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Writing your novel

© Joanne Reid

"Could you tell me how to go about getting a book published? I think I have several good book ideas and all I have to do is write them! Right now, they are just ideas but I know I could write them in a short time. I have never written anything, but I know I can do this. I am very interested as I hear there is money in book writing."

This is a variation on the kind of email message that I frequently receive. It is also a variation on the kind of questions I encounter face to face. "I have this great idea for a book. Can you tell me where to sell it?"

I used to be gentle in my reply and suggest that the would-be writers go to the local bookstore and take a look around and ask this question of themselves: "If you wrote and sold your book, where would it be in this store?"

When they located the appropriate section, they would look at the books of similar type and genre and examine these books and ask:
1. What is the length?
2. Who is the publisher?

Armed with this, they would have enough information on how long to make their book and what publishers buy that type of book.

Now I just say: "Write the book. The rest will follow."

It's the obvious approach but because it is the hardest part of getting published, would-be writers often try to get around this part of the process. I'm a little unclear on why they want to be writers if they don't enjoy the process of writing. Or perhaps they want to be assured of a publisher before putting the energy into writing the book.

There is no easy way to write a book. The words have to be put down on paper. Novels usually are at least 50,000 words long, often up to 100,000 words in length. That's between 200 and 400 pages of typing, double-spaced, courier 12 point.

You have to write those pages. Day after day, you have to sit down and enter the words into your computer. One page a day would do.

There are some guides to writing on the Net and they do offer some excellent suggestions. Here are some I recommend:

Novel writing workshop

How To Be Published by Celia Brayfield

Seven suggestions for writing a novel by John Ross

Eight great ways to jump-start your writing by Bev Walton-Porter

Beginning Writing -- Short Stories v The Novel by Alex Keegan

Once you finish your first novel, whether it ever sells, you will feel a tremendous feeling of accomplishment. Try it and see.

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