Over two weeks into lockdown – how are everybody’s novels going? Many of us saw this as the perfect time to start our long-awaited books, but didn’t quite know how to begin. If this sounds familiar, let these book writing tips from some of the literary world’s bestselling authors help you…
ALSO SEE: Writing Tips From Bestselling Author Marita Van Der Vyver
Writing tips we can all be inspired by:
Book writing tip #1: Expect plenty of rewrites
Hannah Rothschild wrote The Improbability of Love, which won the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for best comic novel. Her new novel is House of Trelawny. She said:
“I race to the end of a first draft and then the hard work begins. I start from page one, picking the manuscript to pieces. My first book took 12 drafts; the second 14; and the last went through 11 versions. In my case, writing should be called rewriting.”
Book writing tip #2: Read, read, and then read some more
Erin Kelly, bestselling author of new novel Stone Mothers, said:
“You would be surprised how many aspiring writers don’t read contemporary fiction. The one piece of advice I would give any budding author is to read, read, read. If a good writer wants to become great, it takes a mixture of talent, luck and graft.”
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Book writing tip #3: Don’t be afraid to embrace home comforts
Fiona Barton is a crime author whose new novel The Suspect is out now. She says:
“My guilty secret is that I stay in bed to write. I have an office in my home, with a writing desk, lumbar-friendly chair, whiteboard, mood board, pictures and notes-to-self on the walls, but the writing happens in a large double bed opposite a window looking out at a lake.
“My husband brings me cups of tea and I am so immersed in the story, I often don’t notice he’s been. I know this all sounds a bit Barbara Cartland, but there is no frou-frou bed jacket.”
Book writing tip #4: When writing about mystery, always look around for mystery
Tana French, who recently released book, The Wych Elm, says:
“I think most mystery writers are always looking for the potential mystery in everything. I have ideas for books from an old suitcase in a skip, or the time we had mice. The Wych Elm was different. I was thinking a lot about luck, and how too much luck can stunt our capacity for empathy – and around the same time, I read an article about a skeleton found in a wych elm in 1943. The two things clicked together in my mind.”
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Book writing tip #5: Ask difficult questions
Bestselling author Jodi Picoult, author of A Spark of Light, says:
“On a normal day, I go for a five-mile walk or a run. Then I shower and head downstairs where my husband has a cup of coffee waiting for me. After breakfast I head up to my office. But my routine does vary. If I’m researching, I may be anywhere in the world shadowing someone – an abortion provider, a lawyer, an Amish farmer. When I’m writing, I am in my office from about 8.30am until 4pm.
“What inspires me are questions to which I do not have the answers. Writing is my way of figuring those out.”
Book writing tip #6: Look to the people around you for inspiration
Best-selling author Marian Keyes, author of The Break, says:
“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.”
ALSO SEE: Marian Keyes’ Brilliant Advice On How To Deal With Failure
Book writing tip #7: Get outside of your comfort zone
Kit De Waal, whose debut novel Becoming Dinah became a best seller, says:
“Being in an unfamiliar location is gold for a writer – your senses are working overtime. 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. “
Book writing tip #8: Start the old-fashioned way
Bestselling SA author Marita van der Vyver, author of Borderline, says:
“Start each new scene or chapter in the old-fashioned way – with pen and paper – before you move on to your PC or laptop. Just like an athlete needs to warm up her muscles before she runs a marathon, a writer needs to warm up her ‘writing muscles’ – and writing by hand is still the best way of doing this.”
Book writing tip #9: Try listening to music
Thriller writer Clare Mackintosh, author of best-seller Let Me Lie, says:
“I listen to the sort of music you might hear in a spa. I find a track and put in on over and over again for the same novel. It’s on very quietly and it instantly gets me into the right zone.”
Book writing tip #10: Use pressure to your advantage
Joanna Cannon, whose second novel Three Things About Elsie is out now, says:
“The pressure of only having a half-hour break to write worked well for me [Joanna wrote her debut novel, The Trouble with Goats and Sheep, when she was a junior doctor working in A&E]. A lot of writing is thinking so I’d do that when walking the dog or on the way to work. So when it came to my break, I knew exactly what I wanted to write.”
