Since opening up my laptop and drafting the first page of Curiosities back in the halcyon days of 2021, I have developed a new and profound admiration for writers in all their weird and wonderful manifestations (except online recipe bloggers! Please refer to my previous publication Batsman S, From Writing to Writing, Jun 18th 2024)
In fact, in that previous blog, I also alluded to the age-old axiom, “There’s a book in everyone,” and it transpires that this statement is probably true. We all have a story to tell, after all. I mean, since I’ve mentioned to people in passing that I am publishing a novel, nine times out of ten, the response is, “That’s nice. I had an idea for a book too.” Usually a Jack Reacher-esque thriller, often set in the Cold War, occasionally with a supernatural twist. (As far as I know, Jakovic The Mind Reacher hasn’t been written yet if you’re struggling to find your next breakthrough idea…)
The reality is, if you have a mind, a laptop, and twenty minutes to yourself every few days, it really is an achievable goal to write a book.
What’s the catch, then?
Oh, boy! Strap yourself in because this is where it gets tough.
If your ambition at all resembles mine when I came up with, “The people of Marrow Myre were a strange and ancient race…” then publication is way at the back of your mind and you are merely delving into the world of writing as a hobbyist. In this case, the following truths dare not scratch your hardened, creative shell. So long as you have something that you can look back on and say, “Well, that was a ride,” then job done, saved as PDF, emailed to your mate for a laugh. No harm done.
The thing is, that really was my mindset until I got c.30,000 words in and the infamous word publishable seeped into my feeble, impressionable head. As soon as I felt that I was onto something, my attitude towards my latest passion project took a U-turn. No more coming up with character names on the hoof. So long to chucking in a little exposition because I didn’t know how else to explain the world. Instead, I was back to my notebook, jotting down every idea that came to me because that was the only way to solidify my thoughts.
From that point onwards, I was embarking on a dangerous path, traversing the labyrinthine maze of storytelling in the hope of producing something that, I not only wished to be proud of, but that I wished others to be enthralled by, or at least not disappointed by.
It is here in this article that I feel I should add a quick disclosure, for it is far from me to ascertain whether or not I have succeeded in fulfilling the following criteria. The truth is, I poured a lot of soul, thought, and effort into concocting and writing these upcoming novels. I spent countless hours developing and redeveloping my narrative in an attempt to create a reading experience that others can appreciate and enjoy. Whether I have achieved this will be determined in the following months and/or years when a new readership steps into the Arvum for the first time.
In order to write a good book, there are a million and one things to think about. The specifics will be determined by the genre, amongst other things, but to give you an idea, here are a few components that I considered for my series:
- Setting I came up with a new continent called the Arvum, within which I considered various landscapes and locations, populations and environments.
- Characters So many characters, spread across different parts of the Arvum. I considered languages, dialect, appearances, personalities, naming conventions and so much more.
- Plot The overarching plot, without which there is nothing to write about.
- Sub-plots All of those characters mentioned above would otherwise merely be furniture if not for their own arcs and storylines, carefully woven together to justify their inclusion in the first place.
- Magic System Known as the art of manipulation in the Sarsen Series (though, despite Perciville’s objections, it is essentially magic).
- Fauna From birds to beasts.
- Flora From beans to trees.
- Religions For each unique culture.
- Politics Continentally and locally
- History To add depth to the Arvum as a whole, each population, and each character.
This is just a simplified breakdown of what lies at the heart of my books, but here’s the kicker; here’s the real challenge that separates a book from a good book. You see, once you’ve taken the time to consider some, or all, of the above criteria and stored them a notebook, or a spreadsheet, or a WHSmith’s worth of Post-It notes, you then need to find a way to articulate to them to a reader.
It’s no good being full of ideas if you have no means to express them. It incites the notion of being both a good storyteller and a good writer. To have the mind to conceive as well as the skill to convey.
These two concepts go hand-in-hand, else beautifully written prose, schoolteacher-proud punctuation, and masterful structuring are only impactful if the story being told is worth its salt. If not, then you end up simply with beautifully written rubbish.
The fact of the matter is, there is so much to think about when writing a novel, no less a debut, and since writing my own books, I have developed a newfound respect for authors when I pick up a new title by a new writer. In the past, I have had a tendency to be unjustifiably critical of a book when it didn’t take my fancy, but now I can step into someone else’s passion project and observe it through a different lens: the agony of tying a plot together; the discipline to avoid spoon-feeding the reader; the cunningness to be original.
If you are indeed working on your own novel, whether or not with publishing being the ultimate goal, then please don’t be discouraged by the monumental task ahead of you. If you take the time to work on your craft then it will only make you a better writer.
…
Hmm, well, there is one other thing.
You see, once you’ve conceived the world and the characters and the plot and sub-plots and everything else, and once you have managed to compose your imaginings in a perfectly concise and interesting narrative, and got a publishing deal or chosen to self-publish, there is one final, brutal hurdle.
Marketing.
Marketing is an absolute bitch.
Author of The Sarsen Series 
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