The Writing Process

When that magic moment happens, and you've signed your first contract of publication, you feel on top of the world. But then.... the work really begins. Somehow your manuscript is converted into a commercially published book, but there are various stages along the way.

Re-writes
Every book has a few amendments to make before it finds its way onto the press. A in-house editor from the publishers will work with you to ensure the book is in its best shape before it lands into the hands of the reader. If you find your editor's comments upsetting, give yourself time to relax and think carefully. Everyone wants the same thing, the best book. They're all on your side, even if it may not feel like that. So, count to ten, calm down and think objectively. After all, that's what the editor is doing, thinking objectively. Your reaction is only so wild because it's your own sweat and toil that has gone into it so far. Now it's time to be professional. Of course, you should discuss things with your editor, but don't forget that they're the experts in the industry. They know what sells, and why.
Polish your dialogue. It can help build pace, sustain suspense and bring your characters to life. Double check your structure. Ensure everything plot point hangs together and check for inaccuracies. Is your book readable? Strange question but a valid one.

The Final Check
When all the re-writes are complete, it's time to proof read and check. Whilst a professional proof reader will read your manuscript, more than once, you should also take time to carry out this task. After all, you're the writer, you know what should appear on the page. Remember to check every spelling, even those you think you can write with your eyes closed. Punctuation is important. There will always be a reader who knows it back to front, and punctuation mistakes can annoy the reader. If you're too close to your project, step away for a bit (as long as you can, given the deadlines!) and return with a fresh pair of eyes.

Marketing - your brand
If you remember nothing else from this blog, let it be this. NEVER tell your marketers anything you wouldn't happily share with the world. They want to know about you, the author. In this day and age we tend to share everything via social media networks. That brings with it joys, advantages and pleasures, but it also brings danger and a lack of privacy. Remember, share only what you're happy to. Marketers know how to market books, and they will want to use any snippet of information you're happy to give them. They are people like you and I, and they will respect your privacy, but ultimately they're doing a job so be wise from the start. It pays to think about your "public image" or "brand" in advance. Know what you want to tell the world, and be consistent.

The Cover
It's an exciting time when you first see images of the proposed cover for your book, and in particular your first published novel. Your publishers graphics team will devise the book cover based on the back cover blurb and your combined ideas. The artists may not have read the book so the authors input is essential here. Look at it objectively and think about what it says to a fresh pair of eyes. Ask someone for their first impression. It's surprising how often people see different things.

Public Relations
It's generally thought best not to confess to the following:

• I'm hopeless with technology
• I can only write when, it's quiet/I'm in the mood/I have two cups of tea and stand on one leg
• I'm a terrible public speaker, very shy, an introvert
• I don't want to do book signings, events, interviews
• I hate social media

These are sure turn off signs. Even if the above are true for you, don't admit it! You need to remember that you're a professional now. Keep your public image separate from your private life and manage it, just like any other business. Consistency is the key. Even the most introverted of us can manage to speak or conduct an interview, if we put our minds to it.

Good luck!

The Synopsis

It's a tough call but we all have to write the synopsis. It's not as difficult as you think. Having said that, you need to write it with dedication and thought. Redraft as often as necessary until you're happy with it. The point of a synopsis is to tell your proposed publisher or agent what the book is about. Only they, and you, will read it. It's not for the general public.
If you're polished your manuscript to an inch of its life and you've written your synopsis, you're probably ready to submit to your chosen agent/publisher. What then....? You wait. Then you wait some more.
Agents and publishers are busy people. They receive thousands of submissions every year and can only take on a small percentage of those. If you receive one, two, three, forty, four hundred rejections then you may have to consider the possibility that something's not quite right with your work. There are various reasons why this might be. Here are just a few:

• Your work isn't good enough - harsh but possibly true.  Have another go and study the marketplace. See what's selling well in your chosen genre, study that and see if you can learn anything from the authors already making a success of writing.
• There isn't a market for your work. Is your novel a cross-genre? Think about where it would fit on the book shop shelves. If you're struggling to answer that question, chances are, the agent/publisher is also struggling, and therefore can't sell your work on easily.
• The agent you've chosen doesn't have an immediate place to sell your work to.
• The publisher you've chosen is already committed to too many other authors at present and has no space to take you on.

Read interviews by other authors. They've all had a long journey, even those who appear to have arrived overnight. It's not an easy job, but it's very rewarding so don't give up. Keep going and trying hard, and one day you'll get there.

Welcome to 2014

Welcome to 2014!

 

 

It's a funny thing, isn't it, this need to create a fresh page every time December 31st strikes...? For centuries now, the world over has believed that a new start can be had simply because the calendar tells us it's 1st January. Now don't misunderstand me, I am amongst those who see the new year as an opportunity for a clean slate... but in reality we can have a glossy new beginning any day we choose.

 

If we only put our minds to it, we can achieve anything we choose. January 1st is almost like a bookmark in time for us, which is possibly why many of us see it as the ideal time to turn over a new leaf. How many resolutions have you made?  I've made lots, naturally, perhaps too many but then, I always did like a challenge.

Resolutions and the need for a fresh start are closely linked to plotting and planning a novel. If you are planning to pen a novel this year, you'll need to learn how to plot your tale and how to plan your writing. These are two different things.

Plotting
To plot a tale, you should first have some idea of what the tale is about. Even if you don't know the ending yet, or perhaps how it begins, you need to have a basic idea of what the story will say. Write down the key moments of your tale and put them into an order. This doesn't need to be the order the events happen in, but the order you wish the reader to come across them.
Once you have a brief outline of key moments, you can begin to thread them together using sub-plots and fringe characters. This is the fun part, making it all fit together.
My advice would be to have a thinly threaded plot line before you start writing. There is a school of thought that says you can simply write away and let the words flow.  If this works for you then by all means get writing... but it didn't work for me, so I tend to favour the plotting route.  I tried the free flow approach once and it did work beautifully, for a while, then I found I had written myself into a corner and couldn't escape.

Planning
You need to plan your writing time, your approach to the project and the details. For example, if like most of us you have another job to do too, you'll need to schedule your writing time into your routine, somehow.  It is wise to choose a time that suits you creatively, if you can.  If you find your creative thoughts flow best in the evening, pick a day that fits around your existing commitments and label this evening as your writing time. Tell friends and family that's what you're doing, and treat it as a job. You'll need to be disciplined if you want to succeed.
To plan your approach, you need to think about what you need to know before you can write your tale. This is research. For example, your main character may be a doctor. Do you know much about the working day of a doctor? You won't need to swallow a medical book, but you should do a little research into the average day for a doctor, the type of environment they work in, the kinds of people they deal with. Does your doctor specialise, work in a hospital, surgery, are they a local GP in a small town?  You need to know this before you can write about it effectively.
To turn to the practical element of writing. I tend to plan how I'm going to write the novel. I work out the scenes, chapters and what will happen in each. I then plan the order I'm going to write these in. Now of course you don't need to keep to this plan, it can be flexible, but there will be days when you're not at your best, and on these days in particular it can be comforting to simply follow a path rather than have to think too much about where to start.

So, to resolutions, if you're going to tackle a literary project this year, whether it be a degree essay, a novel, book of poems, whatever takes you fancy; the best of luck to you and most importantly - don't give up!  Nothing worthwhile is ever easy!

I wish you all a happy and healthy 2014.

www.jaynemariebarker.com

The Two Methods...

Notes to help aspiring authors…

There are two recognized methods of writing a novel:

1. Plan thoroughly, complete all research and planning tasks, then write first draft.  Always leave flexibility in the plotline/yourself so that you can adapt if ideas and twists strike you whilst writing.  This method should leave you with an almost perfect draft first go.  Once completed re-draft and edit throughout, change as desired and submit.
2. The blank page approach; start writing with a less structured plan but ensure you know where you want your story to end up.  This will probably result in a rather messy first draft but you’ll have the basic story on the page.  The second draft is when you apply the planning and overall tidy up to fit the manuscript to novel formation.

The Mystery of Plotting

Earlier this week a friend of mine admitted to a secret desire to write a novel, and sought my advice on plotting. My friend had written the story into a corner, the direct result of poor planning. It's an easy mistake to make, one I've made myself in the past. The fingers are keen to put the words on the page - or screen I should say - but first the foundation work must be carried out. I explained to my friend that it was like building a house. You can't start building the part that everybody sees until you've laid the foundations...

Plotting a novel has been a mystery to many but the lucky few for as long as I can remember, and will probably remain that way for years to come. Let me let you into a little secret... there isn't a magic spell, the writers on the shelves of your favourite book shop or library do not have special powers. There isn't an invisible night school where you slip away into the ether and wizards in long robes reveal the deep dark secrets of how to plot a novel... in truth there is no right way to construct a novel, you have to find a path that suits your own writing methods.

From a personal viewpoint I plan my novels quite thoroughly. I break down the story and compile a list of events. Once I have this for the main plot I repeat the exercise for the sub-plot(s) and then weave all lines into one neat line. Now for the fun part... What I have actually constructed is the story in strict date order, but that isn't necessarily the order I want to reveal the story to the reader. If you prefer you could write the events on post-it notes or cards and move them around on a tabletop... it's the same thing really.

But now... to the mystery of plotting a mystery novel.  The art of plotting is the same for all books irrespective of their genre, but in a mystery there is need to tell the story in a certain way. All good mysteries reveal the information like a drip, slowly and steadily. As the reader it's my humble opinion that you want the information but it's more interesting if not everything is taken at face value, or rather you do take it at face value and then realise (hopefully close to the climax) that there was a subtle clue behind the details given.  One point is vital - the reader must have a fair chance at solving the mystery - just as your main sleuth does. It would be highly unfair to produce an identical twin or new character nobody had heard of right before the end, and for that character to turn out to be the killer. Fairs fair, you must play by the rules if you want to retain your reader.

So, the art of plotting a mystery novel then. Take the usual plotting guidelines but spend extra time on the order of revealtion. Think about the pace of the novel and apply the order that best fits the uncovering mystery and furthers the story whilst keeping the plotline moving and the reader on the edge of their seat!

The above is only my opinion based on experience and personal belief. If you're a writer hoping to pen your novel this year then I wish you the very best of luck finding a path that works for you. If you're a reader then sit back and enjoy!

The Silent Beginning

It is easy to write a book… or so they say.  Almost every writer has suffered in silence at one point or another when some kind-meaning reader or enthusiast stands there telling them how lovely it must be to write a novel, and how they are always meaning to start theirs, and how great it’ll be when it’s done.

Whilst writers love to talk to readers it can be a touch irritating hearing how straight forward it must be to write a book, when deep down they know that crafting a novel is pure hard work!  If only the poor unsuspecting public knew how difficult it is to sustain the smile whilst they are being told all this.  Naturally it would be impolite to correct the reader so many writers nod along with a pleasant smile.  It wouldn’t be fair to discourage people anyway, particularly from such a rewarding job.  Yes, it is not easy, but it is well worth the hard work so don’t be put off if you’re one of the millions all planning to pen your first novel next year.

Many writers often appear to come out of nowhere or arrive on the shelves or best sellers list overnight.  In reality this couldn’t be further from the truth.Like all professions, writers must develop their skills over time and serve their apprenticeship years.  What this usually refers to is the long stretch of time before anything they have written is ever published, but they continue to chip away, perfecting their craft gradually, hopefully leaning a few new tricks along the way.  One day an agent or publisher says yes, actually, I will take a chance on you, and the writer immediately leaps into the air in disbelief at having finally jumped the first hurdle.

The beginning of any writer’s career, before their work is published, is obviously unknown to the rest of the world.  It is the silent beginning, when hope is high and ambition strong, when chances seem minuscule and neigh impossible.  It’s the toughest time, so you think, until you take the next step and you find new challenges to content with.  This is probably true of life in general but we must plough on, if only to find out what happens!

Characters - how well do you know them?

How well do you know the characters in the book you’re currently reading?

It’s a question we rarely ask ourselves, but as writers, we must get to know our characters inside out if we want to attain the dizzy heights of fictional bliss.

Building a cast of fictional people in the readers’ minds can be fun and exhilarating but it takes work and dedication.  A character should appear to be a real person, all be it existing purely in a fictional or imaginary sense.  They need to have well-rounded physical appearances, quirky mannerisms to make them unique, faults and talents, accents, and appropriate names.

I find it helpful to create a personal history for each character.  This may or may not feature in the story, but it adds to their personality none the less, and helps me visualise them as real people when spinning the tale.  Just because the writer knows the tiny details about a character doesn’t necessarily mean all those minute points will end up in the novel.

It is an interesting question, whether or not to paint the picture of a character fully.  Do you, for instance, prefer to have a fully described individual down to hair and eye colour, height and additional details about their personality, the way they walk, their favourite colour, the way they react to news etc.  Maybe you prefer a less precise image, their movements likened to the slow crawl of the earth worm or their features chiselled into focus as they strain at the keyhole…. Before any writer can effectively draw a character in the readers mind, they need to understand their roles in the story, and consequently, the length to which that character should stand out from the cast.

So, I ask you, whether you are a reader or a writer, the next time you read a book have a little think about what you know of the main characters, and maybe one or two of the extras.  It could be fun, write down what you know about each character, then look back carefully and work out how much of this was actually given to you in the text, and how much you’ve plucked from your own imagination….  If a large portion is from your imagination then the writer has crafted the character to perfection – they are as you imagine them, fully formed in your own mind.  Job done!

Captivating The Reader

Everybody knows that the first line of any new story needs to hook the reader in an instant. If you're writing a story, whether it's a short piece, a full scale novel or even a non-fiction book, the opening paragraph is key. If you can't win your reader over on page one than you've double the effort to keep them turning to page two and beyond!

The first page, paragraph... let's get down to reality, it's the very first sentance that really counts.  Think about your opening word carefully and choose well!  It's just my humble opinion but the first piece a reader absorbs from your work should captivate them into reading on, and on, and on...  you get the picture!

It's not as tricky as it sounds, just pay a little extra attention and you'll find yourself set off on the right foot.

Jayne-Marie Barker
Author
http://www.jaynemariebarker.com/

Characters - Reality Within Fiction

I promised you this blog and here it is - how to create characters that really stand up, in a fictional sense of course!  My tips on how to make characters real (within the realms of fictions) include:

• Know your characters. It sounds so simple but it really does work. Get to know them well, before you start writing. Give them a full profile, note down everything you can about them from their shoe size to their hair colour. When you start writing you'll be surprised just how useful these notes become.
• Expand your characters. As we live we make mistakes, we learn, we grow... yes it's true. Your characters should develope in the same way that real people do. Think about how people react to bad news, how disasters change them, how good news makes them feel etc.  For example - if a family home is destroyed by fire in your story, think about what your characters would feel about the loss of the building, their home, their personal belongings; in particular the sentimental items that cannot be replaced. This is especially important if the fire was not part of the original plotline, or at whatever stage you first thought about your characters. Golden rule - if you alter your plotline remember to focus on what this means to your central characters, how this could affect their personality or outlook on the world.
• Commit your characters to memory. Throughout your novel writing process skip back to your character notes and refresh your memory. Even if your characters are living in your head and you think you know them better than the real people around you, just re-read and perhaps update your notes. It pays to be efficient with these things; you never know when they may come in useful.
• Observe. Generally speaking, writers tend to be good observers of real life, people, places, colours, scents, tastes. The next time you're in the waiting room, dreading the call to the dentist's surgery, watch the other people around you. It's incrediable just how much is availble to inspire your literary skills, if you only open your eyes. Of course I'm not suggesting you stare at people, or write about real people in detail; but you could mingle a mannerism of one person with the unique hairstyle of another and so forth... you get the idea!

So, that's it for now. Keep reading for more literary tips and feel free to add your own as comments.
Best wishes
Jayne-Marie Barker
Author

The Idea Highway

As a writer one of the most common questions I am asked is "where do you get your ideas from?"  Well, I'll tell you.  Everywhere, everyone, everything. Just the other day I was told about a fabulous plotline (sadly true and quite terrible but with a little twist here and there it could be an excellent fictional tale). Naturally, I would never write a tale exactly as it's told to me, not even in its entire format, but these things can spark up ideas and it's worth remembering that several small ideas can conjure up one fantastic plot; when pieced together in the right way. So there you have it - be careful what you tell a writer, you may see it turn up in their next book!

The Art of Plotting

Every good novel needs a structure. A solid building has foundations, without which it would collapse. The modern novel needs foundations to support the story in just the same way.  In my humble experience setting the foundations makes life so much easier. Trial and error and countless rejection letters have paved my way to where I stand today; on the beginning of knowledge.
Plotting is just one of the foundation tasks I find necessary to complete - in some detail - before even starting to write the story.  So, how do you plot? There are thousands of books available dedicated to the art of writing, building characters, plotlines, structure, themes...
Plotting in my world can be as simple or as complex as I choose to make it.  I tend to think of the plotline in an arc shape. Every plotline has its ups and downs, its climax and its resolution. Personally, I have eight points on my arc, and I ensure that the story twists and turns effectively around every point.
To begin, I list the points of the arc, then I toy with the order of the story's critical points until they fit nicely into the most dramatic sequence possible.
Once the main plotline is configured into an order of revelation I do the same with all sub-plots, ensuring that they weave into the main plotline in the right places.
I've never tried ths method myself but some people have yellow post-it notes and they move them around on a table until they're happy with the order.  I do much the same but on the laptop screen with cut and paste. If you struggle to plot out your story then try this method and see if it helps.
Next time - characters and how to create reality within fiction.
Jayne-Marie Barker
Author