Thinking about starting a novel? We’ve asked five bestselling novelists to share their top writing tips…
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Erica James on getting yourself set up…
You don’t need a laptop. I always write with a fountain pen in a handbag-sized notebook that I really like. I write as fast as I can and save any editing until I get back to my desk. A holiday can be a great place to start. If, like me, this is when you’re at your most relaxed, your brain is going to be more receptive to creating characters and storyline ideas for a novel. In my experience, you don’t need to seek out a quiet place to do this – a long flight or lying around the pool, they work perfectly well. Or go for a very early breakfast, find the best seat in the restaurant that looks out over the beach and start writing.
Marian Keyes on characters…
Wherever you are where there are other people about, there’s plenty of inspiration for the characters in your novel. Look at those people, wonder about their lives. Have fun with it. Pay attention to lines of dialogue – what do they tell you about them? Look without judgement at their appearance. Do they have a fabulous pedicure? Do they light up when their children come near them? People give us clues all the time and all you have to do is be alert. All you need is one characteristic to begin to build a life around them. Layer up your character and make them nuanced. Nobody is all good or all bad. Most human beings are an interesting mixture of the two. You need to know more about your character than you’re going to put in the book. Think about what was their first memory? Who was their first love?
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Clare Mackintosh on plotting…
All you need to plot the perfect story is a pack of sticky notes. Keep some in your bag and next to your bed and, whenever inspiration strikes, jot down a few words. Focus on the big action scenes first, then think about what links them, and write those scenes down, too. Tape several sheets of A4 paper together, end to end, and use this as your timeline. Your opening scene on the left, and your final chapter on the right. Stick your scenes on your timeline, moving them around until they’re in the right place, and fill in any blanks with more scenes. It’s the perfect way to plot.
Kit de Waal on setting…
Being in an unfamiliar location is gold for a writer – your senses are working overtime. Airports and stations are always good for noticing people. Take a notebook and scribble down your first impression as you enter the wide concourses. Press record on your smartphone – capture the noises in real time. When you are out and about take lots of photos, but not the usual postcard type – notice street signs, restaurant tables, the bed linen and the carpet in your hotel room when you’re away for a night. Think of new ways to describe familiar things and, when you get home, put all those impressions down in a file that you can come back to when you need to locate your story in that particular setting. Writers keep their ears and eyes open wherever they are.
Elizabeth Buchan on dialogue…
What better place to begin the process of constructing dialogue for a novel than sitting on a bus, or in the supermarket queue, or eavesdropping on the teens buttonholing their friends? People talk everywhere and all the time, giving the novelist fantastic material to plunder. Families, lovers, friends and business associates are like a tap that never turns off and, if you listen carefully, it’s possible to decipher the sort of person they are. Everyone possesses particular verbal tics and uses different vocabularies that you, the greedy novelist, can make hay with. The trick is to absorb how people communicate with one another, and try to reproduce it so the dialogue between your characters sounds natural and flows easily.
Compiled by Features writer Savanna Douglas.
