Anyone written a novel?

[Gucci]

The long walks on the beach in Antigua was great for clearing the mind. I reflected on what I wanted to do next, including where I work etc. While I may change jobs at some point, I realised how much enthusiasm I had for writing a novel. I wrote a chapter in a published book on Digital Design (available in all good bookshops ) but my ability to recall funny stories and creative mind have already started flooding with ideas.

Any advice?

 

[Brian WH]

Any advice?

Go for it then, get it out of your system.

 

[amwebby]

Don't give up your day job. Writing a novel takes a long time, getting it published and selling in sufficient quantity to earn a living even longer.

 

[sweeney]

write a funny para or two on here and we can be your focus group judging panel

MB Owners have talent style !

 

[Gucci]

Don't give up your day job. Writing a novel takes a long time, getting it published and selling in sufficient quantity to earn a living even longer.

Indeed - I have no illusions about how difficult this would be. I'm looking at 18 months to write it and plenty of closed doors when I start asking for publication. A dream, but one that Brian rightly says, to get out of my system! At least I'll look back on it and say 'I wrote a novel'.

p.s Is it slightly jumping the gun to imagine my book signing at Waterstones?

 

[Dieselman]

Anyone written a Novel.

No, but I've written a few cars off..

 

[imadoofus]

Get short pieces published as often as possible. Bits for local papers, owners club mags and so on.

Read as much as you can, and then read even more.

Having stuff in print will increase your credibility with publishers (unless you intend to self-publish).

Reading widely will improve your language skills (not that there's anything wrong with them), and help you find your own style.

Don't rip off anybody else, intentionally or otherwise. It's important to find your own voice, and avoid being too generic, unless you intend to make a living at writing airport novels.

Write the whole thing as quickly as you can, and then go back and re-write it. And then go back an re-write it. And then go back and re-write it. And so on. Any number of aspiring novelists never get beyond chapter one, because they are forever perfecting it.

Writing short stories may not have the same glory, but it's a very good training ground. And don't save your 'best' story for the full-length novel, because you might never get there.

PJ

 

[PXW]

Indeed - I have no illusions about how difficult this would be. I'm looking at 18 months to write it and plenty of closed doors when I start asking for publication. A dream, but one that Brian rightly says, to get out of my system! At least I'll look back on it and say 'I wrote a novel'.

p.s Is it slightly jumping the gun to imagine my book signing at Waterstones?

Just a bit ahead of time perhaps! I've had a book inside me for years now - once got to try mapping out the main storyline and drafting the first chapter, but i got no further. Haven't given up - I just felt I needed to live a little longer, see a few more things, survive a few more crises, before my book would have credibility (to myself, that is). I will write it someday, but with little or no expectation of publication - that I think is a whole different ballgame. But the element of being true to yourself and working out your ambitions is important - whatever the outcome may be, the worst thing would be to end up thinking 'I wonder what might have happened if...'

So, as others have suggested, I for one am definitely not giving up the day job!!

 

[Defiant]

How To Get Your Book Published:

1.) Write it.

 

[Gucci]

How To Get Your Book Published:

1.) Write it.

A good start

PXW's thread made me nod my head as I was reading... "the worst thing would be to end up thinking 'I wonder what might have happened if...'"

 

[Frank O' Phile]

Well if I say I'm writing one I suppose I'll have to finish it.

Its been going on for nearly a year now and while it was easy in the beginning it is getting harder to do now. It's becoming more like work.

It's what I should be doing now but here I am instead. Guilty!

It does get difficult to set aside the necessary time (at least three hours in a row, or it's not worth doing.)

It get ideas while I'm out on the road and make notes while I'm away from home.

If you would like a tip to get started, Gucci, buy a pad and some pens and just start writing. It doesnt have to be great initially, it can all be reworked when you put it onto computer.

So get on with it instead on wasting hours on this forum...... Ah, I see where I'm going wrong.

 

[Bear]

When putting it onto computer remember to do regular backups.

 

[Gucci]

When putting it onto computer remember to do regular backups.

Yes, from bitter experience. The chapter I wrote (mentioned earlier in the post) half was on my work laptop. I was then burgled and had the laptop stolen. I rewrote the whole thing non-stop waiting for the police to arrive (two days later)

 

[Dieselman]

I trust you added burglary into your next chapter.

 

[Frank O' Phile]

BTW, I've already had my first refusal from a publisher, which really makes me think I'm a writer.

And I may have had a short story published in a Morris Minor Fanzine, but I'll never know as it was a Dutch club.



For inspiration, you'll find that red wine is an essential

 

[Gucci]

BTW, I've already had my first refusal from a publisher, which really makes me think I'm a writer.

Excellent - Jasper Fforde said he was knocked back several times as was JK Rowling How stupid do they feel now?

Don't know how beneficial this would be, but I'm a designer and can easily design an eye catching cover for the book. It would save the publishing company a few quid too!

 

[RoseTattoo]

I think Imadofus got it right; write, re-write it and re-write it again. and do lots of articles.
In my spare time I do a lot of articles that get published, it gives me a small degree of credibility. I have written a book and two plays. Marketing these, in my case, is a far bigger job than the actual writing and is another skill yet again.
I have had lots of knock-backs on the book but that is par for the course but one of the plays might be on the road to being broadcast.
All of this is done in my spare time and the amount of time I can dedicate to it varies with how much time I can spare.
Unless you are a famous name nobody is going to buy a book based on an idea. There is an enormous gulf between an idea and the finished product.
Finishing it is also a gradual process of refinement. From people that have been published you need to understand that there is not a lot of money in it, you need to be in the top few per cent for that. Some people go in for vanity publishing but I really cannot see the point.
Ironically in my case, demand for my articles is gradually increasing and I intend to pursue this for a while, combining interesting writing with some good quality photo-input but it is all a tenuous balance of full time-job and hobby.
Good luck if you can do it.