Writing is easy

[Neil]

Do you know if you write a page a day that within one year you will have written a book? How many times have I heard that one? If that one book takes a year to write then the revision process would have to take many years, unless you’re a genius and don’t need to rewrite and edit. Truth is, writing a first draft is the easy part when writing a novel.

I can usually belt one out in a few months. But the revision; forgetta’bout it. That’s the time consuming stuff, though I am getting better at it as I get older (and hopefully wiser). I’m also getting better as a writer. Ideas come more easily after so many years of living in my creative mind and the process of getting them on paper is less time-consuming.

For my new novel, I’m finding the plot twists are coming naturally and I’ve had quite a few ‘aha!’ moments in the last few days. Here’s a little secret about starting a new novel. Don’t worry about the perfect first chapter or getting that perfect first line, it’s incredibly frustrating. Just start jotting down a story with the mind-set that you’re going to rewrite it later.

Through most of my books, I’ve completed about half of the novel when I usually go back and write new intro’s that incorporate the original intro’s, if that makes any sense. For instance, I thought I had the perfect intro for my latest, a shocking, get-right-into-the-action first chapter, when a few hours ago I came up with a much better start. But I only could have progressed to that point if I’d already had something written down, something I could improve on.

My old intro to my novel is now chapter two. But, that intro catapulted me into the story so I could build a base. As of this post, I’ve hit the 25,000 word mark and have a pile of notes about how the novel will progress. But since I don’t outline, I’m not sure what exactly will happen. The fun of this project is that anything can.


My blog: http://www.neilostroff.blogspot.com

[Robin]

NEIL
Having self-published my first YA Paranormal/Time Travel/First Kiss romance novel entitled "I Kissed a Ghost" through CreateSpace, I've found the truth is writing/re-reading/rewriting a book is by far the easiest part of becoming an author. Once the book becomes available the real work starts, you'll now have to market/promote not only your book but yourself as well.

[Kim at 24/7 in France]

After having self-published, "Solitary Desire - One Woman's Journey to France," I agree that marketing one's book is much more tedious and harder work than the actual writing. After all, any one book is a proverbial drop in the literary bucket!

[Arthur]

In my own experience I find that writing is either easy or impossible. There are times that I'm 'on' and I know exactly what to write. In these times I write thousands of words a day and I'm satisfied with the work. There's no need for major alterations, although I can find some minor stuff to add in later (no serious plot changes). At other times the creativity shuts off like a water faucet and I can't put two words together. Both the on and off phases can go on for some time. I've no idea what starts or stops the flow.

I have to agree wholeheartedly with Robin and Kim, marketing my book has been infinitely harder than writing. It was pointed out to me that writing and marketing involve two different skill sets. It doesn't help that my publisher is quite small and has passed nearly all the marketing duties on to me.

[Kim at 24/7 in France]

J.B. wrote: "Kim: I guess it's probably easier if you're already accustomed to social networking on Twitter and Facebook. Personally, having never touched either of these before I published my first book, I'm u..."

FB and Twitter are, without a doubt, great tools for marketing one's book, as is Goodreads and other author sites: marketing is a numbers game and consistency & exposure are key and agree with Arthur that this is a separate set of skills. Bon courage!

[Rinelle]

I have to agree. Writing a book is only one draft, and once you get going, you can write it latively quickly if you work on the assumption that you can edit it later, once you get to editing though, you know you have to get it right this time. That can involve a lot more agonizing,

Marketing I'm finding not as bad as I thought it would be. Probably because I enjoy social media to an extent. The problem I'm finding is getting time to fit my writing in around it!

[Kim at 24/7 in France]

Kim at 24/7 in France wrote: "J.B. wrote: "Kim: I guess it's probably easier if you're already accustomed to social networking on Twitter and Facebook. Personally, having never touched either of these before I published my firs..."

I just recently starting using Twitter & just recently listened to a webinar about using FB for marketing, so I am learning as I go along - bon courage, J.B.!