Adam Croft's Blog, page 35

The hardest characters to write

Chances are, as a writer, there are certain types of character that you find easier to write than others. In some ways, this is an extension of that old cliché: write what you know. It’s easier to write about characters that are similar to what we already know, that are like us or people we know, or types of people that we have written about before.

It’s a simple fact of life and writing that we will always find some things harder than others. Some writers might struggle writing from the perspective of children, for instance, while others might find it something of a challenge to write from the point of view of a different gender.

It can cause us considerable challenges while we’re writing our novels and stories, trying to see things from the point of view of and understand a character that we find more difficult than others. However, it’s definitely a challenge worth overcoming. Just because a character is hard to write doesn’t mean that they won’t come out well at the end of the writing process. Sometimes, the fact that they are hard to pin down or get inside of can help to make them more real.

Plus, it’s a challenge we all have to overcome, and if we all only ever wrote what we knew, fiction would be a very boring place indeed. So what if we don’t know anything about nuclear physics but have decided to make our lead character work in the field? Who says you can’t write about a character with children just because you don’t have any children yourself? That’s what research is for, and planning and imagination and the good old art of making things up.  In a lot of ways, believability is more important than accuracy – and they are not always the same thing.

Which characters do you find the hardest to write, and how do you go about making sure you pull them off successfully?

The joys of re-reading books

We all know that reading is a wonderful thing and the joy when discovering a new, great book is one of the best feelings. However, what about the joys of re-reading books? Most of us have our favourites that we keep going back to, that we can happily read again and again – but why do we do this? And why should we re-read books when there are so many still out there unread that are waiting for us to discover them?

I think one of the biggest joys of re-reading old favourites is reminding ourselves of good times gone by. We often associate what we read with certain times in our lives – particularly great books that we read when we were young. They leave an impression on us, and going back to remind ourselves of why we loved them so much can be a really satisfying thing to do.

Of course, not all books stand the test of time, and they’re not always as good the second or third time round. But that doesn’t stop them meaning something to us, and seeing books in a different way when we re-read them can be a useful activity in itself. It lets us see how we have changed – and sometimes how the world has changed. Those books still have their place, even if they aren’t as relevant to us as they once were.

Yet some books are still relevant to us, no matter how many times we re-read them. They remain excellent, and each time we read them, we find new things to love as well as all those familiar factors. They remind us of good ideas, of what has inspired us in the past and can perhaps inspire us still.

Other books that we re-read might only make sense when visiting them for a second time. Most of us probably read adult books when we were younger that didn’t mean a huge amount to us then – but now that we are grown up, they do. We suddenly understand them, and see what they’re about. Maybe you read a book at school that you hated because you were forced to do it, but then came to love it when you revisited it later in life. Time and experience can change a lot.

Then there is the simple comfort of re-reading what we know. As wonderful as new, unread books are, sometimes we simply want something familiar. We don’t necessarily want a challenge. We want something that we know, where we know how it ends. There’s nothing wrong with re-reading a book because once in a while it’s easier than reading something new.

We can get a lot from re-reading books, and while what we’ve already read definitely shouldn’t take up all of our current reading time, there is a lot of value to be had in going back to books we’ve read before.

Which are your favourite books to re-read, and why?

What does independent publishing mean to you?

Like traditional publishing, there is no getting away from the fact that independent publishing is something of a broad church. As more and more authors take the leap to indie publishing, what it incorporates and means continue to develop and grow.

This leads to the idea of independent publishing meaning different things to different people. To some, it means doing absolutely everything yourself. It means writing the book alone, editing and proofreading alone, and designing the cover alone. It means formatting the work, pricing it, publishing it and marketing it entirely as a one-person operation.

That’s one interpretation of it. To other people, independent publishing means something a little bit different. It might mean taking control and responsibility for the entire process in a similar way to above, but buying in resources as and when necessary. For example, it might mean hiring editing and design services to make a book as professional as possible, but still retaining full creative control and publishing as an independent.

To other people, independent publishing means publishing through a company specifically set up for the purpose. Other people might include small local presses that are classed as independent because they are set somewhat apart from the publishing mainstream.

There are plenty of different interpretations of what independent publishing actually is, and there is an interesting debate to be had about where we ought to draw the line when defining it. However, it seems to me that the one thing all of these definitions have in common is that they have a focus on giving creative control to the author. They let the author write what they want, how they want. Indie publishing is independent minded even if the whole process isn’t completed entirely independently.

But what do you think? How would you define independent publishing and what does it mean to you?

Who would be your perfect detective?

Who would be your perfect crime fiction detective? Would you go for someone from the Sherlock Holmes school of sleuthing, or a detective more along the lines of Marple or Poirot? An actual copper or someone playing the role of amateur detective?

One of the great things about crime fiction is that you can find almost any detective you could think of somewhere among the great number of novels out there. Of course, there are certain traits that are shared by many detectives, which leads us to believe that the ideal crime fiction detective would probably be a heavy drinking, slightly shambolic yet brilliant bloke with a troubled personal life but an exemplary commitment to the job (any other common detective traits you think should make this list?).

But that aside, a detective in crime fiction could be practically anybody. That’s one of the things that keep so many readers coming back to the genre, and reading so widely within it. Almost anyone could land the role of detective. One of the reasons this works so well is that crime novels are designed to take the reader along for the ride. The detective plays a crucial role in that, often discovering plot developments and vital clues right along with the reader.

And a detective that the reader can relate to helps dramatically. The perfect detective could be anyone, but for them to work in a crime novel, they need to be believable. It helps when, as readers, we are able to identify traits in them that we recognise in ourselves or others. It makes them more compelling, and it makes us want them to succeed. It makes us like them, even if they aren’t necessarily all that likeable.

We all have our preferences when it comes to our favourite detectives. Personal taste always accounts for a lot, but the fact that a crime fiction detective could be almost anyone is one of the things that make the genre so exciting and compelling. The perfect detective is not a one size fits all mould. Nor should it be.

The changing role of the book town

As anyone who has ever been to Hay-on-Wye will tell you, an entire town based around books is a pretty good thing. And, while Hay might be the most famous of the book towns, it isn’t alone. This is an interesting BBC article on book towns and the challenges that are facing them as a result of the rise of the e-reader.

One of the best things about the article is the list of book towns from around the world (imagine a round-the-world book trip – amazing), but it also offers an interesting take on how book towns are having to adapt to the changing literary environment. For example, Adrian Turpin – who directs the Wigtown Book Festival in Scotland – suggests that rather than focusing on selling books first and the browsing experience second, the changes taking place in the industry mean that those two factors are almost the other way around.

When times change, businesses have to change with them, and it seems that while there is definitely still a place for book towns, if they want to survive, they need to adapt and diversify so that they stay interesting and relevant.

What do you think? Do you think book towns could be helped by developments in the book industry, or does the e-reader threaten their survival?

Getting closer to readers in independent publishing

In many ways, writers have never had more choice. They can choose to go down the traditional route, the self-publishing route, or a combination of the two. They can publish their work in e-book format, print format or simply put it online on a forum, blog or other site for people to read. They have their pick of genres and styles.

And, perhaps in even more ways, readers have even more choice than writers. Not only do they get to choose from all of these publishing options and platforms to access and read creative work, but they also get to choose which authors they want to read.

This relates to one of the key aspects of the writing life; the relationship between writer and reader. It has always been an important element of the industry, which writers needing to engage readers and keep them interested in order to have a successful writing career, but arguably this relationship is now more important than ever. More and more books are being published, readers have more choice, and writers need to do everything they can to hold onto the people who read their books.

In a lot of ways, I think independent publishing can help to bring writers closer to their readers. Without the need to respond to the requirements of a publisher, independent authors can respond directly to readers. They can write what they want, and they can market their work to readers how they want.

Of course, plenty of traditionally published authors have excellent relationships with their readers, but the creative control given to authors in independent publishing means that indie writers are perhaps better able to respond and adapt to what readers want.

It is by no means an easy feat to get and hold a reader’s attention, no matter how you decide to go about publishing your work. However you decide to do it, the reader-author relationship has a lot to do with luck as well as effort. Still, anything that helps to bring the two closer together can be seen as a positive thing, and independent publishing is one good way for many authors to build on that relationship.

7 ways to reinvigorate your writing

Getting into the habit of writing regularly is a wonderful thing, but as with anything else in life, once we get used to something, we can get a little bit set in our ways. Sometimes we need to change things up a bit to keep our writing fresh and exciting, and keep our abilities developing. This is especially important when we consider how fast the book market is moving, how much competition there is and the expectations of readers. Everything we write needs to be good, and while personal style can be a very positive thing, we also need to make sure it doesn’t get stuck in a rut.

With this in mind, here are some ideas you could try to reinvigorate your writing.

Write different relationships. In your next writing project, make an effort to write a type of relationship you’ve never written before, whether it’s between friends or family or strangers. The different dynamics will give you something new to explore that will hopefully hold your interest – and the readers’.
Write from a different point of view. If you’ve spent a while writing from one character’s point of view, consider changing it up and look at things from another character’s perspective. Even if you don’t end up using what you come up with, the exercise of looking at things differently can help you improve things as a whole.
Change your planning methods. Try planning your story in a different way to normal, just to see what happens. It might not work, but you never know. A change in approach to how you plot things out could lead to you considering interesting things you’ve never thought about before.
Forget your readers, and the publishing process – temporarily, at least. Let yourself write exactly the story you want to write, how you want to write it. Hopefully the intrigue will give the whole thing a boost.
Change your routine. Routines can be useful in writing as they teach us discipline, but if we do the same thing over and over, it can end up being a chore. Write at a different time to normal, in a different place. Write using a notebook instead of a computer, or a computer instead of a notebook – anything that makes it feel new again.
Read something entirely different. Reading out of your comfort zone introduces you to new characters, stories and ways of writing. Even if you don’t want to emulate what you read, it will still broaden your horizons and introduce you to ideas that could improve your own work.
Write something entirely different. Similar to above – if you feel like you’re getting into a rut with your current style or genre of writing, do something completely different. At the very least, you’ll get a bit of a change and learn some new skills. At most, you could hit upon something great.

What are your top tips for reinvigorating your writing?

Music and writing

If you do a quick Google search for quotes on music and writing, you will come up with a vast array of musings from a wide range of writers. It seems that music and writing go well together, no matter what form they take.

Think, for instance, at how well the right piece of music can elevate something that’s happening on TV, or how some pieces of music just seem to fit perfectly with certain books. We can’t always explain why they go together so well, we just know that they do.

If you look at all of those quotes to do with music and writing, one of the things that comes up multiple times is the fact that music sometimes has the ability to express what words do not. For example, look at Rilke’s poem about music that says of the subject: “you language where all language ends.” Or this quote from Victor Hugo: “Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and cannot remain silent.”

It’s something that I imagine most writers are familiar with: we often know what we want to say, we just don’t know how best to say it. Then we hear a piece of music that evokes perfectly what we are trying to convey. Sometimes hearing the music makes it easier to write what we mean to say, sometimes it doesn’t, but either way the music and the writing go together well.

The slight irony here is that plenty of writers can’t write while music is playing. It can be distracting and irritating when you’re trying to focus on something. Yet music is something that most of us love, and it can have an influence on us even when we don’t realise it.

What do you think? Is your writing influenced by music, and do you think it can have an effect on the way writing is perceived?

Defining your book in independent publishing

Genre is one of things that help us define what we write. One of the most common question authors get asked is: “what kind of books do you write?” Falling neatly into a particular genre gives us a useful, brief way to answer this question.

In independent publishing, it also gives us useful ways to promote our work. Knowing what genre our books fall into means that we can research markets more effectively, work out how to target readers and come up with marketing strategies that are simple, cohesive and effective. Hopefully.

Having a clearly defined genre can also be beneficial in terms of sales; we know that self-published romance authors, for instance, often sell more copies than authors of other genres. However, perhaps there is also something to be said for not worrying too much about the genre your book falls into when you’re planning to self-publish it.

One of the big reasons for this is that self-publishing is not traditional publishing. In traditional publishing, you sometimes hear stories of writers being rejected because their work didn’t fit neatly into any particular category; the fact that their work was ‘cross-genre’ counted as a mark against them, no matter how good it might have been.

This isn’t something we have to worry about as much in independent publishing. We can take a chance on doing something different if we want to – we only answer to ourselves and so we control what we write, and how we define it. There are also plenty of categorisation options when publishing through platforms such as Amazon.

For example, you can choose to classify your book as both a romance and a thriller. You can choose subcategories that fit your work so that readers searching in one genre can just as easily find your book as readers searching in another. It makes it easier to create and publish cross-genre novels.

Plus really, the clue is in the name: independent publishing. Genre is a useful definition of fiction, but it isn’t the only definition, and not all books fit neatly into one genre or another. Embracing the independent side of our work could well give us a unique, interesting marketing angle that no other author has to work with.

What do you think? How important is it for books to fit into genre-based categories?

A turn in the seasons

It’s that time of year again, when the weather is turning, the nights are closing in and there is a general sense of things starting to slow down for the winter. Of course, this is nothing new in Britain. Something similar seems to happen roughly once a week, thanks to our changeable weather system that can never quite seem to decide what to do with itself.

But this is one of those times of year when there really is a sense of a proper change. The clocks are going back soon. The leaves (some of them) are starting to turn. Nights are getting longer. It is almost acceptable to talk about it being ‘not all that long until Christmas’ without getting a death glare in return (but not quite. It is still too early for tinsel).

There’s just something about it that makes me think this is the perfect time of year for readers and writers. I don’t really know why. There’s just a sense of something. Maybe it’s the fact that the summer is now well and truly gone – not that we had much of it in the first place – and so the evenings are no longer filled with al fresco meals and beer gardens.

We writers can hide ourselves away and scribble stories to our hearts’ content without feeling as though we should be somewhere else. Readers can do much the same, spending hours on the sofa with a book and a blanket, entirely guilt-free, rather than feeling that they should be outside because it’s not raining and is ever so slightly warm. It’s sort of our own version of hibernation, and even though the weather can often be grim outside, there is a sort of luxury in spending hours inside reading or writing while the rain lashes the windows.

Similar cases can be made for pretty much any other time of year – the indulgence of lying in the sun with a book, for instance, or the brilliance of free time over Christmas that allows us to get some writing done – but they all seem to come with their own unique feeling and form, specific to the time of year and what’s going on elsewhere.

What do you think? As a reader or writer, what’s your favourite time of year?