Writing A Novel - a novice’s perspective by Martin Edwards

Hightown Writers Workshop is a home for people at many stages on their writing journey. Some of our members have 'left home' so to speak and moved on into the world of published writers, some of us are just happy to enjoy crafting smaller projects and some of us are dipping our toes into the world of writing for the first time. Whichever state you identify with there's a warm welcome with us - and as a happy family those who have 'left home' stay in touch and are often welcomed back for 'visits'.

Today we are more than happy to publish the 'confessions' of one of the 'Lockdown Members of 2020', Martin Edwards, who has brought a lot of fun to our group and has some excellent advice for us all about getting writing.

So -  from Hightown Writers -

Thank You Martin:

I’ve been busy doing something I’ve always wanted to do.

I began this time last year, and now I’m halfway through - though I stopped for a few months in between.

Only a few chosen, lovely people have known about it. Some have offered technical support, but all have offered wonderful moral support.

I certainly wouldn’t have got as far as I have without their huge doses of encouragement - and undeniably honest feedback.

Honesty is critical when you attempt this kind of endeavour, both from within yourself, and those around you - because without it, the project won’t succeed.

Yes, I’m writing a novel.

There, I’ve said it. I’ve put it out there... so now I’ve got to finish it.

I may have bothered you on occasion with some silly poetry, but that was for fun and wordy practice. Behind the screens (I have more than one), I’ve been doing some serious keyboard bashing.

Google has been a great friend. Research, research, research... and so much lost sleep over accurate spelling, sentence structure and suitable synonyms, I couldn’t tell you.

I think I suffered the ‘halfway through blues’ a while ago - around 60,000 words in. Apparently, all writers suffer from it - or so I’ve convinced myself.

A huge crevice opens up before you, and unless you have the courage to jump right over it, your self-confidence tips over the edge and plummets straight into the abyss.

Anyway, in my case, it clung on by its fingernails and hauled itself out onto the other side.

I’m now back in the saddle and rattling away like a demon possessed.

It’s a challenge to master this craft. You never stop learning, and it’s easy to underestimate the amount of work required to complete the task at hand.

Having never travelled much further than Wales, I may have overestimated my ability to understand geography and different cultures. My ‘thriller’ takes place on the east coast of America, and then jumps around a couple of other worldly domains. However, Google Earth has been a cartographic blessing. From the comfort of my writing chair I can take a free supersonic ticket to anywhere. Ideal if you’re experiencing lockdown sickness.

Thriller writing is not without its risks, though. If I mysteriously disappear for a few years, you’ll probably hear that the local constabulary raided my search engine history and discovered lots of dubious enquiries for information on drug smuggling, guns, high crimes and ‘top ten ways to kill people’.

They say there’s a book in everyone, and if you get the urge, I can recommend having a go. You can begin by joining a local, friendly, non-judgemental group. I didn’t find mine until many months after I had started. However, I was lucky - I had a hugely knowledgeable friend who I mugged at pen-point. I then plundered his expertise for a bottle of home-made blackberry whiskey. To that person, I will be eternally grateful – and, likewise, no doubt he’ll be eternally grateful when I finish my book, and I stop bothering him.

I’m not qualified to give you any advice - but here’s a possible reality check from my own experience...

Your first piece of work will be awful, and terribly embarrassing when you dig it out ten years later… and so will the next, and the next. But each iteration, each new page, each new idea will get better and better, until you reach a point of personal literary nirvana, where you think, “Yeh, I’m proud of this, and OK it might not be a Hemingway or a Brontë - but reading is subjective. As long as someone has been drawn into my world and enjoyed, or been moved by the experience, then it’s a job well done!” It’s very much a reflection of the adage, ‘practice makes perfect’, or perhaps more realistically… ‘practice makes towards perfect’.

And read out your work aloud. Become a bit of an actor. It helps with the rhythm of your writing. Read back to yourself in the mirror, or to a willing friend. Even better, why not record it? It’s so easy to do nowadays. A decent microphone attached to your computer or phone costs very little.

That’s what I’ve done - so, not only am I ‘finding my voice’ in my writing (that’s some elusive literary technical thing I haven’t quite grasped yet, but I’ll get there), I’ve actually found my voice for real, too - and it’s fun.

I’ve now developed my audio work further and added some music bashed out on my old guitar. Occasionally, I’ll also blend in sound effects for added atmosphere - GarageBand on a Mac is a brilliant tool to splice your narration together.

Have a go, there’s probably no better time to try, especially with the current restrictions on our movements. Your imagination can take you a lot further than your car!

Good luck!