Writing fast is a necessity for most pro writers. Books mean income to pay the bills. But if you’re not a full-time author yet, does it matter how long it takes to write your book? In this guest post, Ollin Morales from Courage to Create explores why longer might just be better.

As I begin my third year of writing my first novel, I’m noticing that some of my friends and family are starting to get antsy.

“So is it finished?” they ask. “How much longer? Can I read it yet? So, what’s next the next step? Can you tell us what it’s about already?”

When I get asked these types of questions, I just smile and answer:

“Relax. Be patient. I’m just taking it a step at a time.”

But I understand their anxiety. Two years is already a lot of time to work on a novel, and those who haven’t written a novel don’t quite understand just how long the process could end up taking a person.

It’s even true that there are some in the writing community who believe that you should be able to churn out a novel after only a few months, or even after only a few weeks.

But I would say that I respectfully disagree with this approach.

In fact, not only do I disagree with the fast-and-hard approach to novel writing, but I also believe that there are several hidden benefits to writing “slowly”—benefits that people might be overlooking.

Benefit #1: You get to enjoy the process

I can’t imagine the stress I’d have to put myself under in order to get a book done in under a few weeks. Or how it would be to have to write with an eye constantly on the bottom line, while another eye is stuck on the increasingly mercurial publishing industry.

Part of the reason I write “slower” than most is because I want to love the writing process.

Oh yeah. I want to have a friggin’ romantic affair with my novel. I want champagne and roses and a stunning vista in Paris whenever my novel and me get together. I don’t want a long, dreary, cumbersome marriage where both me and my novel have resentment and bitterness packed into our hearts–until it all blows up one day in a shocking revelation of infidelity and a speedy divorce.

Call me crazy, but that’s why I opted for Writer and not Lawyer or Doctor or some other career that I didn’t love or am passionate about.

Why sacrifice and risk so much for a dream, if I’m going to be miserable the entire time?
Isn’t the point of a dream the fact that you get to enjoy it, and can avoid having a panic attack every fifteen minutes?

Listen: I know the book will be done when it gets done. Other than that, I don’t have to worry. I will simply allow myself to enjoy the process in the meantime.

And I’m cool with that.

Benefit #2: It sets you up for success

Writing slowly makes it possible for me to make absolutely sure that the book I write is the best it can be before I send it off to be considered for agents and publishers. Rushing through the work, and not being careful, puts me at risk of failure in the end. But by going “slow and steady,” I can make absolutely sure that I’ve covered all my bases, dotted all my “i’s,” crossed all my “t’s,” and did everything I could possibly do to make the work whole before it lands in someone else’s hands.

Writing “slowly” means that I’ll feel very confident and at ease when the book is in someone else’s care. Writing “slowly” also means that I’ll have no regrets that I tried my best to make the book a success.

Benefit #3: It releases some of the pressure

I’m very lucky in that this is my first book–not my second or third. So I don’t feel any pressure to live up to anyone else’s expectations. Nor do I feel the pressure to write a book that will produce the same amount of income a previous book has made.

The downside to this is that the future is much more open and uncertain for me—and that’s already nerve-wracking enough.

So, why add any more pressure to myself by adding a short, speedy deadline when no one else but me is around to give me such a deadline?

No, I’d rather give myself a break by allotting more time to do the work.

Benefit #4: It let’s you make sure that life doesn’t “pass you by” in the process

I could imagine that if you were rushing to get the work done, you would HAVE to make huge sacrifices in your social life. You might even have to cut off yourself from friends and family for long periods of time.

I guess I could see how this approach might be favorable to a writer who’s incredibly impatient, and who doesn’t mind being a loner, but, for me, I’ve found that isolating myself from the outside world for long periods of time affects my mood, my health–and all of that affects my writing negatively.

My writing suffers if I shut myself off from the world for a long time. My life suffers, too. And forgive me for not giving my life over to complete and utter servitude to my novel. (My novel doesn’t deserve that much of me. Nobody does.) I just don’t want life to pass me by while I’m busy trying to rush through the work.

I mean what’s the rush? I’m not dying.

I am a firm believer that you don’t have to choose between living a great life and writing a great novel–you can do both. Simultaneously. Okay, yes, the downside of attempting to do this means that the entire process will last a bit longer.

But, you know, I think it’s worth it. What’s more, I think this balanced, holistic approach to writing ends up being reflected in your work: you may be surprised to find that not writing all the time makes your writing better, not worse.

Benefit #5: It let’s you honor your purpose

The novel I’m working on features a cast of all-Latino characters. The fantasy world these characters inhabit is based on Mexican-American history, culture and mythology. I hope that this story will help fill a void that exists in mainstream literature.

I know that if I don’t make an effort to bring more Latino characters and stories into the mainstream, no one else will. This is why honoring the purpose behind my novel is the prime motivation for me writing the novel—and it’s also the reason I’m taking my “sweet” time with it.

As you can imagine, I feel a great responsibility to do the book justice. I want to make sure I “get it right.” I want the book to be as stellar of a portrait of my community as it can be. Writing “slowly” allows me to honor this purpose.

Fulfilling the purpose of the novel is going to take a lot of time, energy, and patience on my part. But I also think this is exactly what makes sacrificing and working so hard on a dream worth it in the end.

Because, in the end, I would rather work slowly to make a great dream come true than work quickly to make a mediocre come to pass. I’d rather honor the long-term purpose behind my work than sacrifice that purpose for some short-term gain.
Ollin Morales is a writer and a blogger. {Courage 2 Create} chronicles the author’s journey as he writes his first novel. This blog offers writing advice as well as strategies to deal with life’s toughest challenges.

Top image: Flickr CC GC Photography

What do you think? Are there hidden benefits to writing slowly? Or do you disagree with me, and think that writing quickly can create quality work as well?
Please share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

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I used Scrivener for my latest book, Prophecy. It’s been a truly life-changing experience after the dreadful cutting and pasting process in MS Word that plagued my last novel, Pentecost. I am now entirely converted and am also an evangelist for the product.

I used Scrivener happily without reading the Help (because I hate reading the Help) but then I found David Hewson’s ‘Writing a Novel with Scrivener‘ which I highly recommend. It will convert you and make your writing life a whole lot easier, I promise!

Here are 3 reasons you should be using Scrivener (which is on Mac and PC now so you have no excuse.) It’s just US$49 and you can use it for all your books, fiction and non-fiction as well as academic publications and loads more. No, I’m not an affiliate but I truly do believe in the product!

(1) You can write in scenes then drag and drop to re-order.

If this was the only feature of Scrivener, it would still be enough for me!

I write in sporadic scenes, not in a linear fashion so the final scene is often one of the first I write. I’m already plotting novel #3 and have maybe 5 scenes I could set down right now, but I wouldn’t have a clue where they go in the story yet.

So for the Prophecy work in progress I had all these scenes but it was only in the 2nd edit that I decided on the order they needed to go in. Scrivener makes it easy to drag and drop the scenes to re-order the scenes. There’s no cutting and pasting and no huge Word files to manipulate.

I also like the cork-board view of the scenes. If you use index cards, you’ll be at home here!

(2) Auto-create Kindle and ePub files.

This is a game-changer.

Compiling for .mobi

You can now create your own ebooks by compiling and exporting from Scrivener which is under $50, which once paid you can use over and over again. You obviously need to check your created files carefully but for plain text novels with little complications, this is a no-brainer.

I still recommend using professional formatters if you have complicated books or lots of images, but for basic books, you can just use Scrivener. This is also great for providing files to beta-readers and for reviewing your book in the way many will now consume it. You can also export to Doc and other formats including Latex if you want to format in more complicated ways.

The point behind Scrivener is that book length works can be complicated and easier to write in chunks, but when you want to submit them you need it in one document. Scrivener compiles them based on how you have structured your Parts/ Chapters/ Scenes and also by how you define the compile and export settings. There are preset defaults but you can also customize, and there are lots of helpful videos and a forum in case you have trouble.

I have just added a video to my Ebook Publishing mini-course that shows you how to do this if you’re interested in more detail.

(3) Project Binders can also hold notes, research, pictures and more so you have one place for the whole ecosystem of your book

There is one manuscript/draft folder within your Scrivener project and then there are other folders which aren’t compiled into the final document. You can use these for research or for character sketches, for pictures and other associated media as well as pasting scenes you don’t know what to do with (I do that a lot).

You can also split the screen while you are writing so you can reference the notes at the same time as writing text. I use a great deal of art history in my books so having the painting or image in the split screen is useful so I get the details right.

One memorable image is the Escher print of angels and demons (shown right) which is on the wall of a character’s study. It was great to be able to see it on the page as I wrote.

Using Scrivener for my own novel, Prophecy

My own process for Prophecy has been as follows:

* Write first draft scenes in Write Or Die or Pages app on the iPad which I use for writing in the library and out of the house. I have found this the most effective way to write fiction now since my home office is orientated towards podcasts, interviews, videos, product creation and the business of The Creative Penn. I need a different space for making stuff up.

* Paste the scenes into Scrivener and move them around as well as revise scene by scene within the program. It’s easier to revise on bite-size chunks like scenes.

* At the end of every day, compile and export a .doc file which I email to myself on Gmail so I always have a backup of my work. Gmail is online storage so you’ll always be able to find this again. I also back on an external hard-drive and monthly on Amazon S3 cloud storage (paranoid, me??)

* After the first draft is completed, I compile the full .doc and print it out. Read, scribble, self-edit, destroy, rework. Write some more scenes and fill in the blanks.

* Edit full 2nd draft on Scrivener and repeat print and self-edit, then repeat print and self-edit until satisfied

* When I’m finally happy with the draft, I distribute to my editor to review and provide feedback. Then I make changes and send to beta readers.

* Make changes on Scrivener and compile for the final time and output for Kindle and submission to Smashwords.

Once you have the master project saved, you can always go back and make any changes and recompile. It’s a brilliant system and I am definitely going to keep using Scrivener. I can’t imagine writing without it now and in 2012, I will also be revising my non-fiction work using it too.

Are you a Scrivener convert? Do you have any questions about it?

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Author 2.0 encapsulates the spirit of empowerment to create, publish, sell and promote with the amazing online tools available today.

I wrote the original Author 2.0 Blueprint over 2 years ago and things have changed a lot since then.

I have sporadically updated it but now I have rewritten 95% of it to create a 52 page ebook packed with useful information on writing, publishing and book marketing.

The Blueprint is entirely free so please download and use whatever part of it resonates with you.

It’s based on articles on the blog as well as information from other blogs. I link to many of the sites I personally find useful and I recommend further resources, some free and some paid, if you want to continue your research further.

Since The Creative Penn is a business these days, there are links to my own courses and affiliate links to others, but all of it is based on what I have found useful myself. I still aim to save you time, money and heartache on the writer’s journey, so I hope you find it useful.

You can download the new version here => Author 2.0 Blueprint 2012 Edition

It’s a PDF and if you’re having problems, please use Adobe Reader which is freely downloadable here.

You can also read on Scribd.com here or have a look below.

Author 2.0 Blueprint: Writing, Publishing and Book Marketing using online tools (2012 version)

It is Creative Commons licensed so please email it to people who might find it useful, embed it on your own site or use excerpts of it – as long as you don’t use it commercially and you cite TheCreativePenn.com as the source.

This has been emailed to everyone already on my list and anyone who signs up to the newsletter on the right will get the new Blueprint.

Please do let me know what you think in the comments below, or by email: joanna AT TheCreativePenn.com

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February is already in sight and perhaps you set ambitious goals for 2012 as I did. Are they feeling a little too much right now? Today’s guest post from novelist and writing coach C. S. Lakin will help you break it down.

Sometimes the writing journey feels overwhelming.

There aren’t enough hours in the day to accomplish the mind-boggling amount of things we writers feel must get done in order to grow not just as writers but in order to establish our place in the publishing world.

Years ago, all an author had to do was write a book and send it off to a publisher (one handwritten copy at a time!), and if her manuscript was accepted, the publisher did all the work of publishing and promoting. Now, authors have to be writer, marketer, publicist—and sometimes publisher—in order to make strides to become known and to have their books sold and distributed.

And still, after long hours each week applying ourselves to so many career-promoting tasks, we may feel frustrated and unsure whether we’ve accomplished anything at all. And our books? Well, sometimes we don’t even have time to write, it seems.

We also set huge goals at new year and sometimes these can also add to the overwhelm. So I’d like to recommend a few helpful writing related goals that will help you achieve your broader goals.

(1) Try some new plotting and structuring techniques on your WIP or next project

I am always trying to stretch myself with each new novel, trying out new techniques, new ways to plot, structure, and organize my ideas. For many of my novels I used index cards for scenes. I’ve created character flow charts, character arc charts. For my last novel, Intended for Harm, I used six large pieces of poster board and used Post-It notes for the scenes. These are all ideas I got from other writers—either from their workshops or from books on the writing craft. If it’s in your plans to write a new book this year, think about stretching yourself and forging into new territory.

(2) Try to attend at least one writers’ conference

I was given the advice to attend a writers’ conference seven years ago. I had attended a few here and there over the years, but this time I planned carefully which one to attend. I couldn’t afford to go to many, so picked the one where I knew I could learn a lot on the writing craft. To my surprise, the author who made this suggestion said that not only did she receive an offer of a publishing contract at a conference, but that’s how all her author friends got published. Really?

Well, six years later and after having contracted eight of my novels with mainstream publishers by attending writers’ conferences and pitching there, I can also say that nearly all my writer friends who have gotten contracts or signed with an agent did so through pitching at a writers’ conference. I wish someone had told me this twenty years ago when I started out.

This is the best piece of advice I can give you for the New Year, for it has twofold benefits—giving you the opportunity to hone your writing by taking classes and the chance to pitch your book (either idea or finished novel) to agents and publishers. Even if you’re not ready to submit, chatting about your story and perfecting your pitch is extremely helpful.

(3) Pick one weak point in your writing and focus on that

We can become overwhelmed when we think of all the weak aspects of our writing. Surely there is room for improvement on so many fronts, and with lots of rejections we can become disheartened and feel like quitting. Make it a point to focus on just one element of your writing that you are weakest in and see how you can improve that this year. Athletes will spend 80% of their time working on the 10% or 20% areas they are weakest in. We should do the same. And when you see improvement, you will feel encouraged.

(4) Find (or keep and appreciate!) at least one good critique partner

If you have someone who really gives you honest, helpful feedback, that’s a great joy and aid to your writing. You can set them up as an accountability partner, too, if you tend to procrastinate. One author friend agreed to do this with me, and each week we sent one new chapter for the other to edit and critique. This keeps you writing and on target for finishing a manuscript. You can find critique partners through online writers’ groups and organizations, and again, by attending a writers’ conference and hooking up with someone you feel a good connection with. I treasure my critique partners.

(5) Apply yourself to becoming a better master of your language

As a professional copyeditor and writing coach, it stands to reason that I’m going to suggest this. I can’t overemphasize how much your writing will improve if you learn some good grammar and editing techniques. So many published authors aren’t great with grammar, spelling, and punctuation. They may feel that’s not their concern—trusting the proofreader at their publishing house will catch and fix all the errors. But my feeling is that when you work hard to write better and more accurately—learning just where commas must go, when to use hyphens or italics, and how to properly punctuate dialogue—your writing will improve. When you’re not hindered by these things you don’t know how to do, you can focus on writing beautiful sentences and creating powerful imagery. It’s not a waste of time to learn to master the handling of the English language.

Challenge yourself to improve your writing chops. It will show in your writing, and the agents and editors who read your work will see you in a better light. Editors love seeing their authors prepare error-free manuscripts. I wish you all a joyful and productive (and hopefully stress-free) New Year full of writing!

C. S. Lakin is a novelist and professional copyeditor and writing coach. She specializes in editing and manuscript critiques for book publishers, literary agents, and individuals. She has a seven-book fantasy series for adults with AMG/Living Ink and her novel Someone to Blame, a psychological drama/mystery, was published by Zondervan last fall. You can read about her at her website: www.cslakin.com. Connect with Susanne on Twitter (@cslakin)

Top image: iStockphoto

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I love to learn from professional authors who are making a great income from their books, so today’s interview is a treat!

Michael J. Sullivan is an award-winning epic fantasy author. Michael has experienced publishing in all its forms and is currently signed by Orbit Books with his latest book Heir of Novron out this month. [Video at the end]

• How Michael got started writing. He tried to be a writer years ago while being a stay-at-home Dad (while wife Robin was the breadwinner). After 10 years of trying to be get published, he gave up because he was repeatedly rejected. He went back into mainstream work with a publishing agency. Harry Potter inspired him. It was fun to read and kids and adults loved it. He got excited about reading genre fiction again and then started writing again. I get excited about my own story where I was blocked by literary fiction for years and now find genre fiction is (at least currently) my niche. Michael re-frames those years as learning the craft.

• On epic fantasy as a genre. Fantasy has elements that really can’t exist. Science fiction is things that could happen vs. fantasy. They fall under speculative fiction which also contains horror. Epic fantasy is about scope and in most fantasy books, there are political aspects, history, religion described for whole new worlds. Fantasy is doing well because of the popular films of The Lord of the Rings and also the Harry Potter books. George RR Martin was also put onto TV so people who didn’t use to read fantasy are now reading it.

• Is fantasy a male dominated market? In general, yes. But a lot of epic fantasy written by women might not be classified as such because of the perception. I’m still considering changing my writing name for my thrillers to see if it makes a difference.

• Tips for writing fantasy. Mine history and use it in your books. Mix and match e.g. take Chinese history and bring it into the present. What would have happened if the US had taken over England instead of the other way around? It gives a certain sense of place and legitimacy if you base it on history. Writers have a tendency to create a lot but you don’t need to include all the detail in your book. You need the backstory for yourself but the reader will get a sense of depth even if you don’t include it all.

• On fantasy word count. It just seems to be genre rule that books are long. Michael’s are only 100 – 160,000 words and actually his publisher has put them together to make them longer.

• On what an author needs to know if they want to make a living as a writer. Don’t write in a vacuum. Learn from other writers and understand the craft. Write a good book, something that you want to read. Don’t write like someone else. Break down the aspects of what you like and write to that. Writing in a genre is also good as it is popular/ commercial. If you want to sell, then you have a market ready for you. Write a series as well because you pick up readers over time. If you want to make a living, you need to be prolific and have a number of books. You also have to market, that’s the reality of the writer’s life these days! If you want people to read it, you need to let people know it’s available.

• Being prolific and writing fast doesn’t mean the quality is bad. Even traditional publishers expect more than one book per year. The number of books you have out there is a huge marketing tool. Self-publishers can do things faster than traditional as you can bypass the overheads. Quality is not reflected in speed. A lot of people are not just writing, people have day jobs so it takes longer. If you’re writing full-time, you can get the words down and out there. Some writers are also polishing forever and never getting the books out there. Quality should be judged on how many people are buying it.

• Life as a pro-writer. Michael writes in the morning as many authors do. Then in the afternoon, he does the admin side/ interviews/chores/blogging/errands etc. A lot of the work is also thinking and that can happen all the time. You do work a lot of hours but people only give you credit for the time typing!

• On publishing. Michael has done self-publishing, small press and mainstream publishing. It depends on what you want for you and your book. Most authors don’t really know what they want. Do you want money and fame? Yes. Do you want absolute control over your book? Yes. Well, you can’t have everything. So decide what you want and go from there. There are pros and cons each way. Michael has to sell a lot more books to make comparatively little money with traditional publishing. But he had already sold a lot through indie so this is a new way to reach people and new goals for the books. He’s getting repeated buzz and access to new opportunities. Michael got his deal through an agent who was able to leverage the existing sales. Showing sales figures meant that the publishers were more interested. I’m interested in this from my own point of view with a series that is selling already.

• I previously interviewed Michael’s wife, Robin Sullivan on 6 figure indie publishing which is another great interview

You can find Michael at his site Riyria.com and his books on Amazon and other online bookstores.

They are fun adventure fantasy books. Two thieves are hired to steal a sword and instead they find the murdered body of the King. The books are their adventures as they find a conspiracy that extends over the course of 6 books.

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Do you write every day? Do you obsess about word count?

Personally, I have word counts for the days I have planned to write fiction and I achieve that word count when I set it. I don’t have word counts on business days. We all have our ways of working and in today’s guest post, author Curtis Hox talks about his.

Here’s a scenario: you’ve finally decided to start a writing project. A novel, of course. Maybe even the great American novel. You sit down and stare at that blank screen. Then what?

Even for many seasoned writers, the fear of starting can cause anxiety. Getting over that anxiety then presents a whole series of obstacles. One, in particular, comes up again and again in writing workshops: how do I find my groove and keep it?

Professionals have been telling us how to write since Aristotle’s Poetics.

A quick look through any fiction writing monograph and you’ll see a plethora of advice . You’ll often hear the ambiguous “Write what you know,” which must seem odd for fantasists, down to Elmore Leonard’s supremely practical ten rules for writing (my favorite: “10. Try to leave out the parts that readers tend to skip”).

I’ll add one more pebble to the mountain of advice. The technique that always, no matter what, helped me was to set a very simple writing schedule for myself and stick to it. No matter what.

I used to use a large paper desk calendar, the type with the big squares (I now use Google calendar). I always gave myself a small word count (i.e. five hundred words) in the beginning.  I would write immediately after I breakfast. I would then sit at my computer until the words came. No internet. No books. Just the blank screen. And the hardest part? You have to stare at it.

I believe there’s something enthralling about this process. Literally. Of course you will often fiddle, play with your keys, toss something up in the air, sing a song, or talk to your dog. But at some point you find yourself staring … and thinking. Then the mind clicks over and an image pops in your head, maybe a scene, some dialog. Something comes and the narrative starts to flow.

Now you’re in it.

Of course, the staring is just a metaphor. My first novel, I spent half the time on the floor tossing a ball up and down. It functioned the same way as staring: it was a mechanism to set my mind right.

When I’m done with the daily session, I write in my calendar how many words I completed for that session. I find that for the first two weeks, it’s rough going. Then, I suddenly am writing for longer than expected. And the word count increases. Of course, if you’re limited to only an hour of writing a session, you’re limited.

I find that if I have the time I can easily hit 2K words a session (usually two words for me). Of course, we all write different types of prose. Some writers have diarrhea mouth and must excise material during revisions. Other like me tend to leave things out and fill in the end.

Bottom line: get your word count in, whatever that number is.

Now, there are plenty of philosophical romantics out there who say this technique is much too machine-like, that true inspiration comes when it comes and you can’t force it. I’d like to hear an Olympic athlete say this on those cold morning when he or she has to get up and go run in the rain. It will sound like the excuse it is.

Writing is exercising the brain. It’s a habit. And it needs to be used. The words you put down may not always be your best. In those instances the writing session is like a free-writing exercise, which does wonders for the subconscious. Amazing insights often bubble up, even if the prose is crap.

Of course, this is a technique to get your butt in a chair and words on a page. I admit it’s a very blue-collar approach. But, hey, if you don’t like sitting in a room by yourself, spinning stories, find something else to do because this gig can, often, is a labor of love.

I scribble contemporary science fantasy novels. I’m interested in the process of indie publishing and writing, plus a whole bunch of technoscience stuff. This article was written for the Creative Penn as part of the 2012 blog tour launch of Bleedover, my debut novel as an indie author. For more information visit www.curtishox.com.

In addition to Curtis’ post, here’s some additional information people keep asking me about word count.

How many words is a book?

It’s a terrible answer, but it varies by genre and increasingly by means of publishing. At the top end, fantasy books can weight in at 120,000 – 150,000. Fast paced thrillers like James Patterson can be 70,000 – 90,000. Romance can be 50,000.

Then there’s a novella at 25,000 – 40,000 which is becoming more popular with ebooks.

Remember that your first draft will need editing. Stephen King recommends cutting 10% every edit, so if you want a book of 90,000 words, write 100,000.

What’s the best word count tool for my blog?

I’ve been using this word count tool. It’s easy to use. You just put in your current number and your goal and it gives you some HTML to post on your blog. I use this on the sidebar at my fiction blog JoannaPenn.com (which I am in the middle of a WIP anyway)

What do you think about word count goals and targets?

Top Image: Flickr Creative Commons

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One of the reasons I moved back to London from Australia was the density of cultural treasures in this area of the world.

My muse is European and I find my inspiration in art, architecture and culture. They feature heavily in my novels Pentecost and Prophecy.

London’s National Gallery is currently hosting a Leonardo Da Vinci exhibition; Painter at the Court of Milan and last night I went to see it. As I walked around and read his own words, the similarities between visual art and writing became more apparent.

1) Creation of a idealized world.

Leonardo’s finished paintings were often not direct pictures of the real world. They were improvements or allegories or portrayal of myth and story. Our writing is often the same. We take aspects of the world and knit them together to create hyper-reality, or we twist things, enhance aspects or disguise them. From the words of Leonardo himself, “If the painter wishes to see beauties that would enrapture him, he is master of their production; and if he wishes to see monstrous things…he is their Lord and God…in fact, therefore, whatever there is in the Universe through essence, presence or imagination, he has it first in his mind and then in his hands.”

2) Practice is critical.

I found the practice and study sketches to be the most fascinating part of the exhibition. Leonardo studied anatomy in great detail and sketched parts of the body he was trying to perfect for the finished product. The folded hands, the intricate pattern of the skull, the ermine’s paw – all these are sketched for practice and understanding before the finished work is made. In turn, we must practice aspects of the craft – dialogue, character description, setting, point of view. We practice and then later refine our work for the finished product.

3) Character creation

This quote from Leonardo’s diaries caught my eye. “When you make a figure, think well about what it is and what you want it do and see that the work is in keeping with the figure’s aim and character.” In painting as much as in writing, you have to decide what you want, decide on the way the character will be and then create to that description.

The sketch of the man taken in by gypsies contains five individual characters perfectly portrayed (left). The exhibition also has Leonardo’s tiny diaries there where he wrote out ideas for his designs, he often used words instead of images at the first stages of creation.

4) Use of archetypes

The Last Supper is a triumph of archetypes with Judas in particular being dark-skinned, hook-nosed and clutching a bag of money as the racist stereotype of a betrayer. But archetypes appeal to the human mind, we can instantly hang our thoughts on a pre-existing idea and it helps us understand the depths being portrayed. The saints are often pictured with the instruments of their martyrdom, Sebastian with the arrows for example. I love this language of symbolism and try to weave it into my own writing.

5) Multiple drafts

Drafting for the paintings of Leonardo started with the individual sketches and then culminated in a cartoon. The word is used here to describe a technique where a drawing was covered with pinprick size holes and black chalk then used over the surface in order to create a template on the wall or ceiling or wherever the finished piece would go. The gallery featured the Virgin and Child with St Anne pictured right. This is similar to the drafting and editing process all writers go through to create their own masterpieces, with the cartoon as the almost completed final draft before the finished product.

6) Editing

There’s a lovely sketch of a kneeling angel where Leonardo has drawn the hand in two places, the same arm raised and lowered, in an attempt to see what the picture would look like with either option. This is an aspect of pentimento, an alteration where the painter has changed his mind during composition. This reminded me of the editing process where we change our work to improve it, either by something we see ourselves or what others help us with. The editing process is crucial to create a fantastic finished product.

7) Artist-entrepreneur

Leonardo's academy of artists

Leonardo was famous being a creative polymath – a painter, sculptor, engineer, but he was also an entrepreneur. He was paid for his works and if he didn’t get paid, he sold them elsewhere. The 30 year wait for the payment due for the Virgin of the Rocks is a classic example.

He also had a workshop of artists who did the bulk work for him in order, presumably, to produce more work at a faster pace. I see this in the James Patterson model of writing where he is creative director and has co-writers working with him in order to produce almost a novel a month. Patterson has said “If I’m working with a co-writer, they’ll usually write the first draft. And then I write subsequent drafts”. We may criticize his writing but he is one of the highest earning writers in the world and millions buy his books. All artists must consider money in order to survive and then thrive.

If you enjoyed this, you might also enjoy these posts inspired by art:

• Writing as an emerging sculpture: Inspiration from Michelangelo’s slaves

• 15 ways modern art galleries can inspire writers

Do you find art inspiring?

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I’ve been noticing a lot of shorter ebooks in the Kindle store recently and I’m still trying to decide what I feel about them. There is also an ongoing debate about the serialization of fiction and what that could mean for authors and readers.

Some of my favorite authors have released novellas as prequels or teasers for their main series characters and I can see the sense in that as a writer. It keeps people entertained in between the full-length books you write and you can produce them more quickly. But as a reader I feel faintly cheated by the length of the ‘book’ I am paying for. The price is often not that different to a full length novel even though a novella is 20,000-40,000 words, half or even a third the length of a novel. I also feel that many are not ‘meaty’ enough.

But Amazon is selling 1 million Kindles a week at the moment and the US has seen the successful release of the Kindle Fire. This is shaping up to be the first mainstream digital Christmas and you can bet that a stack of novellas will be downloaded in the weeks after people open their new e-readers.It’s got to be worth considering writing one.

My friend, action-adventure author, David Wood has just released a novella, IceFall. It’s part of his Dane Maddock adventure series and is a fast-paced romp through a winter wonderland. I caught up with him briefly to chat about the novella idea and also to discuss the upcoming digital Christmas.

Why did you write a novella?

I was researching and planning the next Dane Maddock novel and I had this idea to write a little 5000 word short story themed around Christmas in some way. Not the Christmas message itself but more that the setting and the McGuffin had those ideas. And I’m not very good at writing short stories so it turned into a 30,000 word novella. The plot centers around our heroes Dane and Bones as well as Jade, Dane’s girlfriend and Angel, Bone’s sister, who are in Germany for a Christmas vacation to check out some cathedrals and enjoy a white Christmas holiday. So they’re wandering through Cologne where the bones of the Magi are kept in the cathedral when the bad guys steal the bones and the adventure kicks off. It’s a bit of Dan Brown with the various cathedrals and religious sites and then it’s all David Wood/ Indiana Jones with the crazy ending and the creepy monsters. It’s good fun!

Is the novella gaining ground as a format?

It’s a great way to write as a teaser or as a lead-in to a bigger series as I’m doing for the Dane Maddock books. To me, it’s like the old pulps of the mid 20th century where they were cranking out short paperback novels just as fun short stories, for a low price. As that went away, books became thicker so the spine would be more noticeable on the shelf. A thin novella would get lost and bookstores probably weren’t going to buy them. The advent of ebooks and print on demand is bringing the novella back. We’re seeing more and more writers putting them out on a regular basis. It’s a good form as some stories don’t need to be as long as they are. You’ve probably shared the experience I have. When an author reaches a certain level of popularity, they stop being edited so much. So books end up longer than they need to be and we end up skimming through them.

The other thing I like about it is that readers don’t have to wait a year for a book. There’s no reason you can’t pop out a novella here and there so you can have new content to keep them interested. It might even be a gateway to serializing stories once again like in the old days. One of the things I personally like is that I’m an impatient person and when I get to 30,000 words in one of my novels, I get whiney and want to quit. With a novella, about the time I get bored, I’m done. They’re great fun to write.

Is this is the first mainstream digital Christmas?

We will see. I’m a cynic by nature but I wouldn’t have believed last year that this year I’d be writing full-time and doing better than I was as a teacher. So it’s possible that this year will be huge. The Kindle Fire and other tablets won’t necessary represent new readers, they may be upgrading or existing e-reader crossover. But I don’t think there’s any question that ebooks are becoming mainstream. I’m also hoping that some people who aren’t big readers but love gadgets will pick up some of these and buy a few books to try the new medium. It might be a good gateway drug. I have actually met people like this who have rediscovered reading because of these gadgets. For example, people who are dyslexic seem to find it easier to read on a screen with no other stimuli. Also older adults who can adjust the font size or listen to the book are trying them out. I’m hopeful that at least the trend will continue upwards.

I hear you have a Christmas special on your Thriller podcast?

Yes, there will be a ThrillerCast Christmas special starring special guest Boyd Morrison, author of The Ark. We’re also giving away a lot of books so tune in over the Christmas weekend and there will be lots to win. ThrillerCast is on iTunes here or you can find it at ThrillerPodcast.com

You can find Icefall on Amazon now as well as David’s other books at all online bookstores and also Audible.com. You can find David at his site here.

I also did a full length podcast with David a while back if you ‘re interested in Writing thrillers and action-adventure.

What do you think about novellas? And are you taking advantage of the first mainstream ebook Christmas?

(Top image: iStockphoto)

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Once you’ve been blogging a while, you become part of a social group of bloggers within your niche.

You find their articles everywhere, you follow their book recommendations, you download their podcasts, you support their launches. This could be called relationship marketing in some circles but I’d like to think it overflows into friendship!

One of the benefits of moving back to the UK is that I can now meet these blogging friends in person (shock horror!) and so I’m delighted to bring you this interview with the marvellous Ali Luke made on a windy winter day in Oxford. Ali is a great example of someone making her living with writing and blogging online but she’s also pursuing her passion of writing fiction and we discuss that in the interview today.

Ali Luke is the author of Lycopolis and a blogger, freelance writer and writing coach at Aliventures.com.[Text below video]

In the video, we discuss:

• How Ali has a distinguished writing background with a degree in English and then a Masters Creative Writing at Goldsmiths in London which she did part-time over a few years. It involved tutorials and workshops which was great for working through the novel as she wrote it. It was also great to network with other writers and get feedback from experienced writers.

• You don’t have to write the great literary novel if you do a Masters. Lycopolis is more a supernatural thriller/ contemporary fantasy but it’s just an enjoyable book. It’s got a lot of stuff in it that Ali loves including online gaming – it’s for geeks and also non-geeks! She examines the power of the imagination, what we do online and the power of creation. A lot of Ali is in the book. A lot of first novels are in some ways autobiographical. There’s a lot of the writer in them. You do write what you really care about. Ali explores aspects of her own faith in the book. It’s a chance to explore and question. [I do a lot of this spiritual exploration in my own books so I am with Ali on this!]

• On publishing. Ali was fixated on the writing dream i.e. agent -> book deal -> millionaire. But the agents and editors she talked to didn’t think it had a market. The industry is conservative at the moment and won’t take a chance on something new. But Ali has a core online following and decided to self-publish as an ebook. It has been a lot of fun and the complete control has been great in terms of cover art and timetable. It is all down to individual effort.

• Ali’s business is blogging and writing online. She makes her money online using the internet as a way to market and get clients. She does writing coaching on Skype/on the phone. She also does freelance writing for blogs, some of which are paid and some guest posts link back to her own products.

• Writing for love vs money. It’s hard to balance as the fiction is much harder to write and takes time whereas freelance writing is easier and can pay off more quickly. You have to balance both. It’s about making time either specific days or hours in the morning.

• The challenges of marketing fiction vs other online internet marketing. Blogging to promote a blog is natural so guest posting works etc but with fiction, it’s hard to sell people the benefits. An emotional connection to the author is good and so there has been some crossover from Ali’s business. Ali has also done free short stories and free chapters.

• On the UK vs US markets. We are about 2 years behind here in terms of blogging and digital. We don’t have any major blog conferences. We’re later with the Kindle and Kindle Fire. Ebooks have VAT (sales tax) and so can be more expensive than print. The market is taking longer to be established.

• What’s Ali doing next? She’s working on a trilogy for Lycopolis as the story expands and it’s easier to market the next book in the series. She is taking a break for the marketing and then will get stuck into the next book early next year. The future is a blend of fiction and online business for Ali [and also for me!]

You can find Ali at her site Aliventures.com and Lycopolis on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. Ali is also on twitter @aliventures My review of Lycopolis:

I’m not a gamer but I was fascinated by the dual worlds of this novel. I enjoyed the fast paced suspense of the ‘real world’ segments of the book but was also interested in how the online gaming part of it worked. I like a supernatural side to my novels and the way the nightmares were enmeshed in the game and the character’s real lives was skillfully done.

*What keeps you reading?* The book opens with the summoning of the demon but it doesn’t seem to have any impact. Certainly there’s nothing in the real world that changes. But then, page by page, it manifests in different ways even to the physical attack of wolves. You keep reading to find out what happens to the characters, particularly Kay and Edwin, the most sympathetic players. I read this in two sittings so it certainly held my interest!

 How do you balance writing for income vs writing for love?

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A few weeks ago I talked about the editing and beta reader process in order to make your book the best it can be and now I have received my own feedback from all my beta readers on Prophecy, my next novel.

My own editing for Prophecy

This is the hard part but it’s critical because the more eyes you have on your manuscript before publication the better. They have to be the right eyes but you definitely need to improve the manuscript before it’s published and you can’t do it alone. I had several published authors as well as readers of my genre do a beta-read plus an expert on art history as I use a lot of this in the book. I’ve also had a structural edit for the whole book.

So I have a whole lot of constructive criticism to work through now and this bit is always difficult. But why is it so important?

You have to develop a thicker skin as an author because you will get criticism

If you’re going to ‘ship’ your work i.e. get it out the door and into the hands of readers, you have to take criticism. So it’s better to catch as many issues as possible at the beta reader stage so that criticism you get later is because the wrong reader has read the book, rather than your plot has huge holes or grammatical issues.

Criticism in book reviews definitely hurts so it’s good practice to get some before you make your work public.

I currently have 58 reviews of Pentecost on Amazon.com averaging 4 stars. 4 of those reviews are 1 star and 2 are because it’s not Christian enough (and I never claimed it was!) I don’t like those reviews but I have no influence on them, I can’t do anything about that. I just have to take that criticism and try not to let it affect me. I counteract those comments with the 45 4 & 5 star reviews instead. We have to remember to focus on the positive and not just see the negative.

Taking feedback from beta-readers

Here’s my post on the beta reader feedback for Pentecost. You can feel my depression! I’m happy that I have improved since last year and haven’t repeated the same mistakes this time. The comments are still difficult to take but I know they will help the finished product. You know I like to share the hard parts as well as the triumphs, so here’s my method for dealing with beta-reader feedback which can feel like criticism.

(1) Thank everyone sincerely for their help, offer to help them with anything and make sure you credit them in the book. This is a great service we all need as writers.

(2) Read through the notes everyone has sent and then let it settle. Do not react. Do not try to justify why you did whatever you did. Take the feedback without reaction.

My sweet vice. Green & Black's organic chocolate.

(3) Bawl your eyes out, then self-medicate with chocolate and/or wine. You thought you were finished but actually, you still have a way to go. You’re probably sick of the book but you have to go through it again. Ouch. After you have drowned your sorrows, go to the gym and play a lot of really loud music. My tracks for getting over these feelings (and here I show my age and how uncool I am!): Tubthumping by Chumbawumba (I get knocked down, then I get up again…), It’s my Life – Bon Jovi, Don’t Stop Believing by the Glee cast (am I losing readers yet?!) , Hold On by Wilson Philips and other such classic feel good tunes!

(4)  Re-read the feedback with a critical eye. Have the same things been said more than once? For example, two of my beta-readers pointed out that the first sentences of my chapters start the same way which becomes jarring. Great feedback and easy to fix. I’m taking that to heart. But only one of my readers said that the theme of eugenics on top of the rest of the plot was ‘too much’. The others all said it was a good extra layer so I’ll be leaving that in. I had been having some doubts about my ending although most loved it. One of my beta readers had a suggestion that will also ease my own concerns so that will be changed. But overall, most of the comments will not take much to fix, this is not a complete rewrite for me (thankfully!) but it will add more depth and fix the issues that the readers found.

(5)  Create your hit-list of what needs to be changed so you have a map of the rewrites. It’s also good to have a list of everything even if you’re not going to change it, so you can use it as a learning experience, so I collate everything into one document organized by scene.

Folder for drafts of Prophecy

**At this point, I’ll add a comment on versions and backing up as some people still struggle with this. At the end of every day, I save my WIP into a new document with the date on it and I email it to myself on Gmail which stores documents and is easily searchable. I also save to my drafts folder and back up externally. Then when there is a first draft that is saved as Draft_Date and so on through the multiple drafts. I have Draft_BetaRead_Date which is the version I sent to the beta readers and I will have the other drafts right up until the end. I always date them so I can trace back changes. This might be a little over the top but be sure to keep your drafts in case your change your mind later and back up somewhere other than your home computer – just in case!

(6) Go through the book again making the changes that you’ve accepted need to be done. Some may be big and others may be small. All are important. This is basically your final draft so it needs to be right. BUT/ don’t let this become an excuse for not finishing the book and releasing it to the public. You must ship your work if you want to be a professional writer. It’s a risk but if you don’t do it regularly, the ‘flinch’ gets worse and you’ll never publish (read about the flinch here).

(7) Re-read in print or a different format other than your screen, and then give it to the copy-editor for the final run. They will pick up any typos, grammar issues and final mistakes. Make those final changes and you’re finished. Yes, you really are!

There will always be more you can edit but you need to stop somewhere.

That’s why deadlines are critical for perfectionist writers. I always planned on getting Prophecy out in 2011. It might be Dec 31st but I will have it out in ebook format and working back from that deadline has driven all my work.

How do you deal with beta reader feedback and criticism? Curl up and die or hack away and make those changes? How do you know what to change and what is your own voice and not for negotiation?

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