The joy is in the journey.
Follow Amy Morse - The Roaming Entrepreneur's - adventures in writing and entrepreneurship.
Her shenanigans, plots, plans, schemes, experiments, escapism - exploring her way to the ultimate freedom of roaming and working.
I write fiction as Amy C Fitzjohn, but when I'm not writing, my day job is to help others discover the joy of writing - in particular, businesses.
As a Content Coach, I work with small businesses every day to help them bring their words to life, using my experience as a fiction author, story fanatic and a trainer.
I'm working with a client who is writing a non-fiction book.
At our last session, we talked about how to structure her book, the 'architecture' behind building that book. It made me realise that putting together a book, whether it's fiction or non-fiction, needs to follow a sensible structure and there are differences between books, and in the world of digital publishing best practice is still evolving.
For example, in a print book there are sections that would traditionally be in the front, such as, achknowledgements, list of other books by the author, etc.
However, in an eBook it's better to put these in the back.
This is bacasue when people go to 'look inside' the book on Amazon, they want to read the book!
There's nothing more infuriating than not being able to read any actual book content!
You really don't want to infuriate people before they buy - they'll never be a customer if you do!
I've put together this handy infographic for anyone planning a book.
It gives you a sense of how to structure it and where to put things. When you write the first draft, don't get too hung up on the order of things and what should be where - writing a book does not have to be a linear process.
The most important thing is to just write.
Get the words out of your brain, just as they come, then chop, change a rearrange later.
Recently, I was bemoaning the struggle of finding the time and motivation to keep writing ‘Finding the Scream’ to my writer friend, Helen Blenkinsop (AKA AA Abbott).
She offered a piece of advice that really resonated:
"Imagine where Kat Orlov would hang out and write there."
Now, Kat spends a lot of time in Cyprus (she also has a base in London), and much as I’d like to jet off and tap away on my laptop beside the pool in a beautiful villa, that’s just not practical!
However, I can imagine the sort of place Kat might hang out I can get to.
As I was writing her, I knew she had to be my next heroine. I felt so drawn to her as a person, I wanted to write her books next.
Katarina Orlov (Kat) is a freelance seeker. A multilingual, bisexual, single parent - she has a wealth of contradictions that will be fun to explore.
At the end of the Sheridan and Blake Series, I wasn't quite ready to say goodbye to Tom Sheridan and Sasha Blake, so Tom features in the next book, as do some bad guys that will be familiar to fans of the series.
However, it’s important to me that, despite the links to the last series of books, Kat’s books need to be distinctive in their own right.
A suffocating grief has hold of Sasha and she’s drinking herself to oblivion.
It’s an unlikely connection to Kat - a woman who has also been intimate with Tom Sheridan - that pulls Sasha from despair and helps her to move on positively.
Sasha explores undiscovered parts of her own sexuality with Kat, and it’s Kat’s fondness for Sasha that drives her to continue to help with the hunt for the Democritus Manuscript, despite her own reluctance.
Sasha lives in my hometown of Bristol.
She owns a modern boutique apartment overlooking the harbourside
(One of the great things about writing is you get to live out your own fantasy life through your characters!)
Given the closeness between the two women, it’s conceivable that Kat may visit Sasha in Bristol.
So, if Kat were to come from London or Cyprus to visit Sasha, where would Sahsa take her for dinner, or a coffee, or a glass of wine, in Bristol?
Slick and modern, neither venue would be out of place in London.
The Brigstow, with its continental feel and waterfront location, on a sunny day it could be somewhere in the Mediterranean.
Both locations are also within a short stumbling distance of where Sasha’s apartment would be.
I have no doubt, that it Kat were to come to visit Sasha, they would share Sasha's bed!
Once Sasha had taken her to either place, if Kat were to find herself working on her laptop in a coffee shop in Bristol, she would go somewhere familiar.
So, now I have two possible locations to work on the book from.
#FindingTheScream
Now, I just have to make the time to do it!
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August didn't quite go according to plan. Back in July, I pledged to myself I would spend August writing. So confident was I, that I blogged about it HERE. Then, the phone calls trickled in from potential clients. Instead, my month evolved into booking work in through my Amy Morse, Authorpreneur business. I went from expectations of long days chained to my computer, to being outside in the sunshine walking between appointments, or hours sat in coffee shops and the Desklodge hotdesking space coaching clients through their social media, content marketing, and book building challenges. While it was great for my bank balance, my suntan, and my portfolio as a business - it was less good for my fiction writing plans. With the momentum continuing into a busy September, finding a regular writing routine has fallen to
the bottom of the 'to do' list. I sometimes feel like a fraud; preaching to my clients to jealously protect time in their diary to sit and write while I continue to not follow my own advice! I need to get my fiction writing mojo back and reboot that momentum. I broke the back of Solomon's Secrets and Gabriel's Game, Part 1: The White Queen participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) in 2014 and 15 respectively, I should keep the tradition alive and do the same for 'Finding the Scream' this November. For those unfamiliar with the concept of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) - often shortened to just 'NaNo' - It's a movement started way back in 2006 in San Francisco that has become a global writing phenomenon. Each year the community is growing as thousands of budding writers across the globe participate in a challenge to write 50,000 words in a month.
If you've been promising yourself you'd write a book for years, or you have an idea for a book and need a boost to get it going, NaNo is for you. Sign up and create an account for free and access a massive community, both on and offline, of fellow wordsmiths who can support you in your quest. There's just under a month to go, and my key piece of advice for anyone starting a book on 1st November is to plan ahead.
In both cases, I had a rough plan and structure for my books. We all have different approaches to the book writing marathon. For all of my fiction titles to date, I write the first chapter, the last chapter and the key scenes that need to happen, usually in a non-linear way. I then plot them out with sticky notes and stitch them together with other scenes and characters until eventually, my protagonist finds their way from A to B through a coherent plot and narrative. Apparently, this is how many action movies (certainly the Bond films) are written; start with the big action set pieces, then weave the plot in afterwards. Sometimes it's really obvious when you watch a movie that's all action and flimsy plot. When it comes to books, I've never been a fan of literary fiction. I love a good story with lots happening, so even though I consciously use this scene by scene approach, I'm mindful throughout that I not only want to create believable and emotionally compelling characters, I also want there to be a great story flowing through my books. Part of what's making me approach 'Finding the Scream' so hesitantly is that I don't know how it will end, and I'm still figuring out what those big set pieces will be. Apparently, Lee Child, doesn't know how his books will end when he starts writing them.
I keep telling myself that I should just trust my characters and my experience from writing seven novels and publishing four of them. I need to just get on with it and see where the story takes me. I have a vague idea of what will happen to Katarina Orlov throughout the book and I have a concept and a few scene ideas. I've already written the first chapter and a few other big chunks of disjointed text that are yet to connect together. Here's a flavour of it:
The NaNoWriMo website is packed with tools, tips and articles to help you on your way, including some NaNo prep resources, however, here are my tips to help you use October efficiently as an opportunity to plan your NaNo book:
Start planning early to build some momentum and anticipation behind your project. By the end of October, you'll be all fired up to get cracking and can start with a confidence-building sprint. Set aside time. At the start of October, go through your diary for November and block out time every day to write. Protect that time. Don't be tempted to fill it with other things. If an appointment has to clash with your designated writing time, replace it for a different time that day. You need to write an average of 1,667 words a day to meet the 50,000 target so any day missed adds extra pressure to another day. Communicate. Tell your partner, kids, friends, colleagues etc. as soon as possible that you'll be dedicating time to writing in November. Be clear with them, that way they are more likely to respect the time you have set aside for the project; plus, it also gives you a sense of accountability. Once you start telling people, you can bet your backside they'll ask throughout November how the book is coming on - surely, you'll want to be smug and tell them how well it's going, instead of admitting defeat?
Write it down. We can go around fooling ourselves that we have a plan for the book in our heads,
but when it comes down to doing it that simply isn’t good enough. When your plan is written down it becomes a firm commitment to yourself that you'll do it. It makes life a lot easier when you do sit and write, that way you won't be distracted from writing by trying to remember something. Once it's written down, you can also see quickly whether the plan makes sense and where any plot holes may be.
To help, download my simple ‘One Page Novel Plan’ HERE
Good luck with the book. Comment below to tell me how it's going... If you found these tips useful, buy me a coffee to say thank you.
