Alwyn Hamilton
A little bit haphazard? And different for every book I've written so far.
But as a base line I tend to be a messy drafter, I sit down for anywhere between 2 to 8 hours and I just pour out bad, messy words onto the page, complete with [insert description here]. This helps me get the plot on the page, the outline.
I then go through and fix it, starting with big picture stuff like cutting scenes and adding new ones and moving things around. And then all the way down to the sentence level where I start fiddling with "and" and "but"s on the page. Until I've got something that is basically readable (by that point I just need to get it off my plate usually!)
And then I send it in to my editors and we do all the editing all over again with their input and help!
But as a base line I tend to be a messy drafter, I sit down for anywhere between 2 to 8 hours and I just pour out bad, messy words onto the page, complete with [insert description here]. This helps me get the plot on the page, the outline.
I then go through and fix it, starting with big picture stuff like cutting scenes and adding new ones and moving things around. And then all the way down to the sentence level where I start fiddling with "and" and "but"s on the page. Until I've got something that is basically readable (by that point I just need to get it off my plate usually!)
And then I send it in to my editors and we do all the editing all over again with their input and help!
More Answered Questions
Amanda B
asked
Alwyn Hamilton:
I discovered your book "Rebel of the Sands" today, read it in one sitting, and fell in love. Your writing style is beautiful and your characters felt so real - and this is everything I admire in a writer. So I was wondering, what do you think makes a book good? I have recently written a novel, and being a 14 yr old, I'm not really sure what I'm doing, but I would like to know what you think makes a book good!
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more