dysfunctional family, like he did. In spite of his dicey background, he still has that Puritan work ethic.
When does Les Edgerton feel satisfied at the end of the day? “I always do.”
Les Edgerton’s novel, The Bitch, recently won the Preditors & Editors Reader’s Poll for best thriller. Be sure to visit Les Edgerton’s blog on writing. You won’t be disappointed: http://www.lesedgertononwriting.blogspot.com/
Karen Lenfestey writes women's fiction and is honored to have learned about inciting incidents from Les. Her books are A Sister's Promise andWhat Happiness Looks Like available at Amazon.
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