Archive for the 'The Writer’s Life' Category

I am writing a book

2 Comments »17th July, 2010; Category: Books, Goal setting, The Writer's Life, Writers

A recently over heard conversation went as follows:

“I am writing a book. I’ve made a great start: I’ve numbered all the pages.”

Consider the following:

Countless people say they are going to write a book.
Only a few ever begin the actual writing.
If you have started writing a book you are in rare company.
If you have actually finished writing your book you are in elite company.
If you have rewritten and edited your book you are almost unique.
If you have submitted to a publisher a well written, well edited and professionally presented manuscript, you are very special.

Don’t just say you are going to write that book.

Just get on with it.

Good writing.

Confessions of a sick writer

2 Comments »9th July, 2010; Category: Blogging, The Writer's Life, Writing a novel

I wrote a few days ago that I was near the final editing stages of my novel for children.

Now I have another hurdle has come my way: illness. Sure, it’s only a head cold with lots of sneezing, a dry throat and the beginnings of a nose like a tap that cannot be turned off. It is the season for colds and flu here in Australia, and we’ve had some bitterly cold weather of late but that doesn’t bring much comfort in the midst of the discomfort.

I am trying to edit my novel for children, now in its 7th draft. Concentrating on the editing process is challenging enough; having a head that feels like it’s stuffed full of wool doesn’t help the process. I guess I should sit back, relax and get better as quickly as I can. Then I’ll be able to fully concentrate on the task in hand.

Can’t help wishing for someone to take over for a few days so I can relax and recover. In another life – when I was a classroom teacher – I wouldn’t hesitate to get a relief teacher in to take my place, knowing that would not only hasten my recovery but also be fairer to the children in my class. They deserved to have a teacher who was least willing to be there, be reasonably competent and certainly not sneezing all over them. Where are the relief writers? Never mind.

One thing about blogging is that you can write posts ahead of time, scheduling them to appear over a period of days or even weeks. I often write blogs in blocks of time, writing 5 – 10 in one day and scheduling them to appear at set intervals. During that time I can then go on with other writing tasks. This time however, I don’t have any scheduled to appear here. Sigh. (I do have some on my other blogs – see sidebar for links to them.)

I’d better get back to that editing.

Good writing – and good health.

I’m back: Editing my novel

No Comments »7th July, 2010; Category: Master of Arts course, Novels, The Writer's Life, Writing a novel, Writing Hints

I’m back!

It has been a while since my last entry here.

Sorry about that.

I’ve been a little overwhelmed with life for a while now, but things seem to be getting back on track again, one step at a time. I have several large projects on the go which are taking – no – demanding my attention. I’m starting to chip away at them but the task sometimes looms far too large.

Having one of the coldest periods on record here in South Australia is not helping either. It is very tempting to linger in bed on these crisp, frosty mornings… and then linger some more. And my good wife spoils me by bringing me a hot cup of tea in bed some mornings. Bless her.

One of my major projects at present is finishing off my novel for children (I’ve written extensively about the process here.) I am currently working on the 7th draft and it is getting near to the final shape and form.

The editing and rewriting I am doing in the 7th draft comes from the comments made on my manuscript by my supervising lecturers. Both are experienced writers and editors and their help has been invaluable in shaping the novel into its present form. One thing I have found interesting is that their comments and suggestions are remarkably similar, even though they read the manuscript independently. They have been very picky, very critical of every word, sentence and even the whole structure of the story. This is good because it is helping me to produce the very best writing I can achieve.

Find a good critiquing friend

I would recommend that every writer find a trustworthy friend who knows about writing and how to do it well. Then get this person to critique your work. It could be a fellow writer, a neighbour, a member of a writers’ group or even someone who does this for a living. Paying someone to do this can be money well spent. I haven’t had to do that yet, but I have received much help from my lecturers (who get paid to do this) and from my writers’ groups (They do it because they like me! And I “pay” them by commenting on their writing).

Find a good editor

Along with finding someone to critique your writing I would suggest that your writing will benefit from good editing. You need to find a good editor. It can be the same person who critiques your work doesn’t have to be. I’m not talking about editors who work for publishers here. That stage comes later, after you’ve submitted the very best work you can do, and the publisher has accepted your piece for publication. I’m talking about someone with a good eye for picking up typos, spelling errors, punctuation boo-boos, grammatical blunders and structural flaws. Such a person can help you polish your work until it is perfect – or as near to that as you can. Publishers are more willing to accept your work if you make the effort to get it near perfect – so their editor has as little to do as possible.

Further reading:

Writing a novel – the process I went through to write a novel for children as my thesis paper for my Master of Arts.
Editing – more articles from my archives about the editing process.

Good writing.

Can writers make a living from writing?

No Comments »19th June, 2010; Category: Authors, Goal setting, The Writer's Life, Writers

It is certainly true to say that many writers around the world make a good living from their craft. Vastly greater numbers make enough to pay some bills, but must supplement their writing income by having a day job. I was like that until I retired from classroom teaching.

It is probably also true to say that the vast majority of people who call themselves writers make little or no money from their carefully fashioned words. I make a little from my blogging but nowhere near enough to live on. Like many writers I live with the dream that this may change sometime. The Big Breakthrough. The sudden Best Seller. The rise to Fame and, hopefully, fortune.

Only a very few writers are truly wealthy from their writing. I’ve just read an article called “The 5 wealthiest authors in the world“. There are no surprises in this list, especially with J.K. Rowling at the top. She has made an unbelievable $4.5 billion over the last twelve years. Some might think she was an overnight success. This is far from the truth; she struggled with her writing for many years before her first book was published. What her story does is illustrate that we can all – no matter what our circumstances – live in the hope that our novel will become the next big seller.

Her story, and that of all the other wealthy writers on the list, illustrates again that there is not short cut to success. All wrote for many years honing their skills. All continue to work hard. Successful writers are persistent writers.

There is another large group of writers who do it just for the joy of putting words together. For them money is not the objective. They are just content to write for the sheer joy of using words. More power to them I say.

Reference: “The 5 wealthiest authors in the world” (click here to read it).

Are you wasting time while writing?

4 Comments »4th June, 2010; Category: The Writer's Life

Do you feel guilty while wasting time during your writing day?

Don’t.

I’ve just read the results of a survey where workers across many different occupations indicated that the average worker wasted 1.7 hours per day while they were at work. That’s 102 minutes every day. And for that to be an average, some were wasting far more – some as much as 3 or more hours per day. While employers might find these results staggering, many respondents indicated that boredom and not having enough to do were high on their lists of reasons. That must give employers some room for creative thinking, planning and changes to the work day and environment. You can read a report of the survey here.

Do you find yourself wasting time during your writing day?

I do. I check my email, Facebook, Twitter and favourite websites several times during the day. Generally this is a waste of precious writing time. I’ve learned to… let me correct that… I’m learning to limit how many times each day I access my email and social networking sites. I’ve streamlined my email in-box so emails now go into categorized folders. Some need to be dealt with quickly, others can wait and some newsletters may get read if I have time.

Unless it is research, or the distraction moves your writing project along, it is wasted time. But when I do read my emails or check those social networking sites I am trying not to be too guilty about it. Writing is a lonely occupation and I need some contact with the outside world each day. I find some of my Facebook friends, for example, quite stimulating and they are also very encouraging. I need that. They cheer me on – and I cheer them on with their WIP.

It’s all about priorities I guess.

Good writing.