Does everyone really have a book in them? And if you want to write one, where do you start? The novelist and podcaster Elizabeth Day, host of the How to Fail series, has created a “podclass” to answer those questions and more, hosted by three publishing pros: novelist Sara Collins, agent Nelle Andrew and publisher Sharmaine Lovegrove. Here, the four share their key advice for getting a book out into the world.
Elizabeth Day
1. Do the writing
Many people have ideas for books but only a small percentage actually have the discipline to get the words on to the page. This is partly because our imagined books are always so much better than the real ones – we get frustrated when we realise that our sentences are never going to live up to our lyrical projections of them. Rest assured that every single writer feels this. A huge part of writing a book is simply showing up. Set yourself a word count each time you sit down to write. For me, it’s 1,000. They can be the worst words imaginable but at least I can edit them the next time. If you have no words, you can’t do the editing at all. No words, no book.
2. Don’t get too hung up on originality
There are no original ideas, only unique ways of expressing them. Your originality will stem from your set of experiences, your perspective on the world and the way you decide to tell your story. Don’t set out to reinvent the form. If you find the best way of telling your story is to experiment with prose technique, then that’s great, but the story should come first. Also, don’t panic that you will never write like your heroes. By the same token, they will never write like you.
3. Love the process, not the outcome
As much as possible, try not to fixate on publishing deals, Goodreads reviews or bestseller lists. Writing is the thing that makes me feel most myself and that’s why I do it. That and a desire to connect with others, to say “this is what it feels like to me – what about you?” There’s always a point with every single book I write where I think I’m the most embarrassingly awful author in the world. That’s also part of the process. But in those moments when I’m in the flow of each overlapping sentence, I feel untangled and at peace. That’s the feeling I keep returning to. Remind yourself of that feeling as often as you can.
Sara Collins
1. Treat it like work
By this I mean respect your process and require everyone else in your life to respect it as well. Set aside time for it. Show up. Make a contract with yourself and honour it. Treat what you’re doing as important and valuable – for a long time you may be the only person who does.
2. Do it with love
The best preparation for writing good stories is loving them. As Zadie Smith says, “When still a child, make sure you read a lot of books.” I genuinely believe that if you read long enough, and lovingly enough, it flips a switch that makes you want to write. It’s like joining a conversation with the great writers who have come before you, and in turn speaking your truth to those who are going to come afterwards. Appreciate how lucky you are to get to do that. It will keep you in the chair when you feel like giving up – as will developing your own writing rituals, superstitions and playlists (or whatever works for you).
3. Pay attention
Writing is a way of filtering the world. The best writers are the ones who make an art of paying attention, who find joy in being curious. Curate a notebook (to be honest, in my case it’s mostly in the notes app on my phone). Make a note of anything that strikes you. One of the best feelings about being in the midst of a project is how you can become a tuning fork, alive to the material that wants to find its way in. Everything is copy, as Nora Ephron said.
Nelle Andrew
1. Write to be read
I think the best writers are those speaking to someone – AKA a reader, rather than at someone. There is a sense of an audience and being received that makes the work feel like a dialogue, a wraparound experience – and because there is a sense of someone on the other side of the words, the words feel like they are meant for more than just the page.
2. Write the kind of book you want to read
This is cribbing from Toni Morrison and it is true. Don’t fulfil a trend or a market, or something already there. Satisfy the gap for yourself of what isn’t and what you wish you could find because chances are you won’t be alone, and that’s how you create both a readership and a book all at once.
3. Don’t share your work with everyone or just anyone
I do think it can be adverse to bring too many people into your writing process. It’s like scouting out a child’s name before the kid arrives. Everyone has an opinion and can put you off the thing you actually want. So be careful not to bring everyone and anyone into your process to get what they think because sometimes that can derail you rather than help. Instead find one or two people you really trust; make sure they are readers and, even better, readers who share your taste, and then ask them what they think as readers. Not about you but the work. That is feedback you can trust rather than a deluge of data from a wide collection of people who may not be your audience anyway.
Sharmaine Lovegrove
1. Think of your readers and not of trends
Be ambitious for your readers to get under the skin of your story. This requires breaks from writing, reading a lot to put yourself in the mindset of the reader and sharing your work with trusted people. Publishers acquire two years ahead of publication; by the time you see a trend it’s already over. Think of what’s next, not what is now, as that is what your readers will want.
2. Create a community of readers and writers
Publishing is not a zero-sum game, there is space for all the best books that publishers and bookshops believe they can get to readers. Being part of a community, being supportive and championing others will fuel your ambition and help you share and shape your craft.
3. Take the feedback
Listening to what people think, taking on the feedback and not taking it personally is crucial for all writers. To get to a point where your book can be published, feedback needs to be considered from early readers, your agent, your editor. Everyone wants the same thing – to see your work on a bookshelf, listen and take note and pivot the work as required.