Writing tips

I just completed a draft of what WAS my first ever attempt at a book.  Eleven years ago I decided I would go for my lifelong dream of getting a book published, and started trying to write a novel.  The result was... not so good.  I ended up with a handful of notes on the setting and characters (which I found in my 'super old art' folder the other day) and a single chapter that was one big long conversation and very very dull.  A year or so later, I rewrote it, but abandoned it again because I was spending the entire time explaining things and it got very annoying very quickly.  A few years along, and I tried yet again.  This attempt was far better than the previous two and forms the backbone of the current version, but after a decent first chapter it went quickly downhill... I realised when I came to try and rewrite it that part of the reason it just didn't work was that I really didn't like the protagonist.  Rina did not want any of this 'magic and adventure' nonsense.  But Lucinda is all over magic and adventure nonsense, so I thought 'I'll just replace Rina with Lucinda and fit the story and characters into the Otherworlds'.  It worked.  It still took another 4 years to finish the draft in fits and starts... but I finally did it.  

Now then.  I've been thinking about this lately, since my school visit and whatnot.  And I thought I'd write down my tips on writing. I don't write for a living (I wish!), and there are so many people out there who know so much more than me.  I suggest Patricia C. Wrede's blog myself.  

But here are my tips on getting your work finished and getting it out there.

The most common question writers get asked seems to be 'Where do you get your ideas?' or 'What's your inspiration?' and the answer that I and probably most writers would give is:

Everywhere.  

Anything can become a story idea; an old castle glimpsed over a hedge, a news story, a mythological animal... sometimes an idea just comes at you from nowhere and you just go with it.  Other times you start with something you want to write about i.e: unicorns, and work from there.  With me, it becomes like a spider diagram in my head.  

i.e:  I want to write about mermaids.  But I don't want to write the usual, so let's ignore the whole 'romance with humans' thing.  No romance.  So what then?  How about the opposite.  The mermaids and the humans are having a war.  (why is there always a war?!)  Well, why are they having a war?  Perhaps the humans did something terrible to the ocean, and it was the last straw.  So then, what would happen?  Humans wouldn't be allowed to go on the sea and seaside towns would be vulnerable to attack... how would that affect society?  Now we have something like the setting, we need a protagonist... how about someone affected by the war?  A young girl whose father was a sea-going merchant.  His fortunes having dwindled, he's trying to get back on his feet and doing the best he can for his daughter... etc.

(this a real book idea I have and my thought process behind it btw.)

That's how it works for me, but I'm sure other writers work in a bunch of different ways.

Now for actually finishing the book.

I recommend just writing until you have a complete draft, not worrying too much about the edits you need to make until you finish.  Some people edit as they go along, but it always kills the story for me whenever I try to do that.  So if editing is halting your forward progress - DON'T.  Just keep on until the end and edit later.

I suggest setting yourself goals.  Say, decide to aim for 50k words and set yourself a goal of 1000 words a day.  If you can't write 1000 one day (and it will happen) then try to make up for it the next day.  Some days you will write more, some less.  But as long as you write something.  It can dangerous to leave a story for days and weeks on end, because you forget who people were and where you going with things.

And the next thing is really important.  Okay?

There is a point in every manuscript, I'd say about 3/4s of the way through where you think 'I hate this.  It sucks.  No-one will like it.'  It happens to me EVERY SINGLE TIME and I know I'm not the only one out there, because I used to think I was and then I read an article stating basically the above.  It's important to write past this part.  You will struggle onwards, your writing pace will be a painful crawl, but keep going.  You will get past it.  If, like with the draft I just finished, you find yourself at that point because you can see all the things you need to chop and rewrite and edit and it means that what you would be writing now would be utter nonsense and just get chopped, then SKIP AHEAD.  Skip ahead and write the bits you know.  But keep writing.  KEEP.  WRITING.

This advice can also be applied to your stories in general.  Just keep at it.  It's like art.  You aren't so good at drawing?  Well keep drawing.  Because you won't get any better if you stop.  In a few weeks, a few months, a few years, you'll be able to do one of those 'draw this again' memes and see how far you've come, see what you can improve, use a new shading technique, use a ref you didn't use before.... writing is exactly the same.  Keep it up, and keep learning.  Read articles on writing.  Oh and..

Read books.  I mean it.  READ, DAMN YOU.  You'll pick up new phrases and new vocabulary and you'll be able to see what goes into books you like, and what goes into books you don't.  You'll learn what has been done a million times and what hasn't.  Can you imagine trying to get better at art without having any art to look at?  READ I SAY.

So you have a draft.  What now?  

Editing.  You needs it.  

When I was a teenager I didn't see the point in editing, I mean, c'mon I obviously wrote it all perfect the first time around.  

Hahahaha NO.

Your manuscript is probably going to have to go through about ten edits.  At least five.  

But another thing that is important once you have a draft... is to leave it the heck alone for a while.  Shove it in a drawer and forget about it for a few weeks, at least.  I know what you're thinking.  'But Alicia, you insisted I don't stop writing it til it's done'.  Til you have a draft, yes.  But then you need to give it and you some space.  When you come back to it, it will then be a lot easier to see all the things that, though they seemed like a good idea the first time around, are now not such a good idea.  Unnecessary characters and plot threads won't stand out so much when you're still working with your original version in your head.  You have to allow it to become new to you again.  Leave it be.  

Also, it is helpful for you to have a few other people give it a read through.  They will see what you missed, they will point out things that to you are so obvious or elementary that you have forgotten to explain them to the reader.  i.e:  I actually totally forgot until about draft 10 of Miss Prince to explain that the children of vampires are always vampires.  I had explained how they came about in the first place, but had totally forgotten to explain that point, because it was so elementary to me.  It took me ten drafts to notice.  Okay, so my beta readers didn't actually spot that one, but just look how long it can take you to notice a flaw if you are just left to yourself.  

So you have a shiny, polished manuscript then.  Right.  Getting it published.

I don't really want to go into too much detail here, because there are whole books on the subject.  But my advice here is simply this:

Don't give up.

You will get a lot of rejection letters.  This is because many publishers/agents can only afford to take on one or two new writers a year.  New people cost more money to market, because they have no fan base, no guaranteed sales.  So don't be disheartened.  Just keep going.  And of course there is self-publishing, which is nowhere near as expensive, difficult or stigmatised as it was back in the old days.  You can thank the internet for that.


Oh and... a final note regarding 'being good enough'.  I've heard some people lament that they could never be good enough or that they're waiting to be good enough.  
DON'T.

There is almost no such thing as 'good enough'.  Put together a coherent plot and get some half-decent characters together, use a spell checker, have someone check your grammar... you can do it.  Again, this is like art.  Does something have to be by Michelangelo or Picasso for people to like it?  What's that?  You don't even like Picasso or Michelangelo's work?  You prefer a cartoon strip?  You still like it even if the artwork isn't the best?  Yes?  Well writing is the same.  It doesn't have to be the bestest of the best, winner of literary awards to entertain people.  And that is what a book is.  Entertainment.  Aim to entertain, not to be perfect.  If you can do that, you're good enough.

 
That's about it.  I hope you find this useful.

I am a terrible procrastinator.

Thanks for reading,


Alicia


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Tyrian's book progress -

editing draft 4:

 


Joshua's book progress - 

writing first draft:

word count:  12553




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Booked conventions-

Regatta weekend 12th-13th July  < for my own reference only

Manchester MCM Comic Con - 19-20th July

MancsterCon - 8th - 10th August

Wigan Comic Con - 7th December

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'I'll get a job', she'd thought. 'Earn my own ticket,' she'd thought. Lucinda's parents had agreed that it was a good idea. 'It'll teach you some responsibility,' they'd said.  

Lucinda was currently staring down a dragon, dressed as a man, on only her first day in gainful employment. She suspected her parents would not think it such a good idea if they knew.

~ from Miss Prince

You can read a sample here - tannbourne.com

On Amazon  - www.amazon.co.uk/Miss-Prince-A…

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"Ambrosia. The Drink of the Gods. Thick, syrupy and vanilla flavoured, for some reason. It also contains enough calories to kill a mortal on the spot, so it's just as well that mortals are no longer mortals by the time they finish drinking it. Like Seralina, for example. She hadn't really meant to become a god. She hadn't taken the warning 'This will make of ye a god' seriously. It was her general policy not to trust any claim beyond 'It tastes all right, really'. She certainly didn't trust anything that sounded made-up or used words like 'dynamic'. Going round trusting words like 'dynamic' could get you into trouble. As it turned out, so could ignoring warning labels."

~ from Eggs, Butter, Sugar and Disaster

You can download a sample chapter of EBSD here: tannbourne.com

Buy it on Amazon: www.amazon.co.uk/Butter-Sugar-…
Amazon.com:  www.amazon.com/Butter-Sugar-Di…