writing a novel | The Creative Penn

How To Write Fast, Publish Slowly And Focus On Your Author Marketing With Rachel Aaron

July 10, 2017 by Joanna Penn 14 Comments

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:08:04 — 54.6MB)

We all have limited time, and part of being a successful author is knowing what to focus on. In today's show, I talk to Rachel Aaron about how to write more words faster, edit and publish carefully, and how to decide which marketing strategies will work for your books.

In the intro, I reflect on walking 50km last weekend, the launch of How to Market a Book Third Edition, and heading to New York this week for Thrillerfest.

You can also listen/watch an interview with me on the Science Fiction and Fantasy Marketing podcast talking about international sales and marketing, rights licensing, translation and more.

Today's show is sponsored by my own How to Write a Novel course, which I created while writing End of Days, so you get a behind the scenes look at how the book came together. One course member, Leigh Anderson said, “This course is exactly what I was looking for. I now feel well on my way to writing and completing my first draft. It has been a real breakthrough for me.” Check it out at www.TheCreativePenn.com/writenovel

Rachel Aaron is the fantasy author of The Heartstrikers, an Eli Monpress series, as well as writing science fiction under Rachel Bach. She's also the author of 2k to 10k: How to Write Faster, Better, and Write More of What You Love.

You can listen above or on iTunes or Stitcher or watch the video here, read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and full transcript below.

Show Notes

Rachel's journey from traditionally published author to indie

Why writing fast doesn't have to be a measure of quality

Building up stamina to write for several hours at a time

Why Rachel believes pre-writing is so important

Writing tips on creating a story arc over a series of books and writing compelling characters

What has worked for Rachel when marketing her fiction, and what hasn't worked

Working with a spouse successfully

You can find Rachel Aaron at RachelAaron.net and on Twitter @Rachel_Aaron

Writing Tips: Outlining For Genre And Literary Fiction With Libbie Hawker

May 23, 2016 by Joanna Penn 3 Comments

Podcast: Download (Duration: 57:33 — 46.1MB)

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Today I talk about outlining, writing literary fiction fast and ambition with Libbie Hawker.

In the intro I mention my own writing update and how CrimeFest literary festival has changed so much for indies over the last few years, plus, Goodreads expansion into ebook giveaways and email marketing for books on sale, which will see them up against promotional platforms like BookBub.

This podcast is sponsored by Kobo Writing Life, which helps authors self-publish and reach readers in global markets through the Kobo eco-system. You can also subscribe to the Kobo Writing Life podcast for interviews with successful indie authors.

Libbie Hawker writes historical and literary fiction featuring complex characters and rich details of time and place, including an awesome series about ancient Egypt, one of my own obsessions. Libbie is well known in the author community for her books for authors, Gotta Read It, about book descriptions, Take Off Your Pants, about outlining, and Making it in Historical Fiction.

You can listen above or on iTunes or Stitcher or watch the video here, read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and full transcript below.

How long it took Libbie to become a full-time author.

Why deadlines and accountability matter when setting large goals like becoming a full-time author.

The difference between plotting and pantsing and what the three-legged outline is.

On whether outlining makes stories formulaic.

How outlining plays a role in prolific output and where research falls in Libbie's writing schedule.

Are speed and quality mutually exclusive?

How Libbie plans her writing schedule for the year and decides which projects are indie and which are traditionally published.

Balancing earning a living versus literary work.

On the change in attitude toward an author's work once decades have passed.

You can find Libbie at www.LibbieHawker.com and on twitter @LibHawker

How To Turn Your #NaNoWriMo Project Into a Real Novel

December 5, 2015 by Joanna Penn 11 Comments

Back in 2009, I used NaNoWriMo to create the first 20,000 words of what eventually became STONE OF FIRE.

But the words I wrote that month were only the start of the journey. They were first draft words that needed a lot more work to turn into book form. (You can check out the entire journey here.)

In today's article, Tania Strauss at NY Book Editors gives some tips for the first steps after NaNoWriMo.

If you participated in NaNoWriMo, then first of all, congratulations! You followed through on a major project and are now sitting on a big pile of original pages, with which you can do… something.

So what are the next steps? Well, that kind of depends on what, exactly, that big pile of pages adds up to.

The truth is that unless you’re so practiced in novel writing that the form is programmed into your subconscious, or unless you planned out your project heavily in advance, anything you bang out in a month is likely to be semi-formed — ideas and seeds that could become a novel, but that aren’t quite working on that level.

Sometimes what we think of as a “first draft” of a novel isn’t, in fact, working like a novel yet.

But that’s ok!

Anything that interests you sufficiently to devote a month of time, and tens of thousands of words, likely has a novel hidden in it somewhere.

If you’re trying to figure out what the fruits of your NaNoWriMo labor have yielded and where to go from here, below are some questions to ask yourself:

**Is your manuscript about something?**

Does it focus on a character, a problem that needs to be solved / goal that needs to be reached, or a governing thematic idea?

Ideally, your manuscript will have the following elements: at least one primary protagonist and several supporting characters; emotional or psychological issues that each central character needs to work through; an external problem that need to be resolved via plotting; and some sort of broader thematic content tying these elements together. If you’ve written a series of scenes or musings that aren’t bound together by a set of central concerns, then what you have likely won’t quite qualify as a novel just yet.

Do your manuscript’s “central concerns” start out in one place and end in another?

In other words, do circumstances change as a result of the events of your narrative, and do your characters also change as a result of the things they experience?

Even if these shifts are very subtle, one of the key elements that defines a story is that it charts a “journey” or has an “arc” – we start in one place (the beginning), and then a bunch of things happen (the middle) that take us to another place (the end).

So with that in mind, do the things that occur in your manuscript serve the purpose of pushing your subject matter from its origin to its conclusion?

Not every single scene or narrative passage needs to be doing so directly – especially in a first draft. But again, part of what makes a novel a novel is that it’s about.

If your content is wandering all over the place and bouncing from one topic to another, rather than consistently pushing your characters and their circumstances from a beginning to an end point, what you have is probably not functioning like a novel.

Is your manuscript long enough to be a novel (let’s say, at least 150 pages)?

If it’s shorter than this it’s probably more along the lines of a short story or a novella, and there’s a good chance it’s that short because you haven’t yet developed enough material to give it the facets and substance of a novel.

Did you answer “yes” to all of the questions above? If so, great! But if the answer to those questions was “no,” or if you’re just not sure, chances are you have a lot of interesting stuff on the page, but it’s not organized or developed into something that would truly qualify as a novel.

So how do you identify the most promising parts of that “interesting stuff” and turn them into a complex, focused work of fiction?

Look at what you’ve written and figure out what is most striking and compelling to you. How can you expand those key elements and ideas into something a bit more, well, novelistic? If you’re not sure how to approach such a comprehensive self-edit, here are some tips to help you take that draft in a new direction:

1) Is there a particular character or central relationship that you find more compelling than the others?

If so, think very hard about what makes that character interesting to you. In particular, think about what they may want or need that they don’t currently have. This can be something external, like money or romance, or something more psychological, such as the desire to live a more fulfilling life, or move on from a traumatic past.

Then think about how to build a plot that will move your protagonist, step by step, towards that goal. Remember, one of the key elements of a story is that the people and circumstances in that story must change.

2) Is there an event in your draft that could have implications much more far-reaching than you initially realized?

It’s not remotely unusual for authors to go back over their early brainstorming efforts and realize that the heart of the story they’re trying to tell is buried in a detail they initially didn’t give much thought.

In your haste to get those November pages written, you may have glossed over a plot point that could have fascinating and complex repercussions. Maybe a character got into a car accident, or lost a sibling, or got a promotion. All these events could be meaty enough to serve as an instigating event or focal point for a novel-length story.

3) Is there a central preoccupation that keeps poking out from the situations you’ve thought up?

Maybe you’ve filled your first draft with scenes of confrontation between a mother and daughter, or with scenarios that illustrate class tensions.

If you find that to be true, there’s probably something you want to say about those issues (mother/daughter relationships, social inequality, etc.) percolating in the back of your mind. So maybe you should consider what, exactly, about those issues interests you and how you could build a story – complete with three-dimensional characters and a focused narrative – that explores this central “theme” you’re interested in.

Once you’ve identified which parts of your NaNoWriMo project actually have the potential to turn into a complex, long-form story (aka, a novel), you can get to work writing that story with a sense of purpose and direction.

I’d love to hear where your manuscript stands. Do you think your NaNoWriMo project is a working first draft of a novel? Or did it spark an idea that will become a fantastic story? Let us know in the comments.

Tania Strauss writes for NY Book Editors, a premiere affiliation of editors with extensive experience from New York’s major publishing houses.

We help authors attract agents or self-publish using the high standards of the traditional industry. We believe that every author has a unique story that can inform, inspire, and entertain readers. It just takes the right team to help you get there.

Tear Down the Writing Wall. 6 Tips to Help You Finish Your Novel

June 8, 2013 by Joanna Penn 30 Comments

OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna Penn

It's one problem to start a book, but quite another to finish it!

Many writers struggle with completing a project, but once you do that, you know you can do it again. I've written before about some ways to get the first draft out of your head. Today, Alythia Brown shares her tips.

You’re a writer. You were born with natural creativity.

Stories seamlessly fill your mind when you walk through parks, overhear conversations on the bus, or watch a plane shoot across the sky and wonder where each passenger is headed. Once daydreams run together to form the foundation for a novel, you’re overwhelmed with excitement and love for your new project. You stay up late to add more words to your ever-growing manuscript, while secretly dreaming of publisher bidding wars for your work.

But then something happens.

The romance wears thin. You hit a wall and your precious book becomes more tedious than fun. Breaking down the wall, instead of turning away from the project, is the difference between published and unpublished writers.

How can you tear down the wall?

1) Take a break from the manuscript but not from the world you’ve created.

We all need a little space from our writing when things become mundane. This allows us to return to the work with a fresh eye. However, you want to avoid forgetting the story altogether. Leave the manuscript in your computer for a few weeks and take it with you in a journal, instead. Take notes on the things you “see” happening in your story. You can even draw pictures in your journal, if that helps. Not only will this keep you engaged with the story, it will give you a different form of expressing your writing—with a pen or colored pencil in your hand instead of keys beneath your fingers.

2) Remove distraction whenever possible.

You may have long work hours or small children to care for, but you probably have more time than you realize. You really don’t need to watch the last season of The Bachelor if you have a spare moment. Writing time is more precious and you need to make it important. You will never look back and say to yourself, “Man, I wish I spent more time sitting on the couch, watching pointless shows.” Coincidentally, you will never regret writing either.

3) Go for a run.

Or a bike ride.

Something—anything—active to get your blood pumping and your energy up. And preferably outdoors. I doubt a gray gym building, buzzing with the drone of many cardio machines, will stimulate your imagination. But I suppose exercise somewhere is better than exercise nowhere. While you’re at it, go eat some spinach and drink plenty of water. Taking care of your body is also taking care of your mind! You will find you are more able to focus and complete tasks.

4) Set realistic goals for yourself.

You were going full steam in the beginning because you were excited. But you probably also shut yourself in a room and didn’t see daylight for a while. You can’t expect to write twenty manuscript pages every night. Believing so will only set you up to feel disappointed and unmotivated when life gets in the way of this demand. Pace yourself. Writing every day, even if you only manage to jot down notes during your ten-minute break at work, is admirable.

5) Skip a passage if it’s slowing you down.

If you just can’t figure out how to make a particular scene work, skip it, and return later. Don’t let it stop you! You will lose the desire to finish. Instead, highlight the problem area with color so it will pop out at you while scrolling through the pages. Often times, difficult questions are answered naturally when you move forward and look back. But be forewarned: if you do so, make sure you note all of the unsolved issues pertaining to this area. If there’s an important dilemma that needs to be addressed, type a list of questions your readers would ask at the bottom of the colored section so you don’t forget this loose end later. If you get too far into the novel without solving the problem, it may mess up everything.

6) Make writing exercises part of your daily habit.

Warm up your mind everyday with writing exercises to get your creativity awake and pulsing. Here are a few you could try:

Write a journal entry from the perspective of one of your characters. Have them write about a day from their childhood or a recent day at work. This doesn’t need to make it into the final draft. It’s just a little something you can do to get to know the people in your story. Try this with everyone important and unimportant. It will help you become more familiar with the world in which your main character lives.

Write a letter to a long lost friend. Maybe someone with whom you’ve lost contact and always intended to call. Use one piece of paper and don’t flip it over when you run out of room. Simply turn the paper another direction and continue writing over what you have already written. Continue turning and writing over your writing. Tell this person everything you never said or everything you wish you could say now. You will eventually get to the point where you can no longer visibly see what you have written and the words are only clear in your head. You will end up with a paper filled with swirls of ink and part of your heart poured onto the page. You won’t ever need to tear it apart if it’s incredibly private or vulnerable because only you will ever know what it says. When you can feel the words moving through your hand and onto the paper, but you can’t see them, you need not worry about penmanship or running out of room. You just need to worry about the words you may not have been able to free before now. Plus, it’s probably good therapy to get all of that off your chest!

Write a newspaper article or flier your main character might happen to read. Is your hero on the run and reading his own wanted sign? What would people who don’t understand him say about the things he’s done? Or maybe the local press managed to publish one last article about local dogs going rabid right before the end of the Earth? Become a journalist for your make-believe world and report to your characters the pressing news.

The writing wall may take some time to tear down but if you continue to chisel away, eventually it will fall. You’ll find you won’t be able to type as quickly as the thoughts come into your head once more and, soon, the first draft of your novel will be complete and ready for edits.

Once you’ve tackled the huge accomplishment of finishing a novel, you will jump at the chance to edit and prepare the piece for the query process or self-publication. If you already have completed your novel but can’t find the motivation to return and edit, remember: you have already done something most people never will. Don’t give up now!

What usually stops you from writing? Please leave a comment below with your thoughts.

Alythia Brown is an author and young mother, who decided she wanted to pursue publication when she became pregnant as a teen. She blogs about books, publishing, literary agents, and the querying process at www.alythiabrown.com. Her debut novel, Dakota Captive will release this year!

Top image: Flickr Creative Commons writing and coffee by Philip Squires