Advice For (First Time) Fantasy & SF Novelists

[Nick]

Some excellent - and pulls no punches - advice HERE from Kate Elliott, author of the Crown of Stars series and the ongoing Crossroads series.

[Deborah J Miller]

My favourite advice, which I dispense liberally to my writers groups (as Writer in Residence) is this: "Read your work ALOUD!" Sounds obvious eh? Almost too obvious...

In fact, your brain processes words/pattern recognition in a slightly different way depending on whether you intend to speak them or not - you cannot skim words when reading them aloud, no matter how fast you are reading them! Also, you have to take heed of punctuation in order to make sense of the text. I find it particularly useful with dialogue, it's easier to recognise whether the dialogue is stilted, overly formal etc. Finally things like repetition (or "word of the week syndrome" as I like to call it!) and the pace/rhythm of the text become glaring obvious when you actually hear the words...

So, go on - I'm sure your nearest and dearest will be delighted to have a bedtime story! (or the dog or cat!)

[Milton Davis]

I agree. I read my stories to my wife. It's an excellent way to identify clunky prose.

[Sue_S]

Read your work aloud - absolutely. It's the best, first acid test - even without an audience, if you can read your words aloud without getting tongue-tied or cringing, it's a good start.

Kate Elliot's advice "If you can give up, do" and the simultaneous, "Never give up" is absolutely right, too. When I was starting out (or rather, failing to start out!) the 'job' of writer wasn't really considered a job and it was a very isolating experience. You pretty much floundered around on your own.

Now that there are Creative Writing courses at colleges and universities all over the place, I'm glad to see that the isolation is much less pronounced. But it has made me realise (seeing some people's reactions to the idea of doing a degree in Creative Writing) just how difficult I found it to overcome my own - often unrealised - prejudices and hangups about writing not being a "real" job or vocation.

So, my advice to first time or would-be novelists would be, treat it like any other job. Learn your trade, talk to other writers - don't be fooled into believing that it's only any good if it's given to you by divine inspiration. There may be another Shakespeare, somewhere, but it's unlikely to be me or you - and it doesn't matter.

[RobertB]

I hate reading aloud! I have to do it regularly (I'm a Methodist preacher, for my sins), and it's ten times harder than just talking. I'm always on the edge of completely tripping over my tongue. But that being said, it's good discipline, and every time I do it, I spot mistakes. But reading the whole thing? I'm not sure I could cope.

[Sue_S]

I can understand you hating to read aloud! I had a job where I spent most of the day on the telephone - consequently, I now hate having to make or even receive phone calls!

The reading aloud thing is much easier on short stories, I must admit. And following the "don't edit as you go, just write" does mean you end up with a LOT of reading to do - but I just do it like reading a bedtime story. A little at a time, usually on the last editing pass. It shows up any glaring tongue-twisters I missed through being too fond of the words.

[Deborah J Miller]

Of course the other thing you can do - not quite as effective but better than nothing - is to get your computer to read your work aloud! It is especially good in the way it responds to punctuation i.e. correct usage not interpreting.

FYI: In Word (goes away to remind self...) Highlight your text - click the 'View' menu - click 'Toolbars' - click 'Speech' - the Speech box will appear as a floating palette - just click "Start Speaking"

[RobertB]

Thanks, I was wondering how I could do this. Didn't know it could be done in Word.

I suspect I have a different version to you, but I'll work it out.

[Ruthanne Reid]

Oh, that article is absolutely fabulous - and so very true!

[Kat]

This is very good advise. Thank You for posting it. I look forward to using this advise to better my writing.

[drosdelnoch]

Yup cracking advice, to be honest I tend to impliment it already when I write emails to check that it sounds good. In regard to reading your "book" aloud, treat it as has been suggested as a bed times story for children, after all you might think that its a lot yet you have to break down things like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, thats not going to be one huge read so treat your work like that. (Mind you the obvious thing here is that only do this if your work is suitable for that generation. After all you don't want certain scenes making it to ears to young to hear them. LOL)