eWriteLife Blog

(?) Question from Rick:

I just began to write my first book and am having a little trouble. The reason is probably that I read great authors books and expect my writing to sound a lot like theirs. If anyone can help me get over this please reply. Thanks.

(!) Answer from WellStar:

I have been working on a book for almost ten years and have finally gotten to the point that I am making progress. So , for what it is worth, here goes.

Have your story done to completion before you begin. By that I mean do what is necessary to assure yourself that you know who the characters are and what is going to happen. Outline, outline, outline. You can change things and make adjustments as you go but if you have no idea where you are headed, it is difficult to get anywhere. I have outlined the lives of almost all of my characters and made notes on their personalities. Not in the beginning, but it became necessary if I was going to keep them straight in my mind and see they did not act out of character.

As a scene comes to mind, write it. You don’t have to wait until you arrive at that part of the book to write what is happening. Write the ending first, if that is what you have fixed in your mind. Write that dinner conversation, that day at the beach, the battle, the @#%$ scene — carefull on the @#%$ scenes; they can run away with you — that court scene you have already finished in your mind.

Establish a schedule to write and then stick to it. If you write full time, then write at least five days a week, then schedule days off to run errands. If you have to set up something to write, do it before your scheduled time. Do not waste time sharpening pencils when you should be writing. But also schedule time for recharging your batteries.

Revise, revise, adjust, edit. Many first novels are unpublishable but that doesn’t mean they are not good stories. The normal, and most boring, novel begins at the begining, moves along in normal time sequence narrative, climaxes and then finishes. Try something else. And remember that a novel is either a series of stories joined by characters or a series of characters joined by stories. Hemingways first attempt at a novel was ‘The Sun Also Rises’ (’Fiesta’ in Europe). It is actually three short stories joined by characters. Make it interesting and fresh for the reader. And your potential publisher.

(!) Answer from catzeyez:

I have asked myself the same question many times. Only to come up with what my father always said “If you never try you will never know if you can.”

(!) Answer from Kevin:

In my case, I hate outlines. I think they stifle creativity and box a writer into preconceived notions of what should be done. In my case, the characters in my mystery novel have led me places that I would not have gone through with the use of outlines or over analyzing the story before hand.

The bottom line is that you have to just write and find out what works for you. Everyone has advice and there are certainly plenty of articles and books written on the subject setting down rules of one type or another. No matter the ritual or format you use, if you don’t write, the project won’t get done.

Good luck and have fun!