[Prole]

This is a little late, but I hope it’s useful.

Every single writer approaches things differently. Some people will tell you to write everything down and draw charts, some people say write full-page descriptions of each character... all that drives me mental, although it might turn out to work for you. I do keep a book that I use to nick people's great one-liners and to note down anything significant I think will help my story. When it comes to remembering stuff, the bluntest pencil is better than the sharpest mind. The truth is you will have to find a way of working that suits you. You are the only one who can decide which is the best way for you.

Don’t underestimate the value of good English. Spelling, punctuation and grammar are the tools in your toolbox. Get to know them. You could have the best, most original idea for a story in the history of the world but if your English is poor it won’t get past the first hurdle when you send your manuscript to a publisher. Brushing up on the rules of English is not as hard as you think. There are plenty of really basic, simple English books out there that explain stuff without being too boring and if you’re doing it to enhance your chosen art instead of because a teacher has told you to, you are more likely to get into it. Besides, if you can remember the starting line-up of your football team at their last game, you can remember how to use an apostrophe. There is no excuse. If you’re going to be a writer, you MUST have good English otherwise your manuscript won’t even get read.

I find that what works for me initially is to sit down with a set of index cards and working out what's going to happen in each chapter. Next set yourself a word-count and this will give you a rough idea how long each chapter needs to be. About 140,000 words is average, but it can be less than that.

Be prepared for this, though: as you write your story, even the most well-planned book will change as it's written. The story could well takes on a life of its own and fresh ideas will present themselves. You will find yourself getting to know your characters and, as you work them through your planned story, you’ll start to think "Nah, he'd NEVER do that, he's not the type!".

I suggest you don't share your novel with just anyone while you’re writing it. Some people will give you suggestions for changes just to let you know they've read it when they really aren’t qualified to comment. Or they’ll tell you how wonderful they thought it was when really they thought that the second chapter sucked the big one. Unless they're a published writer, an editor or an agent, keep it to yourself until you're completely happy with it, or only show it to someone you trust to be 100% honest with you.

When you come to the point where you start flogging your book around the publishers, layout is very important. Double line spaced with a large left-hand margin is essential. Never use wacky fonts or colours, stick to blue or black and a well-used font like Times Roman, Ariel, Verdana, something like that. 12pt is a decent size to stick to. Editors read hundreds of thousands of words every week, so if you can make yours easy to read, they will give it more attention. Don’t bind your pages, leave them loose, and make sure the pages are numbered. It’s not a bad idea to put a feint footer on each page with your name, phone number and the title of the book.

You can either wait till your whole book is finished or you can start hunting round for a publisher once you've got about 3 chapters written and see if you get any interest. If you do, it'll be the greatest incentive you can imagine to get you to buckle down and finish it. Get yourself a copy of the Writers and Artists Yearbook and research publishers who publish the kind of stuff you've written. If you're unsure whether they'll take unsolicited material, call them and ask them. Literary Agents are notoriously difficult to pin down. It's much easier to get one once a publisher has shown an interest in your work. Do try to get an agent if you can, they can negotiate you a MUCH better deal. Although they will take between 10-20% for themselves, it's still worth it because they know a lot more about selling your book than you do, and it frees you up to concentrate on the actual writing. Writers aren’t usually really good at selling themselves.

I find it really important to write something every day, even if it's just a couple of lines. Eventually you will go back to something you've written, read it through and think "Wow, that's good... I don't remember writing that".

Finally, it’s a cut-throat world out there. Try to grow a thick skin and don’t be put off if you are rejected a few times. If a publisher offers you advice, even though they've rejected your book, take it. They know what they're talking about and any advice they give you should be taken as the precious gift it is. And remember this when the rejections roll in: Frederick Forsythe had ‘Day of the Jackal’ rejected by more than thirty publishers, but he didn't give up, and now it's sold millions of copies in a variety of languages over thirty-odd years. Same with JK Rowling, who had the first Harry Potter book rejected so many times she was about to give up when a literary agent signed her.

Hey, good luck :-)