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Greenbrae, California

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Where is the Book in you?

Posted at Helpful Tips by Marty Bautista

Feb. 18, 2008

Tagged with: write book novel jonathan hull

So you want to write that novel you’ve been talking about for years? A few tips from one who’s been there:

Don’t wait for inspiration. It’s much too fickle.
If you’re really serious, quit your day job. You’ll be so scared that inspiration won’t be necessary.
Write the book you’ve always wanted to read, not the book you think others want to read.
You can’t start unless you’re sitting at your computer. So sit.
Don’t wait for the perfect beginning. Just start piling up the words until you get traction. Eventually the beginning will become obvious.
If you try to write a bestseller, don’t expect any help from your muse.
Remember: one page a day and you’re done in a year. (With the first draft.)
When in despair, think of all the really awful books that somehow got published.
When you think you’re done, put the manuscript aside for a month, then pick it back up and rewrite it.
After completing #9, give it to a few trusted readers. Listen carefully to what they say, but only ingest what rings true. Five readers might point you in five different directions.
If you try to please every reader, you’ll embarrass yourself.
When you’re not writing, saturate yourself with the words of writers you admire.
When in doubt, shorter is better. Even when not in doubt, shorter is still better.
As you write, follow the characters rather than your outline. If the characters are alive, they’ll know where they’re going even if you don’t.
There’ll be days when you think it’s horrible. Keep going. If you don’t have these days, you should be worried.
Even the best books can only allude to the deepest truths. That’s close enough.
Just because you can’t get published doesn’t mean your book isn’t good. (Alas, the reverse is true as well.)
Thinking about writing is not the same as writing. So write.
If you know it’s good, that’s good enough (unless you quit your day job).

These pointers come from a good friend of mine, Jonathan Hull. Jonathan is an acclaimed writer of the bestseller “Losing Julia” and “The Distance from Normandy”. Both books I would recommend reading when you want to be gripped by a novel and not be able to put it down. See more about Jonathan at: www.jonathanhull.com. Jonathan also has a website set up for people to share their stories and experiences called www.wereyouthere.com. A wonderful place to write and read about memorable moments and people and places.

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