Adam Croft

Creating characters is often one of the most fun parts of novel writing – but it can also be one of the most challenging.

We need to get the balance right with our characters. They need to be believable without being boring, and shouldn’t be too perfect. They should have flaws, like all people do, but how flawed is too flawed? At what point do they become unable to function in your story, any story?

Their flaws shouldn’t just be there for the sake of having flaws, either. How big and obvious they are is something else we need to consider; do they exist on the scale of a small personality quirk, or something major that impacts on everything they do?

We also want our readers to root for our characters – particularly our protagonists. We want readers to like and care for them, and to want to follow them through the story as the narrative progresses. At the same time, the reader shouldn’t necessarily always agree with the character. They shouldn’t always be on the same page and the character perhaps shouldn’t always be completely sympathetic. We need to get the right balance between having a character a reader can care for and one that isn’t always on the ‘right’ side of the argument.

It’s a tricky issue to get right, but it should be tricky. At their best, characters should be complex and slightly contradictory – just as people are. They are the driving force of novels, pushing on the plot and providing the drama and intrigue. Instead of looking to create the ‘perfect’ character, we should instead focus on what makes them them.

What do you think?

There might not be any set in stone right or wrong in writing, but that doesn’t stop us from coming up with our own personal rules for it. I think one of the reasons for this is that no matter how chaotic we and/or our writing styles might be, we still need at least a modicum of organisation to actually get things done.

Hence rules start to form, either by design or accident, but either way shaping how we write. The important thing is that they are rules that help rather than hinder us; getting distracted by other people’s writing rules or feeling as though we should follow the rules of already-successful writers isn’t always the best course of action. This is an area we by and large have to figure out for ourselves.

Except for very occasionally. I would argue that there are a few rules of writing that (nearly) always apply. Editing, for one. We need to edit. Writing is not just about putting some words on a page and that’s that. It’s about refining and honing those words on the page until they are the best they can be. So that’s universal rule one: don’t neglect the editing.

What else? Exclamation marks in novels (and most other things) should generally be kept to a minimum. Reading your work out loud is a good way of seeing how it flows and is especially good for dialogue.

Then, of course, there is what is perhaps the most important writing rule of all. It is absolutely essential. No matter what other rules you go by or how you go about your writing, this is one thing all writers must adhere to or else face potential ruin. Back up your work, or else run the risk of seeing it all mysteriously vanish the next time the computer has one of its special moments or you drop your vital notebook in the bath. A systematic and orderly approach to backing up your writing has to be one of the few essential rules that exist.

What do you think? Are any writing rules essential, or is it entirely down to the writer in question?

A little like snowflakes, no two writers are ever quite the same. We all have our own ways of going about it, but there are still a few universal truths that apply. Here are 10 things to remember about writing, and please feel free to share your own in the comments.

1)      Editing is a large part of writing. In fact, editing might be most of writing. The first draft of something is only the beginning.

2)      It doesn’t always come easily. No matter how long you have been writing, no matter how successful you are as a writer, there will be days when everything you write stinks. But that’s OK, because there are also good days. And there are biscuits.

3)      Writing is something to be enjoyed. When you’re stuck in the middle of your third draft and have lost sight of your initial utopian thinking with regards to your novel, it might not be the best time you have ever had. However, the good times will come again. There is nothing quite like a writing session that is going well.

4)      Not everyone will like what you write. You can’t write a novel that is completely to everyone’s tastes. The best you can do is write a novel that you love and hope that some other people will quite like it too.

5)      You shouldn’t limit or constrain yourself in what you write. It can be easy to accidentally shoehorn yourself into a particular genre or style of writing, but never forget that there is a whole world of different stuff out there. There’s nothing that says you can’t try different things.

6)      The first draft will never be perfect.

7)      You should do it because you love it. Writing can be a slog, and it’s something that requires commitment and passion. We do it because it’s a vocation.

8)      There are always new ways to use language. We might make a complete mess when we try something new, but equally, we might make something wonderful

9)      There is no right or wrong. There is only what feels right or wrong for you.

10)   It is a continual learning process, and there is always something new to explore.

When we talk about the benefits of independent publishing, we often focus on the control it gives to authors, and the way it helps to get many more books out there for people to read. But what about the impact it has on writing? Could independent publishing also help to improve our writing? I think it could. Here are some of the reasons why.

• It encourages diversity. When we’re not constrained by what we think publishers want from books, we can be more creative, which allows us to find our own niches.
• More people are having a go at writing. Before independent publishing started to take off, it’s not too hard to see how some people might have been put off from having a go at getting their work published. Now, many of the barriers to getting work out there have been removed, which is great for encouraging people to have a go – making writing much richer as a result.
• There’s a lot of competition out there. With so many books being self-published as well as traditionally published, there is a need to ensure that anything we put out there is as good as it can possibly be. The competition should encourage us all to become better writers.
• We can draw on professional talent. Even though independent publishing requires us to do a lot of the work ourselves, that doesn’t stop writers from drawing on other resources to help improve our work. Professional editors and proof-readers can help us to think about our work differently, making our novels better in the process.
• We’re entirely responsible for our own success. With independent publishing, you have no one to answer to but yourself. Your writing is what you make of it, and there is often no better incentive to improve than the fact that your success as a writer is entirely down to you.

What do you think? Has independent publishing helped to make you a better writer?

If you have ever self-published anything, you will undoubtedly be aware of the costs involved. There are costs that are mandatory and some that aren’t, and it’s worth being aware of them if you are thinking of going down the independent publishing route.

For example, as self-published books become more professional, one of the costs that many authors would say is mandatory is that of cover design. Most writers aren’t brilliant cover designers, and so buying in the services of someone who is brilliant at it is often inevitable.

Editing is another cost that, for many, is mandatory. Of course, you could decide to do it yourself, but there is a lot to be said for getting someone else to go over your work before it’s published. Whether it’s the cost of buying drinks for your writing group or friends in exchange for making suggestions on your work or the cost of a professional editor, this is one area where it’s worth the investment.

Depending on how you publish your work, there will also be certain unavoidable costs related to publishing it, such as print on demand services if you decide to go down the print route. Not all aspects of independent publishing have to cost money, though: you could pay for marketing, but equally you could make use of free options and do it yourself, for instance.

However, whatever you decide to pay for, there is one cost that you can’t get away from: time. Self-publishing takes time, and while it might not be a cost in the normal sense, it’s something that will need to be built into your publishing plan. First of all, it takes time to write a book – usually months, and sometimes years.

It takes time to edit, and to do your research about the industry, and to get the finished book just right before you publish it. It takes time to market the book, to do the administration related to publishing it and then to do it all again so you can get your next book out there. It’s an investment, and one to be taken as seriously as hiring the right editor or cover designer.

This is something we shouldn’t forget: self-publishing is wonderful, can be great fun and the rewards can be excellent, but it is also an investment. It’s something we need to commit to and be serious about to make it all worth it. What do you think?