Many people have told me that it is their life long ambition to become an author; it is something they constantly dream about. Well let me tell you, if you just dream, it won’t happen. You’ve got to make it happen. You can’t ride a bicycle without learning to pedal first. So if you want to write, pick up a pen. Just do it!

“Eighty percent of success is showing up” - Woody Allen

I have to confess that I did not have a lifelong ambition to be an author. In fact, knowing several people who are published authors had quite the opposite effect on me. I found their constant obsession with their own writing, the way it completely took over their lives,  and their continual need to inflict it on everyone they knew by reading aloud the latest draft chapter – frankly quite boring! So I resisted for some considerable time and it was eventually a casually issued challenge (by my husband) that spurred me on. He bet my £5 that I couldn’t write a novel and have it published. I can never resist a challenge so I picked up my pen! Actually, it was a laptop but same difference!

“When the itch of literature comes over a man, nothing can cure it but the  scratching of a pen” – Samuel Lover.

Incidentally, I never did get the £5, even though I am published. Hmmmm! Some things never change!

“What’s money? A man (or woman) is a succes if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do” –  Bob Dylan.

Tips:

You need to start with a storyline! That sounds basic and isn’t meant to be condescending because you do need to have an outline of what you want to write about,  in your head.

“Writing a book is an adventure. to begin with it’s a toy and amusement. Then it becomes a mistress, then it becomes a master, then it becomes a tyrant. The last phase is that just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill your monster and fling him out to the public.” – Winston Churchill.

Work out roughly what you want to include in each chapter – and how you are going to reveal your plot. Are you going to move forwards and backwards or tell the tale in a linear fashion?

“The story is not in the plot but in the telling” – Ursula K LeGuin.

Sex sells! Predictable and shallow aren’t we?!

“Literature is all, or mostly, about sex” – Anthony Burgess.

Write about something that interests you – because if it doesn’t interest you then it is unlikely to interest others.

“Write what you want to read. The person you know best in this wolrd is you. Listen to yourself. If you are excited by what you are writing, yo have a much better chance of putting that excitement over to the reader” – Robert McKinley.

Have confidence in your own writing voice – don’t try to emulate anyone else. Your writing voice is what will make your writing unique. Be authentic, be yourself. I felt self conscious at first, almost embarrassed – I didn’t tell anyone I was writing in case they laughed or I didn’t see the task through.  When I had completed my first novel I initially considered publishing it under a pseudonym in case people thought it was rubbish. I cannot tell you how wonderful the reviews and feedback have made me feel. I now feel free to write whatever I want. I have found my own voice and am confident enough to use it.

 ”If you’re not failing every now and again, it’s a sign you’re not doing anything very innovative” – Woody Allen

Draw on yout own experiences of life (especially when writing your first novel) because it will add verisimiltude to your writing. It doesn’t need to be blow by blow accounts of your own adventures or people you have known – but recalling how you felt yourself in a specific situation, or how others reacted to you, or how you handled a particular life event - can all help create a fully rounded set of characters. I included my own knowledge and experience with Cancer (specifically Chondrosarcoma), bereavement and the world of UK estate agency – and of course my love for, and knowledge about New York. Interestingly I have found that when I am writing, the characters become so real to me that I can guess at what they would do, or how they would react in any given situation.

“First find out what your hero wants. Then just follow him” – Ray Bradbury.

You need to know the facts. But, and it’s a big BUT – how lucky are the writers of today with the internet at their fingertips? I never write without the internet connected and you would be amazed at how often I research the smallest of facts. For instance in one of the chapters of “A Curious State of Affairs“ I needed to know the exact opening times of a specific shop on Fifth Avenue, New York -  I located the information in seconds. Google is a marvelous tool and the internet a wealth of knowledge!

“Nothing leads so straight to futility as literary ambitions without systematic knowledge” – H G Wells.

Always carry a note book around with you so you can jot down ideas. I frequently have to pull into a layby whilst driving because whole chapters of my latest novel form in my head and I am afraid I won’t recall them in enough detail later. I also sleep with a note pad by the bed – and frequently dream whole chapters.

“If the doctor told me I had six minutes to live, I’d type a little faster” – Isaac Asimov.

Think about who you want the book to appeal to – who is your target reader? What will they want to read about or know?

Those who write clearly have readers. Those who write obscurely have commentators” Albert Camus.

Set aside the time to write and once allocated don’t let anything or anyone get in the way of your writing time. Expect to become obsessive – I frequently write until the early hours of the morning and have to literally drag myself away from the computer.

“When my horse is running good, I don’t stop to give him sugar” – William Faulkner.

Don’t give up! Authors really do get writer’s block. In fact my third novel is about an author who gets writer’s block and devises an unusual way of overcoming it!

“Failure? I never encountered it. All I ever met were temporary setbacks.” – Dottie Walters

Revisit, correct, proof read, edit, edit, edit.

“The only one who doesn’t make mistakes is the one who doen’t do anyhting.”  V I Lenin.

Worry about gettting it published AFTER you’ve written it!

“I have written – often several times – every word I have ever published” – Vladimir Nabokov.

Criticism: expect it – good and bad!

“I think I did pretty well, considering I started out with nothing but a bunch of blank paper” – Steve Martin.

“The secret of writing is to write, write and keep on writing” - Ken MacLeod.

MY NOVEL:  “A CURIOUS STATE OF AFFAIRS“  by Jan Marshall ISBN 1-84685-454-7

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