10 Things PR Flacks Can Teach You About Writing Fiction

Let's get the obvious joke out of the way: "But PR is fiction!" Technically, that's only true if your PR pro sucks, as Guest Contributor Gini Dietrich points out in the title of her blog, FADS (Fight Against Destructive Spin). However, PR definitely is the art of telling a story, engaging a reader, and making that reader want to share your story with others. Learn those skills and you're well on your way to writing amazing fiction.

I write fiction in my spare time--when I have any, between work, going back to school to finish my Bachelor's, and my six pets--and I've noticed my writing improving over the last 18 months, even though I write much more nonfiction these days due to my work obligations. After a little contemplation, I realized I'm improving because of the insights I've gained from working in communications and talking with some amazing PR pros on a regular basis. Here are ten things I've learned about fiction from people who work in PR:

10. Titles count! When you write a press release, your headline is your first and best chance to grab a reporter's attention and get featured in broadcast or print media. When you write fiction, your title may be your first and best chance to grab a publisher's attention and get a call about your story. Ideally, you'd get at least one page to convince an editor to publish your work, but in practice that doesn't always happen. The person reading your submission may be an intern with an impossible workload. Grab them by the throat with your title or risk losing their attention entirely.

9. Make the Big Picture Small. A frequent piece of advice given in PR is, "If you can't summarize your story in one sentence, you don't have a story." That's true of fiction, too. Harry Potter: "Boy wizard triumphs over adversity by realizing that our choices, not our circumstances, define us." Sherlock Holmes: "Driven, yet troubled, man with a gift for detection can solve any mystery with the help of his pragmatic sidekick."

8. Characters Must Compel. If you've ever read a profile of an entrepreneur in a business magazine or a newspaper, you know that reporters like to cover compelling characters. It's usually up to a PR firm or in-house pro to make sure that the character they're offering for interviews is compelling. In fiction, you're asking a reader to spend up to several hours with your characters. They'd better be not just interesting but truly compelling. A shallow action hero or vapid lover is good for a few pages of fun, but if they're hanging around for a whole novel, they'd better make a reader really want to know what makes them tick.

7. Get it in the Right Hands. A friend of mine, Mickie Kennedy, founded a leading press release distribution company, eReleases. His services don't come cheap, but he's never short on business, because he's able to get a press release into the email inboxes of interested journalists. In fiction, you can have written the great American novel, but it'll languish on your computer's hard drive if you never get the manuscript into the right hands. Don't baby your novel and worry about criticism or plagiarism. The former is good for you; the latter is a backhanded compliment that can be dealt with if and when it comes up. I need to "woman up" about this one myself. I've had a completed manuscript for six years and sent it to exactly one agent! Time for me to start thinking like a PR pro and investing the time and money to get that manuscript onto the desks of people who want to publish it.

6. Diversify Your Goals. PR pros don't go after just one news outlet when trying to obtain coverage for a client. You shouldn't go after just one audience with your fiction, unless you've already got a book deal and are writing for a particular publisher's niche audience. The Harry Potter books were written mainly for children, but J.K. Rowling added enough levels of meaning and complex sub-plots to keep adults engaged, too. Seabiscuit was particularly delightful for equestrians, but the story was exciting and the characters were personable enough to win the adoration of readers who don't know a bridle path from a bridal shower.

5. Get Right Into the Action. A press release that starts slow will invariably end up in the wastebasket. PR pros have to respect the needs of busy reporters by giving them an exciting story right away, with no background or buildup. Fiction readers are busy, too, and in the digital age there's not much patience for a slow start. If your story needs a lot of background and setting up, rework the plot until you've got something exciting happening on the first page.

4. Support Your Point with a Quote. A great quote from an expert is invaluable in PR. "Lady Gaga says our lipstick is the sexiest she's ever worn!" If you want to make a point about a character, instead of telling your reader, let your other characters provide you with a quote. Don't say that your character is brave and self-sacrificing; have her receive a compliment from another character. Don't tell readers that your villain is a nasty, self-absorbed bastard; have an ex-lover show up to spit in his face and tell him off for his ego.

3. Have a Point. A press release that tells a great story but doesn't mention the client's product is no good. So is a novel that has great characters, lush settings, and no particular point. Unless your name is Ernest Hemingway (and no fair changing your name) you probably aren't going to write a classic by rambling. Don't pound a moral in with a sledgehammer, but don't leave your readers feeling confused and empty after they finish your story, either.

2. Have an Angle. The most important part of a press release is the angle. Reporters want a story, not a chance to pimp somebody's product. Like it or not, it's just as important for fiction to have a marketable angle. The Twilight books--and I personally don't care for them--are a huge success not just because they're a teenage love story, but because they're a story of young love between a vampire who goes to high school and an awkward teenage girl. Even if you hate Twilight, you have to admit that you're a little jealous that you didn't think of the "vampires and werewolves go to high school and fall for human lovers" angle, right?

1. Be Fresh and Timely. An old PR trick goes something like this: When your new product comes out, send a press release touting it as the newest hot whatever-it-is. Then a couple months before Christmas, use another press release to highlight it as the hottest gift for such and such a family member. You don't have to use a heavy hand to freshen up your fiction by tying it in to a current hot topic. You can reference fears of terrorism without actually showing a terrorist attack, or speak to teenage body image without writing in an anorexic character. But if you simply rewrite the classic boy-meets-girl or coming of age novel, without making it relevant to your current audience, you risk boring anyone who comes across your story.