Well it's been a long time since I posted anything on this 'how to write a novel' blog. And that's mainly because of two reasons:
1) I haven't done very much in the last couple of months regarding my book - I was just glad to get it finished.
2) And when I did turn my attentions to getting my book published - writing a synopsis and a covering letter - I found the whole exercise incredibly difficult. I wrote thousands of words probably just trying to express what my book was about. And when I succeeded I found out that it wasn't the type of info. a book synopsis requires.
Anyway, I've now written my synopsis (and covering letter) and will send them to two publishers tomorrow.
Publisher 1: Bluemoose Books Ltd - this publishing company specialises in first-time writers who have something different to say, AND they're based in Hebden Bridge where the beginnings of my 'book' was first inspired. I simply have to submit my book to them.
Publisher 2: Athena Press - call it syncrhonicity if you want, but I just discovered a writer yesterday called Ha, Spirit who's motivation for writing matches my own. His first book - Letters to Myself - is not a novel, but it discusses similar issues to my book. That's good enough for me - Athena Press it is for publisher #2.
And we shall see what we shall see, as they say!
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
FINISHED!
WRITER'S LOG: Jan 24th, 2008
Yes, I've finished my final draft of my book. Yippee! And, even more importantly, I've decided I like the book again (some of the early chapters are weak, that's all).
After working on it all day every day from Monday to today - which means I didn't do any 'work' - I have finally got to the last page, more or less satisfied! And it's a great, great feeling.
I know that there's more work to be done - a little tidy here, a little tidy there - but I can knock that off in a few days, for sure! Now I have to find a publisher. That's the next job!
Anyway, to all those people who are following my progress here (haha! - that's no one, then!), I feel good. Ecstatic, even! (And also relieved). Time for a beer. And then...
Onwards!...
Yes, I've finished my final draft of my book. Yippee! And, even more importantly, I've decided I like the book again (some of the early chapters are weak, that's all).
After working on it all day every day from Monday to today - which means I didn't do any 'work' - I have finally got to the last page, more or less satisfied! And it's a great, great feeling.
I know that there's more work to be done - a little tidy here, a little tidy there - but I can knock that off in a few days, for sure! Now I have to find a publisher. That's the next job!
Anyway, to all those people who are following my progress here (haha! - that's no one, then!), I feel good. Ecstatic, even! (And also relieved). Time for a beer. And then...
Onwards!...
Monday, January 21, 2008
WRITER'S LOG: Jan 21st, 2008
I wrote this on a scrap of paper at 4pm, today:
"My mind has gone numb today, numb to words. And I have another hour to do. Another several days revision to do, actually."
It was quite strange. After spending a whole morning and a few hours this afternoon working on the latest version of my manuscript my brain seemed to seize up, literally. It was quite discomfiting. I really feel like I'm running out of steam when it comes to making further revisions to my writing. And that's a depressing thought.
I'm also having serious doubts as to the seriousness of what I've spent a whole year working on. (This was not helped by all the errors I found in the latest draft - see below.)
Hopefully, these doubts will pass. (Today is meant to be the saddest day of the year, after all - who knows these things?) And, hopefully, the experience I've gained will help me write something serious or proper the next time.
Let's hope so.
--
WRITER'S LOG: Jan 18th, 2008
I can't believe how many 'errors' I'm finding in the latest draft of my book(*). It's so disheartening. I also can't believe how tiring it is to find the right words. And the last thing I can't is the fact that I can't do this - go through the manuscript, and revise - whilst sitting in this quiet library. I have to be able to read my manuscript out loud, for one thing, and I don't think I can work in a library for another.
So I'm going to stop. I'll go to Leeds early instead, I think, and find something else to do before I go to the cinema at 7.55pm - it's 2.37pm, now. (I'm off to watch the latest Coen Brothers' movie, No Country For an Old Man - hmm, how similar that title is to old man Kurt Vonnegut's last book, Man Without a Country.)
It's going to take me at least one week to revise this manuscript now, for sure, and even then it won't be done. (I'll have to check my revisions - another few days, at least.) I should have finished writing it by now, and be now looking for someone to publish. And I should be reading novels again after my self-imposed ban of not reading anything fictional since starting my book in January 2007. I so want to read some fiction, too, to get ideas for my next book.
Note to self: I MUST GET THIS BOOK FINISHED BY JAN 29, 2008! I must.
Nobody said it was going to be easy, I guess. Bloody annoying, though. Wish the first few pages weren't so awkward (and lame) but then (maybe) they have to be - first line jitters and all that. Vamos!
* I found 50 errors in the first 5 or so pages.
"My mind has gone numb today, numb to words. And I have another hour to do. Another several days revision to do, actually."
It was quite strange. After spending a whole morning and a few hours this afternoon working on the latest version of my manuscript my brain seemed to seize up, literally. It was quite discomfiting. I really feel like I'm running out of steam when it comes to making further revisions to my writing. And that's a depressing thought.
I'm also having serious doubts as to the seriousness of what I've spent a whole year working on. (This was not helped by all the errors I found in the latest draft - see below.)
Hopefully, these doubts will pass. (Today is meant to be the saddest day of the year, after all - who knows these things?) And, hopefully, the experience I've gained will help me write something serious or proper the next time.
Let's hope so.
--
WRITER'S LOG: Jan 18th, 2008
I can't believe how many 'errors' I'm finding in the latest draft of my book(*). It's so disheartening. I also can't believe how tiring it is to find the right words. And the last thing I can't is the fact that I can't do this - go through the manuscript, and revise - whilst sitting in this quiet library. I have to be able to read my manuscript out loud, for one thing, and I don't think I can work in a library for another.
So I'm going to stop. I'll go to Leeds early instead, I think, and find something else to do before I go to the cinema at 7.55pm - it's 2.37pm, now. (I'm off to watch the latest Coen Brothers' movie, No Country For an Old Man - hmm, how similar that title is to old man Kurt Vonnegut's last book, Man Without a Country.)
It's going to take me at least one week to revise this manuscript now, for sure, and even then it won't be done. (I'll have to check my revisions - another few days, at least.) I should have finished writing it by now, and be now looking for someone to publish. And I should be reading novels again after my self-imposed ban of not reading anything fictional since starting my book in January 2007. I so want to read some fiction, too, to get ideas for my next book.
Note to self: I MUST GET THIS BOOK FINISHED BY JAN 29, 2008! I must.
Nobody said it was going to be easy, I guess. Bloody annoying, though. Wish the first few pages weren't so awkward (and lame) but then (maybe) they have to be - first line jitters and all that. Vamos!
* I found 50 errors in the first 5 or so pages.
Monday, January 14, 2008
WRITER'S LOG: Jan 14th, 2008
"Just finished writing (and proofing) The World According to Boring John "EXTRAS" - a kind of DVD Extras edition of my main 'novel'. And it's a fabulous feeling to finally finish some part of the book that I originally started to write in January 2007.
"Admittedly, I never envisaged creating an "Extras" version of my novel in the first place - I never envisaged writing anything but a normal novel, for that matter - but that's where the creative process took me, I guess.
"I'm hoping that the "Extras" ebook (not even sure how I should refer to it) will work as both extras and sampler - the ebook really does give a flavour of the book. I'm hoping that people will download the free ebook, read it, make comments, and then be interested in reading the main book, when (if) it gets published.
"That's what I'm hoping, anyway.
"Maybe it might even help get my main book published - who knows?
"I do like the idea of a DVD Extras for books. And, in this electronic age that we live in, I really think 'book extras' will take off. (They could contain alternate endings, examples of prose before it was reworked fifty times, material that didn't make the cut, etc., And they'd always be available for free, online, to download. (Note: this is exactly how the Boring John EXTRAS 'work', by the way, both in content and how that content is delivered.) )
"I Wonder what name 'book extras' will be given, if any. Hmm, maybe The Extras Edition of [book name goes here]. We shall see."
END
Note: This is the first entry of the Writer's Log to appear in this Write a First Novel blog. Previous journal entries detailing my progress in writing my first book (now called The World According to Boring John) were first written on paper (all entries prior to this one, now appear in the "Extras" ebook talked about above.
The Writer's Log that I started in early 2007, some of which appears in The World According to Boring John, is the main reason why this blog has had few entries in 2007. It was just easier to write about what was happening as regards the writing of my first book with pen and paper.
The Writer's Log will probably now just blend into this blog. Maybe. Just look for items labelled Writer's Log to find out, I guess.
"Admittedly, I never envisaged creating an "Extras" version of my novel in the first place - I never envisaged writing anything but a normal novel, for that matter - but that's where the creative process took me, I guess.
"I'm hoping that the "Extras" ebook (not even sure how I should refer to it) will work as both extras and sampler - the ebook really does give a flavour of the book. I'm hoping that people will download the free ebook, read it, make comments, and then be interested in reading the main book, when (if) it gets published.
"That's what I'm hoping, anyway.
"Maybe it might even help get my main book published - who knows?
"I do like the idea of a DVD Extras for books. And, in this electronic age that we live in, I really think 'book extras' will take off. (They could contain alternate endings, examples of prose before it was reworked fifty times, material that didn't make the cut, etc., And they'd always be available for free, online, to download. (Note: this is exactly how the Boring John EXTRAS 'work', by the way, both in content and how that content is delivered.) )
"I Wonder what name 'book extras' will be given, if any. Hmm, maybe The Extras Edition of [book name goes here]. We shall see."
END
Note: This is the first entry of the Writer's Log to appear in this Write a First Novel blog. Previous journal entries detailing my progress in writing my first book (now called The World According to Boring John) were first written on paper (all entries prior to this one, now appear in the "Extras" ebook talked about above.
The Writer's Log that I started in early 2007, some of which appears in The World According to Boring John, is the main reason why this blog has had few entries in 2007. It was just easier to write about what was happening as regards the writing of my first book with pen and paper.
The Writer's Log will probably now just blend into this blog. Maybe. Just look for items labelled Writer's Log to find out, I guess.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Post-script
This blog has not included as much of this year's writing process as I had initially intended it to.
And that is partly because the very book I wrote is about the book-writing process. So, a lot of what I would have written here actually appears in the book, from the perspective of my main character.
Also, beginner that I am, I found it difficult to write a book and also put my energies into this blog. (The other blog benefitted a good deal, though, as it became an extension to the main character's world.)
Anyway, that's my excuse for this blog to have a piddly few entries in the last few months.
And that is partly because the very book I wrote is about the book-writing process. So, a lot of what I would have written here actually appears in the book, from the perspective of my main character.
Also, beginner that I am, I found it difficult to write a book and also put my energies into this blog. (The other blog benefitted a good deal, though, as it became an extension to the main character's world.)
Anyway, that's my excuse for this blog to have a piddly few entries in the last few months.
Third Draft Finished
Finished the latest draft of my book, complete with some efforts at typesetting etc. on Nov 23rd.
Since then I've been reading Rachael Stock's excellent and informative The Insider's Guide to Getting Your Book Published. And, I've just bought The Writer's and Artist's Yearbook (2008).
So, I have absolutely no excuses to not:
It's essentially a research and writing exercise. An an exercise in patience. As well as a test of self-belief.
Still, it doesn't matter (really!) if the book I've started doesn't get published, as the main benefit of writing has given me the impetus (and confidence) to start another one in July 2008.
Since then I've been reading Rachael Stock's excellent and informative The Insider's Guide to Getting Your Book Published. And, I've just bought The Writer's and Artist's Yearbook (2008).
So, I have absolutely no excuses to not:
- Finding a publisher, or agent
- Finding more - creating a shortlist
- Writing a proposal
- Sending that proposal to my favoured publisher or agent
- Repeating step 4. until someone says, metaphorically of course, "Mr Delmonte - He say yes!"
It's essentially a research and writing exercise. An an exercise in patience. As well as a test of self-belief.
Still, it doesn't matter (really!) if the book I've started doesn't get published, as the main benefit of writing has given me the impetus (and confidence) to start another one in July 2008.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Second Draft Finished...
Or is that the third draft? I have lost count.
(It is the third draft. It's official. This is the second draft being finished.)
And I certainly have not been updating this blog - how I wrote my first novel - at all. I think I've found it too difficult to put energy into my writing, and into this blog. But I have been writing daily thoughts throughout the ebb and flow of the revision process.
I actually finished the second/third draft two weeks ago, and now I'm on a break from the words so that I am more able to revise them (again) with a fresh perspective. I could be doing research into finding a book publisher, or writing my query letters or doing whatever else I'm supposed to be doing to get my finished book published, but I don't want to just yet. As it's my first ever book I'm going to indulge myself a little - I shall concern myself with publishing once I'm "one more draft"-happy with the book.
Anyway, it felt great to finish the hardest rewrite so far - absolutely great. I really can't imagine how good it will feel to actually "finish" the book, let alone have the book published. My! My oh my - the thought of it.
Anyway, the one thing I do appreciate more now is just how much work goes into writing a book, even a crappy one by [author's name removed] :-)
(It is the third draft. It's official. This is the second draft being finished.)
And I certainly have not been updating this blog - how I wrote my first novel - at all. I think I've found it too difficult to put energy into my writing, and into this blog. But I have been writing daily thoughts throughout the ebb and flow of the revision process.
I actually finished the second/third draft two weeks ago, and now I'm on a break from the words so that I am more able to revise them (again) with a fresh perspective. I could be doing research into finding a book publisher, or writing my query letters or doing whatever else I'm supposed to be doing to get my finished book published, but I don't want to just yet. As it's my first ever book I'm going to indulge myself a little - I shall concern myself with publishing once I'm "one more draft"-happy with the book.
Anyway, it felt great to finish the hardest rewrite so far - absolutely great. I really can't imagine how good it will feel to actually "finish" the book, let alone have the book published. My! My oh my - the thought of it.
Anyway, the one thing I do appreciate more now is just how much work goes into writing a book, even a crappy one by [author's name removed] :-)
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