It’s all about mindset

I’ve been asked by Luke Cooke aka @BaronLukeAaron on Twitter if I had written an article about novel writing. I responded by telling him that I am reluctant to write about novel writing as it is a subjective process. I mentioned that the one thing most likely to kill a novel is someone’s opinion. I firmly believe this, especially if it’s an aspiring novelist’s first attempt.

In my twenties I dated a girl who has affectionately been glued with epoxy into my memory as the Bitch Troll from across the Styx.

She, in her youthful wisdom, described my writing, in an announcement to her university friends, as a poor relation to a Dick Francis novel.

Just that one opinion stopped me in my tracks for over two years. I didn’t write anything substantial in that time.

There is a saying, that everyone has a novel in them. I believe that every one of us has an infinite number of novels to write but only one life to live. And that life is too short to be listening to opinions or givers of false advice.

There are people who believe that you should live your life by rules and regulations. They will try to inflict control, attempt to abuse your liberty, to eradicate your individually. These people tend to seek power and hunger for authority.

Your first obligation, as a novelist is to understand people, to see the strengths and weaknesses in individuals. You are an observer, you are sensitive to the infinitesimal details, those micro expressions that give feelings and thoughts away. You’re able to read situations and aptly recognise the dynamics between people. You cut through the bullshit of micro politics like a scalpel through the fuzzy skin of a peach.

Not only can you create worlds, characters and stories, but your words can change the world we live in. You, the novelist, are a sorcerer to those who live life with their eyes wide shut, and the biggest threat to those who seek power because they know your legacy cold be their humiliation. You become the historian.

If you conform to rules and regulations, then you have lost the challenge. You must question everything with scepticism. You must create your own solutions to the problems of the wider world and your literary universe.

  You are a rebel.

And this is why writers are always the first political prisoners when oppressive regimes emerge.

And the more rebellious you are the more people will hunger to read what you write, and hang on every word.

So when people offer false advice ask yourself why. You, after all, are all powerful when it comes to the world you create within your novels.

When your work is criticised don’t be thinking the critic knows best. If they really did they would be successful and wealthy writers. Some are, of course, and they either want to nurture a protégé or belittle the competition. The love of money is not the only route to all evil. Ego is too.

So you must take control of your own destiny in life and in the imaginary world in which you move. You have to balance reality with fantasy and measure your ego against humility. These issues can only be tackled by you. If you are of the mindset that becoming a novelist is just a simple putting pen to paper without tackling any personal demons then you are either a saint, too young to have any baggage, or highly unperceptive. And it is these personal demons that often become the barrier to writing a novel, the biggest of which is self doubt. Advice, often in the form of “Constructive Criticism” only ever leads to further self doubt. But if you are worth anything at all you will feel the pain inflicted by your personal demons. So in a way these barriers are a good thing. Emotional intelligence is a derivative of self awareness and absolutely necessary to write after all.

That is the only way anybody can become a successful novelist. Oh yeah, and you have to be able to spin a darn good yarn.

  Rules to novel writing.

1. You must at least master the basics of communication.
2. The end product must be enthralling.
3. All other rules may be broken.

And that is all I am going to give in terms of advice on how to write a novel for the time being.

Ever heard of that saying that a monkey, given a trillion, trillion years, will eventually write the entire works of Shakespeare? Well no one is going to offer advice to that monkey!

A novel should come from you. It is up to you to take the reader into realms of your imagination.

This is how I do it… briefly.

  Preparation.

Something inspires me to write a new story. So I think briefly about the main character. And I start writing a page or two about that character including a description, personality analysis, background  and so on.

I then build a frame upon which to hang the story. This is likely to change so I don’t spend more than a couple of hours on this.

Finally I create the end point (especially if I am writing a series) because this becomes the target. It is not necessarily the conclusion but it is the end of the winding path that will become eventually become my plot. I find it easier to do it this way around or I end up with several versions of the end, which I hate doing.

  Then I  just write.

Artists call this part blocking in. The blank canvas is simply filled with so none of the white shows through. I write and write. I write on my laptop computer and on my iPhone. On my iPhone I use an app that is no longer available called ‘Shapewriter’ and can type as quickly on this as I can type on a keyboard. I don’t make too many corrections at this stage, nor do I go into great descriptive passages unless the mood takes me. I obviously aim to develop the main characters and plot. The subplots and circumstantial characters develop naturally as I go along. Every time I create a new character I list them on a separate document for quick reference and I construct a flow chart that links the characters and the plot. My plots tend to involve many characters, locations and subplots so I find this helpful to keep track.

I develop characters, interactions and detail as I go along, fortunately my memory allows for this but I do create a physical timeline and note key events as I go along. This helps later if alterations are made.

So once my first draft is finished I take a rest. This is essential. The process of taking a step back allows me to revisit the novel with fresh eyes. This helps me see my work more objectively and work on changes critically.

I do not read any novels for the duration of a writing project. The reason for this is simple- I avoid outside influences on my style and content. This keeps me from constantly making changes and updates which slows my writing process no end. Also, I find writing a novel requires focussing all my energy on the job in hand.

I am currently in my rest period now – and spend time doing stuff like this blog rather than reading. I shall start on my next stage in the first week of the new year.

  Read it out loud.

The next stage comprises of a read through from paper. And I read it out loud. I get a better idea if it flows. I only make obvious corrections if I spot errors at this point with a red pen – spelling and reiteration. Where large alterations are required the text is simply highlighted and left for the next step. I might make a note in the margin if I have an idea about how I might handle the error. I do not print in double line spacing to avoid the temptation to make big corrections here. I prefer to create a wider margin.

   Embellishment.

Next  for the fun. Well I think it’s fun anyway.

Some people call it padding out, I call it embellishing. I simply add descriptive text if it’s lacking, harden or soften the language as required. I tend to be too wordy, so I’ll also sort that out at this stage. Best of all I take the opportunity to be clever with words. For me this is where the metaphorical painting is highlighted with metaphorical sparkly bits.

I will spend a few months working on the manuscript before I’m happy with it to go to either an editor or directly to publishing. Some people think that I spend too much effort on editing myself and that an editor could deal with this. But I like my way of working. I like to know that the manuscript is as complete as possible before I let it go.

And once I let it go it’s gone. I forget about it and move onto the next project. This is easy when it’s not my name on the cover and I only had to meet a deadline. I will let you know if this changes when I publish under my own name!

But everybody employs a different writing technique. This is just the way I do it.

    So, now onto my opinion on writers’ workshops and clubs.

It’s a bit like going to the gym. You don’t have to use a gym to get fit – you could just go for a jog or dig a hole somewhere. But like a gym a writers club can be very helpful if people are supportive to one another. They can be a good place to learn about writing, creating drama, character/plot development and making friends. Not everyone at a club will want to support you, so just bare that in mind. Clubs can vary dramatically in their memberships. My advice is that you go a few times to see if you like it before you pay to become a member. Most clubs will accommodate this with trial memberships and so on. But clubs don’t suit every writer and it only takes one member to sour the friendly atmosphere. Personally I have too little time to commit to a club. Writing is something I do without taking advice or listening to “constructive” criticism. But that’s just me.

   Rejection or humiliation?

Rejection and fear of rejection are more demons that could scupper a novel, or usually subsequent novels.

Coping with rejection is something we all have to deal with. Don’t treat the rejections as a drawback. As the currently popular phrase goes – Keep calm and carry on. We all know of best selling authors who were rejected time and time again before being published. Let’s face it – you will never know the person who reads and rejects your manuscript. It might be a Bitch Troll from across the Styx for all you know.  So don’t be disheartened. Keep submitting your manuscript – and more importantly get on with the next project. If it takes time to get published at least you’ll then have a back catalogue of work to offer. And the more you write the more you improve. However feedback can be important. You may not have any from the publishers/agents you submitted to. There are websites you can post your work to for reviews. But there is a chance you could become demoralized again.

   What about critics?

Everybody is a critic.

You must be tough against criticism. Yeah, you’ve spent a year perhaps, living in poverty, pinning hopes on the masterpiece you’ve slaved over religiously. And some two bit snot face geek who might have just moved onto books without pictures has written some snide remarks about your work. I only have three words on this – Get Over It! you are in the public domain now. You have to face remarks and let them slide off your back.

The professional critics, however can have an effect on sales. So we love and respect them yes? Lol

The great thing about the UK is that readers are more sophisticated than some critics give them credit for.
Years ago Guardian readers used to say “Oh, that sounds awful according to so and so.” Now they share the same mindset as the Sun reader which is “I’ll make up my own mind thank you”. The UK scepticism is just brilliant like that. So if a critic knocks you back in the UK then you should just be glad of the publicity. In fairness there are some pretty fair critics in the UK who only give fair appraisals. The public have wised up to the other sort – vindictive journalists, since the various media scandals over here.

From our perspective, in the UK , Americans are more gracious, celebrate success and are more forthcoming with compliments than us Brits. I love American’s for this. And it’s why so much British talent seeks refuge over in the USA. The difficulty there is getting noticed enough for the critics to take an interest!

   Tough life, being an author.

We do now have the option of e-publishing – Amazon and Apple and self publishing through companies like Lulu – which is great. I will be blogging about this soon.

But the odds on making a living from writing are smaller than becoming a professional sports person. Don’t expect to become an overnight success. It’s a tough world. Writing is a business and if you’re not a business person then you will need an agent.

I will write some more about this in due course.

My theory is this, however- if you don’t play the game you’ll never win.

And remember – if it wasn’t for the creative folk of this world we’d be back in the caves. We are creators of dreams, the manufactures of fantasy and the providers of content for hardware sold for profit. We are the commodity- and don’t let anyone tell you differently.

So good luck everyone. We’re all in it together no matter what level we’re at.

   Thank you to:

Luke Cooke @BaronLukeAaron

Stella Atrium @SAtrium

June thomas @vodkahic

Max Winter @MechaMax

For inspiring this article.