See your finished product; a visual image of it and keep it in front of you on your desk.
 

I have the end in mind - but seem to lose site of it when I am not writing. Thanks for the great advise!

I am glad you are my friend - you are making my journey so much more pleasant.
 

I have to admit I disagree with not editing as you go - I'm constantly changing, refining, altering, shaping, nit-picking, and sanding down the edges as I go along. Sometimes it does help to have the finished article so you can make structural changes, so you can take a few steps back and look at the shape of the book, but I wouldn't call it a hard and fast rule.

If you are struggling with a section, or something doesn't scan right, read it outloud to yourself. You'll instantly find the part that doesn't fit, or the block that you have built into the text.

Sometimes, it helps not to look at a piece of work for a couple months, and then read it back. You'll see the bare skeletons of the words on the page, and not the daydream that lay behind it.

Hope this helps,

Lou x
 

I love writing and this journey I'm on - learning to write a novel. Everyone's comments are only encouraging me to continue on this path.

Thanks for the advise and I hope you have a great evening.

Annie
 

My advise is to read a lot in the genre you want to write in. It will let you know what is already out there and give you an idea of the conventions of the genre.

And I definitely agree about putting your work away for about a month after you finish it. It's amazing all of the things you'll catch that you didn't see before.

Good luck!
 

I can't believe all the great advise I am receiving. I love to read and am looking for books that I in the genre that I want to write about. I have just finished reading "Icing on the cake" by Laura Castoro. It's about this women that leaves her husbands advertizing company to open a bakery. They divorce and soon her husband dies and leaves 1/2 of the ad company to her and 1/2 to his newer younger widow. It is hilarious. I don't want to write about divorce or mistrust - something that is up lifting and romantic.

Thank you for taking the time to write in my blog.

Have a great week.

Cheers,

Annie
 

Ouch. My ego- I wrote/completed a great nonfiction book similar to the Girlfriend's Guide books (but better, with fresh ideas) and now I begin the painstaking task of finding a good agent that knows this genre. Are rejections common? What should I expect? Any advise on how to do this without wanting to crawl under a rock? This is my first attempt to get published. I'm flyin' blind here....

thanks!

Kim
 

Ok, here goes, Annie.

Write from your heart and soul!

The hardest thing is NOT to share with others, otherwise you will be rewriting forever! LOL Really, have faith in yourself. Write a book YOU want to read. Enjoy the creative process.

It's ok to edit before you are done. I hop around a work. I get up super early, write all morning, then I come back to it later to see what I have. I'll do a rough edit and move onto something else.

There is no right or wrong to this, eveyone has their own way of reaching the goal. Pick the way that works for you and go with it.

Linda www.lindaballard.com
 

Here is some advise I got from the coffee time romance forum:

Know what the publisher wants - read books that they already published.

Have an opening of the story that captures the editor and holds their attention.

Clearly state the driving force behind the characters actions. Don't just suddenly spring a charcter's action on the readers with out leading into the action and pulling the reader into the characters world. Intertwine the character and background into the story as the actions of the character call for it. Slowly unfolding the personal traits of the character. Make the character's traits unique with thier own personal history. Mainstream characters are boring.

Don't make everything so predictable that the book is not worth reading.
 

Tell yourself that every day you're going to write a thousand words. In two months you'll have sixty thousand words, the length of a short book!

Good luck with your work.

Deborah Blumenthal
author of "Fat Camp."
 

I love your suggestion. I will have to chain myself to my chair though, I am such a procrastinater. I was writing 900 words a day up to 21,000 words than I got distracted and put my novel aside for months.

Thank you for the kind words and have a fantastic day.

Annie
 

For rough drafts, I write two pages a session (if writing in morning and p.m.) or a day, no more no less. That way, you always have more to say and you can jot down those notes to greet you the next time you sit down to write. This prevents writer's block and creates a comfort zone. You're your own coach. Good luck!
 

Here is some great advice I received by email:

Ask yourself, if this were written by someone else, would I enjoy it? - by Bill Ectric

Make sure you make your characters enjoyable to read and dont put too much detail in things that really dont matter. I'm not big on detail, I just like to tell the story, I write

more like you're reading a movie. - by Derek

Forums where authors are coming to share their hobbies and their books, it is a great way to pick up readers that you may not know or who may not know about you!

http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/board/index.php - Coffee Time Romance and More!

Please continue to blog the great advice. Have a great day,

Cheers,

Annie
 

It gets easier hon...really! My first project, a sci fi novel took years to write, scribbled notes on the way to my job etc. After five years of work. it was complete garbage and ended up in a bin. Then I started work on Blood Tears , similiar method- bits here and there. I finally finished it and my friend a professional author ripped it too shreds= in a positive contructive way. It was a hard knock combat course of how to write a novel. I procrastinated for a month then worked through her seemingly notes. By the end I had a novel that is doing brilliantly. Most importantly I was learning the craft of writing. The second one was easier, took less time and needed far less editing. The third is writing itself.
The secret is to let the creativity flow as it comes. Dont be hung up on following a linear pattern. That works for some people but not all. for example I am writing Alliance from back to front! The polishing , sorting and editing is at the end of the process. Just let your novel evolve. Dont be afraid to ditch chapters that aren't working. I recently dumped 300 pages of Blood Alliance. And most importantly - enjoy telling your story...then others will enjoy sharing the journey!
 

So true, I read my first chapter to my friends and stumbled through it and had to re-write a lot of it. It makes way more sense now! It has flow.

Thanks for you advice, I appreciate all I can get. I am now 3/4 the way through my first novel - thanks to all the encouragement I am getting to not give up.

Have a great evening and please keep in touch.

Cheers,

Annie
 

Listen to the advice that people have to give you, but be selective in the people you choose to listen to. Keep that in mind for the writing groups especially.

Other than that - Read, Write, and Live Your Dreams!
 

The people in my group are newbies and are hoping that I will have some input for them. They are great listeners and are very patient as I read parts of my novel to them. I hear more mistakes when reading out loud then when just typing. I have authored a cookbook, but not a novel.

I am so glad that I get advice from actual authors - you guys are great. Just great!!!

Have a great evening and please keep in touch.

Cheers,

Annie
 

Received by email:

Annie

hello. I finally found some time to actually respond to your question on writing advice.

Here is what I can honestly tell you works.

1) Write every day. If you can write a thousand words a day great, if not, at least a few lines.

2)Outline, outline, outline...it is far easier to write a book/novel if you have a general idea on where the book is going. Each note becomes sort of a finish line. Now you can keep everything organic/free flowing if a better idea comes up and odds are, you won't have to revise your plot/outline too much.

3)You can try Nanowrimo. it is a free contest every year starting the 1st of November and lasting until November 31st. You have that amount of time to write 50,000 words. Sounds tough and it is is, but what it does is to force you to write and push through writers block.

The beauty of this is that everything anyone every writes is going to have to be edited. Why not get the biggest chunk of your manuscript out of the way and then edit it as a whole rather than incrementally? I've competed twice and finished both times.

And if you don't finish, no big deal. No matter what, you'll have a bunch of material to work from as long as you keep writing everyday.

You've gotten some solid advice from other writers as well. In the end, do what works best for you. No one else can write the story you want to write/tell, so own it, make it yours and find the best way you can tell it and you'll be successful no matter how many copies it sells.

Best of luck

Daniel C Nielsen
http://www.myspace.com/llokkii
 

The best advice I can give is write everyday. Try to picture reaching the end of your novel, and set your goals at a high level. After your novel is complete, keep rewriting until you feel it's finally complete. After that, start querying agents (this is a tough step). Rejections will follow, but don't give up. Keep your eyes on that goal. It only takes one yes.
 

I attended a Game Development meetup and this is some advice that I got for making an adventure game - can be applied to novel writing:

1. start with a well defined world, a place with history and personality

2. populate with characters that live there, that clearly have a reason to be there, other than to help or hinder the protagonist

3. have a strong plot to propel the character through the story

4. the character should help paint the picture, not just uncover it

Have a great day.

Cheers,

Annie
 

When I was thinking about self publishing, I found that I couldn't apply for grants to travel or to write another book. The expense to self publish was too high - printing and shipping, etc.

I am very fortunate to have an agent that is willing to look for a publisher for any book that I write. My publisher has all young brilliant staff and have offices all over Canada - I benefit from all their staff's talent. They have a MySpace account at: http://www.myspace.com/arsenalpulppress

I know that I couldn't have written a cookbook without them. I've been told that I will need to produce a new novel at least one every eight months in order to make an decent income. Their editor and marketer are super. The marketer is alway contacting radio stations, TV stations, bookstores, libraries, newspapers, etc. and sending out review cookbooks to publications for review and a free cookbook for every radio station for give away that gives us a great interview - as long as they have a large audience.
 

Advice I received in my comment section

When I finished the first draft of my novel, I still needed around 20,000 words. When I rewrote it, I added parts that I left out, and I also cut some of the scenes that really didn't belong. I got the idea for this novel from my sister, and her exboyfriend. I also added some subjects that either happened to me or to someone clost to me. Subjects like: the death of a friend, a pregnancy, etc. The pregnancy part came from my brother and his girlfriend. This novel is also somewhat of a murder mystery, but not a murder mystery at all. And with this novel, I thought I would never finish it because the goal for my word count was nowhere close to where I was at the time. I do have a bit of a twist at the end, but I'm going to keep that one a secret.

Anyways, what's your goal wordcount? I set mine at 50,000, but managed to get 51,000. And, if you write a part and find that you don't like it in the end, keep rewriting until you like that part or scene. If you come to find that you can't like it, even after you rewrite it all those times, toss that scene out and write from a different angle. And also, let some of your friends, that you know will be honest with you, read your work. They will be your best critics.

- by Henry Puckett-Writer