Sarah Alderson's Blog: Writing and all the bits in between - Posts Tagged "writing"
My story
Let me prefix this by saying I’m sorry. If you’re reading this and you are a writer (as in someone, published or unpublished who writes creatively), then you will probably read this and hate me. You might hate me loads, you might just hate me a tiny bit, but I think you will definitely hate me to some degree. Because I would hate me. And I like to think I’m generous and compassionate though not quite the light being that living in Bali should have made me by now.
You see, I never imagined being a writer. I didn’t staple paper together when I was 6 and write stories about fairies that lived at the bottom of the garden, I didn’t wile away time as a teenager writing angsty novels about loving and losing. Ok, I wrote some really, really awful poetry for a while which I think my ex boyfriend still has and hopefully won’t put on ebay when I’m famous. When I was about 10 I was asked to write a story about an invention – any invention that we could think of – and the page stayed blank. When I was 18 my English teacher told me not to bother applying to read English at university.
I did write other things despite these early warnings to take up maths instead; diaries, newsletters, amusing emails to friends, love letters (sent and unsent) an early blog at the start of the century, countless essays about the Renaissance, the resistance and neo realist cinema, and then once I started work I wrote millions of words of wildly creative nonsense in the form of funding reports and applications to government for large amounts of money.
I honed my creative writing on the battlefield of the British voluntary sector. And I won a lot. Anyway, the point is I never really aspired to be a writer, other than that vague notion in the back of my head to one day write a book which I think I shared with 99% of the population. Just one of those things I thought would be cool to do but which I would probably never get around to.
Then in 2009 I got sick of working and sick of living in London and my husband John and I decided that we’d pack up our lives and head off around the world with our then 3 year old daughter in tow to find a new place to live. (That trip and our new life in Bali is documented at www.canwelivehere.com). About the time we were planning our route I started having panic attacks about what I’d do for money when we settled somewhere else. I was swimming one day and I thought to myself, right, gotta earn some money, or I’m screwed, so now, who’s rich? Richard Branson, but he’s a workaholic, oooh Stephanie Meyer, she ‘s rich and all for writing about vampires with angsty faces and quiffy hair, right I’m going to write a book.
And that, really is the first part of my story.
By the time I’d swum twenty lengths I had the kernel of a story idea. Every time I got stuck I’d think ‘what if…’ and so the story expanded and evolved. Having said that I always felt like the story already existed and that I was just tapping into it and writing it down. I’ll detail my writing process in another blog post later.
I started writing Hunting Lila in June. I wrote it naively, I wrote without really knowing what I was doing as is obvious by the final wordcount of my first draft (117,000 words – I had no clue that first novesl in YA should run 60-80K max – didn’t even think to google it). I finished it in November and started editing it. Then I began sending out letters to agents in London whose names I’d culled from the Writers’ and Artists’ Handbook.
I was good at writing letters – that was something I’d honed through long practice in the work place. I sent out my submissions and then I headed off with a backpack to India. Most people find themselves in India, and I was no exception, in India I realised that I wanted to be a writer, that writing was no longer just a means to an end but something that I couldn’t imagine not doing, it was my passion. I’d have daydreams where I had to choose what limbs to lose and I’d make pacts with myself that I’d be fine if I had an accident so long as I was left with my head and my right arm. If I lost my right arm I decided and could no longer write I would just want to die.
I hit the beach in Goa and started writing again – this time the sequel to Hunting Lila. I didn’t have a book deal, I didn’t have an agent but I had this story and these characters of Lila and Alex who I couldn’t let go. They haunted me. I felt like I was betraying them in some way just leaving them hanging, their story only partly told. They would actually talk away in my head, whole conversations with me as the eavesdropper and then I’d just write it down. It was an awesome way to write a book – feet buried in the sand, looking out over the Arabian sea.
Whilst I was there, I received replies from the agents I’d posted to. I had sent 12 letters. I received 9 rejections, 3 of which claimed to really like it but had no room on their lists, and I received 2 requests to read the entire manuscript.
I emailed the full manuscript through to these two agents in utter terror. At the point of getting an agent I could suddenly see the glint of light through the trees and with it came this sense that I would die if it came to nothing. (see melodrama in every aspect of my life, not just my writing). If you’ve ever got to this stage in writing you’ll appreciate how hellish the waiting is. Those points where I’ve been waiting – for an agent to get back to me, for a publisher to respond – have been the most stressful and godawful but also most exciting moments of my life, like being in the throes of labour but not knowing if the child you’re giving birth to is going to be born with a head or without one.
Anyway, both agents came back almost instantly to ask to represent me and I found myself in the amazing position of being able to choose my agent. I spoke to writer friends and asked them what I should ask and I scoured the net. Both were highly reputable, well established with excellent track records. Both were very excited about the book. It was an easy choice for me to make in the end after I spoke with both – I chose the person I got on with the most and who had clearly read the book more than once, knew it very well, and who loved the characters as much as I did.
So I signed with Amanda at Luigi Bonomi Associates in London (who last year won Literary Agency of the Year) and have had an amazing year working with her now. Having someone to whom I can dump creative ideas on and who knows the publishing world enough to tell me what to run with and what to ditch is more brilliant than I could have guessed. I will do a fuller blog post on literary agents later.
I spent about 2 months editing my mammoth manuscript down to 85,000 words and then after several more read throughs by Amanda we thought it was ready to send out. Amanda handles the publishers. My job was to wait. And finish work on the sequel.
She sent it to the top 11 publishers in the UK – Penguin, Hodder, Simon & Schuster, Harper, Orion etc – and then we waited for three weeks. And then another two weeks. And I got a lot of rejections that made me feel like puking. It came very close with publishers whose names I could barely whisper and only then in reverential awe. It’s an almost impossible thing to get my head around still – that editors at these publishing houses read my manuscript.
In July last year I received an offer from Simon & Schuster for Hunting Lila and its sequel.
It was a good offer, especially in this day and age, for a debut author. It wouldn’t have been enough to let me give up my day job in London (though maybe go part time) but it’s enough to live well on in Bali. We celebrated a lot. I think I may have cried.
In August we were on the final leg of our journey, a road trip of California. We were staying in a beautiful house in Montecito with friends and one day I started writing a new story. This time a stand alone novel. I’ve since found that after every book I need a 6 week break, at the end of which time I’m leaping to get back in front of a computer, almost feverish and manic with the need to write. So I started this new book and it came to me very quickly, needing very little rewriting. I had it finished by October and sent it to Amanda. She loved it but wasn’t sure that Simon & Schuster having taken such a big leap of faith on a two book deal with me already would buy a third book when the first two hadn’t yet been published.
But they did. I think I woke every person in our village in Bali, screaming about that one at 6am.
It’s February 2011 now. I’ve just finished final edits of Hunting Lila with my editor at Simon & Schuster. It goes to print next month and Hunting Lila will be released in the UK this August. The sequel will come out sometime in 2012 whilst the third book, still untitled, is due for release by Simon Pulse (S&S’s paranormal imprint) in January 2012.
I write this and then I read it back and I think bloody hell, was that the easiest ride to the top ever?
It’s true right? You hate me. Just a little bit. But hopefully if you're an aspiring writer you can also draw inspiration.
Good luck on your own journey and I hope you enjoy my books.
S
You see, I never imagined being a writer. I didn’t staple paper together when I was 6 and write stories about fairies that lived at the bottom of the garden, I didn’t wile away time as a teenager writing angsty novels about loving and losing. Ok, I wrote some really, really awful poetry for a while which I think my ex boyfriend still has and hopefully won’t put on ebay when I’m famous. When I was about 10 I was asked to write a story about an invention – any invention that we could think of – and the page stayed blank. When I was 18 my English teacher told me not to bother applying to read English at university.
I did write other things despite these early warnings to take up maths instead; diaries, newsletters, amusing emails to friends, love letters (sent and unsent) an early blog at the start of the century, countless essays about the Renaissance, the resistance and neo realist cinema, and then once I started work I wrote millions of words of wildly creative nonsense in the form of funding reports and applications to government for large amounts of money.
I honed my creative writing on the battlefield of the British voluntary sector. And I won a lot. Anyway, the point is I never really aspired to be a writer, other than that vague notion in the back of my head to one day write a book which I think I shared with 99% of the population. Just one of those things I thought would be cool to do but which I would probably never get around to.
Then in 2009 I got sick of working and sick of living in London and my husband John and I decided that we’d pack up our lives and head off around the world with our then 3 year old daughter in tow to find a new place to live. (That trip and our new life in Bali is documented at www.canwelivehere.com). About the time we were planning our route I started having panic attacks about what I’d do for money when we settled somewhere else. I was swimming one day and I thought to myself, right, gotta earn some money, or I’m screwed, so now, who’s rich? Richard Branson, but he’s a workaholic, oooh Stephanie Meyer, she ‘s rich and all for writing about vampires with angsty faces and quiffy hair, right I’m going to write a book.
And that, really is the first part of my story.
By the time I’d swum twenty lengths I had the kernel of a story idea. Every time I got stuck I’d think ‘what if…’ and so the story expanded and evolved. Having said that I always felt like the story already existed and that I was just tapping into it and writing it down. I’ll detail my writing process in another blog post later.
I started writing Hunting Lila in June. I wrote it naively, I wrote without really knowing what I was doing as is obvious by the final wordcount of my first draft (117,000 words – I had no clue that first novesl in YA should run 60-80K max – didn’t even think to google it). I finished it in November and started editing it. Then I began sending out letters to agents in London whose names I’d culled from the Writers’ and Artists’ Handbook.
I was good at writing letters – that was something I’d honed through long practice in the work place. I sent out my submissions and then I headed off with a backpack to India. Most people find themselves in India, and I was no exception, in India I realised that I wanted to be a writer, that writing was no longer just a means to an end but something that I couldn’t imagine not doing, it was my passion. I’d have daydreams where I had to choose what limbs to lose and I’d make pacts with myself that I’d be fine if I had an accident so long as I was left with my head and my right arm. If I lost my right arm I decided and could no longer write I would just want to die.
I hit the beach in Goa and started writing again – this time the sequel to Hunting Lila. I didn’t have a book deal, I didn’t have an agent but I had this story and these characters of Lila and Alex who I couldn’t let go. They haunted me. I felt like I was betraying them in some way just leaving them hanging, their story only partly told. They would actually talk away in my head, whole conversations with me as the eavesdropper and then I’d just write it down. It was an awesome way to write a book – feet buried in the sand, looking out over the Arabian sea.
Whilst I was there, I received replies from the agents I’d posted to. I had sent 12 letters. I received 9 rejections, 3 of which claimed to really like it but had no room on their lists, and I received 2 requests to read the entire manuscript.
I emailed the full manuscript through to these two agents in utter terror. At the point of getting an agent I could suddenly see the glint of light through the trees and with it came this sense that I would die if it came to nothing. (see melodrama in every aspect of my life, not just my writing). If you’ve ever got to this stage in writing you’ll appreciate how hellish the waiting is. Those points where I’ve been waiting – for an agent to get back to me, for a publisher to respond – have been the most stressful and godawful but also most exciting moments of my life, like being in the throes of labour but not knowing if the child you’re giving birth to is going to be born with a head or without one.
Anyway, both agents came back almost instantly to ask to represent me and I found myself in the amazing position of being able to choose my agent. I spoke to writer friends and asked them what I should ask and I scoured the net. Both were highly reputable, well established with excellent track records. Both were very excited about the book. It was an easy choice for me to make in the end after I spoke with both – I chose the person I got on with the most and who had clearly read the book more than once, knew it very well, and who loved the characters as much as I did.
So I signed with Amanda at Luigi Bonomi Associates in London (who last year won Literary Agency of the Year) and have had an amazing year working with her now. Having someone to whom I can dump creative ideas on and who knows the publishing world enough to tell me what to run with and what to ditch is more brilliant than I could have guessed. I will do a fuller blog post on literary agents later.
I spent about 2 months editing my mammoth manuscript down to 85,000 words and then after several more read throughs by Amanda we thought it was ready to send out. Amanda handles the publishers. My job was to wait. And finish work on the sequel.
She sent it to the top 11 publishers in the UK – Penguin, Hodder, Simon & Schuster, Harper, Orion etc – and then we waited for three weeks. And then another two weeks. And I got a lot of rejections that made me feel like puking. It came very close with publishers whose names I could barely whisper and only then in reverential awe. It’s an almost impossible thing to get my head around still – that editors at these publishing houses read my manuscript.
In July last year I received an offer from Simon & Schuster for Hunting Lila and its sequel.
It was a good offer, especially in this day and age, for a debut author. It wouldn’t have been enough to let me give up my day job in London (though maybe go part time) but it’s enough to live well on in Bali. We celebrated a lot. I think I may have cried.
In August we were on the final leg of our journey, a road trip of California. We were staying in a beautiful house in Montecito with friends and one day I started writing a new story. This time a stand alone novel. I’ve since found that after every book I need a 6 week break, at the end of which time I’m leaping to get back in front of a computer, almost feverish and manic with the need to write. So I started this new book and it came to me very quickly, needing very little rewriting. I had it finished by October and sent it to Amanda. She loved it but wasn’t sure that Simon & Schuster having taken such a big leap of faith on a two book deal with me already would buy a third book when the first two hadn’t yet been published.
But they did. I think I woke every person in our village in Bali, screaming about that one at 6am.
It’s February 2011 now. I’ve just finished final edits of Hunting Lila with my editor at Simon & Schuster. It goes to print next month and Hunting Lila will be released in the UK this August. The sequel will come out sometime in 2012 whilst the third book, still untitled, is due for release by Simon Pulse (S&S’s paranormal imprint) in January 2012.
I write this and then I read it back and I think bloody hell, was that the easiest ride to the top ever?
It’s true right? You hate me. Just a little bit. But hopefully if you're an aspiring writer you can also draw inspiration.
Good luck on your own journey and I hope you enjoy my books.
S
Trusting your instincts
FATE
I have a book coming out in January 2012 called Fated. Here’s the blurb.
What happens when you discover you aren't who you thought you were? And that the person you love is the person who will betray you? If your fate is already determined, can you fight it?
When Evie Tremain discovers that she’s the last in a long line of Demon slayers and that she’s being hunted by an elite band of assassins –Shapeshifters, Vampires and Mixen demons amongst them – she knows she can’t run. They’ll find her wherever she goes. Instead she must learn to stand and fight.
But when the half-human, half-Shadow Warrior Lucas Gray - is sent to spy on Evie and then ordered to kill her before she can fulfil a dangerous prophecy, their fates become inextricably linked. The war that has raged for one thousand years between humans and demons is about to reach a devastating and inevitable conclusion. Either one or both of them will die before this war ends.
If your life becomes bound to another’s, what will it take to sever it?
Following the Bologna book fair I had a quick chat with my editor at Simon & Schuster who told me that paranormal is on the way out, dystopia very much on trend at the moment thanks to the fantastic popularity of The Hunger Games and the eagerly anticipated Divergent which I can’t wait to read. Though what’s going to be next year’s trend is anyone’s guess.
The thing is, Fated is very much a paranormal romance and I was asking her whether she thought it therefore worth my while writing the sequels that I had planned. Her advice was probably not. And she’s probably right, given that I have no contract for them and she works in publishing so has a much better idea of what will sell and what won’t. But she did say, and for this I’m hugely grateful, that if they had to be written then they had to be written.
And I felt like these books had to be written.
With Hunting Lila the characters got into my head so much that they’d have whole conversations with each other. It got so I couldn’t ignore them and needed to write the second book in the series or check myself into an asylum and start receiving treatment for the voices in my head. I needed to let their story finish.
With Fated it’s been similar. When I finished writing that book I couldn’t stop imagining what happened to my characters next. So I mulled and I ummed and I arred. Should I work on the other ideas I had? Should I leap into Dystopia before that craze died too? Or should I follow my heart?
I was still unsure of which direction to go when I bumped into a friend of mine here in Bali. He used to work as a head of something very impressive for a big video games company. We discovered a mutual love of Buffy and all things vampire the first time we met and since then most of our conversations revolve around films and ipod apps.
Anyway I explained to him my dilemma about what to write next and he told me a little story.
When he was working in the gaming industry he had an idea for a baseball game but everyone said, ‘you can’t make that game, there have been dozens of baseball games, they never sell well.’
But he went ahead and did it anyway. They made it so well that it became the biggest selling baseball game of all time.
So write that book, he said.
So I did. And then I wrote the third book. And when I’m done I’m going to write the fourth book too.
Part way through writing the second book I realised that the theme was about trusting your instincts. I don’t think there’s any better advice for living or writing.
Hunting Lila
I have a book coming out in January 2012 called Fated. Here’s the blurb.
What happens when you discover you aren't who you thought you were? And that the person you love is the person who will betray you? If your fate is already determined, can you fight it?
When Evie Tremain discovers that she’s the last in a long line of Demon slayers and that she’s being hunted by an elite band of assassins –Shapeshifters, Vampires and Mixen demons amongst them – she knows she can’t run. They’ll find her wherever she goes. Instead she must learn to stand and fight.
But when the half-human, half-Shadow Warrior Lucas Gray - is sent to spy on Evie and then ordered to kill her before she can fulfil a dangerous prophecy, their fates become inextricably linked. The war that has raged for one thousand years between humans and demons is about to reach a devastating and inevitable conclusion. Either one or both of them will die before this war ends.
If your life becomes bound to another’s, what will it take to sever it?
Following the Bologna book fair I had a quick chat with my editor at Simon & Schuster who told me that paranormal is on the way out, dystopia very much on trend at the moment thanks to the fantastic popularity of The Hunger Games and the eagerly anticipated Divergent which I can’t wait to read. Though what’s going to be next year’s trend is anyone’s guess.
The thing is, Fated is very much a paranormal romance and I was asking her whether she thought it therefore worth my while writing the sequels that I had planned. Her advice was probably not. And she’s probably right, given that I have no contract for them and she works in publishing so has a much better idea of what will sell and what won’t. But she did say, and for this I’m hugely grateful, that if they had to be written then they had to be written.
And I felt like these books had to be written.
With Hunting Lila the characters got into my head so much that they’d have whole conversations with each other. It got so I couldn’t ignore them and needed to write the second book in the series or check myself into an asylum and start receiving treatment for the voices in my head. I needed to let their story finish.
With Fated it’s been similar. When I finished writing that book I couldn’t stop imagining what happened to my characters next. So I mulled and I ummed and I arred. Should I work on the other ideas I had? Should I leap into Dystopia before that craze died too? Or should I follow my heart?
I was still unsure of which direction to go when I bumped into a friend of mine here in Bali. He used to work as a head of something very impressive for a big video games company. We discovered a mutual love of Buffy and all things vampire the first time we met and since then most of our conversations revolve around films and ipod apps.
Anyway I explained to him my dilemma about what to write next and he told me a little story.
When he was working in the gaming industry he had an idea for a baseball game but everyone said, ‘you can’t make that game, there have been dozens of baseball games, they never sell well.’
But he went ahead and did it anyway. They made it so well that it became the biggest selling baseball game of all time.
So write that book, he said.
So I did. And then I wrote the third book. And when I’m done I’m going to write the fourth book too.
Part way through writing the second book I realised that the theme was about trusting your instincts. I don’t think there’s any better advice for living or writing.
Hunting Lila
My top ten list of ways to procrastinate when writing a book.
I'm about 1000 words off finishing the third installment of my Fated series, the first of which is out in January next year.
I started writing it one month ago to the day. It's been the fastest book I've ever written and my best friend who reads all my books as I write them (chapter by chapter) tells me it's the best book of mine she's read so far. And I think she might be right. I love it. But for some reason I'm dragging my heels on the last chapters.
Last chapters are always hard to write - final dramatic show downs, wrapping up story lines, making sure all the characters get some kind of ending or reference - it's a challenge. But this ending is even harder to write than normal. I think maybe it's because I don't want to leave these characters because secretly I'm in love with them. Well not so secretly. But yes, I am actually in love with figments of my imagination.
But when you meet them hopefully you'll see why.
Anyway, today I have astounded myself with the lengths I will go to to procrastinate. I think I should win a medal or something.
Check this out. My top ten list of ways to procrastinate when writing a book.
1. Watch Battlestar galactica
2. Make coffee even though don’t drink coffee
3.Contemplate doing the laundry (don’t actually do it but do clear up daughter’s discarded pyjamas and put in laundry bin)
4. Try to convince dog to write the chapters for me
5. Take photographs for posterity of the post-its stuck above my desk.
6. Tweet
7. Upload photos
8. Write this blog post
9. Check facebook five million and ninety one times
10. Play around with spotify playlist for book.
Fated
I started writing it one month ago to the day. It's been the fastest book I've ever written and my best friend who reads all my books as I write them (chapter by chapter) tells me it's the best book of mine she's read so far. And I think she might be right. I love it. But for some reason I'm dragging my heels on the last chapters.
Last chapters are always hard to write - final dramatic show downs, wrapping up story lines, making sure all the characters get some kind of ending or reference - it's a challenge. But this ending is even harder to write than normal. I think maybe it's because I don't want to leave these characters because secretly I'm in love with them. Well not so secretly. But yes, I am actually in love with figments of my imagination.
But when you meet them hopefully you'll see why.
Anyway, today I have astounded myself with the lengths I will go to to procrastinate. I think I should win a medal or something.
Check this out. My top ten list of ways to procrastinate when writing a book.
1. Watch Battlestar galactica
2. Make coffee even though don’t drink coffee
3.Contemplate doing the laundry (don’t actually do it but do clear up daughter’s discarded pyjamas and put in laundry bin)
4. Try to convince dog to write the chapters for me
5. Take photographs for posterity of the post-its stuck above my desk.
6. Tweet
7. Upload photos
8. Write this blog post
9. Check facebook five million and ninety one times
10. Play around with spotify playlist for book.
Fated
Writing's like falling in love
So I did it. I finished a book in exactly ONE month. It was an epic journey but somehow this one just flowed. Usually when I write I spend a little bit of time before I start plotting and planning but this time I sat and I just wrote. And every time the voice of panic/sense screamed at me to maybe stop and think a little I ignored it and I sat and I wrote.
And the words just flowed. I did fewer revisions than I usually do and had none of the lying awake in the middle of the night moments where I try to puzzle out what happens next.
Admittedly it was my third book with these characters so I didn’t need to think about their personalities or puzzle out how they would behave in certain situations. I know them all inside and out and I knew the destination they were going to arrive at. I felt like I was observing them and then writing down what I was seeeing and hearing.
When I finished I jumped on the bed and high fived my husband and felt the layers of solitude fall away.
Then I turned to my to do list, which was racketing up into the hundreds of items and thought, ok, now I can come back to earth and actually get some stuff done. Then I double-checked the to do list and wished I’d stayed where I was, fighting demons.
It’s often said that writing is a lonely business but, damn me, is it. When I write I am so sucked into that world I don’t really inhabit the real world at all. For the month or months I’m writing I’m distracted and never fully present.
I hide from friends, am thinking of dialogue whilst cooking my daughter’s dinner, imagining fight scenes whilst I’m swimming, picturing how a main character would kiss whilst I shop for groceries (I spend a lot of time idly wandering the aisles in a daze). I turn down lunch dates, dinner dates, any kind of date because there’s simply nothing on earth I want to be doing other than writing.
It’s a hard place to be. On the one hand so enjoyable and all-consuming. On the other so lonely and mired in guilt at being more focused on the people in my head than the people in my life.
It hits me that writing a book is like falling in love, like being in love - obsessive, exciting, distracting, joyful and panicky all at the same time.
And always, the feeling when I finish and hit the save button for the final time, is above all else, beyond the relief and the elation, broken hearted.
Fated
And the words just flowed. I did fewer revisions than I usually do and had none of the lying awake in the middle of the night moments where I try to puzzle out what happens next.
Admittedly it was my third book with these characters so I didn’t need to think about their personalities or puzzle out how they would behave in certain situations. I know them all inside and out and I knew the destination they were going to arrive at. I felt like I was observing them and then writing down what I was seeeing and hearing.
When I finished I jumped on the bed and high fived my husband and felt the layers of solitude fall away.
Then I turned to my to do list, which was racketing up into the hundreds of items and thought, ok, now I can come back to earth and actually get some stuff done. Then I double-checked the to do list and wished I’d stayed where I was, fighting demons.
It’s often said that writing is a lonely business but, damn me, is it. When I write I am so sucked into that world I don’t really inhabit the real world at all. For the month or months I’m writing I’m distracted and never fully present.
I hide from friends, am thinking of dialogue whilst cooking my daughter’s dinner, imagining fight scenes whilst I’m swimming, picturing how a main character would kiss whilst I shop for groceries (I spend a lot of time idly wandering the aisles in a daze). I turn down lunch dates, dinner dates, any kind of date because there’s simply nothing on earth I want to be doing other than writing.
It’s a hard place to be. On the one hand so enjoyable and all-consuming. On the other so lonely and mired in guilt at being more focused on the people in my head than the people in my life.
It hits me that writing a book is like falling in love, like being in love - obsessive, exciting, distracting, joyful and panicky all at the same time.
And always, the feeling when I finish and hit the save button for the final time, is above all else, beyond the relief and the elation, broken hearted.
Fated
Hunting Lila, Fated and what I'm working on now...
The ARCs for Hunting Lila went out about a month ago and much to my delight it’s getting awesome reviews…there’s a real buzz starting which makes me giggle and freak out in equal measure. I never thought two years ago that these characters, that Lila and Alex, would have an audience outside of my best friends and my head. I find myself walking around all day at the moment grinning like an idiot at how stupendously exciting life is at the moment.
The consensus so far seems to be that everyone loves Lila and is lusting after Alex. Just as I had hoped. Waterstones and WH Smith are doing a big promotion on the book in August, offering it as part of their 3 for 2 deals - so keep an eye out for it on their tables and snag it at a bargain price. I'm also doing an 8 day Blog Tour starting on 28th July where some giveaways are planned.
I’ve had several emails over the last week from people asking whether there is a sequel to Lila, so I thought I’d post a blog about what I’m working on at the moment.
The sequel to Hunting Lila is written! I wrote it even before I had a book deal. I wrote it on the beach in India. I just re-read it the other day (it’s been a year since I wrote it) and it made me laugh out loud a lot. It’s possibly even more action packed than the first book, with some equally big twists. It’s slightly darker in tone, with more conflict and Lila really struggling to control her growing power. Alex also features a lot, as does his body. But that’s all I’ll say on the matter for now. Let your imaginations run riot.
It’s due out next summer though there’s no release date yet.
However…don’t despair. In between times I have another book coming out called Fated. It’s about a girl called Evie, who discovers that she’s a Hunter – a demon slayer. There’s a love interest who’s possibly hotter than Alex. His name is Lucas and he’s half Shadow Warrior and half-human. He belongs to a band of demons sent to kill Evie before she can fulfil a dangerous prophecy. If you visit my Goodreads profile you can read an extract.
I’m so excited about this book – so excited infact that I’ve already written two more books in this series, though these haven’t yet been bought. Apparently paranormal is taking a hit says my publisher, but let’s hope that it isn’t. I personally choose to believe it isn’t! I love paranormal! And hopefully after Fated comes out it’ll change their minds.
At the moment I’m working on edits for Fated and the sequel to Hunting Lila but I plan to start another book in August (top secret at the moment but I’m grinning as I think about it).
Anyway, thanks to everyone blogging, reviewing, tweeting or just adding Hunting Lila to their TBR shelf. I really appreciate it.
Sarahx
Hunting LilaFated
The consensus so far seems to be that everyone loves Lila and is lusting after Alex. Just as I had hoped. Waterstones and WH Smith are doing a big promotion on the book in August, offering it as part of their 3 for 2 deals - so keep an eye out for it on their tables and snag it at a bargain price. I'm also doing an 8 day Blog Tour starting on 28th July where some giveaways are planned.
I’ve had several emails over the last week from people asking whether there is a sequel to Lila, so I thought I’d post a blog about what I’m working on at the moment.
The sequel to Hunting Lila is written! I wrote it even before I had a book deal. I wrote it on the beach in India. I just re-read it the other day (it’s been a year since I wrote it) and it made me laugh out loud a lot. It’s possibly even more action packed than the first book, with some equally big twists. It’s slightly darker in tone, with more conflict and Lila really struggling to control her growing power. Alex also features a lot, as does his body. But that’s all I’ll say on the matter for now. Let your imaginations run riot.
It’s due out next summer though there’s no release date yet.
However…don’t despair. In between times I have another book coming out called Fated. It’s about a girl called Evie, who discovers that she’s a Hunter – a demon slayer. There’s a love interest who’s possibly hotter than Alex. His name is Lucas and he’s half Shadow Warrior and half-human. He belongs to a band of demons sent to kill Evie before she can fulfil a dangerous prophecy. If you visit my Goodreads profile you can read an extract.
I’m so excited about this book – so excited infact that I’ve already written two more books in this series, though these haven’t yet been bought. Apparently paranormal is taking a hit says my publisher, but let’s hope that it isn’t. I personally choose to believe it isn’t! I love paranormal! And hopefully after Fated comes out it’ll change their minds.
At the moment I’m working on edits for Fated and the sequel to Hunting Lila but I plan to start another book in August (top secret at the moment but I’m grinning as I think about it).
Anyway, thanks to everyone blogging, reviewing, tweeting or just adding Hunting Lila to their TBR shelf. I really appreciate it.
Sarahx
Hunting LilaFated
Hunting Lila, Fated and what I'm working on now...
The ARCs for Hunting Lila went out about a month ago and much to my delight it’s getting awesome reviews…there’s a real buzz starting which makes me giggle and freak out in equal measure. I never thought two years ago that these characters, that Lila and Alex, would have an audience outside of my best friends and my head. I find myself walking around all day at the moment grinning like an idiot at how stupendously exciting life is.
The consensus so far seems to be that everyone loves Lila and is lusting after Alex. Just as I had hoped. Waterstones and WH Smith are doing a big promotion on the book in August, offering it as part of their 3 for 2 deals - so keep an eye out for it on their tables and snag it at a bargain price. I'm also doing an 8 day Blog Tour starting on 28th July where some giveaways are planned.
I’ve had several emails over the last week from people asking whether there is a sequel to Lila, so I thought I’d post a blog about what I’m working on at the moment.
The sequel to Hunting Lila is written! I wrote it even before I had a book deal. I wrote it on the beach in India. I just re-read it the other day (it’s been a year since I wrote it) and it made me laugh out loud a lot. It’s possibly even more action packed than the first book, with some equally big twists. It’s slightly darker in tone, with more conflict and Lila really struggling to control her growing power. Alex also features a lot, as does his body. But that’s all I’ll say on the matter for now. Let your imaginations run riot.
It’s due out next summer though there’s no release date yet.
However…don’t despair. In between times I have another book coming out called Fated. It’s about a girl called Evie, who discovers that she’s a Hunter – a demon slayer. There’s a love interest who’s possibly hotter than Alex. His name is Lucas and he’s half Shadow Warrior and half-human. He belongs to a band of demons sent to kill Evie before she can fulfil a dangerous prophecy. If you visit my Goodreads profile you can read an extract.
I’m so excited about this book – so excited infact that I’ve already written two more books in this series, though these haven’t yet been bought. Apparently paranormal is taking a hit says my publisher, but let’s hope that it isn’t. I personally choose to believe it isn’t! I love paranormal! And hopefully after Fated comes out it’ll change their minds.
At the moment I’m working on edits for Fated and the sequel to Hunting Lila but I plan to start another book in August (top secret at the moment but I’m grinning as I think about it).
Anyway, thanks to everyone blogging, reviewing, tweeting or just adding Hunting Lila to their TBR shelf. I really appreciate it.
Sarahx
Hunting LilaFated
The consensus so far seems to be that everyone loves Lila and is lusting after Alex. Just as I had hoped. Waterstones and WH Smith are doing a big promotion on the book in August, offering it as part of their 3 for 2 deals - so keep an eye out for it on their tables and snag it at a bargain price. I'm also doing an 8 day Blog Tour starting on 28th July where some giveaways are planned.
I’ve had several emails over the last week from people asking whether there is a sequel to Lila, so I thought I’d post a blog about what I’m working on at the moment.
The sequel to Hunting Lila is written! I wrote it even before I had a book deal. I wrote it on the beach in India. I just re-read it the other day (it’s been a year since I wrote it) and it made me laugh out loud a lot. It’s possibly even more action packed than the first book, with some equally big twists. It’s slightly darker in tone, with more conflict and Lila really struggling to control her growing power. Alex also features a lot, as does his body. But that’s all I’ll say on the matter for now. Let your imaginations run riot.
It’s due out next summer though there’s no release date yet.
However…don’t despair. In between times I have another book coming out called Fated. It’s about a girl called Evie, who discovers that she’s a Hunter – a demon slayer. There’s a love interest who’s possibly hotter than Alex. His name is Lucas and he’s half Shadow Warrior and half-human. He belongs to a band of demons sent to kill Evie before she can fulfil a dangerous prophecy. If you visit my Goodreads profile you can read an extract.
I’m so excited about this book – so excited infact that I’ve already written two more books in this series, though these haven’t yet been bought. Apparently paranormal is taking a hit says my publisher, but let’s hope that it isn’t. I personally choose to believe it isn’t! I love paranormal! And hopefully after Fated comes out it’ll change their minds.
At the moment I’m working on edits for Fated and the sequel to Hunting Lila but I plan to start another book in August (top secret at the moment but I’m grinning as I think about it).
Anyway, thanks to everyone blogging, reviewing, tweeting or just adding Hunting Lila to their TBR shelf. I really appreciate it.
Sarahx
Hunting LilaFated
Book birthdays, Ecstatic Dance and MORE ALEX...
Lila had its Australian book birthday the other day – I wish I was there for it. Instead I had to make do with drinking frozen margaritas and going to ecstatic dance (moving meditation where you dance like a lunatic in the dark wearing only a bikini until pouring with sweat and ready to collapse – upside is you feel really amazing after). It’s when I dance or swim that I come up with new plot ideas for my books. That’s my excuse anyway.
At the moment I’m writing my sixth book. It’s very different to Lila or Fated, though similar in that it features a teenage girl who’s caught in a situation not of her choosing and who has to figure her way out of it. I’m having fun writing it – loving the flow. And the boys. There are boys. Naturally. In fact there’s only one girl. All the rest are boys. Like where I’m going with that? :)
Am also half way through writing a short story from Suki’s perspective – a side story to Hunting Lila. It’s going to be sold as an e-book on Amazon with all profits going to my friend’s new charity Girltank.
I spent yesterday at the beach dribbling into the sand whilst plotting the story and wrote some pretty awesome dialogue between Demos and Suki and between Jack and Alex. It’s fun to explore these characters outside of Lila’s perspective. I’m still struggling though on how to create a storyline that allows me to have Alex half-naked.
Fail on that score. He’s going to be clothed. BUT we will be finding out more about his love life over the last few years and more about his feelings for Lila – remember Suki can read minds – ACCESS ALL AREAS!
Finally I’m freaking out about Fated. It’s being released in January. With so much Lila love and reviews ending with ‘How is she going to top this?’ I’m having to learn to step away from the refresh button on Goodreads. There should be a cover reveal soon and I had my first reader give it five stars (thanks Jenny!)which helped ease the panic.
And whilst I’m here I need some advice. I’ve been invited to a school to do ‘something.’
Any ideas on what ‘something’ might look like? If I was coming to your school or college what would you want me to do? What would you want me to talk about? Any suggestions gratefully received! Because right now all I can think of doing is an ecstatic dance demonstration.
At the moment I’m writing my sixth book. It’s very different to Lila or Fated, though similar in that it features a teenage girl who’s caught in a situation not of her choosing and who has to figure her way out of it. I’m having fun writing it – loving the flow. And the boys. There are boys. Naturally. In fact there’s only one girl. All the rest are boys. Like where I’m going with that? :)
Am also half way through writing a short story from Suki’s perspective – a side story to Hunting Lila. It’s going to be sold as an e-book on Amazon with all profits going to my friend’s new charity Girltank.
I spent yesterday at the beach dribbling into the sand whilst plotting the story and wrote some pretty awesome dialogue between Demos and Suki and between Jack and Alex. It’s fun to explore these characters outside of Lila’s perspective. I’m still struggling though on how to create a storyline that allows me to have Alex half-naked.
Fail on that score. He’s going to be clothed. BUT we will be finding out more about his love life over the last few years and more about his feelings for Lila – remember Suki can read minds – ACCESS ALL AREAS!
Finally I’m freaking out about Fated. It’s being released in January. With so much Lila love and reviews ending with ‘How is she going to top this?’ I’m having to learn to step away from the refresh button on Goodreads. There should be a cover reveal soon and I had my first reader give it five stars (thanks Jenny!)which helped ease the panic.
And whilst I’m here I need some advice. I’ve been invited to a school to do ‘something.’
Any ideas on what ‘something’ might look like? If I was coming to your school or college what would you want me to do? What would you want me to talk about? Any suggestions gratefully received! Because right now all I can think of doing is an ecstatic dance demonstration.
How to write 3 books a year
So far this year I have written three entire novels (each around 86,000 words). That makes six books in just over two years.
One I wrote in 30 days just because I wanted to see if I could do it. That was kind of crazy though.
I am now ready to take a rest. I feel mentally exhausted.
If my brain is a sponge it is wrung completely dry. It’s manky and fraying and no longer something you’d want to keep lying next to the bath. I need to lay it in a swimming pool of valium diluted with vodka and after that when it’s good and fluffy again I want to read a thousand books, travel around the world one more time and let it soak up some further inspiration until that sponge is saturated to the max.
But having said that, all the effort of the last two years has paid off. In these two years plus a few months, I’ve signed a three book deal with Simon & Schuster as well as a very cool film rights deal for Lila. I’m hoping that I’ll sell books 4, 5 & 6 before Christmas, which would make for an incredible two and a half years.
I didn’t realize quite how unusual my productivity was until people asked me if I was in fact a machine. I am not.
My agent is delighted of course but I think my publisher is just plain scared. It’s too many books almost for them to handle I guess – especially as I’m still a debut author.
But anyway for those of you out there struggling to write your manuscript… here are my tips on how to write a book in 30 days:
1. Do not dwell – do not let those fingers rest on the keyboard even if it’s a day that you wake up grumpy and hungover and re-runs of Gossip Girl are playing on Sky. Sit at your desk and write. A young adult book is about 80,000 words long – divide that by 30 = about 2600 words a day. Stick to that. On some days aim to surpass that. Then you can take the odd day off when things come up.
2. Treat writing like the job that it is. Yes it’s a job that you’re passionate about but it’s still a job (at least it is if you want to write a book and sell it for enough money to live on). If you want to write a book in 30 days you have to commit to at least eight hours a day at your desk writing (not staring into space, skyping friends, fiddling on Facebook, checking Twitter etc)
3. Go with the flow: Don’t spend ages plotting. OK that might have sent some of you spiraling into panic…I know some people can’t write a book without having sketched the entire plot and chapter structure beforehand, but frankly that scares me – it allows no room for improvisation or for characters to grow and change. How can you possibly know what your character is going to do half way through the book? Characters always surprise me. The safer bet is to just go with the flow. And I have the benefit of practice and also a probably slightly insane but helpful belief in the universe throwing me bones. I just write and allow the flow to come to me. Plotting and writing character notes is for the most part an exercise in procrastination. Or maybe I’m just lazy.
4. Switch off the internet. DO IT.
5. Forget having a social life. Online or off. Your social life can wait a month.
6. Don’t go back and edit, you can do that afterwards. Don’t look back just keep going forwards, especially if you are a perfectionist as this will make you stall. I read over what I wrote the night before, make a few changes and then move on. I’m good at moving on because I’m not a perfectionist. If you are a perfectionist you will find this stage difficult but I promise you it’s much easier to edit after you’ve written the whole book.
7. Exercise is key – get out the house, swim, run (I’ve never run in my life but some people swear it’s good for you), do pilates or yoga or boxercise. Exercise wakes up the mind and it’s when I get all my ideas. When I’m swimming I can’t be distracted by anything else. It becomes like a meditation where my mind can start wandering freely and imagining scenes and dialogue. All my books have been born in water.
8. Don’t be hard on yourself. Don’t criticize yourself. Don’t tell yourself you suck or what you’ve written is awful and you’re never going to be published. The easiest way to defeat lies in listening to the negative voice in your head so from this point on banish it. When it tries to whisper in your ear yell at it to back the hell off, shut up and go away. That voice is not welcome. I always think my books rock (even when they probably don’t) and I always assume that they are naturally going to be published. I never doubt that for an instant (deluded? Not yet at least).
9. Get yourself a mantra and keep repeating it. Post it over your desk. ‘You rule. This book is awesome. Keep going.’
OK, I hope that helps.
One I wrote in 30 days just because I wanted to see if I could do it. That was kind of crazy though.
I am now ready to take a rest. I feel mentally exhausted.
If my brain is a sponge it is wrung completely dry. It’s manky and fraying and no longer something you’d want to keep lying next to the bath. I need to lay it in a swimming pool of valium diluted with vodka and after that when it’s good and fluffy again I want to read a thousand books, travel around the world one more time and let it soak up some further inspiration until that sponge is saturated to the max.
But having said that, all the effort of the last two years has paid off. In these two years plus a few months, I’ve signed a three book deal with Simon & Schuster as well as a very cool film rights deal for Lila. I’m hoping that I’ll sell books 4, 5 & 6 before Christmas, which would make for an incredible two and a half years.
I didn’t realize quite how unusual my productivity was until people asked me if I was in fact a machine. I am not.
My agent is delighted of course but I think my publisher is just plain scared. It’s too many books almost for them to handle I guess – especially as I’m still a debut author.
But anyway for those of you out there struggling to write your manuscript… here are my tips on how to write a book in 30 days:
1. Do not dwell – do not let those fingers rest on the keyboard even if it’s a day that you wake up grumpy and hungover and re-runs of Gossip Girl are playing on Sky. Sit at your desk and write. A young adult book is about 80,000 words long – divide that by 30 = about 2600 words a day. Stick to that. On some days aim to surpass that. Then you can take the odd day off when things come up.
2. Treat writing like the job that it is. Yes it’s a job that you’re passionate about but it’s still a job (at least it is if you want to write a book and sell it for enough money to live on). If you want to write a book in 30 days you have to commit to at least eight hours a day at your desk writing (not staring into space, skyping friends, fiddling on Facebook, checking Twitter etc)
3. Go with the flow: Don’t spend ages plotting. OK that might have sent some of you spiraling into panic…I know some people can’t write a book without having sketched the entire plot and chapter structure beforehand, but frankly that scares me – it allows no room for improvisation or for characters to grow and change. How can you possibly know what your character is going to do half way through the book? Characters always surprise me. The safer bet is to just go with the flow. And I have the benefit of practice and also a probably slightly insane but helpful belief in the universe throwing me bones. I just write and allow the flow to come to me. Plotting and writing character notes is for the most part an exercise in procrastination. Or maybe I’m just lazy.
4. Switch off the internet. DO IT.
5. Forget having a social life. Online or off. Your social life can wait a month.
6. Don’t go back and edit, you can do that afterwards. Don’t look back just keep going forwards, especially if you are a perfectionist as this will make you stall. I read over what I wrote the night before, make a few changes and then move on. I’m good at moving on because I’m not a perfectionist. If you are a perfectionist you will find this stage difficult but I promise you it’s much easier to edit after you’ve written the whole book.
7. Exercise is key – get out the house, swim, run (I’ve never run in my life but some people swear it’s good for you), do pilates or yoga or boxercise. Exercise wakes up the mind and it’s when I get all my ideas. When I’m swimming I can’t be distracted by anything else. It becomes like a meditation where my mind can start wandering freely and imagining scenes and dialogue. All my books have been born in water.
8. Don’t be hard on yourself. Don’t criticize yourself. Don’t tell yourself you suck or what you’ve written is awful and you’re never going to be published. The easiest way to defeat lies in listening to the negative voice in your head so from this point on banish it. When it tries to whisper in your ear yell at it to back the hell off, shut up and go away. That voice is not welcome. I always think my books rock (even when they probably don’t) and I always assume that they are naturally going to be published. I never doubt that for an instant (deluded? Not yet at least).
9. Get yourself a mantra and keep repeating it. Post it over your desk. ‘You rule. This book is awesome. Keep going.’
OK, I hope that helps.
For all you procrastinating aspiring authors out there...
Procrastinating is an art form. I write super fast (completing a book every three months) but that's not to say I don't know how to procrastinate like a pro too. I've just learned to manage my procrastination with a few techniques...(though there's nothing like having no other income to get you over the hurdle of procrastination...if I don't write I starve...or I live off my husband - neither very appealing options).
The things I am often doing when I tell my husband I am extremely very busy writing and cannot be disturbed are: reading Lainey Gossip so I am in the loop about the latest happenings concerning Ashton & Demi, Tom & Kstie, Justin & errr whoever, sending emails to fans who want to know if Lila & Alex will be having sex in the sequel, checking Facebook, refreshing my Goodreads author page 60 times a minute, watching Sons of Anarchy (and freeze-framing Jax) / Breaking Bad / True Blood, Tweeting, ordering take-out, checking the fridge for hidden chocolate supplies, eating take-out and downloading music on Spotify.
Yours may be fairly similar. But without further ado, here are my tips to help you stop procrastinating. This list is not definitive and it may not even help. There are more ideas covered off in my previous blog post about how to write a book in 30 days.
1. Speech
Start with dialogue if you don’t know where or how to start. Even if you then cut it out it’s a useful way of getting to know what’s happening in your characters’ heads in that scene. I often find that writing a conversation down (forget the punctuation and speech marks for the moment) gets the ball rolling. Then I go back and fill in the ‘stage directions’.
2. Maria Von Trapp was Wrong
You don’t need to start at the very beginning. If it’s that first sentence that’s freaking you out. If the cursor is blinking at you causing you a mental meltdown, skip forward, release the pressure of the first line and first paragraph. Start on the second chapter or write just one scene. I wrote the kiss between Alex and Lila before I wrote the first chapter of Hunting Lila because that scene I could really visualize. Oh yeah.
3. Oprah
Imagine the finished book in your hand, glossy covered, embossed with a Richard & Judy Summer Reads sticker, in the hand of Oprah, on the 3 for 2 table next to Twilight.
Ain’t none of that gonna happen unless you write the damn thing.
4. I can't believe I'm about to say this...but...
Exercise is not procrastination.
Swim or go somewhere where you have to be alone and where there is no wifi and where through repetitious action your mind is cleared and you can drift into daydreams and do your plotting. But keep a notebook by the pool. Or a Dictaphone in your pocket if you’re running. I find that after a swim my head is teeming with ideas and I usually rush back to my computer and write for hours straight.
5. Seek help for your addiction
Turn off the internet – I still find myself flicking to Facebook whenever I reach a roadblock in a manuscript. It’s an automatic reaction and I can’t stop myself, like an alcoholic reaching for the whisky bottle. Facebook is my crack. I’m telling you to turn off the internet though I’ve not yet mastered this myself and have already checked it about a dozen times since I started writing this post. When I figure out how to really overcome this addiction I will let you know.
6. Music
Like surgeons listening to Vivaldi as they carry out triple heart bypasses...pressing the play button can set the scene and help you write better. I create playlists on Spotify (another procrastination?) and listen to them over and over when I’m writing the book. A specific song can put me right into the heart of a scene quicker than my imagination can take me there. If you feel like procrastinating for number 7 then you can check out my playlists on my website.
7. Ration
Allow yourself 5 minutes of procrastination only. Set the clock. And episodes of True Blood are 45 minutes to don’t think you can squeeze just the one in before you start writing.
8. Cheerleaders
I send every chapter I write to my two best mates. They’re my reading buddies. I write for them and because they’re always hungry for the next chapter it makes me write faster! If you’re too embarrassed to send your writing to friends or writing buddies then get over it quickly. Sharing your writing can only help you in the long term. Charles Dickens used to write his stories serial style…chapter by chapter...so I figure if it worked for him…
9. Editing
Pdf it and add it to your ipod or Kindle or iPad then read it as if it’s already a book. That way you can read and make notes as you’re on the bus, in the bath, in a boring work meeting…I used to take my ms on the train with me to work and would deliberately not bring a book so it was either edit it or sit there staring at the person opposite for half an hour. And as the person sitting opposite was never Alex Skarsgard I got a lot of editing done. Also I used to take pages of it into meetings with me and edit when I was supposed to be listening to my boss talk about very boring things. It's a good job I sold my books and moved to Bali as I think I'd have been fired by now otherwise.
10. If you're going to do it then do it properly
If you’re going to procrastinate at least do it for a good reason. Don’t do it to watch re-runs of Gossip Girl or to clean out the fridge. Procrastination which feeds your imagination (and not in a ‘Dan, Nate or Chuck?’ kind of way), inspires new thoughts, opens your eyes to new world or possibilities or energizes you (apparently exercise does that) is not procrastination – it’s utterly and completely necessary for a writer to procrastinate in these circumstances though never for too long.
11. Stop reading this and go write that book.
The things I am often doing when I tell my husband I am extremely very busy writing and cannot be disturbed are: reading Lainey Gossip so I am in the loop about the latest happenings concerning Ashton & Demi, Tom & Kstie, Justin & errr whoever, sending emails to fans who want to know if Lila & Alex will be having sex in the sequel, checking Facebook, refreshing my Goodreads author page 60 times a minute, watching Sons of Anarchy (and freeze-framing Jax) / Breaking Bad / True Blood, Tweeting, ordering take-out, checking the fridge for hidden chocolate supplies, eating take-out and downloading music on Spotify.
Yours may be fairly similar. But without further ado, here are my tips to help you stop procrastinating. This list is not definitive and it may not even help. There are more ideas covered off in my previous blog post about how to write a book in 30 days.
1. Speech
Start with dialogue if you don’t know where or how to start. Even if you then cut it out it’s a useful way of getting to know what’s happening in your characters’ heads in that scene. I often find that writing a conversation down (forget the punctuation and speech marks for the moment) gets the ball rolling. Then I go back and fill in the ‘stage directions’.
2. Maria Von Trapp was Wrong
You don’t need to start at the very beginning. If it’s that first sentence that’s freaking you out. If the cursor is blinking at you causing you a mental meltdown, skip forward, release the pressure of the first line and first paragraph. Start on the second chapter or write just one scene. I wrote the kiss between Alex and Lila before I wrote the first chapter of Hunting Lila because that scene I could really visualize. Oh yeah.
3. Oprah
Imagine the finished book in your hand, glossy covered, embossed with a Richard & Judy Summer Reads sticker, in the hand of Oprah, on the 3 for 2 table next to Twilight.
Ain’t none of that gonna happen unless you write the damn thing.
4. I can't believe I'm about to say this...but...
Exercise is not procrastination.
Swim or go somewhere where you have to be alone and where there is no wifi and where through repetitious action your mind is cleared and you can drift into daydreams and do your plotting. But keep a notebook by the pool. Or a Dictaphone in your pocket if you’re running. I find that after a swim my head is teeming with ideas and I usually rush back to my computer and write for hours straight.
5. Seek help for your addiction
Turn off the internet – I still find myself flicking to Facebook whenever I reach a roadblock in a manuscript. It’s an automatic reaction and I can’t stop myself, like an alcoholic reaching for the whisky bottle. Facebook is my crack. I’m telling you to turn off the internet though I’ve not yet mastered this myself and have already checked it about a dozen times since I started writing this post. When I figure out how to really overcome this addiction I will let you know.
6. Music
Like surgeons listening to Vivaldi as they carry out triple heart bypasses...pressing the play button can set the scene and help you write better. I create playlists on Spotify (another procrastination?) and listen to them over and over when I’m writing the book. A specific song can put me right into the heart of a scene quicker than my imagination can take me there. If you feel like procrastinating for number 7 then you can check out my playlists on my website.
7. Ration
Allow yourself 5 minutes of procrastination only. Set the clock. And episodes of True Blood are 45 minutes to don’t think you can squeeze just the one in before you start writing.
8. Cheerleaders
I send every chapter I write to my two best mates. They’re my reading buddies. I write for them and because they’re always hungry for the next chapter it makes me write faster! If you’re too embarrassed to send your writing to friends or writing buddies then get over it quickly. Sharing your writing can only help you in the long term. Charles Dickens used to write his stories serial style…chapter by chapter...so I figure if it worked for him…
9. Editing
Pdf it and add it to your ipod or Kindle or iPad then read it as if it’s already a book. That way you can read and make notes as you’re on the bus, in the bath, in a boring work meeting…I used to take my ms on the train with me to work and would deliberately not bring a book so it was either edit it or sit there staring at the person opposite for half an hour. And as the person sitting opposite was never Alex Skarsgard I got a lot of editing done. Also I used to take pages of it into meetings with me and edit when I was supposed to be listening to my boss talk about very boring things. It's a good job I sold my books and moved to Bali as I think I'd have been fired by now otherwise.
10. If you're going to do it then do it properly
If you’re going to procrastinate at least do it for a good reason. Don’t do it to watch re-runs of Gossip Girl or to clean out the fridge. Procrastination which feeds your imagination (and not in a ‘Dan, Nate or Chuck?’ kind of way), inspires new thoughts, opens your eyes to new world or possibilities or energizes you (apparently exercise does that) is not procrastination – it’s utterly and completely necessary for a writer to procrastinate in these circumstances though never for too long.
11. Stop reading this and go write that book.
Editing Sucks Balls
I suck at editing. Thankfully I am lucky enough to have an editor AND a copy editor AND a proof reader. And I'm still having to blink in awe at that sentence.
I’m not a perfectionist so I really need all the help that I can get. I just finished a short story from Alex’s point of view, which is going in the back of Losing Lila and it took my agent to point out that I’d called one character by the wrong name for half the story.
My copy editor in particular picks up not so much the spelling and grammar errors but the continuity errors and repetitions. The places where I’ve said one thing on p.23 and then totally contradicted that on p.230. She also points out where references I’ve made to obscure 80s movies might go over the heads of teenagers today. Sigh.
I heard that Charlaine Harris’s publishers employ a full time fact checker and continuity person for her because with so many Sookie Stackhouse books it’s so hard to keep a grip on who’s who and what’s gone before. One day I can dream of such a thing.
So here are some of the things I do to help me edit.
Read it out loud
I find this the most useful way of editing. When you read out loud you pick up the cadence and rhythm of sentences, you notice where you’ve used the same word in the same paragraph twice. You realize where you’re missing words or where another word might be needed to give better flow and you realize where dialogue sounds stilted and wrong. If you read it in your head it’s not the same.
Kindle-it
Add the document to your Kindle or ereader. I find that reading my manuscripts off a Kindle makes it feel more like a book already and so I read it in a different way, more critically, and can add quick notes and bookmarks as I go.
Revise Revise Revise
Editing is a process. Losing Lila has been through about six revisions. And will probably go through two more (with my editor) before it’s even read by the copy editor where the final revisions will happen. I wrote it almost two years ago so I’ve had time to do this many revisions. I leave a few months in between and then return to it with fresh eyes. It’s true that the more revisions you do the better it gets. I’m now really happy with it. It’s tighter, funnier and better constructed and I’ve had the chance to take on board feedback from Hunting Lila and edit accordingly.
Continuity
If you plot as you go or have a convoluted plot that jumps from location to location and through time it can be easy to mess up the continuity. There’s a mistake in Hunting Lila which a reader spotted (it involves Lila’s birthday) and that was down to a continuity error on my part when I was editing (I wanted her to be a Sagittarius!) Solutions to managing continuity include having someone else read your book when you’re done to check for things like this (sometimes you can’t see the wood for the trees), keeping notes on a separate spreadsheet or doc, creating a timeline of dates or a story arc as well as character notes on things like birthdates, physical description, background, first appearance in book etc
If you are writing a series of books this becomes even more crucial. I still wonder how on earth JK Rowling plotted seven books so intricately.
Language
Whilst I’ve spent a lot of time in the States and now live in Indonesia surrounded by North American and Australian ex-pats, I’m English and have a sort of south London slash transatlantic accent. Most of my main characters are American and my books are for the most part set in America.
I send all my manuscripts to three American friends to read and check through for authenticity and idioms. In British editions some of the language stays British (mum for mom, vest for tank top, boot for trunk, pissed off instead of pissed) but at least I hope the characters sound how they are meant to sound for the most part.
Adjectives and adverbs
They just fill up space. Of course we need some descriptions and you can’t and shouldn’t strip out every adjective but try to SHOW- DON’T TELL as much as you can.
Instead of saying ‘He was arrogant’ – how can you show this instead of telling the reader it? Does he stand in a certain way? Speak in a certain way? Does he cock an eyebrow? Or curl his lip?
How can you show someone is nervous instead of telling us she is? Does her gaze falter, does she clasp and unclasp her hands, hop from foot to foot. If you read a lot you’ll see how other authors show and don’t tell.
Wordcount
Look into book length. As a debut author especially – an agent or publisher is unlikely to look kindly at a manuscript that is overlong.
An average YA novel is about 65,000-85,000. Hunting Lila and Fated both fall in at around 82,000 words (305pages roughly).
Adult novels at 100,000.
Whilst a 200,000 word tome is not necessarily going to be chucked on the reject pile (think Gone with the Wind, Great Expectations…) unless it’s truly a modern day classic stick with the genre averages. I’d say you have a better chance of your manuscript being read in its entirety.
If you stick to word count now you'll save hours and hours of editing time later!
Be Brutal
I cut 27,000 words from my first draft of Hunting Lila. At first I agonized over every sentence. And then I just got brutal. I chopped whole pages, even whole chapters. The rule of thumb – does it drive the story forward? Does it reveal something about the character? If not, take it out. Even characters – are they all absolutely necessary? If not take them out.
Then finally - at some point just say 'enough' - it might not be perfect but it never will be perfect. You just have to accept that.
My first draft of Lila got accepted by an agent and publisher and it was still pretty rough compared to the final cut. You could edit for forever but there isn't time for forever if you want to get your book out into the world.
I’m not a perfectionist so I really need all the help that I can get. I just finished a short story from Alex’s point of view, which is going in the back of Losing Lila and it took my agent to point out that I’d called one character by the wrong name for half the story.
My copy editor in particular picks up not so much the spelling and grammar errors but the continuity errors and repetitions. The places where I’ve said one thing on p.23 and then totally contradicted that on p.230. She also points out where references I’ve made to obscure 80s movies might go over the heads of teenagers today. Sigh.
I heard that Charlaine Harris’s publishers employ a full time fact checker and continuity person for her because with so many Sookie Stackhouse books it’s so hard to keep a grip on who’s who and what’s gone before. One day I can dream of such a thing.
So here are some of the things I do to help me edit.
Read it out loud
I find this the most useful way of editing. When you read out loud you pick up the cadence and rhythm of sentences, you notice where you’ve used the same word in the same paragraph twice. You realize where you’re missing words or where another word might be needed to give better flow and you realize where dialogue sounds stilted and wrong. If you read it in your head it’s not the same.
Kindle-it
Add the document to your Kindle or ereader. I find that reading my manuscripts off a Kindle makes it feel more like a book already and so I read it in a different way, more critically, and can add quick notes and bookmarks as I go.
Revise Revise Revise
Editing is a process. Losing Lila has been through about six revisions. And will probably go through two more (with my editor) before it’s even read by the copy editor where the final revisions will happen. I wrote it almost two years ago so I’ve had time to do this many revisions. I leave a few months in between and then return to it with fresh eyes. It’s true that the more revisions you do the better it gets. I’m now really happy with it. It’s tighter, funnier and better constructed and I’ve had the chance to take on board feedback from Hunting Lila and edit accordingly.
Continuity
If you plot as you go or have a convoluted plot that jumps from location to location and through time it can be easy to mess up the continuity. There’s a mistake in Hunting Lila which a reader spotted (it involves Lila’s birthday) and that was down to a continuity error on my part when I was editing (I wanted her to be a Sagittarius!) Solutions to managing continuity include having someone else read your book when you’re done to check for things like this (sometimes you can’t see the wood for the trees), keeping notes on a separate spreadsheet or doc, creating a timeline of dates or a story arc as well as character notes on things like birthdates, physical description, background, first appearance in book etc
If you are writing a series of books this becomes even more crucial. I still wonder how on earth JK Rowling plotted seven books so intricately.
Language
Whilst I’ve spent a lot of time in the States and now live in Indonesia surrounded by North American and Australian ex-pats, I’m English and have a sort of south London slash transatlantic accent. Most of my main characters are American and my books are for the most part set in America.
I send all my manuscripts to three American friends to read and check through for authenticity and idioms. In British editions some of the language stays British (mum for mom, vest for tank top, boot for trunk, pissed off instead of pissed) but at least I hope the characters sound how they are meant to sound for the most part.
Adjectives and adverbs
They just fill up space. Of course we need some descriptions and you can’t and shouldn’t strip out every adjective but try to SHOW- DON’T TELL as much as you can.
Instead of saying ‘He was arrogant’ – how can you show this instead of telling the reader it? Does he stand in a certain way? Speak in a certain way? Does he cock an eyebrow? Or curl his lip?
How can you show someone is nervous instead of telling us she is? Does her gaze falter, does she clasp and unclasp her hands, hop from foot to foot. If you read a lot you’ll see how other authors show and don’t tell.
Wordcount
Look into book length. As a debut author especially – an agent or publisher is unlikely to look kindly at a manuscript that is overlong.
An average YA novel is about 65,000-85,000. Hunting Lila and Fated both fall in at around 82,000 words (305pages roughly).
Adult novels at 100,000.
Whilst a 200,000 word tome is not necessarily going to be chucked on the reject pile (think Gone with the Wind, Great Expectations…) unless it’s truly a modern day classic stick with the genre averages. I’d say you have a better chance of your manuscript being read in its entirety.
If you stick to word count now you'll save hours and hours of editing time later!
Be Brutal
I cut 27,000 words from my first draft of Hunting Lila. At first I agonized over every sentence. And then I just got brutal. I chopped whole pages, even whole chapters. The rule of thumb – does it drive the story forward? Does it reveal something about the character? If not, take it out. Even characters – are they all absolutely necessary? If not take them out.
Then finally - at some point just say 'enough' - it might not be perfect but it never will be perfect. You just have to accept that.
My first draft of Lila got accepted by an agent and publisher and it was still pretty rough compared to the final cut. You could edit for forever but there isn't time for forever if you want to get your book out into the world.
Writing and all the bits in between
I have a blog at www.canwelivehere.com which documents my life living in Bali, writing, drinking coconuts, dancing ecstatically and meeting crazy people.
I have a website at www.sarahalderson.com where ...more
I have a website at www.sarahalderson.com where ...more
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