10 leftfield tips to help you write your first book
OK, so Poolhall Jail Library isn’t on the best-sellers list just yet.
But it’s out there. It’s published. You can hold it in your hands. Other people can step inside a world I’ve created. It has an ISBN number and it can be ordered via Amazon and Waterstone’s et cetera.
That’s fairly satisfying on its own.
The sense of reward feels akin to the first time I scored a try in club rugby league, or after the final bell rang on my first boxing fight.
Two common reactions I’ve received are “I’ve always wanted to finish my own book, but haven’t got there” and “Boy could I tell you some stories about my life, if only I could write”.
Now that I’ve achieved publication of a 120,000-odd words, I know it’s well within reach of most people.
So here are my 10 bits of advice (some admittedly leftfield and counter-intuitive) to help you make that dream become reality:
1. Look closely for errors in your favourite books or articles
One of my over-riding fears in writing a book was making mistakes that everyone would see. It can be crippling and makes you read the same passages of text an obsessive amount of time. But one thing that helped me allay that fear was finding basic errors in some of my favourite books or by my favourite authors. Some might not be grammatical errors, but places where the text is clunky or fails to describe the scene. Even if it’s in newspaper or online articles – hunt those errors. It teaches you everyone is human and also makes you mindful of things to avoid.
2. Then stop reading other authors’ work
This is against what a lot of people say, but I found it was an absolutely critical step. Sure, you need to have an idea of your favourite authors and styles, but put away those influences after the early stages of your book’s planning. To find your own voice, you can’t be stepping in and out of another writer’s mind or adapting to their vocabulary. I find I’m someone who subconsciously adapts other writers’ pace and tone if I read them long enough. Dedicate that reading time to nudging closer towards the end of your own chapters. It’s an empowering decision that firms your resolve to become a published author.
3. Keep your concept away from literary purists
A huge mistake I made early in Poolhall Jail Library’s construction was seeking out friends who were scholars of literature or involved in the publishing and editing scene. It seems natural they are the people to go to for these matters. But one thing I also know from years in media newsrooms is that wordsmiths are by-and-large cynics, pedants and often highly judgmental. They have firm ideas on how things should and shouldn’t look and sound. They have utopian visions in their own head of what their next work will look like, or inflexible opinions of what the best literature ever written was. These people are extremely useful towards the completion of your book, but at the start they will make you doubt yourself.
4. Quit social media (at least for a while)
This makes sense on so many levels, but is much, much harder to practice in reality. A lot of communicators need social media to fuel their sense of identity or to perform their jobs properly. I don’t think it was any fluke that the six weeks I abandoned social media were the six weeks where I got the most writing done, began to believe the book would actually happen, and summoned a sense of discipline and confidence that benefited the whole writing process.
5. Start revealing more to friends and associates
A big protection mechanism we have as writers is to divulge as little as possible about our projects. Certainly, you don’t want to be that person that talks of grandiose dreams and never delivers. However, drip-feeding information to friends lets you tap into their encouragement and places you under positive pressure to get the goddamn thing done. It’s also great for your marketing timeline, as the foothills of your ascent to publication are where many readers start to gestate an appreciation and interest for your work.
6. Reward yourself for milestones in the book
Early on in Poolhall Jail Library’s life, I was still a video game player. I’d set myself targets so that every 300 words I wrote, I got to play a game. Then that number grew to 500. As I matured, those targets and rewards shifted. If I finished a chapter that was integral to the book’s plotline, I’d go to the beach for an hour or take my wife out to dinner that night. By that same token though, you need to be disciplined in denying yourself those rewards if you fail to meet targets. Otherwise that system falters over time. There needs to be repercussions as well as incentives.
7. Force yourself into deadlines that coincide with financial pressures
Try and intersect your writing schedule with pivotal points in your budget. If you know you have money coming in at the end of financial year, or there’s a payment from a past project due on a certain date, set yourself that moment to take care of your editing or artwork expenses – and don’t spend the money on other luxuries or treats. That’ll force you to take your book more seriously and prioritise. Alternatively, you can allow yourself a pre-determined number of weeks off from work, where you need to have completed the end of your book or you’ll exhaust all your cash. Lots of things work well as incentives, but few are as effective as going hungry or broke if you fail to stick to timelines.
8. Also work to timelines underpinned by your dreams
No, this doesn’t mean you need to hold tight for a grand epiphany or being visited by angels in your sleep. Think about what the list of optimal objectives from your book looks like for you on a personal basis. Do you want to be a high-selling author at Christmas time? Do you see yourself as coveting a particular author’s award that has a cut-off date? Do you want to be an author by a certain birthday? You might not become world-famous like you envisage, but these ambitions will give you defined checkpoints to abide by.
9. Kill the old you
Much like people who make drastic transformations in the way they look physically, you have to change the whole way you perceive yourself. If you can’t envisage what it looks like when you become an author, if you can’t create the persona you want to be, you’ll remain cemented in doubt and drag the chain slowly in realising your ambition. There were probably times in the writing process where I held myself back because I had hesitancy about what would happen when I was published. Accept it as your destiny and it WILL happen. Now I don’t see myself as someone who hopes to one day have a single book, I know I can make it happen whenever I want.
10. Don’t spend time reading lists of what other people reckon
OK, you’ve read this one. That’s enough. Now just go out and get that book done. It’s what you want.