Adrian Russell's Blog

Types of writing genres in fictional literature

Types of writing genres in fictional literature
Types of writing genres in fictional literature…should a novelist stick to one genre?

I was discussing my novel with my bank manager a couple of weeks ago which inspired this article.

We were talking about genres, as I was explaining about how my novel had been received by readers. My readers were commenting about how scary my novel is, so I questioned about whether I’d chosen the correct fiction genre on Amazon and Goodreads or not.

My original writing genre was a ‘Suspense‘ ‘Thriller‘, but then I thought perhaps ‘Horror‘ with plenty of suspense instead.

Ideas for future novels

This conversation led on to the new novel I’m writing, together with the many ideas for future novels too…which led on to story lines. One of my stories includes time travel and another includes paranormal activity.

We discussed whether an author should stick predominantly to one genre or not.

She seemed to think that veering off to a bit of paranormal is okay, as many believe this is real.

Whereas, she wasn’t keen on diverting to a novel to include time travel, as this is more ‘Science Fiction‘. Which is another genre all together.

James Patterson Novelist…

We then discussed James Patterson, one of her favourite authors. She’s a big fan of his and has read many of his books.

However, there was one book where he’d collaborated with another writer and for the first time his story line was slightly different where characters sprouted wings – I think the book she was referring to is ‘When The Wind Blows.’

For her, this was lost and not something she’d expect from Mr Paterson, as he mostly writes thrillers and realistic fiction. Whereas is this novel he moved to ‘Fantasy Fiction‘.

I know what she means, because if you get used to reading books from an author, you know what to expect. If they surprise you in this way by changing the genre slightly, it could put you off. This is especially if it is a genre you don’t like at all.

So is this good or bad?

So what are the options if you switch or mix writing genres?

If you have many book ideas, as I do, and some drift across to other genres, I think having more than one pen name is the solution.

Even J. K. Rowling has written under a different pen name…Robert Gailbraith.

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Celebrities You Didn’t Know Were Best Selling Authors

Celebrities you didn’t know were best selling authors…

There’s no surprise when you read that famous celebrities turn out to be authors too.

Living and working in the arts world and being a creative person leads to yet more creativity…hence famous novelists.

Of course, being a celeb and being famous gives them a head-start on the rest of the book writing fraternity with a knack for marketing themselves. They are also followed by many, and in some cases by thousands, if not millions.

Some release perfume  or a clothing range or perhaps an exercise DVD, but some turn their hands and minds to story writing, so the rest of us can enjoy a good read.

It may be a surprise to many that these celebrities are incredibly articulate at writing too and some are best selling authors to boot. So hear goes with those famous people who have turned to writing…

Postcards From the Edge Novel – Carrie Fisher
1. Carrie Fisher – Postcards from the Edge .

Unfortunately, Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher was one of the celebrities we lost during 2016, my thoughts go out to her family. This is not Fishers only work and is a semi-autobiographical novel.

It is a tale about an actress who ends up in hospital from a drug overdose…a snippet of the description reads on Amazon…

‘When we first meet the extraordinary young actress Suzanne Vale, she’s feeling like ‘something on the bottom of someone’s shoe, and not even someone interesting.’

Suzanne is in the harrowing and hilarious throes of drug rehabilitation, trying to understand what happened to her life and how she managed to land in a ‘drug hospital.’

Fisher’s best selling book was made into a 1990 film of the same name and starred Shirley McLean and Meryl Streep.

Rob Lowe Stories I Only Tell My Friends book
2. Rob Lowe – Stories I Only Tell My Friends

My first memory of Rob Lowe was in St. Elmo’s Fire a 1985 American coming-of-age film. Rob Lowe has gone on to star in many more films and in TV series. An actor I’ve always liked and admired and what I’d call a born natural.

A snippet from the Amazon description reads…

‘A wryly funny and moving account of an extraordinary life lived almost entirely in the public eye.

Teen idol at fifteen, international icon and founder of the Brat Pack at twenty, and one of Hollywood’s top stars to this day, Rob Lowe chronicles his experiences as a painfully misunderstood child actor in Ohio uprooted to the wild counterculture of mid-seventies Malibu, where he embarked on his unrelenting pursuit of a career in Hollywood.’

This book has some 74 reviews and with a 4.5 star rating too.

 

Pamela Anderson – Star novel
3. Pamela Anderson – Star

Baywatch star Pamela Anderson is known to many as a glamorous actress and model. Anderson is an activist for the animal rights movement and has conducted campaigns condemning the commercial fur industry. She promotes veganism through the animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

She had written two novels, “Star” and “Star Struck.” The first novel Star has some 86 reviews on Amazon and the description reads…

‘Pamela Anderson’s life is the stuff of fairy tales and centerfolds. A champagne blonde who was discovered by a beer company, she moved from model to Playmate, from actress to star . . . and now she can add New York Times bestselling author to her resume. Star is a breathless romp through tinseltown and tabloids. An insider’s look at the world of inflated egos and inflated bodies, Ms. Anderson’s novel goes beyond the air kisses and velvet ropes to show what really happens when A-list meets D-cup, when small-town girl gets all glittered up and becomes a star.’

From famous actors to famous singers….

 

Shania Twain – From This Moment On Book
4. Shania Twain – From This Moment On

I’ve been a fan of Shania Twain for years. A Candian singer, she is famous for her fantastic voice and for singing many hits since her rise to success in the early 1990’s. She is the look and sound of country music, but she stepped away from the fame and the stage in the early 2000’s to lead a simple life with her husband and son.

A snippet of the description from Amazon reads…

‘Born Eilleen Regina Edwards in 1965 in rural Canada, Shania Twain has lived a life rife with triumph and tragedy. Aged two, her parents had divorced, and by early childhood, her family of seven was often without food, at times living in a filthy one bedroom apartment. Her stepfather’s abuse forced her mother to move with five children into a homeless shelter, and when she wasn’t working in McDonald’s to support her family, she was out chopping wood. But when her mother and stepfather were tragically killed in an automobile accident when she was 22, Shania knew that the only way to lift her family out of poverty was to use her singing talent and become a full-time performer.’

With 46 reviews and 4.5 stars next to this title, she has earned a place in the literary world too.

5. Madonna – The English Roses – Children’s book
5. Madonna – The English Roses

Another famous singer Madonna is an author of children’s books. When I was researching this article, I had no idea that she was a writer, let alone a children’s writer. The Queen of Pop is now a bestselling children’s book author, with a number of titles under her belt.

The description on amazon of The English Rose reads…

‘Have you ever heard of the English Roses? Here is what they are not; A box of chocolates. A football team. Flowers growing in the garden. What they are is this: the fastest selling picture book EVER! The world famous picture book is now available in paperback for the first time. With hardback sales of 165,000 copies in the UK alone, The English Roses is a publishing phenomenon. With it’s high production values, well-received storyline and fabulous artwork, it’s a picture book that deserves it’s place at the top of the bestseller charts.’

 

 

Hilary Duff – Elixir novel
4. Hilary Duff – Elixir

Hillary Duff is an American actress and began in her acting career at a very young age. She’s known for films like Cheaper By The Dozen and A Cinderella Story to name just two.

Whilst taking a break from acting, Hilary Duff has written two novels, “Elixir” and “Devoted.”

Elixir is categorized on Amazon as Love & Romance and in Paranormal & Fantasy and a short clip from the description reads…

‘Clea Raymond has felt the glare of the spotlight her entire life. The daughter of a renowned surgeon and a prominent Washington DC politician, Clea has grown to be a talented photojournalist who takes refuge in a career that allows her to travel to the most exotic parts of the world. But following Clea’s father’s disappearance while on a humanitarian mission, Clea’s photos begin to feature eerie, shadowy images of a strange and beautiful man – a man she has never seen before.’

There are many other famous celebrities out there that have written both adult books and children’s stories. I’m sorry if I haven’t mentioned your favourite…but then if they are your favourite celeb then you already know they are a writer any way.

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Book reviews are important feedback for novelists

Book reviews are an important feedback to novelists
Book reviews are important feedback for novelists to gauge impact…

It was only the other day when I was speaking to someone who was reading my novel Nothing Left But Fear that I realised how important reader reviews are.

When I was writing my debut novel I was uncertain how it would be received. I also didn’t know what reviews I would get for my published work either.

Now that I have received a few great reviews on Amazon, Goodreads and Twitter, it is only now that I can really appreciate the impact my work is having on my readers.

An Amazon review…

‘A really scary story. There were times when I was afraid to turn the page.’

Wow…afraid to turn the page…thank you.

It was fully my intention to create this type of emotion. I worked endlessly on the plot and also tried hard to get inside the readers head.

There were certain scenes in the novel where I was able to stretched out a particular story line. For instance, where a character is being chased or stalked, I deliberately extended the plot to keep the reader in suspense.

However, it was only when I received this feedback, I knew I’d achieved what I had set out to do.

Let me explain further from a writers perspective…

When you’re the writer of the novel, you know the story inside out.

You know exactly what happens, as you are the one creating the story line by line. In my case I create the story literally as I write it. Most of the time I have no idea what is going to happen until it happens.

Having said that it is me that makes the story up, and I find it impossible to get scared by my own creativity. So it’s almost impossible to feel the suspense or the thrill of the read like the reader does.

I joked about leaving my book on the shelf for a few months and then going back to read it later. I thought maybe I would feel the suspense then. However, that would be like watching a film for a second time…or would it?

Actually, I’ve watched many suspense movies a few times over, and I’ve still felt tense during the second or third viewing.

For book readers…

If you are a book reader, then I’m hoping you will further appreciate the extra importance of reviews. As a book reader myself, I understand this even more so and I will make sure that I provide a review for every book I read.

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Beware Novelist At Work – You may be written into his novel

Beware Novelist At Work
Beware Novelist At Work…

I’m not sure about you (you being a fellow author), but where do you get your characters from?

When I was writing parts of Nothing Left But Fear in hospital, I used the ward for inspiration for my characters.

I remember when I needed to describe the father to Carly Prow, and just at that point an older gentleman walked in.

I looked at him and decided that he would be Carly’s father. So I set to describing him with this person in front of me.

It made the description job much easier, with a real person in front of me.

Of course he had no idea what I was doing. Also, I’ve got no idea who he was either.

So although my book is complete fiction, you could say that one of the characters is based upon a real person…but what about the rest?

Warning to you if you are in the vicinity of a novelist…

So a word of warning to you…if there’s a novelist at work, you may end up being written into his book.

My characters…

The majority of my characters  come from my imagination though.

I guess they must be people I’ve met along the way, or based upon people I know.

How do you describe the characters in your books?

 

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Indie Author Learning Curve

Indie Author Learning Curve
Indie Author Learning Curve…

With any new skill or career path you choose, there’s always a learning curve. And becoming an Indie Author is no exception to the rule.

The learning curve at the beginning is steep, but as you progress, this begins to level off. So I wanted to share some of my insights into this world…and this article is particularly directed at newbie Indie Authors.

So what’s involved with becoming an Indie Author?

Well the first obvious step is to become an author…and the only way to do that is to write a novel. Or a book.

My understanding is, in order for a book to be a novel it really needs to be 60,000 words or more. However, the average length of a novel is somewhere between 75-120,000 words though.

As an aside, I was originally told to keep your first novel to between 70-85,000 words.

So the chances are, if you’re reading this article, either you are considering writing your first novel…or you have written it and deciding on what to do next.

So the first advice I would give is to find some good software.

You can use Microsoft Word, as this will do the job. But I would recommend using Scrivener, as this is designed for book writing. I would even recommend you buy it if you’ve already written most of your book, as it is a great tool for setting your book out.

Scrivener is also ideal for publishing your book either as a Kindle version or as a paperback. For more information on this book-writing software please check this article Novel Writing Software Scrivener.

What about getting it published as an Indie Author?

The usual starting place is as a Kindle version on Amazon, which is a relatively easy process. If you went ahead and purchased Scrivener, this process is made easier too.

If you then want to to have a paperback version…you have a number of options. The first and cheapest option is to use Createspace. Just so you know, Createspace is an Amazon company and is based in America.

Createspace will not charge you to upload your book and you receive a royalty payment each time one of your books is sold, either directly from Createspace or on Amazon.

However, at the time of writing this article, it is only practical to sell books directly from Createspace to book readers based in the US, as it takes too long to deliver otherwise.

Although, paperback books ordered on Amazon, will be shipped anywhere in the world, all within their usual quick and efficient delivery times…it amazes me how they do it, but they do.

No upfront costs…

This is important, as it does not cost you any up-front money.

Of course, you can go to a printer and have a batch printed and send them out yourself, but of this will require some upfront investment by you.

What about the marketing?

Once you’ve published your novel on Amazon, you’ll be joining the millions of published books out there. You will join the thousands of Indie Authors looking to sell their novel and you’ll be jostling to get noticed.

This is where the second part of the work really begins…you need to shout out about your work.

This can be done on Facebook, on Twitter and all the other social network sites around.

You can also use paid-for adverts on the likes of Facebook and on Amazon, but this is a whole new article and there are many courses around to learn how to do this.

A readers paradise…

I would also recommend you promote your novel on Goodreads. Goodreads is a community of book readers and authors. It’s a great place to meet both and to get your book reviewed.

One book-marketing tip is to use their free giveaway. Your book is entered into a competition. You’ll have to send a free copy of your paperback to each of the winners of the competition. Although there isn’t a requirement to review your book, they often do. The other bonus of this promotion, is that a proportion of the readers who didn’t win, will go ahead and order it in any case.

Other tips to becoming an Indie Author…

Something I found out only after I’d published the paperback version of my novel, was that I’d output the manuscript in a larger font than I would have preferred…14 point rather than 11 point.

It was only when the book arrived that I found this out. It was a setting on the Scrivener Software that I had not set correctly…you live an learn.

What this meant is that the pages had larger text and there were therefore more pages than I would have preferred.

The Kindle version was not the problem…it was the paperback version.

I wanted to change the publication to have smaller text…and hence less pages. However, this meant getting a new ISBN number. It was important that I understood this, as I was about to have a run of books printed in the UK. I was about to do a book signing in Waterstones. I would have used the original ISBN number (which is derived from a number of things, included the number of pages) for my print run, but fortunately I discovered this …before I went to print.

A Local novelist…

As a last tip, if you go into your local Waterstones, they will agree to your having a book signing in the store.

Simply visit your local branch and ask to speak with the manager and they will be happy to arrange this.

You will need to have a few copies to sign, and they will be sold through the till at Waterstones. This means you’ll have to get some printed in advance and you need to set the price beforehand. This can be the same price as it is sold on Amazon.

Waterstones will pay you an amount per book that is sold on the day.

A final good luck…

I wish you all the best in your new adventure. It is both fun and challenging.

Enjoy the journey and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask me in the comments section below.

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What is your dream as an author?

What is your dream as an author
What is your dream as an author?

A few year’s back I’d never have believed I’d be a published writer…what an amazing journey and experience this has been.

Now that I’m published, I wanted to share my dream as an author with you. As I can now officially call myself an author.

Now that I have my first book published, my next dream would be to have my novel made into a film…wouldn’t that be so exciting?

Recently, when my wife and I were away in Barbados, I was watching a bit of TV in bed and a program called Naked And Afraid came on…you may initially ask…’what has to do with my dream‘…well let me explain.

Seeing this program for the first time, I realised  that there is obviously a following from fans who like this type of thing…Naked And Afraid is about contestants (if I may call them that) who are sent out in the wild to fend for themselves.

However, the difference between Naked And Afraid and another program like The Island with Bear Grills is that all of the contestants are naked! Their ‘private bits’ are masked or blurred on the TV, but this does not get away from the fact that they are not wearing any clothes…whatsoever.

The other main difference is in where the contestants are left to survive. With Naked And Afraid they are out in wild and in potentially dangerous places…like the South African Savanna with Lions and Hyenas lurking or in the Everglades with Alligators…to name two. I watched the one set in South Africa, which is what reminded me of my novel.

On The Island, the contestants are battling with finding food and drink to survive, whereas on Naked And Afraid they not only need to know survival skills to eat and drink, but they also have predators to watch out for too.

So what has all this got to do with my dream and my novel Nothing Left But Fear I hear you ask?

Well the simple answer, the premise of my novel is similar.

I only realised there was something similar to my novel out there when I first watched a few of this series when we were in Barbados is December 2016…the opening chapter in my book reads as follows:

Nothing Left But Fear Novel by Adrian Russell

As he drifted up through layers of sleep, David Lane began to sense that something didn’t feel quite right. He reached instinctively for the comforting edge of his mattress. It wasn’t there. And where was the duvet that usually kept him warm?

His pulse quickened. Reaching further, trying again to find the raised mattress edge, his fingers grasped something that felt like straw. Straw? His eyes shot open. He found that he was not in his bed at all, but lying on the floor of what appeared to be a cavern. Straw was scattered about him everywhere. He was stark naked and itching all over.

Fear struck him like a lightning bolt: He really was no longer in the safety of his own little bedroom at home!

‘Where the hell am I?’

To find out, David jumped to his feet. Or, at least, he tried to. His legs, shaky from some kind of drug infusion he didn’t understand, since he didn’t do drugs, were not prepared for the suddenness of the move. He fell back onto the straw-covered surface, a jarring experience that didn’t help ease the racing of his heart.

He lay there for an instant, breathing heavily, feeling vulnerable and lost. Soon, though, he realised he would have to fight his fear and try to get up again. As he tried to grasp what was going on, he picked up a handful of the straw. It was dry to the touch and had an odd, unfamiliar smell. This did not make him feel any less afraid.

‘Am I going mad? Am I having a nightmare?’

Trying to calm himself, he began studying his surroundings more closely. He noted that the temperature in the cave-like room was warm, so, despite his nudity, he wasn’t cold. What dim light there was came from a single source, what appeared to be an entrance to the cave, but as he looked into the blackness behind him he could feel the almost abysmal depth of an unfathomable, empty space.

A new shiver of fright went from the base of his spine to the nape of his neck. It was as if someone had just walked over his grave. With his thoughts turning to …’where the fuck are my clothes?’…he cupped sweaty palms over his face in frustration and racked his memory for what might have caused him to end up in such a place. He vaguely recalled going to the withdrawal point at his bank in Chelmsford, where he lived, after his social security had been deposited.

‘I don’t remember going to bed at all.’

He rubbed his eyelids, then, as if in some way that would help lessen his confusion. It didn’t.

His mind, desperate for an explanation, soon began to grasp at straws. Train tracks, he thought. A train tunnel and tracks would make more sense than a cave. A quick look around determined no railway track had ever been there.

‘But how did I get here?’

He kept challenging his brain for answers, trying to piece together the few facts he had to make sense of it all.

Again, he recognised that the warm air in the cave certainly was odd; he should be feeling cold by now, but he didn’t. That wasn’t normal. As he looked toward the light, he could make out trees and some sky. That definitely did seem normal, although he had his doubts.

‘That can’t be outside in England, can it?’

Heart still beating fast, David slowly got to his feet, being careful not to fall this time. He stood, wobbling a bit, and drew some confidence from realising he was not under immediate attack. But that feeling was undermined by a wave of emotional — or was it physical? — fatigue.

‘Do I really want to know?’

Whether he did or he didn’t, he realised he had to do something. But what?

He looked at the welcoming light at the entrance. At the moment, naked as he was, he was reluctant to venture out there. Then he turned his head and peered again into the cave’s sloping depths. No way was he going in that direction! Staring into that impenetrable darkness sparked unpleasant images.

‘What if there’s something bad down there?’

That thought triggered a strange foreboding in his brain. He was still very unsteady on his feet, so he braced himself by stooping and resting his hands on his knees. He closed his eyes for a few seconds to temporarily shut out this disturbing, unwanted new reality.

‘Think, David! Think!’

If only he could tap into the memories he knew were dancing somewhere at the edge of his consciousness. If only he could Just then, two men came into his mind’s view. Were they real? A flash of fear shot up his spine once more. And he opened his eyes and screamed.

The important elements of the above chapter and premise of my novel are…in this case David Lane is Naked, but not only that, he is Put out in the wild…he is Naked And Alone, but also he is also Naked And Afraid…he experiences a deep primal fear. He experiences a fear that we’ve lost the meaning of in our safe lives away from nature.

However, my novel and this Discovery Channel series brings this fear back to life for the people concerned…

So this got me thinking…maybe my novel Nothing Left But Fear has legs…and what I mean by that is…if there’s a following on The Discovery Channel for people surviving out in the wild naked, then my book may have great opportunities too.

The End of article on novel writing software

I’ve already had good feedback about the novel from some of my readers, so I’m hopeful that perhaps one day my dream of it becoming a movie may come true. Having seen this series, the reality is a bit more real.

My second dream…or should I say second on the list, is to have my next novel published…and then after that to have a string of novels to my name.

So what is your dream as an author?

Please share in the comments what your dream is, I’d love to hear from you.

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Books to write – ideas by an author

Books to write…ideas
Books to write

I had an idea, and that was to write a book.

It was an idea I’d had for quite some time…probably a few years before I even began to do anything with the idea in fact.

However, when I did get around to thinking about bringing my idea to life, I didn’t have the time to write, or so I told myself.

Life and work always has the habit of getting in the way. We always find excuses not to do things, when in fact we should make a list of the things we shouldn’t be doing (or perhaps excuses not to do them).

This way we’d get the more important things done and feel much better for it.

We should make time for the things we really want to do, for a more fulfilled life…which for me is being creative.

This article is beginning to sound like and is turning into one of those self-help type lessons, which it wasn’t supposed to be…so let me revert back to the original idea of this article.

…books to write…

I often hear or read people say it’s difficult to get ideas to write about.

Or in my case relating to fiction novel writing ‘where can I find ideas to write my novel or the next one?’

Well for me the funny thing is that ever since I finished my first novel…Nothing Left But Fear…well actually that’s strictly not true, as this began to happen to me whilst I was really focused on getting it written. Ideas began to pop into my head on an almost weekly basis, sometimes daily.

It was as if a light bulb had been turned on and all these new book ideas came flooding out.

I’d be doing something or something would happen and I’d think…that would make a great book.

As a result, as I always have my iPhone with me, I use the Notes App to note the idea down.

I’m now up to 30-40 book ideas for new fiction novels, and as my wife pointed out to me…‘unless you get writing them soon, you won’t have time to write them all.’

As I write this article, I’m 54, so on the basis that each one takes a year to write and get finished (and that’s being optimistic), I’m going to be 94 to finish the ones I already have on my list.

That doesn’t take into account all the new ideas I will get along the way to becoming 94 (if I live that long

Novel Writing Software Scrivener

Using word to write a novel is like putting a square peg in a round hole
Novel Writing Software Scrivener.

When I was writing my first novel Nothing Left But Fear I began writing it using Microsoft Word.

Word is a great program to use, but it is only great if it is used for what it is designed for.

Word is good for letters, reports, short documents or perhaps short-story book writing, but when you exceed 50-60,000 words (which is the number of words where I think a novel takes form) Word begins to creak around the edges.

You’ll find that it starts to do strange things too, and it may even crash every now and again. This could be my computer though, but I don’t think so.

I also found that as my novel document got larger and larger, I was scrolling up and down to find things and this became tedious for me. After all, novel writing is supposed to be fun…isn’t it?

The scrolling up and down also became quite slow too, as the document size became very large for the computer RAM to deal with…by the way in case you are not a computer geek, RAM is the working memory on your computer.

Finally I’d had enough…so what did I do?

I turned to good old Google to search for Novel Writing Software and what came up? Scrivener did. An ideal piece of software for both Indie Authors and novelists writing for a publishing house.

Novel Writing Software Scrivener
What is good about Scrivener?

The first good thing about Scrivener is that it is designed for writers and for writing novels, along with other creative written forms, like screen plays.

You can split your novel (or screen play) into the various chapters and characters, which for me makes it so much easier to find things, to update and write your novel (especially as it gets larger in words) or amend your masterpiece.

My final debut novel was first published in Kindle format and Scrivener handled this. The document was output in the correct format, including the cover image and all the other parts of the novel needed by Amazon. The cover had to be designed outside of Scrivener and then imported to form part of the overall document.

It did take a few goes at getting it right though. I will say that I find this part of the software a little confusing and perhaps not as straight forward as I’d like it to be. However, I got there in the end.

What about a paperback novel?

When I turned to publish my novel in paperback form, Scrivener came in to its own once again. Using the export function once again, only this time setting my novel script up for paperback output, Scrivener did all the hard work for me.

For my initial paperback I used Createspace to print my novel and Scrivener was able to output the pages in the correct format and with the correct page pagination etc.

I did however, have a slight problem to begin with whereby I’d output the document with my ‘odd page numbers’ falling on the left instead of on the right. However, with a few tweaks, this got sorted out very easily.

What are the other output types?

With Scrivener you can export your finished document to a wide variety of file formats, which funnily enough includes Microsoft Word. You can also export as a RTF, PDF and HTML file to make it easy to share your work with others. Or as I did self-publish by exporting to ePub or Kindle* formats to share your work via iBooks or Amazon, or for reading on any e-reader.

Character names

Coming up with original character names I find a bit of a struggle sometimes. However, Scrivener has a built in name suggestion tool (or name generator) for both first names and surnames.

The name suggestion tool for your novel characters even has a country setting, so you can choose names associated with a particular region.

Chapter collections

One of the main benefits Scrivener has over software like Word is what it refers to as ‘Collections’. This is the feature that transformed my book writing.

When for example you are writing chapters from a character perspective and then jump to new chapters, you can group the related chapters together into collections. This I find invaluable, especially in the way that I write. I tend to write each character from beginning to end, whilst inserting relevant breaks (or chapters). I then splice the story together, bringing each of the characters together, which I’ve written separately.

This is how I styled my book with cliff-hanger chapter endings, by using Scrivener which made my job much easier.

The End of article on novel writing software

It’s very easy to move a chapter(s) up or down in your script. This feature is useful if you change your mind about the order of how things happen within your story. This is especially true for me, as I build my story and plot as I construct my novel.

You can also see all of the chapters in one ‘Collection’ associated with a particular character, so you can check the consistency from one chapter to the next with ease.

Other program features

Within Scrivener there are many other features which I’ve yet to workout or use. But even with the limited features that I’ve so far used, I would definitely recommend this program as great novel writing software.

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Goodreads give away

Goodreads giveaway Nothing Left But Fear Novel by Adrian Russell
Goodreads has just finished my first giveaway.

I gave away 10 free paper back copies of my novel Nothing Left But Fear in my very first giveaway.

My book was requested by 1,144 people, so I was very happy with that. I await some good reviews when they’ve had a chance to read my novel.

I know that there is no requirement for the winners to review, but I’m hoping they will,but more importantly, I’m hoping they love my book.

The lucky winners should all receive them just in time for Christmas.

The offer was available in the UK and USA this time, so sorry for those potential readers outside of these two territories.

If you want to follow me on Goodreads – please go here.

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Inspiration for writing is lovely views

Among my inspirations for writing is lovely views.

Here are a few of the lovely views we had in beautiful Barbados…

Inspiration for writing is lovely views – Atlantis hotel East Coast Barbados

We ate at the Atlantis Hotel near to Bathsheba on the East Cost of Barbados and I couldn’t resist taking this picture from one of the windows…looking out in this case onto the Atlantic Ocean.

I ate lunch here with my beautiful wife Jo and I had my favorite Caribbean cuisine Goat Curry – it was on the specials for the day.

How many words was I writing?

I had been writing around 2,000 words per day on most days on my latest detective novel. These words were written in-between swimming in the Caribbean sea, snorkeling, diving, eating out and of course having a few Banks Beers and Rum Punches.

But a novelist needs inspiration. So even though I was getting creative feed from the West Coast views and activities, a trip out across the island was needed.

We hired a car and visited some lovely places, including the famous Harrison Caves…what a great site that is. I certainly recommend this if you find yourself in Barbados…I would also recommend the Atlantis Hotel too…the food is great.

West coast of Barbados views over the Atlantic Ocean for writers inspiration

Another scene from the east cost side of the island…what a view.

I can say that after the day out exploring Barbados, I returned refreshed and raring to go and ready to write more words on my second novel.

Inspiration for writing is lovely views for me plus doing many other things. Getting out and actively stimulating the mind feeds it and helps mine to be creative.

I know Stephen King says to read, read and read, which is great advice too.

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