A bit more about One Note and the writing process

As Anne McAllister mentioned she hadn't used it...
One Note is the notebook programme for Microsoft Office. You can find it in the Office tools if it is not immediately visible.
Like all Microsoft products, there is a tutorial and it is really designed for corporate team work.
You can even create a shared notebook -- one where people edit at the same time and all shared notebooks are updated. This might be a good application if authors are working on a continuity for example, as then the Bible of the series is quickly updated. You can even do it as a live sharing session. Just do not ask me how to do it. It is in the tutorial!
I have not done a continuity -- they sound like hard work, but I do have to create bibles for my linked books, rather than just relying on memory. A shared notebook as well as linked notebooks has a certain appeal.
You can also create notebooks for different books, create tables, and etc. Everything is importable to Word. You can paste pictures, draw and have a variety of different notes. You can also capture webpages, clip pictures etc. SO if you wanted to make a virtual collage, you could do it. You can do lasso select to draw over pictures, and it does have a text recognition feature.
You could create a notebook for each story, plus have a master notebook for the series. In some ways the storage system for notebooks is better than creating word files as you can have tabs etc.
But like anything, it is just a tool and the main thing is to write the story.
Anyway, I suspect I shall use it.

Yesterday, my lovely editor sent through my cover for The Viking's Captive Princess. It is wonderful and I think the lovely Judy York who did the cover Taken by the Viking and A Noble Captive also did this cover. I hadn't realised until yesterday that she did ANC. Personally I think the inside front cover of ANC deserves its own front cover!
However, the VCP cover is not a jpeg and I can't post it. As soon as I get a jpeg, I will post as it is one of my favourite covers. And yes, I know I have to do the excerpt as well...
Please bear with me on this. It is called admin. And yes, I am a tad overexcited, but the cover has a great feel about it, much better than VWUW.

My youngest is better and no longer as pale. The whole BRaTY thing seems to have worked. He did refuse the rice though.

Right back to writing this book. It is the first of a trilogy so you can see why I thinking about bibles and shared notebooks as I want the continuity there. Had I had such things with the Viken trilogy, certain things might not have taken so long...Live and learn.
But I am so pleased that Isabel Swift shared her insight gained from being Nora's editor!

The simplest ideas

Sometimes there are things you know you should do but forget. Then you are drowning and someone points it out.
In this case, Isabel Swift came up with a practical solution to my problem of naming two characters the same. Keep a master list using a contacts programme. It can be simple or complex but can include little details like birthdays etc. Because after all to me, they are real people.
When Isabel makes a suggestion, I listen. After all the woman is one of the legendary editors. And in this case the suggestion is spot on. And I thank her very much.

It is even more appropriate because the ms waiting for my editor's thoughts is linked to CMM and so there are overlapping characters. In fact, the second book takes place about the time the first book is ending.
Then my current work in progress is the first of three books. I really want to write the last one, but in order for it to make sense, the other two have to be properly done. And I am going to Istanbul at the end of October in order to do research for the last book!

Anyway, the One Note feature on Microsoft Office is the perfect place to do this contacts list. It is a bit like having a series of notebooks. You can also create tables etc. So master lists here I come.

It would have helped if I had thought of it before...And yes, I know Anne McAllister, about the spread sheet of ultimate power...but I had avoided doing it.
But I suspect that this is why I am an author and not an editor. Editors are far more organised than authors (and if they are not, I want to keep my illusions!)

In small domestic difficulties:
We have new ducklings. They have a white mother duck and have gone into the apex. The black mother duck and her bigger ducklings are now occupying the oldest duck house. This season's original white mother duck and her remaining duckling who has fledged are in the middle duck house or possibly the apex. What I don't want is mother duck wars as I am now convinced that the several ducklings were lost because of fighting mother ducks!

And finally there are certain aspects of motherhood I loathe -- early morning vomit ranking up there. I deal with it but do not like it. Sigh. There are reasons why I never took up nursing. I think it is food poisoning and thus am going with BRTY -- Banana, rice, tea and yogurt to soothe the stomach.

Common Mistakes in Fiction

I have now finished reading 38 Common Mistakes in Fiction Writing.
The book has been around since 1992 and has sound advice. Most of it any writer (published or unpublished) will have heard before. There again, as Bickham points out -- sometimes you do not hear what the teacher is telling you.
Sometimes you can not understand what the editor is saying. Then suddenly, a light bulb happens and you think ah yes, this was she was saying xyz. It is also why it pays to read a wide range of craft books because explanations can differ, even if they are saying the same thing.
He does make the point that with craft books, they cover a wide scope and it is impossible to say -- if the specific exercise is something you need to work on or if you are merely drawn to it because you actually avoiding looking at other areas of your work. (This is where a critique partner can help). He also points out that not every teacher works for every pupil. You have to be willing to learn and to apply that knowledge. It is not simply having the tools but knowing which tool to use in which situation.

Anyway, it is a sound little book full of helpful advice, if you are willing to listen and absorb it. It is aimed at the commercial fiction writer rather than the literary one, and not necessarily the romance genre. But somethings apply across the board.
His plan for revision very much mirrors the one I currently use but he makes some good points about what to look for.

To my mind the first one -- writers write and the last two -- persistence pays and start now are the most important lessons. And right now, as my cp has been cracking her whip, I need to write. 31 October is not really that long away.

The puppies are doing well, in case anyone is interested. They are starting to be very helpful with rounding up the ducks at night. Tess in particular is very nifty on her pins.

Reading like a reader

One of the reasons why I became a writer is that I love to read. However, because I wanted to know a lot about the process of writing, I also learnt to dissect writing. I love craft books. I love learning how and why writing works (or how or why someone thinks writing works). It became a rare book that I could read without dissecting. And I valued those authors highly. Reading on the whole became less enjoyable and this was not good. Why did I have to make a choice between the two?
But when I was at lunch with my then editors last year, it was pointed out to me that editors are trained to read as readers first. To paraphrase Isabel Swift -- they are looking at the doughnut and not the hole. It is only after they have their reactions as readers that they try and dissect and discover why their reaction is not the correct one. Could I do that I wondered? Had been far too focused on what was wrong? Or what techniques were used?
So I have been busy retraining myself. I read first and capture the enjoyment of reading. THEN, I dissect. Reading is an exercise in feeling and tension. Later, if I need to, then I go back and see why I had those feelings. But sometimes, great writing isn't technically perfect. What it is about is those feelings that are engendered and the page turning ness of the read.
So now rather deciding if I am reading as a writer, or simply reading to learn more about the craft, I read first as a reader and allow the story to sweep me away. If it works, why should a writer fix it? If it falls flat, then that is another case entirely.
The other thing I have been doing recently as I am in the prelims and early stages of my next wip is to go back and read Donald Maass and other books on craft that made sense. are they still making sense? Have I become complacent about my skills? It is helping to make connections.
A major bonus is that I can enjoy reading once again.

Incentives v accountability in goal setting

First of all, my tenth book for HM&B Historical was titled yesterday -- Impoverished Miss, Convenient Wife. It is the second part of my Regency duo and has a very hooky title. My editors has concentrated on the heroine -- she is on the edge of her family and she eventually makes a marriage of convenience. Apparently the cover is going to be more female focused. The hero is battle scarred from events in A Question of Impropriety. I like hooky titles and think this one is lovely. It does what it says on the tin.
Anyway, I discovered the AuthorMBA blog several weeks ago. It is a weekly dedicated towards giving writers a bit of business savvy. Anyway, this week, there is a piece on four questions writers should think about when setting goals -- productivity goals, marketing goals, work to life balance and refilling the well. Fairly straight forward, but the interesting bit was in the comments when the author of the blog explained that people tend to be motivated by either incentives or accountability.
In other words, some people do better when they give themselves treats for completing a goal, and other people do better when they have shared that goal and others know about the goal. What are the consequences of failure v the rewards of success? And which motivates more.
I think this is true up to a point. Now I tend to be more productive when I am writing down the number of words and pages I have done per day. I tend to set a per week goal. I do not make charts. I simply write it down in my day timer. It can be helpful to go back and look when I am feeling stuck. It is then that I realise -- that I tend to go slower at certain points and I can still finish.
What I do not find helpful is telling other people/groups. National Write a Novel month tends to make me freeze.
Actually the high I get from finishing is an important incentive. I love the feeling of putting a story to bed as well as doing the revisions. So that is the payoff for me. And I can not get them any other way except by completing a book.
With marketing goals, I think Donald Maass said it best -- it is nearly impossible to determine how much or how little book marketing will do to further your career. It takes a very long time and the things you do today may not make an impact until much further down the road. Much of marketing success is anecdotal. But thinking local and building on past success is always good. Equally, the publisher's role in marketing should not be underestimated -- good distribution, excellent covers, enticing titles and cover copy are all elements in why people buy a book. And the most important thing in book marketing for an author is to remember to keep your shop window full of new quality items. The feelings of satisfaction a reader gets when she finishes your book goes a long way to determining whether or not your next book is an auto-buy for her. It is not all about the marketing, but ultimately all about the content. And this feed backs into the satisfaction I get from reader's letters, and from being able to talk about books.
So am I more of a consequence or reward type person? I suspect I am both. But the payoffs are so great when I create something that I am proud of.

Backwards logic

One thing I love about writing is that you can use backwards logic. You do not necessarily have to understand all the motivations when you begin a story. You can get sudden insights as you write and then you can go back and foreshadow/weave bits in.
Sometimes, the bits are already there, and others you need to offer a few more hints.
When an editor is looking at your work, she will be using logic forwards. In other words, does it make sense from the beginning?
But writers are not editors. Writers create and the process of creation can be messy.
Often the insight into why does not come until the last page of the first draft. Sometimes, it takes longer.
The simplest reason for this is if a writer knows all the twists, turns and motivations, the story is told and the writer may become bored. I love the fact that Ian Rankin has been known to write in capital letters things like THE GIRL FROM PAGE 20 COULD BE IMPORTANT. His books are tightly plotted but even he allows his daemon to play.
In other words, sometimes knowing too much can destroy creativity. If you understand the motivations, you might lose focus of the purpose. Objects can take on symbolism as the story progresses, rather than having their symbolism telegraphed.
In early drafts,everything is fluid. Lose that fluidity and your wordscan harden like concrete.
For me, I prefer I sketchy road map. Some authors like to have every blade of grass detailed. It just depends. It is another great thing about writing -- there is no correct way to write, and each manuscript throws up different problems.
In other news:
My cold is getting better -- hooray!

An updated cluster map

My cluster map has been archived. Once a year it is archived and then I start collecting dots again, but they do keep a running total from the beginning. The old map is still there for the moment. It has nearly 67,000 dots on it which is amazing. I wonder how many I will get this year... Hopefully my visitors have enjoyed my blog or found what they were looking for.

I find the whole exercise interesting. Once the cluster maps alerted me to the fact that I had a Spanish release, so I do think they are worthwhile. Because of the way Harlequin works, it is rare for authors to know in advance that there are books are coming out in a particular language/market that is not their home market. It is just the way the system is set up. Sometimes, I do not know for months afterward and then my copies arrive. It is one of the reasons that on the first of every month, I do check various Harlequin websites -- to see what is happening.

Generally I suspect though my editors would prefer it if I just concentrated on writing the next novel. I am doing this. It will be good, but at the start sometimes, it takes awhile. Julie Cohen has been having this problem as well and is detailing it on her blog and how the use of images and metaphor help to define the character.
The one point I would make is that you do not have to get the metaphor right the first time. Many things in writing are backwards logic -- you get insight and layer it in. Editing however, is frontwards logic as it needs to make sense to the reader.

Not my cup of tea

There is an inspirational blog called Sweat it with Sven. Barbara Vey mentioned it on her blog -- Beyond Her Book. It is all about writing a novel between 60 -100 k in 70 days. This works out to between 850 - 1,500 words per day with seven days off. Several hundred writers have signed up to the programme.
I looked at that and thought -- is that sweating it? And what is with the days off bit? Great idea and all power to the pen of those who have signed up, but it is not for me.
Currently I am feeling vaguely dissatisfied with writing 1000 per day. I think I prefer between 1,500 -2500 per day. And at the end, I write very fast indeed because I want to get there. Signing up for something like this or the NaNoWriMo tends to make my daemon go on holiday. Go figure.
But the important key is writing every day. Most highly successful writers write every day, maybe taking Christmas off. Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, and George Bernard Shaw spring to mind. There was a lovely article in the Smithsonian recently about Hemingway and his secretary, and how he used to growl out his word count for the day if he had had a bad writing day. I do write every day. Or do something writing related with my novels every day -- proofs and revisions/plotting out a new book all count.
In many ways, it does not matter how much you write. Some days the words flow and others you are lucky to get a paragraph. The key is to write. Like anything, writing becomes easier the more you do it. And yes, I know that lots of people have other jobs/roles in their lives. BUT I discovered that once I made the commitment to write every day on my current wip, no matter how little, I found that I was suddenly able to write. I have also discovered the physical act of writing down my word total in my Daytimer is useful. (The flip side of this is that sometimes I do less because I know at over 30 k, my speed increases)
It is all a matter of desire. How much do you want to tell this story? How much do you want to get it done? There is always some reason why you can't write. Or why you deserve a break.
Lots of things have gone by the wayside for me. I no longer do as much needlework, nor do I tend to play computer games. My evening reading is often research related, rather than reading a magazine. You can carve out bits of time. Desire, dedication, discipline and determination all play roles.
Lots of novels have been written on trains, during lunch breaks or on the kitchen table as the children did their homework. Sometimes, novelists are more productive when they are forced to fit their work around life because they know that they only an hour to write. Or even five minutes to get a sentence down. 100 words is a good target for some people.
I should note that some people like kicking targets into touch. So they always to exceed their target and other people like having an aspirational target. Sometimes, it is useful to set a minimum number of words and a maximum. For example I will write at least 500 words and no more than 3,000 words today sort of thing.
And what happens when you exceed your target -- you stop. You make a few notes, and you walk away from the computer, trusting that the daemon will be there, anxious to get started. Balance is important.
My other trouble with these things is that it makes me feel like a rabbit in the headlights. Or if I see that someone is so far ahead, I begin to think what does it matter? And the Crows of Doubt start cawing.
Actually in many cases, it is the quality and not the quantity that is important. A fast book is not necessarily a great book. You should never sacrifice quality for speed. Different writers have different natural speeds. Some writers naturally write faster than others.
As one of my editors said to me, they are trained to try and get the best of a writer and to prevent burn out or prevent the writer from standing in the corner, going quietly mad. Each writer is different.
With writing, it is all about knowing your own working habits and what works for you. It is not about trying to emulate some other writer's speed. It is about trying to produce a high quality product for your shop window so that your readers keep coming back and back.

Writer's Block -- part 3

Right, hopefully from the previous two parts, you will have been able to determine the type of block or impediment that you have because there are very different solutions.

For example, if you are suffering from true writer's block, there is no point in trying to sit down and write. You need to get away. To do something else. Possibly structurally creative like sewing or cooking. Reading outside the genre you are writing may or may not help. You also need to give yourself time. Time to refill the well. Make a contract with yourself that you will take time and make it specific. Then go back and try. If you are experiencing the same thing, repeat. You will know the difference.

If it is FEAR, taking time out will only exacerbate the problem. So what can you do?
1. Write and write every day. The most successful writers write something every day because the story is fresh in their minds. Set a minimum goal. A paragraph can be enough. A sentence. Four words even. Work regular hours. Set up a schedule. I get up early and work then because my subconscious has been working while I sleep. Some people work better at night. Know your work pattern. Take regular breaks. Reward yourself with breaks.
2. Get away from your computer and all electrical equipment and write long hand. Rediscover the joys of putting ink on paper. Scribble a note on scrap of paper. Then go back to the computer and type up what you have written. In this way you have a definite task. I do this one a lot.
3. Simplify your rituals. Everyone has rituals (see Twyla Tharp's The Creative Habit) but sometimes those rituals become all consuming and do not leave any time to write. Books have been written in noisy offices, with screaming babies, on trains, planes and the kitchen table. You do not need two hours to get a sentence down. You do not need a clean computer screen or all your emails answered. Or your blog updated. Quick and easy is best.
4. Write a simple generic sentence, knowing that it is easier to fix a bad page than a blank one. You do have to remember to go back and revise them. But one sentence means that you have started. And one word follows another. Force yourself to open the file. Learn to work with the entire document rather than dividing it up into individual chapters. For example, use bookmarking. Ctrl end will take you to the end of the work. Insert break will give you a chapter break. that way you are not constantly starting with a new document. But remember to backup.
5. Force yourself to finish. Commit to the end. Write the ending or decide what you are going to give yourself as a treat. Work on one book at a time. Or have definite times to work on each project. For example James Patterson apparently moves around the dining table, with sets of papers. When he is sitting in a specific chair , he is working on a specific book.
6. Have a definite place to work. Make sure all your tools are there and you do not have to search them out. But remember writers have been known to read dictionaries and thesauruses for entertainment or distraction. It is amazing how attractive a dictionary can become at times. If you use the internet as a distraction. Make sure your workplace computer is not connected. Keep your work place simple.
7. Get exercise. Exercise frees the mind. Dickens and Kipling both used to walk miles every day. Walking improves the spirit. Getting outside can make you notice things. Movement. You see things and perhaps even come up with ideas.
8. If you really think your work is POS and hopeless, try this exercise. Bernard Cornwell did it. And it may help with your confidence. Find an author you admire. Take a scene in the middle of the book. An average scene. Type it up in the font you use. Print it out. Read it again. It probably looks different and not necessarily as good as you thought. The printed page looks different to the typed page. And ALL writers write average scenes at some point. Not even Dickens or Shakespeare wrote pure genius. Then go back and look at something you wrote. It worked for him.
9. Read about how other authors work. See what their habits are. What fears they fall prey to. Know you are not alone. I think it is Paris Match that has hundreds of interviews with writers about how they work.
10. Avoid crutches such as alcohol or drugs. Ultimately they sap creativity. Know that the creativity comes from within you, not from anything else. It is the desire to write that shows you have talent. Everything else is learning to control and maximise that talent. But learn to relax.
These are just a few suggestions and hopefully they help.

Fire in the Belly

There is an excellent article in the Christmas edition of the Spectator by Tony Parsons on why writing a bestseller requires something more than writing simply for the money. It requires heart and passion. Bestsellers become bestsellers because they are written from the heart. He argued even Harold Robbins with his books that became the runaway bestsellers wrote from the heart. I found myself agreeing with him wholeheartedly.
As a professional writer, it goes without saying -- I write for the money. It is how I earn my living. But I care passionately about each and every book I write. If I didn't care, the reader wouldn't care.
Why do I write the books I write?
Because I am PASSIONATE. Passionate about the need to have good historical romance where the setting is vivid. Passionate about the time periods involved. Passionate about the characters. And most importantly Passionate about the stories I want to tell.
Parson points out about idiotic boyfriends who tell the girlfriend -- go ahead write a chick lit, it's easy and you can make money. So you get idiotic people who think that writing Harlequin Mills and Boon is easy. I would say the reason why the current stable of writers write for HM&B is because they are passionate about the stories they write. They care intensely. These books would not be as successful as they are IF the writers were not dedicated to the medium.
Here I should point out that every HM&B is a world wide best seller. These books speak volumes to women around the globe. You do not get that sort of following without heart and fire in your belly.
Writing commercial books does not mean that the writers are any less dedicated to their stories.
Success in storytelling comes from being passionate about your stories. Full Stop.
Sometimes, yes, writers who would rather be writing other things get taken on, but they do not tend to last. And they are very much the exception rather than the rule. Also sometimes, writer's own individual interests takes them on a separate path from HM&B, but it does not mean they do not care passionately about the stories they told, rather that the Muse has led them elsewhere.
Without passion, without heart, stories can feel contrived and flat.
Ultimately because writing is such a long and lonely process, no one writes for the money. It has to come from the heart. One has to care passionately. In order to succeed in this business, you must have fire in your belly. You must have the desire to write the story. It shows in the writing. Always.

Update:
The very lovely Ray Anne went and found the url of the article. You can read it here. I read from the print copy as the Christmas Special of the Speccie always provides food for thought. Among other things, it has a Molesworth article and an article about the orgins of the crib.

Whose writing rules?

Because Alice inspired me to go and do some research and because I am still in the midst of my revisions, I picked up my copy of Swain again and started to read the introduction.
He makes a certain of sense as long as I ignore the remark about love pulps. His basic point is that most published writers eventually figures out what works them. They develop a set of rules because human beings in general like to have some idea of how to go about things.
But rules only work in writing when they come from the heart. If rules come from the head, then they can inhibit feeling. Story is all about the communication of feelings. Without that communication, it can feel flat and the reader does not get the tension and emotional release they crave.
A big mistake writers can make is blindly following someone else's rules. They need to master the forms and techniques of writing. so they can have the tools to shape their work, but they should NOT be blindly following somebody else's pre-ordained pattern.
The most important thing to ask when faced with someone else's rule is why. If you can understand the reasoning behind the rule, then you can figure out if the rule makes sense for you and your writing.
The novice writer should not be asking how do I? But why do I and if I want to do xyz, what are the basic steps that I need to take. By knowing the why and the basic steps, the writer can formulate her own rule and her writing will retain that depth of feeling.
It is one of the reasons why I think it is important to study craft, so that a writer can work the mechanics behind a thing and not simply accept that because something appears to have always been done in a certain fashion, it must continue to be done that way.
So when you are faced with a set of rules -- ask why and see if they make sense for your writing.
Then make your own set of rules that work for you.
It is always about mastering form and discovering your own methods.

Cranford starts tomorrow evening and I am very excited. It does look excellent. Simon Woods who plays Dr Harrison played Mr Bingley in latest P&P. Me thinks he might be one of the love interests.

My revisions are going along and the book is getting much better. I have passed one of the really emotional bits and while most readers will go -- okay, so what;s new with the price of fish after reading it, I was trembling and tearful as I wrote it. But then my characters mean a lot to me.

The little rituals of writing

Yesterday, I discovered that my rituals of writing are more deeply ingrained than I thought.
For about a week, I have been worried about my page count to word count ratio. It was very different from my normal page to word count ratio. One of the things I do is to write down how many words and the page number I am up to. I would like to say that I do this every day, but in reality, it depends on where I am in the ms and if I am really pushing forward, or IF I am to stop thinking about the ms for the day. The end result is that I do have a record. This makes it easy for me to go back and check -- I was at this word count and the page number on such and such, AND I still got it finished by this date. In other words, it serves as a motivational tool and helps to keep a certain variety of crow at bay.
Only this time, there was a disconnect. I came up with all sort of theories -- including the scary one of my writing had started to severely change. But that didn't make sense. I had visions of me turning a really long ms, only to be told -- great story, but you are going to have to cut because your word count has gone haywire.
Writers have vivid imaginations. It goes with the job.
Then I thought to look at my margins -- the thing I change BEFORE I start a new wip. Only this time, I hadn't. I changed my margins, and hey presto -- the word count to page ratio became my normal one. Huge relief. And I can get this finished. It is under 100 pages and less than 20k to go. (I enjoy the countdown)
Until this happened, I did not realise how important that ritual was to me. In order to feel in control of my writing, I need the safety net of the page to word count thing. That little piece of structure.
Does anyone else have little rituals like that? Or is it just the way my brain is wired?

Practical help for banish the Crows of Doubt

Today I was very good indeed -- stayed at home and wrote. I did not get done as much as I would have liked but I am starting to get a definite handle on the story and how it is going to progress. Far better than I thought this morning.
Some of Swain is VERY dated. 1965 was very much pre-women's movement. It is also interesting that the big earners of the time -- Westerns and too a large extent short stories have gone. Romance that which he dismisses as love pulp or girlie books has done wonderfully well. But that aside he does have useful hints for fighting Crows of Doubt.
All writers fall prey to them. They can be triggered by simple things -- a casual comment, reading something by another author that you wish you had written. Writers tend to be sensitive -- he argues writers have to be sensitive because they need to feel-- but the downside is that flocks of crows can settle.
Some of his tips include:
1. Remembering you are born with talent and you have acquired skill. Two things that do not seep away over night. They are still waiting to be tapped.
2. Make a checklist of potential problem areas. For example go back through your editors' thoughts -- what areas come up time and time again. Make a habit of checking for these things in your work BEFORE you send the ms off.
3. Get enough exercise. Failure to exercise often leads to depression and depression is more inviting to Crows.
4. Let your editor decide. It is not your job to be your editor. That distinction belongs to your editor. Finish your book and let your editor see it.
5. Incorporate present interests into your work so that you rediscover your enthusiasm for the work. Being enthusiastic about what you are writing means that the crows don't get a look in because you are having too much fun.
6. Stay with the cattle. In other words, keep writing. Hypercritical phases don't last. The blood you sweated may turn out to be vintage.
7. Avoid crutches. Alcohol is the crows' friend, not the writer's. It will intensify your mood. Use in moderation.
8. Study craft, so you know you have the skills.
9. Take a break. Do something to clear your mind. Allow your subconscious to work.
10. Going back to number 1. Trust in your talent and write for that unique sub set of readers -- the ones who get your work. You are not writing for another authors' readers.

Does anyone else have any practical tips on what to do when the Crows of Doubt hit? What are some good things to lob at them?

Having the self confidence

I have been dipping in and out of Swain's book Techniques of the Selling Writer. It was a very influential book I believe and I am now as certain as I can be that I did read it way back when I first decided that I wanted to be a writer. I will admit to even back then being a craft book junkie.

Parts of it now speak more to me than others. Some of this is because I am very comfortable with how I write. When I was reading some of Swian's examples. I kept thinking -- yeah but I'd write this way and it would sound even better.

One of the last chapter is on planning, preparation and production. It starts with the immortal line -- everyone has the God given right to go to hell in his or her own way. In other words, what works for me won't necessarily work for you.
His main criteria for being a writer is the ability to feel and feel intensely. It is why fiction writers can be difficult to deal with. In feeling, you must be enthusiastic about your subject and you have to be sincere. If you aren't, it shows. And believe oh does it show. This is why people say that you need to write from the heart.
The other thing you have to be is self-disciplined. Basically it does not matter to anyone else if you don't make it as a writer. The only person it matters to is yourself. In other words, if you want to be a writer to please other people, forget it. There are easier ways.
Also, nobody pays for stories you don't write. You actually have to produce the stories. A contract is a contract and when you have a deadline, other people depend on you.
To succeed as a writer, you have to get up and work even when you want to sleep. It means working when you'd rather be off gardening or swimming or even occasionally cleaning the toilet. A writer writes. But ultimately it is your decision because no one can force you to be creative and write except you.
It is also the only craft that gets harder the more you do it. Skill brings awareness of weakness. It is part of the tantalizing mystery. You can never ever completely master writing. You can only work at it.
In writing there are two types of people -- those who want to be and those who to do. Successful writers tend to be those who do. Who do keep regular hours, who work to quotas, who do revise, who do strive to improve but also those who do remember why they were excited about writing in the first place.
Anyway, it was interesting to read his take on it. I found it very heartening. He also had some great ideas on dealing with writer's block and the various different fears that writers fall prey to.

Sold and Seduced in the shops

My friend Kate Hardy has sent a photo of S&S in WH Smith's in Norwich.

Red Rose for Authors has done a lovely review of Sold and Seduced. You can read it here. My favourite bit of the review was: This sensual, beautifully written and researched book is an absolute joy to read. I think it is equally as good as her first – The Gladiator's Honor – which has been short-listed for the RNA Romance prize. It quite made my morning.

Today the children go back to school, and i have to get very serious about my writing. I have allowed it to slip, and I need to reassert my discipline. However, I do think that it is often like this -- the first few weeks are slow as I stumble around and then I pick up speed as I begin to know my characters better. It is one reason why I like to write down the number of words done each day. It means I can go back and check. A sort of comfort blanket for those days when I feel daunted. I have only written 4.5k words since last Tuesday, but I am still on course for finishing the first draft by 8 June.

Over the weekend, I read the column --A Writer's Year and the woman was extolling the fact that she had written 25k in 4 weeks as being wonderful. I suppose it is -- it depends where you are in the novel. But she was then going to take six weeks off as she had other things to do and maybe she would come back to it. If I am 25k into a novel, I find I can't time off, it begins to consume my waking hours. Even if I have other things to do, I would make sure I spent sometime every day on that novel. I would owe it to my characters. Otherwise, after six weeks, I would have to start all over again.

As I said to my dh after reading the article, either you are a novelist and make the time, or you're not. And this woman holds herself out as a full time novelist. It is why she is writing her column in the newspaper and advising other people on their novels. Good work habits pay off in the end. It is all about discipline. There again the only way I ever finished any writing was to work on it each day.

I don't have the time to sit down and write 10k in a day. I can remember when I first started, I read on e-harlequin about writing two pages per day and how that would give me two books per year. I can do that I thought, and it helped me. I now do considerably more than two pages -- my ideal is about 10, in addition to any editing. For me, I need the discipline of working a little each day.

It is probably one of the reasons that I like the Tharp book so much as she does have a heavy emphasis on discipline.