The ups and downs of writing a book

Ups and downs are all part of the book writing process

The good sessions where words are flowing and the plot twists you come up with surprise even yourself.

Then there’s the down days when ideas come fleetingly, if at all. Where it all seems a little pointless, that no one will like what you’re writing enough to pay to read it.

When you think of having to write the synopsis and wonder how you’ll ever be able to summarise the 100,000+ words you’re anticipating writing into a couple of hundred.

Having managed to finish 10 novels, the advice always is keep going. Even on rough tough days, writing something is better than nothing. You have 100% control over what words the world get to see.

Get some crap down, safe in the knowledge it probably won’t see the light of day but might form the springboard to something better.

Most of my novels take about 10 drafts and the differences between the first and the final draft are stark. That’s all part of the process. In the end, what you write during those uptimes will form the backbone of your book. Yes, some sections you’ll have to write when you’re not feeling on top of your game.

Sometimes you read back what you’ve written a day after writing it, thinking it was the best you’ve ever written and it doesn’t seem so good as you remember.

All part of the process.

Remember, a reader will only read your words once. You’ll be reading your book multiple times. So the twists will become all too familiar. So too the dialogue.

But you have to detach yourself from that and try to imagine the impact your words will have on someone reading them for the first time.