Writing tips

The plot
thickens

Choosing
a literary
agent

Query letters

Inspire me!

But they
rejected me!

Tip 1

Set a daily goal, and achieve that goal. Just force yourself into the habit of writing something. If you haven't got the motivation to boot up the computer, just scratch some stuff on a sheet of paper. It might be an idea for your novel, or a scene, or some character detail; just write it. Push the story on. Keep it moving.

Tip 2

If you travel on a train or bus to work, try writing on the move. It's another cheap ploy, but the act of physically moving along can help keep your mind moving along. It gives you the very real sense that you're not staying in the same place - which is what you're fighting against. Stagnation. So if you can't move mentally, try moving physically. It might work.

Tip 3

Remind yourself daily that your favourite authors are ultimately as ordinary as you or me. Yes, they achieved the success you've been craving for. But they're all just people with the same anxieties as yourself. I've met a number of celebrities over the years, and what unites them is their ordinariness. Writers are no different. They're just people. Fallible. Riddled with doubt. Prone to fits of despair. But such professional authors got to where they are by sheer hard graft and dealing with negativity. Follow their lead.

Tip 4

Try comedy. Good comedy is intelligent writing. Good comedy also releases tension. So if you have a comedy club nearby, try a regular night out. If not, rent a comedy film (something that you know is going to make you howl with laugher). And after the comedy. Writing induce tension, so release that tension in whatever way you reasonably can (yes, try that too ...)

Tip 5

If you feel the creativity well drying up, stop and look back through your novel for the source of the problem. Often, your subconscious mind has spotted a problem that's sapping your enthusiasm. Sometimes a simple amendment to the manuscript can really refresh it. Or it may be that your character's motivation is weak. Or you may have overlooked a crucial twist. Or fact. If you isolate that and rectify it, the rest of the novel instantly feels stronger and refreshed. In short, your lack of creative energy may really be due to something you think you've put behind you and not a fear of what lies ahead. When I'm finding it hard to move forward, sooner or later I start looking back, and as often as not I spot the problem. So look ahead constantly, but keep an eye on your tracks.

Tip 6

Work out specifically what you're trying to achieve in a section of your writing and check that you've achieved that. This goes back to Tip 1. If, for instance, you need to move your character from point A to point B, ask yourself if you've achieved this objective. If you have, move on (later, you can firm up the soft spots). But a methodical approach like this might reveal that you simply haven't achieved what you set out to achieve.

You might consider actually writing down your goal at the beginning of each chapter. For instance; In this chapter, my hero discovers that he's being stalked by a work colleague and realises that he's in a very vulnerable position ... You can add to this. But just make sure you've ticked off the main points. And one you've achieved this, mark it down as a success. That means literally mark it down.

Goal achieved. Write the note (or notes) at the end of each chapter. You can remove them later, or leave them on your back-up copies (you do have back-ups, don't you?)

Tip 7

Rejection is the norm, not the exception. You may find your enthusiasm being sapped because, halfway through your second novel, you've just received a rejection on your first. It's like having a puncture. It's deflating. Dispiriting. All you can do is be positive and tell your self that that rejection, paradoxically, has taken you another step closer to your goal. See But they rejected me!

Tip 8

Cut the clever stuff (I need reminding of this daily). By this, I mean reduce the smart, hip, cool writing and focus on the story. Most writers show up at some time or another. But this self-aggrandizing can be counter-productive. You need to be a little more humble and businesslike. if you've got a great phrase or piece of dialogue, of course you should use it. But don't let it get in the way of forward momentum.

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Inspire me!

Writing a novel is hard word. Until you try it, you might not fully appreciate just how much effort goes into a full-length manuscript. The first novel I wrote was a 200,000 word sci-fi tale about a bunch of astronauts returning to Earth (after months in suspended animation) only to discover that everyone had had the bad grace to die (cue deserted London streets and deathly silence and rats and the stench of bodies, etc).

Lovely.

As I recall, the book took a couple of months to complete, and when it was done I realised that it was too big (and a half). But I didn't want to cut it, partly because I was mentally exhausted, and partly because having just written it, then last thing I wanted was to take a hatchet to it (can you spot an immature writer anywhere in the vicinity?).

So I started another novel. Which might sound odd, until you understand that each novel you write has a certain amount of energy and enthusiasm attached to it (or embedded in it). So I cruised on that for a while and somehow managed to grope my way through the second book (this time a private eye story; it took just a month. Something of a personal record).

Then, on book three, things got shaky. That energy and enthusiasm petered out early on and I was stuck. I should have paced myself better. I didn't realise then just how easy it was to lose 'the writing buzz', and when it's gone (with respect to a particular book), it's hard to get it back.

But it can be done.

Firstly, you need to remember that practically all writers have negative feelings about their manuscripts. And that negativity doesn't start once the final words have been written. It usually starts somewhere around chapter three or four when, after your character (and possibly antagonist) have made his/her/their big entrance(s), the fuel warning light on your literary dashboard starts winking and warning you that the high-octane fuel you've been running on is rapidly depleting.

It's analogous to flying a fighter jet on afterburner. You'll go very fast and high for a few minutes (chapters), and then you're coming down. The trick is staying airborne for as long as possible in the hope there's somewhere smooth to land.

If not, you just eject and your book crashes in flames.

It happens pretty much every time. Suddenly, having designed the scene and having established your 'voice' and having set the plot rolling down the tracks of your tale you're faced with the really hard stuff - which is maintaining the momentum and holding it all in your head as you work through the problems and pitfalls and dead ends.

To obviate this, some writers use a card system and jot down everything there is to know about their characters. Age. Sex. Looks. Favourite colours. Etc. The cards might also contain the basic (or even detailed) plot lines and themes and 'payoffs' that need to be there from one chapter to another. Think of these cards as stepping stones in the stream of your consciousness (hmm, I might use that in a novel sometime).        

However, this system doesn't work for everyone because for many writers the act of organisation kills the spontaneity. The immediacy.

These kind of writers have to work it out as they go along; a kind of flying-by-the-seat-of-your-pants approach. The advantage with this method is that you don't tap into that well of creativity until the exact moment you need it, which can make situations and characters fresh and 'immediate'. Also, it helps conserve that well of creativity which, sooner or later, you'll need to draw heavily upon.

Regarding my own novels, I try not to sketch in too many details concerning hair colour and eye colour and shoe size, etc - not unless it's crucial to the story. Most readers want only a guide, or an outline, which they can colour in themselves to suit their predispositions.

But whichever method you favour, the aforementioned negativity is likely to dog you right up to (and beyond) the finish line, so here are a few tricks to help combat it.

1. Recognise the negativity for what it is. And accept it. It's no more than mental tiredness. That's all. Yes, your manuscript may have flaws. It may have great big plot holes, and your characters may not be strong. But everything can be corrected once the book is completed. You need to keep that in the forefront of your mind. You're not casting bronze. You're moving words and ideas around a page. There will be highs and there will be lows. But a low spell doesn't mean a lousy book. Neither does a high spell make for a great book. Negativity happens. Accept it and move on.

2. Get a copy of your favourite writer's latest bestseller (ideally in the same genre as your own project) and read through it as you hack your way through the jungle of your novel. The trick is to draw some of the 'mental fuel' that's spilling from the pages of that bestseller. There's usually more than enough to go round.

Then, armed with a fresh charge of energy, you take a running jump at your own prose and attack it with gusto.

At least, that's how it works for me.

You may have to modify this ploy to suit your quirks and habits Just remember to feed off other energies and successes.

3. And if that doesn't do the trick, go and dig the garden or paint a couple of doors, or do one of those really big or heavy jobs that you've been meaning to do for a long time (but have been too busy writing your opus to attend to). The object of this exercise is to achieve something. Anything. That's all. You need to finish a job that requires physical energy rather than mental energy; ideally a job that you can look back and admire from a distance.

Cleaning the car probably won't do - unless it's in a real state. But panel-beating that dent out of the door or re-bricking the garden wall will likely do the trick. As long as you do it well.

And finish it.

What you're trying to do it give yourself a big pat on the back, and while you're still smiling about that, you run back to the computer or word processor or block of typing paper and get another chapter of your book in the bag.

Your enthusiasm and creativity will inevitably run down again after a while. And when it does, it's back to the garden or the loft or whatever. Just try and balance physical work with mental work. That's the key.

If you haven't got a garden or a loft or a car door to panel beat, try a long walk or a cycle ride. Go and visit some place you've wanted to visit for a long time, and make yourself tired. Work off some fat.

But make sure that your 'distraction' ploy doesn't take you away from your project for too long. A couple of hours should do it. Three or four at the most. If you can take a laptop or some writing paper, then so much the better.

4. Put your novel aside for a while. Say, a couple of months. This is risky, because some writers will never go back to an unfinished novel. For such writers, leaving a book kills it. But I do it all the time, and it seems to work. When I'm out of (mental) energy, I start a new book and push that as far as I can, and then go back to a project that's been simmering on the back burner.

I've had 3 or 4 books on the go at once. At least two of my books were written with a one year break between them. Possibly three books (the mind's shedding brain cells at a scary rate these days). But yes, every now and again a project is put aside. Permanently. Usually, however, that's because I've since recognised that the 'story' wasn't really there at all, and I take some comfort from the fact that I haven't put any more energy into it than was necessary.

Sounds like wasted time, perhaps. But it isn't. It's the writer's equivalent of exercise. You go into a mental gym, work out for half a dozen chapters, then take those intellectual biceps with you to your next project. It isn't a crime to abandon a book. Just try and salvage what you can, such as an interesting theme, or a character, or a situation, and build on that.

5. Find something else to inspire you. It might be a new music album by your favourite band. It might be a trip somewhere. It might be a parachute jump. It might be a great film. Or a haircut/hairdo. Or some new clothes. Just look for positive, uplifting things. The idea is to restore your emotional energies. You need a 'high'. A boost - but steer clear of anything you can't buy in a supermarket. You need to actively pursue this strategy. Try not to start your book unless you've a few pick-me-ups along the way.

6. Stop being creative elsewhere. Easy to say, I know. You might be a t-shirt designer or something. Or a graphic artist. Or a copywriter. And you need to keep eating and going to work. But if you're 'blowing' your creative energy in one direction, there may not be much (if any) left for your novel. George Orwell, famously, went to the island of Jura to finish 1984.

You might try a similar ploy by having a word in your boss's ear and seeing if you can get some time out. If not, try and rearrange your schedule so that your writing gets done before the daily grind.

What? Get up at 6.00am instead of 7.00am?

Yes. It's exactly what. Write immediately after sleep - unless you're certain that you're 'wired' to write at a different time of the day. For most writers, their creative energy will be highest first thing in the morning. Capitalise on that, and get your significant other to make the breakfast.

6. Give yourself a daily writing treat. A bar of chocolate, perhaps. Yes, you risk putting on a little weight. Or even a lot of weight. But if you're desperate to keep your creative energies high, you may just need that treat (see paragraph 5 above). Chocolate is good because it's fuel. It gives you a hit. If you want to avoid chocolate, try a strong cup of coffee or tea (it usually take about half an hour to kick in).

7. Stop questioning your writing. By this, I mean that you should knuckle-down to ordinary slog and overlook the bigger picture. For example, if you were a bricklayer with a huge housing estate to build, you'd just get depressed and daunted if you looked at the whole project at once. Instead, ignore the rest of it and work towards achievable goals. Just look at the section you're working on and focus on that. Put some music on if it helps (try headphones) and stay on the one section until you've cracked it.

Try this dodge too. If you're using a computer, cut the section that you're working on and paste it into a completely different file and work on that. It's a pathetic ploy and isn't going to convince your logic circuits for a second. But logic isn't the issue here. It's an emotional problem. Isolating that one chapter that's giving you problems might give you a 'clean slate', so to speak. Albeit a temporary once. You can reintegrate the section later.

7. All writers face the same issues. The test of a successful author is largely a matter of persistence, and all writing is exercise. That exercise may exhaust you temporarily. But ultimately it will make you tougher. It will make you a better, more experienced writer. If you're not convinced of this, look back at some of your earlier stuff. Spot the difference?

Chances are that you've got some better stuff in your back catalogue. But in the main, the trend will almost certainly be upward. You may have hit a great high a couple of years ago and can't seem to repeat it. That's quite possibly because you're secretly trying to do what you did before - whereas you should always be striking out for something new. You have to take chances. You have to stay at the cutting edge rather than rest on your laurels. You have to reinvent yourself with every book, or, at least, develop on what you've got.

That may take you down a little at times, but the trend will always be upward if you persevere.