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Five

fiction-writing

hacks
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Blurb part.

As writers, we dream. We romanticise. This is great, we need this ability

to picture a world separate f rom our own. But it comes with a price,

and that price is called: procrastination.

I started ‘properly’ writing a fiction book in mid-2019.

I always imagined I’d write my book in a log cabin that overlooked a

glimmering river or while sitting outside an Italian cafe. I know, I’m a

walking cliche. But this is true, I kept putting off the one thing I wanted

to do, because the setting wasn’t right, or the mood was wrong, or the

busyness of life made it impossible.

Fast-forward to now. I’m halfway through my first draft. I’m not going

to tell you how to be a fiction writer (because I don’t know how), but I

thought I would share some hacks that have saved me f rom staring at

the dreaded blank page .

blurb
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1. You don’t need a log cabin.
We’ve all seen Colin Firth acting as a writer in Love Actually, and
thought ‘geeze, I wish I could write somewhere like that’. He sits in a
cabin with his old typewriter and looks out to the river while typing his
masterpiece (which later ends up in a river, sorry, spoiler).

Don’t get me wrong, I want to write somewhere like that just as much
as you do. But take a little step back and ask yourself if that’s going to
be feasible any time soon. If it is, then great, please invite me along.

If it’s not, then embrace the settings more accessible to you. If home

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feels too hectic, then (post-lockdown) find a coffee shop. If coffee
shops are too noisy for you, then find a library. For now, the great
outdoors can feed the imagination. There’s a place out there, ready for
you to lay down some ink — find it (when it’s safe to).

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2. Start writing.
This might seem like an obvious one.

Procrastination is real. Imposter syndrome is real. But, it’s much easier

to edit a page filled with words than it is to edit a blank one. ️

You don’t need to be the next Margaret Atwood (isn’t she great?) and
you don’t need to write the next ‘Of Mice and Men’. First, start with
ideas -- they last longer on paper than they do in your head.

Writing is hard. It really is. You’ll have days where you feel like you’ve

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accomplished something great, and other days where you think you’re
doing a poor job. Trust the former. Every day you write something, is a
day you’ve accomplished something.

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3. Be okay with your first draft.

Your first draft might be mortifying.

After writing four chapters of my book, I decided to look back (try not to
make that mistake -- edit after writing!) and get a feel for how things
were going. I was mortified. The story jumped around and I knew parts
were missing.

The whole fourth chapter got deleted. I made a few tweaks and shared
the remaining three chapters with some of my closest f riends (one of
them a writer). Their feedback was good but I wasn’t so sure. I deleted
the whole thing and started again.

Don’t put yourself down, don’t think your writing is not good enough.
Almost every author will tell you that their first draft needed some work.
Keep going. The fact you’re doing it already puts you ahead.

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4. Run your battery low.
This is a great one if you need a little structure around how long to
commit to writing.

It’s one I learned from ‘The Hate You Give’ author, Angie Thomas.

Basically, fully charge your laptop then write until it’s close to dying.

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If you’re in a good flow, get it back on charge. If not, well at least you
spent a few hours writing something.

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5. Remember you’re human.
There will be days that you don’t meet your goals or word count.

That’s normal. You’re not a robot.

Give yourself a break.

Learn to laugh at your mistakes, but don’t stop pushing yourself.

Be okay with being human. Don’t use it as an excuse to quit, but give
yourself some grace.

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Then, go write.

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