Advice for New Writers Part 4: How to Increase the Speed of Writing

In Part 2 of this series of posts, I talked about editing your work, and how the first draft is always just that, a draft – an incomplete piece of writing. Having said that, without getting those words out, without that first draft, you cannot move forward and produce a finished product - your novel.

Of course, the faster you can write the first manuscript, the better.

Now that I have taken the bold step of giving up my day job to be a full-time author entrepreneur, I am hoping to write at least two novels per year, as well as some non-fiction books, so I've been looking into how I could speed up the process of writing.

Having time to write is crucial, but it's also important that you make the time to write

As you know if you follow this blog, I took part in the National Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, to motivate me to write about 2,000 words every day. It worked, and I now have a first draft of a novel. I am also now so used to the daily writing routine that I feel strange if I haven't put down at least a few words, even if I cannot manage the 2,000 every day.

During this process, I found that one way to speed up your writing, is to have to have an idea of the plot, characters and setting for the novel. I'll go into more detail on the various main elements of the first draft of a manuscript below.

Plot

Since you are already thinking about becoming a writer, and want to write a full-length novel, you must have an idea of what you want to write about, even if it isn't a fully fledged plot. Two of my published novels took shape after I got obsessed with a story from my past, or a piece of news I saw. My virtual desk is full of half-finished novels, which came about in a similar way; and I intend to revisit each one. Nowadays, however, I try to plot ahead a lot more, simply because it makes the writing process so much easier, but this is something that is different for ever author I know. We all have our unique ways of working. An ideas board is a great way to start – just jot down what happens in the book and develop them into a plot. You'd be amazed how easy this is. Or think of the story in a summary: "Jane is in love with a guy who won't even look at her. One day, she sees him sitting in a cafe alone, and Jane bucks up the courage to talk to him. It turns out they have something crucial in common..."

Characters

The characters often come first, before the plot, but there are no hard and fast rules. With most of my published novels, the characters emerged as I wrote, which meant a lot of editing afterwards to make sure the descriptions matched throughout the novel. Sometimes, however, the characters are so clear from the beginning, that all you need is to keep a record of the gender, age, look, inner conflicts, role in the story and particular mannerisms and so on. Of course it depends on whether you are describing the main protagonist, or one of the main characters in the novel to which degree of detail you go into. Having said that, I tend to know up to the level of what shoe size any of my characters wear, or what their favourite lunch-time spot is. In the third book in The Englishman series, I got to know a very minor character, one of Kaisa's bosses in the England so well, that I described his hairy calves in one scene. And no, he's not a love interest. (Or is he? You'll have to wait to read the book to find out!)

Setting

Most of my novels are set partly in Finland, my country of birth, and a place I seem to be obsessed with. It's good to write about a place that you have experienced yourself, or you have a vivid idea of. Of course the setting doesn't have to be real, and you can change things around in a place to suit the story, as long as you make sure the changes are consequential. With Google Earth and Street View it's easy to find out what places look like, but remember this means it's also easy for your readers to see if you've made a mistake. Most readers want a book to take them somewhere new, or different. If I had a penny for every time I hear that my readers loved learning about Finland through my books...

No plot, no characters, no setting?

Don't worry if you are writing your first novel, and haven't sorted out a definite plot, all of the characters or settings. Once you start writing a story, these tend to sort themselves out anyway. The most important thing you can do is to write every day - even if you don't get to more than a few hundred words per day.  Just get into the habit of writing  - whatever happens and wherever you are. At home with a cold, on the train to work, in a cafe, on holiday - I even took my laptop with me when my husband was in hospital (it was a routine op, but still). And don't give up. I wish someone had told me not to give up when I first started writing seriously. I would now have a lot more novels under my belt, and a few less half-finished manuscripts in my drawer...

A few tricks

If I'm struggling with a manuscript, I have learned a few tricks to get me going with the writing again.

1. Walk away. Sometimes it's good to take a break. Have a coffee, go for a walk, or if nothing else works, take the writing elsewhere – another room, a coffee house or the library.
2. Go onto a new scene. Leave the bit you're stuck on and start writing another scene. Remember this is the first draft, so it doesn't matter if scenes are incomplete. You can come back and write more on the section you gave up on, but often if a scene is difficult to write, it may not belong in the novel. In any case, you can fix all that in the 2nd draft.
3. Google it. I've talked about research before, and I use it a lot to get over a mini writer's block. The more you learn about the subject, the more inspired you'll feel to carry on. Sometimes, if you can, it's good to physically go to the setting to be inspired. I dragged the Englishman up to Scotland on holiday last year, so I could see the place where my characters lived. While I wrote The Navy Wife, I often went back to look at the photos I took during our trip.
4. Start re-planning the plot on whiteboard, or on your computer. Just jot down ideas – anything – and you'll soon find a scene you can write. Or go back to your original ideas. Don't worry if it's the ending and you're written only 10,000 words so far. Those other words will come, I promise.
5. Re-read what you've written already. This is a bit of a last resort for me, because it means I will start re-editing and at this stage I don't want to fall into that (time-consuming) pit. But needs must, and if there is part of the manuscript I particularly like, I return to that and hope that my inspiration returns.

Finally, a word on writing software...

The software you use for writing can speed up the process as much as the planning ahead can. I have recently started using Scrivener, as opposed to Word, and I have to say it has been a revelation. This software allows me to write a lot quicker. I can review my work more efficiently, and there are areas for research, characters and settings, which you can fill in when you think of them and then refer to easily. Previously, I had all of this on pieces of paper, or saved somewhere in a folder on my laptop, or just bookmarked on my browser. I could never find anything!

But remember, whatever software you use, the words you produce for your first draft aren't going to be those that will be in the final print (or ebook) copy. Let you inner critic have a holiday and just write, write and write. That critic can have his or her field day as soon as the editing process begins.

I hope you've enjoyed this series of Advice for New Writers so far. The next instalment, '5 Ways to Learn Your Craft' will be out in the New Year.

Until then, happy writing and please subscribe to my newsletter here for all book offers, news and more!

I'm a NaNoWriMo Winner!

When I started the National Novel Writing Month challenge, I wasn't at all sure I'd be able to make it. Writing the best part of a novel (50,000 words) in 30 days seemed an insurmountable task.

All my previous NaNoWriMo attempts had produced less than 20,000 words, and those novels that I'd started then had taken about a year to write and another to edit and perfect. But then I was working full-time, and didn't have any kind of routine with my writing at all.

Now I had more time, but was editing another novel already, and worried I'd not be able to concentrate on two manuscripts at the same time. During the first week in November my back went, which made sitting down and writing quite painful at times.

But I was determined, and together with the support of my family (as always) and of the wonderful Driven Women group, I started a routine, waking up at six am and making myself sit at my desk by 6.30am. Every day. On most days by 9am I had written about 2,000 words, and could get on with research, marketing, layout and design issues with the other books during the rest of the day. Sometimes, the morning stretched onto 10am, but my one limiting factor was my terrier, who had to be taken out - there's only so long you can ignore a dog sitting in front of you asking for a walk.

During the past 28 days, I've missed my 6.30am appointment with my desk on one day only, due to a unscheduled wine tasting evening with a friend (you know who you are!). I also had to take three days out to do some major edits on the current novel, The Navy Wife, but during those non-NaNoWriMo days I was still writing, even though I was getting behind with my word count.

Next week, I'l post some of my tips for how to speed up your writing, in the series of Advice to New Writers, and in it, I'll include lessons I've learned from this NaNoWriMo experience.

But today, later, I will have a glass of something bubbly, and enjoy my winning ways!

Me this morning - no make-up, in a dressing gown, but happy!

NaNoWriMo Update - Only 5 days to go!

While my American readers are celebrating Thanksgiving, I am celebrating a smaller, but an equally important day (OK possibly not!). Today I caught up with NaNoWriMo. Yay!

You may remember that the last time I reported back, I was well ahead of the game, but then something happened with the forthcoming novel, The Navy Wife, which meant that I had to concentrate on fixing some sections of the story I wasn't happy with, and sadly, the National Novel Writing Month had to give way to this, more urgent, project.

Now, I know this goes against everything I preach about writing every day, whatever. My only excuse  is that I was by no means not writing, in fact I was writing more words than my daily 2,000 on the NaNoWriMo challenge. Even so, I fell behind, and have only today been able to catch up again. 

Phew!

It's strange that these little bars on the NaNoWriMo site can have such an effect on me. Especially where they are on the wrong side of the line.

In any case, all is now well in the Halme Author Towers. I can now say that I will finish on time - bar major disasters. (Fingers crossed) 

So, happy Thanksgiving to my American friends, and please congratulate me for once again being on course to finish this all-consuming November challenge!

Approaching the pinnacle - a NaNoWriMo update

For me, this, the third week of the National Writing Month, has been the most difficult to date.

On Friday after I'd reached 25,000 words and got myself another badge (hurrah), I decided it was time to have a bit of a celebration. After a very late night with friends, Saturday's word count was the lowest to date, just below the 1,000 mark. No more celebrations and late nights I decided, and on Sunday I managed my usual 2,000 words.

On Monday I just couldn't get up at my customary NaNoWriMo time of 6am, and when I sat at my desk at 7am, words just were not presenting themselves to me.

Whenever this kind of freeze (or writer's block for want of another term) happens, I do what my MA in Creative Writing tutor told me, 'Research, research and research.' In those days, more than ten years ago, research meant getting out of the house and into a library or newsagents, or out onto the streets. Though I sort of miss those days, being able to go places without leaving your desk is so much quicker and easier.

After an hour or so on Google Streetview and reading hairy newspaper reports on Royal Navy courts martial, I managed to write 2,000 words as usual. But it wasn't easy and took me the whole of the morning. The poor terrier had to wait until 11 am for his walk, whereas almost every day during the first two weeks of NaNoWriMo, I've been done by 9 o'clock.

Again today, Tuesday, day 17 of NaNoWriMo, the words just didn't flow. After an hour I'd produced only 600 words, so I decided to turn things around. Instead of waiting until the words were done for the day, I had breakfast and took the pooch out for his walk, and decided to return to my writing later. When I sat down at my desk again, with a second coffee of the day, I managed to get up to just over 2,000 words.

Walking the dog, it occurred to me that I'm approaching what I know will be the centre of the novel. The action needs to reach a pinnacle - a sort of eruption where the main characters come together in a either disastrous or a happy plot twist. I know what this twist in A Navy Wife is in broad terms, but I really, really want to make it good, and this must be what's blocking me.

Of course when I think about it, none of this is new. I must have at least five novels in my virtual desk drawer that I've lost interest in around the 30,000 word mark. There is something scary about getting past that word count. It's as if this is where the novel becomes a reality, and you have to know what you are going to do with the plot and the characters. You also know if the novel is going to be good or not at this stage - or you think you do. It's that old friend, Internal Critic, who starts to play a part, and before you know it, you've convinced yourself that the work you've done thus far is rubbish.

But the strange thing is that unlike my previous novels, I know almost exactly what is going to happen in A Marriage Adrift. I even know what's going to happen in the next novel in The Englishman -series. Having read back a few chapters I also think (in my humblest of opinions) that A Marriage Adrift is going to be alright - possibly my best writing yet. So what is my problem? I wish I knew....

Writing can be so frustrating sometimes - or all the time!

Anyone else have similar experiences?

A NaNoWriMo update - Day Five

I thought I'd give you just a quick update on how my National Novel Writing Month is going. It's Day Five, and I'm still very excited about the characters and the storyline of this novel, called A Marriage Adrift. It's early days, I know.

But...(drumroll please) today I hit the first 10,000 words. Yay!

When I set myself this challenge of writing 50,000 words in one month, I decided that the only way I could carry on preparing The Navy Wife (this is the sequel to The Englishman, which will be out at the end of November) for publication, and write 1,600 words a day on a new novel, was to get  up a little earlier in the mornings and write the required words before I took my terrier for his morning walk.

Since the 1st of November was a Sunday, I took the day off The Navy Wife and managed to write the first 2,000 words for NaNoWriMo in the morning without getting up at the crack of dawn. But come Monday, I was at my desk at 6.30 and wrote a whopping 2,334 words before 9am.

Unfortunately my back has been playing up too, so I've been hampered by having to lie flat on the floor to stretch it at regular intervals. Still, I'm managing to do 12-hour days now, starting at 6.30am and finishing at 6.30pm. And I'm still standing...(just).


Waking up early has been hard, but I hope by next Monday I will have got used to it. Hopefully next week my back will allow me to get to the gym too, giving me more energy to carry on.


I will be back next week with another update. In the meantime, if you too are doing NaNoWriMo, let me know how you are getting on. And wish me luck!

The terrier camouflaged by the autumn leaves.

Are you doing NaNoWriMo?

What is NaNoWriMo you ask? Well, it's the National Novel Writing Month, which takes place each year in November, when thousands of authors, or aspiring novelists, challenge themselves to write 50,000 words (I know, not quite a full-length novel, but nearly) in 30 days. That means exactly 1,667 words per day. Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy...?

I've tried to do NaNoWriMo for years, and have never got further than about 10,000 words, so this year, having given up my day job to write full-time (eek!), I'll try to complete this challenge.

The NaNoWriMo site is a font of knowledge how to achieve the required word count, as well as what you can do in advance of the 1st of November to prepare for the writing month. Go to the site for more, but here is a quick summary of what it's all about:

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing. 

On November 1, participants begin working towards the goal of writing a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 PM on November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm, determination, and a deadline, NaNoWriMo is for anyone who has ever thought about writing a novel.

The sequel to The Englishman, the Navy Wife, is now going through its final edits, and should be out in late November, so I'm going to attempt to write the bulk of the 3rd book in the series during the month of November. This novel is now fully plotted (or as fully as I ever plot in advance, which is about 75%), and even has a working title, 'A Marriage Adrift'.

So, wish me luck, and let me know if you are a fellow NaNoWriMo madwoman/man. I'd love to add you as my writing buddy on the NaNoWriMo site here!

NaNoWriMo Versus Downton Abbey

I don't want to appear defeatist, but I'm afraid I'm not doing so very well on this, my first, attempt at writing a novel in a month. I'm at only 5,000 words, some 5,000 words behind where I should be at the end of today. And Downton Abbey is on telly tonight. Arghhh.

But I'm not going to give up. I have the plot (nearly) I have the characters, all I need to do is sit down and write the words themselves...

National Novel Writing Month

Because I have so much time on my hands (hah!) and because I ONLY have three unpublished manuscripts lying unloved at the bottom of in my virtual desk drawer, I've decided to take part in this year's National Writing Month.

The idea is simple, 30 days, 50,000 words. Not hard at all...?

No need to send for the men in white coats; this is something I've wanted to do for a long, long time, or at least since I took my MA in Creative Writing at Bath Spa in 2004.

So just wish me luck! I will keep you posted on my progress, both with words (if I have any left) and with Word Count Scoreboard.