Writing About Writing

At the time of writing this - on a sunny Monday afternoon - three of the seven books in my Amazon store are about writing, with one more almost ready to go live. That's half the books I have published, focusing on some aspect of writing. The big question is, Why? Why write about writing at all?

It's not for the money. Really. There's not a huge amount of money to be made from writing, and I can't exactly boast huge royalties from my sales. It's a niche market, and each book addresses a different aspect of it.

I write about writing because no one ever taught me about it. I had to figure things out from books by people I'd never heard of, people who were twice or three times my age, and who didn't know what it was like to be in school anymore. I only ever had books to read that treated books like an entirely alien object, with many of them stating the obvious: if you want to write, you have to read.

So, I decided I could do better than just a standard book on writing, with a $20 price tag to go with it. I decided to write books about things that would help people with different aspects of writing, and make them more approachable and affordable than what I'd read growing up. The far-away best seller of the books I've published is Planning Before Writing, which shares the techniques for planning book and stories that I've used for years.

Why do I mention that? Because it highlights that there was a gap in the market for a book that would deal with precisely that one problem, of how to plan a book. I don't just offer one option, because that one option would never be enough for everyone. I don't just offer the how to plan information, either. The book is as much about why to plan as it is how to plan, and that's the information that people need to focus on first.

I realised that a long time ago, and wrote and published 25 Ways to Beat Writer's Block as a result. Why? Because people always look for advice on how to beat it. Not just writers, but college students, too. There's are a lot of people who need help with it, and few people out there who can say not just what to do, but also why to do it, and how it benefits to do it. 

That's what I wanted to focus on. I could have written a blog post with just the table of contents, and that might have helped some people. Except it wouldn't have been beneficial to them in the same way, just like the methods in Planning Before Writing are useless without some guidance and reasoning behind them.

I write about writing because I'm a writer with experience with problems, and a teacher with the insight to find solutions to them. I write about it because I enjoy combining my professional practice with what used to just be a hobby.

How Do I Plan My Book?

This week, 25 Ways to Beat Writer's Block is free on the Kindle. To celebrate that fact, we're going to look at some of the basic questions new writers ask. Previously, we looked at whether you should plan your book. If you're going to, let's now look at how you might do that.

How do I plan my book?

While I have a whole book on this topic - I'm that much of a fan of planning a book before writing it - this post can serve as a short master class for beginners. This practice works for more than just novels, too. All we're going to do is break down your book into scenes.

Step 1, figure out some key events in your book. These are the ones you most likely thought of when you were thinking about your book. Before I plan a book, I can already see some scenes in my head, like two characters meeting for the first time, or (as is the case with many short stories I write) a setting that sticks out because of how unusual it is.

How many key events you can imagine depends on how many ideas you've had for your book before this point. Don't worry, we're going to fill in the gaps soon. What we need before we do that, though, are a beginning, and an ending.

Your book will fill in the events between what happens at the very start, and what happens at the very end. If you're planning to write a series, it helps to know how the whole thing will end before you begin, and how many books you want to write. 

Say, for example, you're writing a trilogy. You need three powerful scenes to end each of your books on, that are natural endings to each part of the story, as well as concluding the individual tale contained in the book.

When you have your beginning and your ending(s), then we can move on to Step 2: filling in the gaps. Start with the scenes you have already. What needs to happen for your story to progress from one scene to another. For example, in the first Harry Potter book, we begin at Privet Drive, and later find Harry at Hogwarts. If we took those two key events/scenes to begin with, we then need to figure out what happens between each point.

Do that with each scene or idea you have, jotting down briefly what sort of event would lead to the next scene. Harry needs to get his invite to the school, so that has to happen. But, because we know the Dursleys don't want him to be a wizard, they'll try to keep the letter from him. To deal with that, the invitations keep coming, pushing the family away from the house, to the cabin where we meet Hagrid. You get the idea: each time you decide what needs to happen next, figure out what other steps need to be taken to keep the story moving from one scene to the next.

By the time you reach the end of your book, you should have a lot to work with. Break it up into chapters - use the larger events as a guide to where the chapter breaks will be.

Step 3: write it out neatly, and add in more detail if needed. I usually write out a paragraph for each scene in the book, but that's up to you.

If you want more information on planning a book, you can check out my ebook Planning Before Writing.

You can also find 25 Ways to Beat Writer's Block on Amazon, currently available for free download while the promotion lasts. Read more about it below.

Have you ever struggled with writer’s block? Have you sat at your desk, looking at your work in progress, wondering what to do with a character who just won’t budge, or a poem that just won’t take form, or an article that just won’t work for you? Have you ever joined thousands of authors in the search for a way to beat writer’s block?

From the author of Planning Before Writing comes a solution to the problem of writer’s block: 25 ways to tackle one of the biggest issues facing writers, each with an exercise to help you to develop as an author and improve your writing skills.

With exercises to suit every writer, and drawing on over ten years’ experience in the craft, 25 Ways to Beat Writer’s Block is a must-have reference for your collection.

Available on Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HYMVZJ2
and Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00HYMVZJ2

The Process of Writing a Book

I have seven books available on Amazon. Seven. While each is different - though, obviously, Balor Reborn and The Hounds of Hell are somewhat similar since they're part of a series - there's a process that comes with writing them. Even when I wrote a book in a week, I stuck to this process. It just so happened to be on fast-forward. Here's how I do things.

Step 1: The Idea

I start with an idea. For the Modern Irish Myth books, it was simple. I wanted to write a series of books about the return of gods and fairies to Ireland, and I wanted to start with one of my favourite villains from Irish mythology: Balor of the Evil Eye. For Planning Before Writing and 25 Ways to Beat Writer's Block, the ideas came from wanting to write about writing. I wanted to share what I knew, and from a list of topics that I thought I could feasibly write something about, they stuck out off the page.

Step 2: Planning

Not every book I've written has been planned in the same way. The Modern Irish Myth books have a chapter-by-chapter summary written as the plan. They're usually 7-10 pages long, typed, and go into quite a bit of detail.

Planning Before Writing was planned with a mind map on a small piece of paper. I literally just wrote down different ways to plan a book, and different reasons for planning.

25 Ways to Beat Writer's Block was simply a list of chapters before it was written. I decided upon an order for them to appear in, but after that I was writing what was necessary for each chapter, as it came. I didn't necessarily have to write the book in order, but I did.

My other books fell into similar patterns, either a list of a detailed description of each part of the book. The important thing, for me, was to get together even a small document about the book that I could work from.

Step 3: Time Management

This doesn't always happen for me, but it certainly helps. Balor Reborn was written in a week. I needed to  have the time set aside to do it. Planning Before Writing was written while I was on Teaching Placement. I had to have time in the evening to write a chapter, but after my preparation for lessons the next day. 25 Ways to Beat Writer's Block was written, largely, during my niece's nap times while I was minding her, or in the evenings. It was affected by Christmas and a suddenly increase in working hours.

When I really get going properly, I have a system in place for writing a book regarding time management. I give it priority over anything else I have to write that day. If I need to have a story written for the next day, it means I have to write the book without distraction. I write every day, without exception, and I make sure I have the time to do so. No excuses, no exceptions.

Step 4: Writing the First Draft

I write rather quickly. This is due to a combination of the previous three steps - the idea keeping me interested, the plan helping me go without stopping, and the time management allowing me to work uninterrupted by other duties - and my ability to type fairly quickly without error. I picked up the latter skill over the years when I was writing my first book. Between the ages of 12 and 15, I started the same book four times. We didn't have an Internet connection in the house, we didn't have USB keys, and we didn't have a way of transferring old files over to a new computer. The final first draft I wrote had to be written from scratch, but that allowed me to develop my typing abilities while doing something that interested me.

With that to back me up, writing the first draft of a book is relatively simple. I could, if I had the inclination, write a full length novel in two weeks. I would need to have the time away from other responsibilities like child minding or bookselling, but I think it could be done. (The maths involved in this speculation: 90000 words, divided by 14 days = 6430 words per day, which is less than 6 hours work at a rate of 1200 words per hour. That's my rough average, taking tiredness into consideration for longer writing periods.)

I follow my plan for the first draft, deviating only if I think the book could do with some padding out and I have an idea beforehand. The last thing I ever want is to expand a book for the sake of it, so any additional extras are there for a reason.

Step 5: Editing the First Draft

For me, editing is an annoying process. I don't like changing my book too much. I always do a proof edit, to make sure there are no typing errors, but when I have my doubts over a story I have to get someone else to read it. Since 2012, I've relied on a friend who reads spectacularly fast. He read and commented on Balor Reborn in an hour. I attempt to remove as much necessity to change a story as possible by working on my plan in detail, sticking to it, and playing out questionable scenes in my head before writing them. (If you ever see me talking to myself walking down the road, that's probably what I'm doing. I can't help myself sometimes, and other times I just like the sound of my own voice...)

Step 6: The Cover

I always need a cover. Since the days of self-publishing technology becoming available to me, I've needed to know what my book would look like with a cover. I've even done covers for books I don't plan on releasing. I just enjoy making them.

Step 7: Formatting the Book

When the editing has been done - and you can include rewrites in there - I also format my book. This involves either preparing it for publication, or just readying it for when I print it off for myself. I like the book to look neat, and to read easily. I even print the cover onto a sheet of photo paper for a nice glossy effect. (Seriously. Even if I don't keep a printed copy of the book nearby, I print the cover. Right now, I have the cover for 25 Ways to Beat Writer's Block beside me at my desk.)

Step 8: Celebrate

I have a ritual when I finish a book of getting a cup of tea. I leave my tablet in my room. I don't watch the television. I just sit at the kitchen table and enjoy my cup of tea, and maybe tell a couple of people via text message that I finished the book. That's it. That's how I celebrate. It's not the spuds-and-beer stereotype we Irish are known for, but it'll have to do!

When everything else is done and I've got this new book written and ready for me to do what I will with it, I can start all over again. I'll pick another idea, maybe even a different genre, and I'll write another book. It's my favourite past-time. (Publishing is a different matter. That's business. The writing is for fun.) If I could, I'd just write all the time. Someday, I hope that'll be the reality for me. For now, though, I'll just have to stick with my 8-step process and enjoy writing for the sake of it when life allows.

R&R

This week, I didn't do very much, and I didn't care. There are two reasons for this. One: I've started a six-day week in work. And two: I bought myself a Nintendo 2DS.

Let's go back a few weeks to explain the 2DS. And by that, I mean the run-up to Christmas. My brother told me, quite proudly, that he knew what he was going to get me for Christmas. He was going to get me a 2DS, because they were new, affordable and lovely. (He didn't use those words, exactly.) A few weeks later, he told me he'd found something else to get me. And so I knew I was to be without a 2DS.

Christmas Day arrived, and my parents gave me money as my present. I didn't buy anything with it.

So, I fixed that. I bought my new console, because I don't really get to use the PS3 in the house anymore, and I bought a couple of games to go along with it. Long story short, I've spent my free time playing Pokemon X, because I didn't get to use my parents' Christmas present until now - because I hadn't bought anything!

That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it.

It's been nice, though. I was tired, and I needed a way to unwind after publishing 25 Ways to Beat Writer's Block. I needed something for me, and so I reverted back into Childhood Mode. It's been wonderful.

The way things are looking, now, between minding my niece and working, I won't have a day off to myself until February. That's not really how I'd hoped things would be for me, but I do appreciate the fact that I'll be earning a bit more than usual thanks to these extra hours. I suppose I just don't want to be tired as a result of it all!

All of this emphasis on my relaxation and work aside, nothing else will really change. I'll still be posting up my weekly article. I'll still be writing Andrew McCourt's diary entries, and posting new poems on ParagraVerse, and writing new Friday Flash stories to post up, and I'll still be blogging. I'll just be tired while doing it all. Until February.

It feels like a long way away, but it's not. I suppose it's just that I don't really have a day off until then that's making it seem worse than it is. (Plus, you know, the fact that it's another 8 days of working or child minding ahead of me.)

My big goal for this week coming, aside from just surviving the shop, is to write a chunk of The Blood of Leap. I have a figure in my head, which I'll be putting up in my room, but it'll be staying there, nice and private. I want to enjoy this book, but I also want to complete it. I'm hoping I can balance both of those aims with my much needed rest and relaxation.

On a positive note to finish, I can officially tick Publish 25 Ways to Beat Writer's Block off my to-do list in my FiloFax! I've been so busy not doing anything that I didn't do that until recently. That's one big project down, which is always a nice feeling!

(PS If you're interested in reading my new book, you can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HYMVZJ2

Another Project?

Lately I've been toying with the idea of starting a new book review site. It's another big project, I know, and I have to consider how it would fit into my schedule. For anyone else considering the idea, themselves, here's how I see it breaking down in the preparation stages:

- I'll write several reviews in advance, to have them ready to go,
- I'll organise several pages of book recommends without reviews, and
- I'll arrange a time in my weekly schedule to post the reviews.

I've already done two things: I've drawn up a list of books I've read recently that I could review, and I've drawn up a list of categories I could put together lists of books for. The scheduling part is the bigger problem. Right now, my weekly posting looks like this:

Monday: a diary-entry story on ParagraVerse, from Andrew McCourt
Tuesday: a new poem, written especially for ParagraVerse
Wednesday: a new blog post here
Thursday: an older poem, perhaps one that's been on YouTube in the past (as is currently the case), on ParagraVerse
Friday: a new flash fiction story on ParagraVerse (currently working on writing prompt stories)
Saturday: a new blog post here
Sunday: a new article on my website

The only way I can see this working without posting too much every week is to remove one of those seven items. I know that the Sunday article will remain, as well as the diary entry and the Friday flash story. Most likely, I'll only post one blog post here per week, unless I have something to say.

However, this still leaves a problem. I have to actually read a lot of books for this, and reading series books just isn't going to cut it. Why? Because if I liked one, I'll probably like the others, too. Then, every review will end up looking similar. The reason my last attempt at a review site failed was because I became overly aware that everything was getting five stars.

That's just praising everything. That's not doing a good job.

So, I need to read more widely. That's the only way to avoid only reading the really good books. Obviously, I'd love to only read good books, but I think that might get boring for the reader.

Basically, I'm really considering, but I have my doubts. I don't want to come across as boring for liking so many books and really disliking anything. The fact that I very rarely don't finish a book doesn't so much say a lot about the books I read; I just don't like leaving them unread.

However, it's an idea. What do you think? Did you enjoy reading my book reviews when I used to post them here?

PS I managed to release 25 Ways to Beat Writer's Block on time! You can find it on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HYMVZJ2

I'm Releasing a Book!

Remember all those times I said I was working on an ebook? It was a project that began before Christmas, before I was working full-time under a part-time contract. Then, it stopped. In December, I stopped writing the book because I no longer had the time to write much. I wrote The Ice Queen & The Legend of the Winter Folk, and I wrote the poem The Winter Folk, and the flash story Snow Day, but I didn't write much else for all of December.

Recently, with the way things have been moved around in the house, I've been in a position to use my time more freely throughout the week. I've been able to write more often, and for longer, and I managed to get myself into a pretty good routine of writing different things several days in advance. I was able to return to my ebook.

Last week, I told you its name. 25 Ways to Beat Writer's Block (While Improving Your Writing Skills). This week, I can show you the cover. In a few days, I'll be releasing the book.

Keep in mind this is a low-resolution image. I like it, though. I like the vibrancy of the colours. I like the simplicity of the design. I like how it looks when I print it on photo paper, and I like how the thumbnail is still identifiable when I see it from afar. I really, really like this cover, and I really love the book.

The actual release date has not been set. Nor will it be. I'm hoping to publish it on Tuesday, but that's not a guarantee for a couple of reasons. 

1. I don't know if anything will get in my way as I put the finishing touches on formatting and all that jazz.

2. I can't tell in advance how long it will take Amazon to actually publish the book once I hit the "Publish" button. I window of 12-48 hours is all I ever get, and sometimes it's even quicker than that.

However, all things going according to plan, and Amazon keeping up with its track record, Tuesday 21st.

This book wasn't just fun to write. It was educational. It was a benefit in and of itself. It allowed me to overcome my own problems in productivity in the very writing of it. I'm very excited to actually be releasing it. It's been my first big project of 2014, to complete this book that I think can benefit a lot of people in many ways, and I really want to get it out into the world for it to have a chance to prove itself.

If you've been following me on my writing journey from early on, since before the Balor Reborn days, you know I'm taking this seriously. You know that when I publish something, it's because I really love it. This book is no different. It's the start of something big for me, not just because it's a new type of book, but also because it sets a new standard for covers. I'll be re-doing my older covers, re-branding my books to make them look more vibrant and alive.

I needed this book. I needed to write it. I know other people will need to read it. A lot of what I've learned over the past ten years is in this book, from my very beginnings as a writer to one who's received an Undergraduate Degree and published several books of his own. From reading, from listening to mentors, and from trial and error, I've picked up a lot of different tricks along the way. This book, I hope, will help people on their own writing journeys.

Let's leave it there before I start getting too preachy about the book. It's coming, people, and I can't wait, and I think that should say a lot about how much I believe in it. Peace out!