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RSS FeedWhere 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.
