The CC authors, writers, and bookists thread.

[craigwend]

Good luck 'Dee Raigoh' with your first noir crime based feminist novelo...

 

[Drago]

Good luck 'Dee Raigoh' with your first noir crime based feminist novelo...

Feminist and vegan!

 

[Gunk]

And I'll need a pseudonym

How about Rudolph Hucker

 

[fossyant]

I'll start you off.

Once upon a time in Poshshire....

 

[tyred]

Good luck with it. I dabble in poetry and short story writing as well as writing my cycling blog. Anyone who could write a novel has my respect as I could never be disciplined enough to write a long piece.

 

[Bollo]

So far I have larndan gangsters using the island for their own ends, a local old boy, a local trawlerman with a grudge, his ex girlfriend, a recent incomer who is a widower, and something else to throw into the the pot.

Jock, Crock and Two Smoking Kippers?

 

[Once a Wheeler]

I know a lot about this. I would give the following advice:

• It is a job.
• Write every morning, Monday to Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• On Friday morning, go through the week's output, spell-check it, correct it, get it into the final format.
• Never quit the task during a morning session — even if you produce only one sentence which you will cross out the next day.
• Always stop at 1 p.m. even if the book is flowing like a torrent.
• Take standard employee holidays: three weeks in summer, Christmas-New Year, a week in autumn and at Easter.
• It will take you at least nine months. It may take you five years.
• Use Scrivener.
• It will take about the same time it took to write it in order to get it published; self-publishing will be quicker but is a full-time job.

I wish you stamina and success.

 

[tom73]

I know 2 published authors ones a life long school friend who's now an actor. Who's wrote a few plays, short stories and poems.
He's been working on a novel for years and working his way though a screen play. Now he's pretty good at this stuff.
The other my mates former BIL who's a total prat. Sent his novel to a proof reader totally dismissed her findings. This after paying a fortune for her to do it and just carried on. My mates now ex wife who has a English degree read it as did my mate and boy was it bad. So bad they felt so embarrassed to even let my FIL a retired English teacher near it. In the end it bombed big time and cost him a mint.

So if you end up with something in the middle that's half decent then go for it. If it's want you want to do you never know you may sell a decent number. It's easy to get the word out now with SM and you can also self publish.
Trust me if my mates ex BIL can write one. A one armed headless snowman can do a better job.

 

[fossyant]

I know a lot about this. I would give the following advice:

• It is a job.
• Write every morning, Monday to Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• On Friday morning, go through the week's output, spell-check it, correct it, get it into the final format.
• Never quit the task during a morning session — even if you produce only one sentence which you will cross out the next day.
• Always stop at 1p.m. even if the book is flowing like a torrent.
• Take standard employee holidays: three weeks in summer, Christmas-New Year, a week in autumn and at Easter.
• It will take you at least nine months. It may take you five years.
• Use Scrivener.
• It will take about the same time it took to write it in order to get it published; self-publishing will be quicker but is a full-time job.

I wish you stamina and success.

Blimey, you do know young Drago is retired and very busy with his engagements - this does look like a full time job !!

 

[Supersuperleeds]

I'd love to write a novel, I even know the subject matter, but I know I wouldn't commit the time to do it properly and even if I did, it would still be bloody rubbish.

 

[KnittyNorah]

I know 2 punished authors ones a life long school friend who's now an actor.

I hardly dare to ask but ...

what was their punishment?

 

[Supersuperleeds]

I hardly dare to ask but ...

what was their punishment?

They have to maintain their friendship with @tom73

 

[teeonethousand]

I have tried this….it is either still ongoing or failed depending on your point of view😀
I have a plot, characters etc and used mind maps to flesh out all of the threads that go out and eventually come back together. I wrote the first version by typing out the bullet points and/or brief descriptions of what happens in each chapter/section/story step. I then filled in the detail.

My humble thoughts:
- you need a good WP with a great keyboard and predictive text either off or working in you…nothing worse that fighting it.
- details are hard to flesh out properly …mine is way shorter than it needs to be.
- all the above about setting up time and being disciplined …oh yes…..it is a lot harder than it sounds
- you will probably write everything several times before you get it how you want it and then several times after :-)
- get the ending sorted early on as it helps steer things

Good luck and I’d love to hear how you get on.

 

[potsy]

To be fair, I thought you were mad before you decided to do this

I actually look forward to your novel, getting a bit bored of Jack Reacher so need something a little more believable...

 

[Jameshow]

Is it a murder mystery based on a cyclechat forum, whereby someone's knocked off by another forum member one dark night in a odd location using a bike tool of choice!