| Writing a novel by taking a course is like learning | | | | read a statistic that 5.6m children a year |
| to fly a plane by reading the instruction manual... it | | | | worldwide die from malnutrition - that is about |
| can't be done. | | | | 15,000 a day. |
| In the end you just have to take the plunge and | | | | That figure went round and round in my head and |
| jump in and start all by yourself. | | | | I thought how can this be so - how in a world of |
| The problem is that publishing offices are full to | | | | plenty can we let this happen? |
| bursting with novels that are so WRONG that | | | | That was the driving force behind writing the |
| they will never be published in a million years. | | | | novel, which is turning into a word of mouth, cult |
| There are two basic rules and one piece of style | | | | fiction best seller. Everything else followed from |
| advice that every aspiring writer should know. | | | | that. |
| The first rule is to TELL A STORY. It does not | | | | I said there were two essentials rules to writing a |
| matter how obtuse, or obscure it is but every | | | | novel and one piece of stylistic advice. |
| novel at some level has to have that basic | | | | That advice concerns your own experience. |
| STORY TELLING aspect. And at some level you | | | | Obviously we all write largely using our own |
| have to keep the story going throughout the | | | | experience. And if you are writing a memoir, then |
| book. | | | | it is going to be pretty much all experience. |
| A novel without a story is like a car without a | | | | But if you are trying a regular novel you should |
| motor. | | | | try and disguise your own experience. Take a |
| Get yourself down to the level of telling a bed | | | | step away, be objective about yourself. |
| time story to a child. Or imagine you are with a | | | | In Tombola there is a lot of me, my thoughts, |
| group of friends round a camp fire spinning a | | | | my life, my experiences, but they have all been |
| ghost yarn. If you don't hold their attention they | | | | changed and altered. |
| will get bored and stop listening. | | | | As an author you don't want the reader to see |
| Don't be afraid to exaggerate the story. Who | | | | the ribs and planking of the craft your are |
| was the movie mogul who said every script | | | | creating. You want the reader to see the whole |
| should start with a crisis and go on to a | | | | finished object. |
| catastrophe? | | | | Time and time again, if I saw myself poking |
| Inside three pages the hero of Tombola has | | | | through the canvas when writing Tombola I went |
| discovered he has terminal cancer and that a | | | | back and reworked and rewrote passages. |
| corrupt businessman is about to rip down his | | | | (And here is a last throwaway piece of advice. |
| football club. And Tombola is not ever a thriller! | | | | Don't take yourself too seriously. Even the most |
| If you really have hyped it too much you can can | | | | fabulous of literary novels are ninety percent |
| always row it back later. | | | | story and ten per cent ' message.' ) |
| The second major piece of advice is that you | | | | There is no charge for this advice. I am not trying |
| must really FEEL about your novel. | | | | to sell you a magic novel writing powder. Because |
| It can be a love story, an adventure story, or a | | | | we all know that there are no short cuts. |
| literary thriller but if you don't feel it, then certainly | | | | Getting a novel written and published is mostly |
| an editor won't. | | | | hard work, with lesser amounts of luck and talent. |
| Tombola began to take shape in my mind when I | | | | |