Hello,I've just started writing my next book and so I tho...
Hello,
I've just started writing my next book and so I thought I'd share a few thoughts with you. So if you want to pop the kettle on or get a glass of wine, now is the time. OK, ready? Good. Here goes.
During the editing stage of my last book, a few things became clear to me. I need to think much more as I write. A perfect example of this is the amount of repeated words my agent highlighted in the text, and how many sentences were basically just repetitions of previous sentences. The repeated words problem was huge and I didn't even realise it until I saw the text back with the repeated words highlighted. Apparently, I love to use the same words again and again. It's not something as a writer I've ever really thought about. If you're a writer and you're reading your work back, try and spot any words you know you overuse, and go through the text with a fine tooth comb. I think you might be surprised. I was. It's ridiculous. So with my new book, as I'm writing, I'm really trying to be aware of the words I'm choosing to use and why.
I'm also really conscious of repeating myself. Of labouring the point. The funny thing is that I see other writers doing it, and it really annoys me. You know when you're reading a book, and they keep going over the same thing for far too long, and you're just thinking..."get on with it!" Yeah, that's me. An I didn't even realise.
The other big thing is comedy. My new book, like my last book, is once again a comedy, but it's also going to be quite dramatic in parts. When I handed over the 'finished' copy of my last book to my agent, she said that there were too many jokes. At first I didn't really get this. But it's a comedy, I said to myself. It's supposed to be funny. The thing is though, comedy in writing only works when there's light and dark. It has to balance itself out. You can't have a 80,000 word novel that's just full of gags. Basically you can't write 'Hot Shots' the film as a novel. This isn't stand up. It needs to be a lot deeper and that means light and dark.
I had a problem with the last book getting this light and dark right. It's probably one of the hardest thing to do as an author. Getting that balance between humour and drama is so hard because they contrast each other so much. But the thing is, when you have really dramatic moments, it actually helps make the funny bits even funnier, and vice versa. So writing great comedy in novels involves writing creating drama too. So in this book I'm already setting out with this in mind. I'm taking jokes out as they come to me because I'm working on writing a drama that's also funny. Not a comedy that has bits of drama. I remember reading in James Corden's biography that when he was writing 'The Wrong Mans' with Mathew Baynton, they first wrote it like a proper action drama, and when it was done they went back and added in the comedy. It's much easier to do this than try and be funny in the first draft and then add in the drama later.
I guess what I'm saying is this. If you're trying to write a comedy novel don't set out to write something funny. Not at first anyway. Write it as a straight drama. Keep the funny material in the back of your mind, but don't let it loose until you've got a tight, well written drama first. Then when everything else is just about perfect, make it funny. That's the plan anyway.
I'll try and write a few more blogs about writing my new book. Maybe trying to document a whole novel from beginning to end, might actually help me figure out where I've been going wrong (or right). So until next time.
Hugs,
Jon X
I've just started writing my next book and so I thought I'd share a few thoughts with you. So if you want to pop the kettle on or get a glass of wine, now is the time. OK, ready? Good. Here goes.
During the editing stage of my last book, a few things became clear to me. I need to think much more as I write. A perfect example of this is the amount of repeated words my agent highlighted in the text, and how many sentences were basically just repetitions of previous sentences. The repeated words problem was huge and I didn't even realise it until I saw the text back with the repeated words highlighted. Apparently, I love to use the same words again and again. It's not something as a writer I've ever really thought about. If you're a writer and you're reading your work back, try and spot any words you know you overuse, and go through the text with a fine tooth comb. I think you might be surprised. I was. It's ridiculous. So with my new book, as I'm writing, I'm really trying to be aware of the words I'm choosing to use and why.
I'm also really conscious of repeating myself. Of labouring the point. The funny thing is that I see other writers doing it, and it really annoys me. You know when you're reading a book, and they keep going over the same thing for far too long, and you're just thinking..."get on with it!" Yeah, that's me. An I didn't even realise.
The other big thing is comedy. My new book, like my last book, is once again a comedy, but it's also going to be quite dramatic in parts. When I handed over the 'finished' copy of my last book to my agent, she said that there were too many jokes. At first I didn't really get this. But it's a comedy, I said to myself. It's supposed to be funny. The thing is though, comedy in writing only works when there's light and dark. It has to balance itself out. You can't have a 80,000 word novel that's just full of gags. Basically you can't write 'Hot Shots' the film as a novel. This isn't stand up. It needs to be a lot deeper and that means light and dark.
I had a problem with the last book getting this light and dark right. It's probably one of the hardest thing to do as an author. Getting that balance between humour and drama is so hard because they contrast each other so much. But the thing is, when you have really dramatic moments, it actually helps make the funny bits even funnier, and vice versa. So writing great comedy in novels involves writing creating drama too. So in this book I'm already setting out with this in mind. I'm taking jokes out as they come to me because I'm working on writing a drama that's also funny. Not a comedy that has bits of drama. I remember reading in James Corden's biography that when he was writing 'The Wrong Mans' with Mathew Baynton, they first wrote it like a proper action drama, and when it was done they went back and added in the comedy. It's much easier to do this than try and be funny in the first draft and then add in the drama later.
I guess what I'm saying is this. If you're trying to write a comedy novel don't set out to write something funny. Not at first anyway. Write it as a straight drama. Keep the funny material in the back of your mind, but don't let it loose until you've got a tight, well written drama first. Then when everything else is just about perfect, make it funny. That's the plan anyway.
I'll try and write a few more blogs about writing my new book. Maybe trying to document a whole novel from beginning to end, might actually help me figure out where I've been going wrong (or right). So until next time.
Hugs,
Jon X
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