Tag: novel

Books I am reading this week

It would be really sad to be learning from a writer whose books I don’t actually like. Therefore, it was a big relief to find that I enjoyed Holly’s book immensely and will be trying to track down more.

Have spent the past couple of weeks reading books avidly, instead of writing. I have tried to choose books from different genres, revisiting some old friends and reappraising some new ones.

fiction books I am reading Fiction:

  1. Talyn, by Holly Lisle.

    I follow Holly Lisle on her blog and I am working my way through one of her online writing courses ‘Create a Plot Clinic’. Deciding it was high time I actually read one of her books, and unable to find copies in my local bookshops, I ordered Talyn from my local library (cost me 25p). It would be really sad to be learning from a writer whose books I don’t actually like. Therefore, it was a big relief to find that I enjoyed Holly’s book immensely and will be trying to track down more.
    Visit my Ruthless Readings site to see my blog on Talyn, by Holly Lisle

  2. Farewell Summer, by Ray Bradbury

    Took me a while to get into this book. I normally love Ray Bradbury – both his science fiction and non-SF books – and I count his Dandelion Wine as one of the finest books I have ever read. I found Farewell Summer hard going. But, in the final few chapters, this book finally came alive for me – so alive, I started it again and read it through from the beginning. (This is the first time I have ever read a book through, twice, all in one sitting). Read my review here.

  3. Black Dogs, by Ian McEwan

    Being one of our most respected authors, I was disappointed in the first, and only, Ian McEwan book I have ever read – On Chesil Beach. There is a certain dis-engaged style to his writing that I have difficulty with. I decided to give him another try. And I have to report that I enjoyed Black Dogs.

  4. About to start Minority Report, by Philip K. Dick (actually this is one of a collection of short stories, I believe)

    Philip K. Dick is a great science fiction writer. I had never heard of Minority Report until the film came out. And it was a great film. I hope the book lives up to my expectations. Finished the book – actually a collection of short stories – and I saved Minority report to last. What did I think of it? Read my review of Minority Report on my Ruthless Reading blog.

  5. Non-fiction Reading: The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande – compelling writing by a surgeon, extolling the virtues of checklists, to improve the safety of medical procedures.

Advice for writers – find your story and render a novel.

If, like me, you wrote a novel without any planning – maybe during NaNoWriMo month – and are now wondering whether your new masterpiece is publishable, this article explains why it certainly isn’t.

Hand holding a pencil and writing a novelA Mindset Shift That Can Get You Published is a great article I stumbled upon.

If, like me, you wrote a novel without any planning – maybe during NaNoWriMo month – and are now wondering whether your new masterpiece is publishable, this article explains why it certainly isn’t.

Larry Brooks says:

.. your draft doesn’t stand a chance until the story is solidly, front to back, fully conceived. If you haven’t landed on a theme, a pace, on context and sub-text, if you haven’t discovered what your character arc is, if you don’t know how things are going to end…

And his advice, in a nutshell, is this –

Consider writing as two sequential processes:
1. The search for the story.
2. The rendering of the story.

What excellent advice this is. So, I must treat my NaNoWriMo writing as the search for my story (which it was). Now all I have to do (all!) is render it into a proper novel by rewriting it.

For the rewriting, I will turn to Holly Lisle for help. She shares an excellent article,‘How to Revise a Novel’ on her website.

First of all, I have to finish the damn thing.

NaNoWriMo has finished – what am I doing now?

Now NaNoWriMo has finished, there is work to be done.

  1. finish the story
  2. read the story
  3. either, give up and delete the whole thing, or begin some serious editing

What do I do instead? Make animated cartoons on the internet, of course!

Click here to find out how.