I first started writing novels as a footloose and fancy-free twenty-something, with no kids and no responsibility for anyone but myself. Looking back now, twenty years later, I can hardly believe the luxurious vats of time I was floating around in, and just how much I was able to produce.
But quantity isn’t everything, and neither is fresh-faced youth. Writing isn’t primarily a young person’s game. Experience, insight and – dare I say it – wisdom – enrich the work. And when you’re time-poor, you value your writing time more highly and use it more effectively. Here are some tips to help get you started:
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Find your best time: many people write early in the morning – your thinking can be fresh at the crack of dawn before the day starts intruding. But maybe evenings, when the kids are in bed, will suit you better. If you can’t find the time to write daily, try to squeeze in a couple of hours at the weekend. However, little and often is better than long but infrequent. It’s harder to hold your project in your head with long gaps between sessions.
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Just do it: if the blank page frightens you, try free-writing using prompts – there are loads online and something interesting may come of it. Then ask yourself ‘what if’ questions to tease out a storyline. Join in with our monthly writing competitions on Twitter - @CBCreative #WriteCBC – or if illustration’s your thing, our brilliant tutor Sarah McIntyre hosts daily Twitter drawing challenges on @studioteabreak. Keep a notebook, too – build your confidence by producing material, learning from mistakes as you go.
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Active Planning: i’m often asked how much planning you should do. I’d say figure out the bones of what you’re working on, and what lies at its heart – but write your way into the story before things become too rigid. You can return to your plan frequently throughout the writing process to put flesh on the bones. This process will also help if you get stuck.
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Keep moving forward: don’t obsess over style, or worry about scenes that aren’t quite right. Fix problems at the editing stage with a complete draft in hand. If you’re fiddling a lot as you go, try writing longhand to freshen things up. For illustrators, Sarah McIntyre advises not to labour away on intricate drawings that ‘get all tight’. She recommends ‘doing some bad drawing’ to free yourself up.
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Targets and deadlines: setting yourself small goals, such as a daily or weekly word count, can be helpful – as can self-imposed deadlines for completing a draft. But don’t give yourself a hard time when you miss targets – sometimes you need to reflect and let your back-brain catch up, and this can be more important than the word count.
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End your writing session mid-scene or even mid-sentence: it’s tempting to stop when you hit the end of a chapter, but if you push forward a little way into the next section, you’ll find it easier to get going again when you settle back into work.
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Get reading: if you want to be a writer, you must also be a reader. Read the stuff you love and books that are newly published to get a good sense of what’s out there. But above all, read.
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Start with story: many writers spend a long time ‘setting up’ scenes and characters before they make anything happen. My advice is to get straight into your story, introducing your characters only when they have a role to play. In every scene, check that you aren’t starting too early and ending too late. We don’t need someone ringing the bell and waiting for it to be answered. Put your character straight into the room where the story happens. Get in and then get out again as quickly as you can.
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Character motivation: be clear about your characters’ motivations. Know what they want – and what will stop them from getting what they want. This gives rise to conflict – and where there’s conflict, there’s a story.
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Edit: polish your work to a shine. Print it out and edit on paper to spot things you’ll have missed on screen. And read it aloud to hear how it flows, particularly dialogue.
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And a cheeky eleventh tip: check out our novel-writing courses at www.curtisbrowncreative.co.uk, including our brand new courses for people wanting to write and illustrate children’s picture books. Most are online, allowing you to take part from wherever you are, at whatever time works best for you.
This guest post is sponsored by Curtis Brown Creative