The Joy of Editing

By Gillian Hamer

Editing is very much a marmite topic. Some writers love it. Others loathe it with a passion. Me, typically I am in the middle. The first round of editing, when I’m still on a buzz from finishing the first draft, is always a thrill. But by the time I’ve worked my way through feedback from a handful of beta readers and an over-zealous proofreader, I’m no longer quite so enthralled by the whole process!

 

But as I’m always interested how other writers tackle the whole nuts-and-bolts process of writing a novel, I thought it might be interesting to pass on how I handle the editing process. After five published novels, and a sixth on its way, I’ve learned quite a lot about quality control.

1. Story Sweep

This is what I call my first initial read through upon completion. Lots of things can change throughout the novel. Characters that started the book with red hair may end up blonde. A twist that happened in Chapter 20, may affect a declaration made in your opening paragraph. So, I like to sit down and with the ending now forefront in my mind, read through the novel carefully – watching out for any bloopers that would spoil the whole integrity of your work.

2. Chapter Listings
Once I’m sure I have the story in the right order, the beginning, middle and the end sorted, I make a list of individual chapters. I list the main protagonist for each, against content summary and word count. Doing this is also handy if I need to make changes as I’m editing, - it’s a quick reference guide to where I need to go back to.

3. Rooting Out the Fillers

I have a set list of words I use the Find/Replace feature on Word to thin out to a bare minimum. On my list are just, had, that, felt, but … and and. Not all can be removed of course, but I’d put odds on a good 90% of them being redundant.

4. Repetition

As well as fillers I also do a Find/Replace for words I have an awful habit of repeating. On this list I have shuddered, swallowed, gazed, nodded. Again, I would say at least half can go or be replaced with something less tiresome and more original!

5. Adverbs & Adjectives

Not something you can rely on any grammar check to find, but I always take time to search and destroy as many unneeded adverbs as I can. My pet hates are those used after dialogue tags - eg. he said loudly (so he shouted, right?) I use the rule - if you need an adverb, there's a chance you chose the wrong verb. Adjectives too, whilst great if used to a bare minimum, can clog up descriptions and prose. Be ruthless and take your shears to both.

6. Continuity

This can be a killer, in any genre I imagine, but particularly in crime fiction. Even more so if you’ve made lots of changes in the book.
If Betty was sixty four and grey-haired in chapter one, make sure she’s not 46 and auburn in chapter twelve. If Billy is a vegan to begin with, make sure he doesn’t order lamb bhuna later. I think if you have a niggling feeling about anything in terms of continuity, it’s always worth a full investigation. There’s no easier way as an author to lose credibility than if the reader can pick holes in your writing. And talking of holes …

7. Plot Holes

This is another minefield, again crime fiction is a killer. Make yourself a list of questions that you used early on in the work to hook the reader, and content yourself that by the ending of the book all have been satisfactorily answered. Make sure Red Herrings work and aren’t too obvious. Ensure the ‘believability factor’ isn’t stretched past breaking point in any of your twists and reveals. Tie up loose ends and fill in gaping holes, and use this editorial process to ensure your story is tight.

8. Cliché Check

My own rule of thumb is that it’s okay for the character to use them if it’s needed to show character. But it’s not okay for the author to rely on them. So, do a run through and ensure originality.

9. Spell Check

Quite obvious, but something that takes a fair amount of time and patience, especially when local dialect or dialogue play a large part of the book. Take your time, make sure you don’t miss anything obvious.

10. Typos

There are some things you can’t rely on technology to sort out – typos are one of them. My biggest faux-pas is our/out. No one other than your own eagle eyes (or someone else’s) is going to sort this editing nightmare. So read each word, don’t skim, and see what should actually be there.

11. Read Aloud

This is crucial for me, especially in areas of dialogue, so I have a real feel for the interaction and rhythm. My rule of thumb when reading aloud is that if I stumble over a particular line more than twice, it has to go. Any line that creates a frown needs work. Perfect lines just flow in time with the beat of your writing, so try and make every line perfect.

12. Word Count

At this stage, I go over each chapter again and do a second word count, hopefully you’ll be amazed how many words you’ve shaved off your work. I try to keep my chapter lengths quite constant, within 1000 words of each other, so at this stage if chapter four is 3000 and chapter five is 8000 words, you may have some rejigging to do.

13. Chapter Headings

It’s always worth at this stage, having a final run through of chapter numbers and headings. With all the changes, it’s quite common for me to find I have two chapter twenty sevens, and no twenty eight.

14. Final Read & Polish

I think it’s always a good idea to reread the story again at this stage. Clear your head of all of the hours of agony that have come before, and read this time as a reader, not a writer. Hopefully, you will actually forget you’ve written it and enjoy the story, or find yourself smiling with pride at your talent.

And now you’re ready to set your baby free, send it out into the big, wide world, so new eyes can read it for the very first time. At this stage, don’t be tempted to fiddle or faff – walk away and leave it alone. If you use beta readers or proofreaders, you know they are going to find you more work, and that’s when your job is to give the book one final super-polish, so it enters the world of publication as perfect and polished as a diamond.

One you can be very proud of indeed.

For more helpful tips and advice, check out The Triskele Trail.

Getting the balance right - tips for writing Short Stories

By Gillian Hamer

Short stories are where my love of writing began. I’d sneak my gran’s Woman’s Weekly or People’s Friend into my bedroom, and lose myself in tales of romance, dark secrets or intrigue. Shorts were my first introduction to worlds and emotions I could barely imagine as an inquisitive, yet introverted child.

One day I thought … you know what, I reckon I can do that. And so began the tale of a beagle named Goliath and his adventures on an island called Geronimo. Goliath became a companion for many years. I used to draw his droopy ears and sad eyes, endlessly practising his signature. And so, several years later when I won my first writing accolade, age eleven (– a Blue Peter Badge for writing an episode of Grange Hill, I don’t think ever got screened.) … it was Goliath and his adventures I thanked.

Short stories are wonderful. If they’re done right. And that’s a BIG if. Getting the content balance right is crucial. Getting the POV to gel is difficult. And introducing characters your readers connect with in the space of a few thousand (or hundred) words is nigh on impossible.

I’ve read many books over the years bursting with practical advice. I've studied many How-To guides. And I’ve written many, many rubbish shorts. But it's a craft I have worked hard to succeed in. For me, balance is key. In almost every aspect of a strong, gripping short story it must be spot on. Here are some of my suggestions for achieving that perfect balance.

1. Read widely. As with novel writing, read lots of different short story styles by lots of different authors, from classic to contemporary. Study winning entries of important short story competitions (Bridport, for example) See what constitutes a prize-winning story and how you can make your own idea equally as compelling.

2. Simple plots and complex characters. Remember the famous tip from V.S Pritchett : 'A short story should capture a character at bursting point." Character is everything in a short story, you don't have time or space for complex, meandering plots so you must rely on killer characters to drive the narrative.

3. Content. Because of word constraints you need to compress content to the basics. This is easier if you plan before you start. Know where you want your story to end, and work at achieving the story arc in as succinct, yet fulfilling, way as possible.

4. Conflict and Change. These are the drivers of your storyline, Make sure you contain equal levels of both. Without conflict you have no story. If you have no story your characters fail to grow or change, and the story stagnates and dies. Getting this balance right is crucial.

5. What, when, where, who. Tick as many boxes as you can in your planning before you start to write. Who is telling your story? What is your theme? When and where are you setting it?

6. Pace. With fewer words to play with, you need to perfect your pace. Too fast and the story will lack depth; too slow and you'll bore the reader and lose drive. Learn to be succinct. Learn the power of suggestion. Allow your reader to use their own imagination and never, ever, over write.

7. Dialogue. Let your characters have their own voice, keep authorial input to a minimum. Allow dialogue to establish character, progress the story. Believable dialogue is vital and can turn an average short into a prize winner.

8. POV. Getting your choice of POV right is one of the most important decisions when planning. I tend to write most short stories in first person, present tense. Not usually a conscious decision, maybe that it feels more direct and immediate. Instinctively, POV often chooses itself, and it's no bad advice to go with your gut instinct.

9. Strong opening, stronger close. It is vital you hit the ground running and grab the reader's attention from line one. You do not have the luxury of easing the reader into a short story. It has to be instant. And a good closing punch line should stay with the reader. The closing line of a short story should be the BEST line.

10. Try something different. Break the mould. Drop the clichés. Experiment with your short story. A unique, unexpected voice can be compelling, so try something new. Write crime novels? Then try erotic shorts. Always write historical? Give sci-fi a chance. Short story writing offers a whole new world of experiences to a writer.

Google + (Part Two) - The How & the When

Part Two – How & When.

Since I have been on this G+ journey of discovery, the biggest query most people have is a lack of understanding. Numerous writers have admitted signing up to the service, only to stand on the sidelines peering in, unsure what to do next. I think this is something Google may need to address, and I’ll go into details later about the online help you can access to guide you through the initial process. It’s all there, and is more than adequate, I just don’t feel it’s particularly user-friendly.

 

So, here I shall try and simplify and condense the main rules you need to make a start on G+.

HOW TO NAVIGATE  YOUR WAY AROUND G+

So, you’ve got your password, accessed the G+ logo on your Google dashboard, and you’re all set. If you have a Gmail account you may find many of your profile details, including your user name, will auto-populate. When you log in you will be taken to your Home Page. Once you have added friends (see below) you will be greeted here by a display of your friends' latest blogs (collated via Blogger of course), their latest posts and updates and a general news feed – plus a chance for you to post your own quick updates. It may look a bit empty for now, but it will fill up nicely as you use G+ and interact with other users, and it will usually offer you a steady stream of people you may know due to your existing contacts or shared interests.

Navigating your way around G+ is quite easy. Everything revolves around the drop down menu on the left- hand side of your screen. When you click (on Home) you should be presented with a number of options:

PROFILE -  This is the area where you complete as much information as you want available. It’s also rather like a blog page where you can post daily updates (think of your Facebook home page) So, if you want to tell everyone what you had for breakfast or boast about your daily word count, this is the place.

PEOPLE – This is one of the most important areas. Advice seems to be that increasing your G+ ‘readers’ is crucial to getting the best out of the medium. And before we proceed, here I must introduce you to Circles. Probably the biggest (and arguably most beneficial) of the differences G+ offers over other social media platforms.

Circles or Circling is a way of organising your followers or friends. How you do it will very much depend on what you want from G+. So, in the People section, you are presented with a number of options. Find People (searching for those with similar likes or shared friends) Have You in Circles (people who have included you in their circles) Your Circles (People you have chosen) Discover (Popular sites, categorised into interests)

I’d suggest you look at Your Circles first. Here you can search (via your address book or Gmail account) for people to add. You then either add them to your Circles, or if not on G+, send invites to ask them to join your network and when they accept you can organise them into relevant Circles. For example, for writers these may include – friends, family, readers, bloggers, colleagues. The beauty of taking the time to separate your followers is that you can update and share posts with specific groups. So, for example, let’s say you’re a member of a Book Club, you could include other members in a Book Club 'Circle', and only update them on the date of your next event, rather than informing the rest of your followers who aren’t remotely interested. You can also choose to make only certain Circles visible in your stream on your Home Page. So, if you only want to see your friends' posts when you log on, this can be amended in settings.

PHOTO – This is basically an online photograph album that if you have a Blogger site will already be populated with photos you’ve saved there. Otherwise you can organise uploaded photos to use.

The above are the main categories to navigate around the site. Below that there is a second list – What’s Hot (Display of the day’s hottest sites, blogs, links, videos) / Communities (Display of G+ groups you may be interested in based on your settings, likes and friends)  / Events (Ability to make an Online Invitation to share among friends) / Hang Outs (Ability to run Video Chats, either private, or join public chats) / Pages (Ability to create a Page – eg like an Author Page on FB for your business or interests)  / Local (More for business use, links you to local contacts and links your businesses to others in area)  / Settings (Managing account).

HOW TO UNDERSTAND G+

Also in this drop down under Home, you can access the online G+ Help. This is in very tiny print at the bottom of the menu. Despite difficulty in finding it, it actually offers a lot of information, although I imagine many users do not even know it is there. It shows you in simple steps how to send posts, create pages, interact with other users and a lot more. And there is even a tour that uses a kind of Wizard to guide you around G+, explaining benefits and features. I’d suggest any newbie spends an hour or so familiarising themselves with these interactive tools as they are really beneficial. There is also an option to join a G+ Circle where members explain changes or features and there's also a G+ Help hash tag so you can yell at any time if you're in a fix and someone will assist.

The other main point to get right are your Posts. In a similar fashion to Facebook's latest security updates, you have the ability to share your posts with Specific Circles, Extended Circles or Public (ie anyone who has included you in one of their Circles.) Unlike Twitter, here you have a 100,000 character limit, so although your scope is wider, it still pays to quickly learn to be brief and interesting. It very much depends what you want from G+ but as we are viewing this as a potential marketing tool for authors, the same rules apply as Facebook and Twitter. Repeat posts, but never make a nuisance, check timings so you hit readers at the right time, add hashtags if necessary, and provide a link to your source if you're re-posting others' posts.

With G+ a symbol called +Mentioning works in much the same way as the @ symbol on Twitter. If you add + in front of a name at start of a post, it works as sending them a direct message. Or if you post in the body of a public text, it shares the post with them. A handy tip is that if you add a + or @ in front of a regular email address, G+ will send the post. This is a clever way of attracting new followers onto G+.

Two other points about Posts. There are services that offer auto posts, much as auto retweets in Twitter. 'Do Share' for example, enables you to draft and schedule posts for set times. Also, like RT on Twitter, G+ have 'Ripples' which show you how many people have shared your public posts. To access, click on the arrow at top right of your posts, and View Ripples. Through Ripples you can also access cross promotion, where your posts can be organised to post on your other social media sites consecutively which removes the burden of multi-posting.

So, choose your readers, click on the box, write your text, add your links and photos and ... Get Posting!

HOW TO INCREASE YOUR G+ AUDIENCE

So, once you’ve dedicated your time, created your profile, added your photographs, mastered sending Posts, connected with other users and organised your Circles … then what?

I asked the same question and have spent the past couple of weeks trying to ‘use’ the resource to its full potential and I’ll be honest I don’t think I’ve got anywhere near scratching the surface. I'm currently looking at how to increase my followers outside of my normal circle of friends and associates.

Many of the normal social media etiquette applies - Have a good profile; Share good content; Share your posts in public not private; Add your G+ badge to your website and blog; Help others; Invite others to join; Seek out Circles who like the same topics as you do and build new networks of like-minded people. With these ideas in mind, just make a start, write posts and begin circulating and seeking out people and topics that interest you. Before long, you see your Circled number and follower number increase, and your network begins to grow.

I think G+ like most things in life only gives back as much as you put in. And there's no denying there are lots of slight differences you need to master before you are completely competent, but in general most things are similar to other social networking - and the site itself, once you can navigate yourself around successfully, is easy to use, not to mention bright and entertaining. So, play around, have a browse, click links and see where they take you. Some will appeal, others will not - I've not taken the plunge yet with Hang Outs for example. But I like seeing News and Weather updates when I log in. I like seeing new suggested contacts and a resume of my followers' posts. I feel comfortable with the whole set up, and while I'm sure G+ attracts its fair share of trolls and idiots, I also believe at the moment it's adding a new, refreshing and altogether more interesting face to online communication and marketing. And that with a little time investment, it will offer a new face for networking and marketing for authors.

In the last of my posts on G+ I shall report on my first full month on the site and compile a list of Top Tips that will add to your overall experience.

For those who are going to give G+ a go and would like more detailed information, I can recommend What the Plus! by Guy Kawasaki which is packed full of advice on every aspect of G+.

Google + (Part One) ... The What and the Why.

Part One - What & Why

 

A random collection of factors came together recently to persuade me that learning the basics of Google + (henceforth known as G+) was worth an investment of my time.

• I've read a number of predictions on blogs and press reports announcing G+ is THE place for author networking in 2014.
• A conversation in a writing forum where I'm a member. Two writers thought they'd each been blocked by the other on Facebook as they no longer saw each other's posts. I suddenly realised I'd not seen recent posts from them either, yet, when checking their feeds discovered they were indeed both posting daily.
• An increasing frustration with numbers on Facebook. Triskele Books, have over 300 followers to their page, yet on average less than 30 friends view each post (unless it has numerous shares) and sometimes that is down into single figures. For example, a recent book giveaway attracted dozens of entries via a weekend of posts on Twitter but not one single entry over the same time frame on Facebook.

Items two and three pushed me into investigating further and I discovered the phenomenon of 'Facebook Insights' - the ability to view measurements and statistics on your page - also has the power to place a restriction on your posts, limiting who is able to view them. On average I learned that only 12% of your friends actually get to see your updates. While I've no proof this figure is accurate, it almost exactly mirrors my own findings. Yes, there could be numerous reasons (not following Most Recent threads, not online, etc.) But I'm under no illusion that the main reason is that every time Facebook asks you if you'd like to pay to 'Boost' your views, it's holding back circulation in the hope it can make extra cash out of promoting on your behalf. How else could it offer to boost your updates when you have a finite number of friends/follows?

Hmmm. Not particularly fair or helpful you might be thinking if you hope to be communicating with hundreds, or thousands, of potential new readers. And you'd be right. Imagine your excitement when announcing your new cover, or latest five star review, to your eager audience - to discover only nine people actually saw your post and you didn't have a single Like or Share?

So, if Facebook isn't providing the service you thought you were getting, what's to say any other provider would differ? After all, we're living in the 'no one gives you anything for nothing' age, aren’t we?

One of the main benefits I found with G+ is that 100% of your friends and follows see your updates, not only that but you can organise and group followers, and select particular groups (called Circles) to update separately. This may prove useful if you have a wide range of contacts. For example, it may help on occasion to only post updates to genre writers, or indie authors, or writing groups or close contacts and family. G+ gives you this flexibility without having to set up separate Pages.

I’ve also researched G+ for Business Users. Writers increasingly, and especially indie-authors, most definitely fall under that category. There must be good reason why many businesses are now turning to G+ to promote their services. There are numerous resources and training plans offered online, but key benefits seem to include:

• It’s rapid expansion – According to sources the fastest growing network resource ever.
• It’s more active than you think – Over 135 million active users, 60% of which log in daily.
• It influences search rankings – G+ Shares (called +1s) act as recommendations and influence what searchers see while logged in.
• It improves your search engine presence – All G+ posts are indexed immediately increasing chances of visibility.
• It offers 100% visibility - No extra costs to have posts 'boosted'.
• It allows authored content – Enables you to link updates automatically to your website or blog.
• It allows for local searches – You can set up a Local page (or merge into main one) so people who make regional specific searches are directed to your site.
• Newly launched G+ Communities gives your clients, readers, followers a place to mingle and research your products. It’s a great way to get feedback and engage with followers in a meaningful way, with the options to post Public or Private messages.

So, how can any of this help you, specifically from a writing aspect? And before you groan and imagine where you're going to find another few spare hours a day to update yet another social network, let's examine a few key facts, and most importantly discuss what you - as a writer - hope to gain out of the hours you spend promoting and sharing posts online. I think it's important to spend a little time in examining the big players in social networking and deciding what, if anything, G+ can add to the mix for you. If the answer is nothing, fine, it's one more thing to cross of your to-do list.

Putting G+ aside, looking at Social Media from a writer's viewpoint, I categorise as follows:

• Twitter : Real Time (Events and promotions)
• Facebook : People (Updates and keeping in touch)
• Pinterest : Pictures (Online bulletin board)

Where does G+ fit in? Well, after playing around with the site, and reading lots of research, I'd suggest Communication.

Is this something that would be useful to me? Well, yes of course. More so probably than telling my friends (or approximately 12% of them anyway) what I was watching on television that evening. Or boring the same 12% of my followers with the same news over and over.

If your answer to the question - do you want to enhance and expand your audience? - is yes (and which right-minded author would reply with a no?) then I believe G+ is the place to focus your attention.

And also this is Google. GOOGLE. I am as much of a Google junkie as I am Apple. I use Google Chrome as my main search engine. I use Gmail. Find Google Drive particularly useful. Regularly rely on Google Maps. And ADORE Google Earth. And while I'm probably a bit old to be drawn into the world of You Tube, I recognise its appeal and success.

So, why would I doubt the validity or success of G+? I've no doubt that if G+ had been launched five years ago alongside Twitter and Facebook it would be an industry leader today, but we're not dealing with a level playing field. Not yet. I am sure it's only a matter of time though. As Bradley Horowitz, vice-president of G+ said. "G+ is Google itself. We're extending it across all that we do - search, ads, Chrome, Android, Maps, You Tube - so that each of those services contribute to our understanding of who you are."

So, what does the future hold for G+? Will it explode like Twitter or implode like My Space? Research would suggest the former and that authors should get onboard now to maximise its full potential.

So, for now, sign yourself up for a Google Account if you don't already have one, find the G+ logo in your GMail inbox or on your Drive dashboard. Log in with your GMail user name and have a nosey around.

In Part Two of my G+ investigation, we will deal with Google + ... How. I'll run through how to get started on G+, pass on some handy tips for getting the full potential from your time, highlight my favourite advantages and look at future opportunities G+ have to offer.

Collection of Self Publishing Tips for Writers

It’s fair to say that everyone at Triskele Books has learned a lot and gained bucketfuls of experience over the past eighteen months or so. But you can never know too much about the dos and don’ts and rules and regulations of indie-publishing.

We have put together a User’s Guide of Tips from some of the most established voices in the industry, and added into the mix one or two sage words of advice we’ve learned ourselves.

Writing a book is no mean feat. But publishing it yourself is another story. If something you read here helps you along the way, our job is done!

GENERAL TIPS

1) Build a Rapport

“Get your name and brand out ‘there’ now by reaching out to bloggers and writers who share your genre, and build a rapport. Support others’ books and writing and they just might do the same for you.” (30daybooks.com)

2) Take Creative Risks

“There is one other factor that doesn’t get discussed as much, but in my mind is just as important: The freedom to bend and blend genres, invent new forms, and take creative risks.” (A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing)

3) Website savvy

“Ensure you have at least a professional looking website and an email sign up list so that you can direct people from your book back to this site, and start building the list for the next one so you’re in a more confident position next time around.” (Joanna Penn - How to Market A Book.)

4) Social savvy

“Social media plays a huge role in building an author’s platform, marketing, and author branding. One of our favorite social media platforms is Twitter.” (BiblioCrunch)

5) Focus on the Basics

“A well-written story, a smart cover, a proper edit, clean formatting, and an enticing blurb. You only have to do that stuff once, and then you can get back to working on the next book.” (David Gaughran)

6) Passion, Persistence, and Pluck

“The playing field is leveling—Net neutrality ensures the internet stays equally available to all. As far as online business is concerned, each book competes on its own. In this environment it’s your passion, persistence and pluck that will sell your book, and that’s within your power.” (The Book Designer)

7) Write Well, Publish Regularly

“You don’t have to chase the hottest genre or write for mass appeal to make a living as an indie author; you do have to write well enough to appeal to the people who enjoy your niche, and you do have to publish regularly to keep your name out there, especially when you’re first building up your fan base.” (Lindsey Buroker)

8) It’s All About Connecting

“But what I learned is that the best way for me to look at my writing career is to remember why I write. It’s to reach readers, to touch their hearts, maybe even change their lives (for the better).” (Live. Write. Thrive)

9) Quality Books Take Quality Time

“If you don’t pay attention to the quality control of your work, you’ll kill your writing career before it even starts. Readers are not stupid. They may be downloading 99¢ e-books like crazy right now. But they’re already starting to figure out that something’s not right. Many of these books are poorly written and desperately need editing. (Rachelle Gardner)

10) The Big IF

“[It's the] movement that says we CAN publish well all by ourselves—if we embrace the right tools, take the time to develop our craft, find the right team members, educate ourselves, and are willing to step out of our comfort zones for the sake of our book’s success.” (Wise Ink)

11) Make Sure Your Book is Amazing

“Professionally edited with a professional cover design. Spend money on this because all the marketing in the world won’t sell a crappy book.” (Joanna Penn - How To Market A Book.)


TRISKELE TIPS

…. from Triskele member, Liza Perrat

Support other indie authors: connecting with, supporting and promoting other indie authors whose work I respect is vital. And it works both ways.

Join Goodreads: participate in groups relevant to your books, to connect with like-minded readers, and thus target readership for your books.

Host giveaways: on your own blog or website, or those with a large following, to help spread the word about your books, and gain exposure.


…. from Triskele member, JJ Marsh

Use your environment: Be a local author and visit book clubs, do signings, promote via local media. And if the book is set somewhere different, play up that feature, approach Russian/Japanese/German book bloggers and focus on the setting. If your book fits in a genre, there’ll be aficionados somewhere who want to read it - use online connections. Just remember to give more than take.

Be discoverable: Find yourself platforms which do not promote your work, but establish you as a writer to trust - through journalism, blogging, guest posting. Ensure those curious enough to click on your bio will be directed to your body of work, which has easily clickable links. Make yourself easy to find.

Keep reading: All the blog posts, articles, comments, Tweets, status updates, co-promotions and press releases add up to a lot of content, not mention working on the next book/short story. All output and no input makes Jill a dull girl. Switch off, unplug and just read, at least once a week. Call it topping up your reservoir.

…. from Triskele member, Catriona Troth

An extract from my rejection letter to a mainstream publisher

'Maybe I’m shooting myself in the foot. Maybe I’m cutting myself off from a level of marketing and distribution I can’t hope to emulate as an indie author. Maybe. But I will choose when I publish my book. I will decide what it’s called and what is on the cover. I will determine how long it remains on sale to readers. I won’t have the help and advice of a traditional literary editor, but neither will my ideas be overruled by some anonymous marketing professional from a supermarket chain.'

For me, one of the real visionaries in the world of Self Publishing is Polly Courtney who turned her back on her golden ticket dream with a big traditional publishers to go the indie route. I always remember her words because for me too control is vital: ‘The main benefit for me is the ability to fulfil the vision you have for a book, from how it's worded right through to how it's sold and promoted. You can make things happen – and not just via traditional means. I've had the chance to experiment, testing cover designs on a pool of collaborators, opening up my first draft to self-selected 'editors' from social media and making a film-style trailer for the book. I'll also be able to play with the ebook pricing when it comes out.’


…. from Triskele member, Gillian Hamer

Be as professional as you possibly can in every aspect of your book. Do what you do well (ie the writing bit) and leave everything else – as much as your budget will allow – to the professionals.

Join a critique group – either virtual or real life. Make sure at least a half dozen pair of eyes if possible have read and discussed your novel before you type The End.

Invest in a proof reader you can work with and trust, try to build up a relationship with an editor, so they understand you and your writing style.


.... from Triskele member, JD Smith

When looking for a professional to help you, whether it's copy editing, proofreading, formatting or cover designing, make sure you ask for recommendations. Never use someone you don't trust or you haven't had referred to you by a satisfied customer. Look at their portfolio and ensure that they are the best person for your needs.

Expensive doesn't always mean the best. Good cover design and formatting doesn't cost the earth. It's worth budgeting for it because in the long run it can save you lots of time and frustration that could be spent marketing your book or writing the next one.

Never let the world of writing get you down. Set yourself small, manageable deadlines. Remember that you are meant to be writing because you enjoy it, not because you have to do it.


Thanks to http://www.darlawrites.com/ for triggering this idea. Check out Darla's site for many more insights and inspirations.

Please Don’t Write What You Know

All kinds of theories you get told in writing workshops, ‘Write what you know’ and that sort of thing, which I don’t believe at all. One of the great joys in writing is to try and explore what you don’t know. That’s exciting to me. – Kiran Desai

Write What You Know.

What does that mean, in practice? The trouble with a lot of writing what you know is that no one wants to read it. Because readers see through fiction-which-is-fact, sniff out wish-fulfilment and close their ears to lecturing. If they want any of those things, they can switch on the TV.

Fiction isn’t life. Otherwise, why bother? Toss aside Fifty Shades of Grey, grab the restraints, drag him away from the PlayStation and get creative. Just don’t write about it afterwards.

Here are seven ways WWYK can backfire:


But It’s All True!

Just because an experience happened, doesn’t make it a good story. When you’re telling a story, you’re giving a reader an experience. Relating yours, no matter how well you dress it up, is always going to be second-hand. Take the reader on their own journeys; use their own experiences to breathe colour and intelligibility; allow them the privilege of relating to the narrative first hand. Maybe reignite old memories or establish new ideals. Give them something new.

Same goes for character. One author used real people twice in her work. Both times beta-readers picked them out of the line-up at first glance. They stick out like Bob Hoskins in Roger Rabbit. They aren’t part of that world, they have no place there and the author’s crude attempts to disguise personal feelings towards those individuals are as obvious as a teenage blush. There’s nothing wrong with using the odd trait, mannerism or look from someone you know to add realism to a character, but make sure each person you create has a life and history of their own.

Even if a story is true, it must be believable as a story. Reality often makes the worst fiction. Add those details which bring the piece to fictional life. Omit those which don’t. – Janet Skeslien Charles

Dear Diary

JJ Marsh: “Someone I know spent a long time writing up an incredible round-the-world adventure. I’d heard so many of these stories; in the pub, in the park, around dinner tables. The storyteller possessed drama, humour, vocal range and facial dexterity. Those verbally recounted stories were always applauded. The book? I couldn’t finish. The equivalent of several thousand holiday slides.”

Contrast such a disappointment with Susan Jane Gilman’s Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven. Not only a distinctive voice, but more than one level of alienation and an increasingly tense plot involves the reader in an adventure. Yes, it’s a true story, but one hell of a way to tell it. Memoirs such as Dave Pelzer’s A Child Called It or Just A Boy by Richard McCann break the mould because the story they tell compels a reader through compassion. It should be fiction but it’s not, that’s how the reader copes with such gritty realism.


And if You Look To Your Left ...

Lecturing, something most writers have fallen foul of many times, can make a reader’s toes curl in embarrassment. Much like a bound foot. Foot binding was very popular in 10th century China because men found it to be highly attractive, and therefore became Chinese women's way of being beautiful and to show that they were worthy of a husband. The foot binding process begins with a young girl (4-7 years old) soaking her feet in warm water or animal blood with herbs. (Thank you, Wikipedia).

This is nothing more than another adage – Show, Not Tell. Don’t inform the reader, allow them to glimpse the details, catch a peep behind a screen, hear the muffled cry of a young voice expressing old pain.

Look at writers such as Eowyn Ivey (Alaska) or Monique Roffey (Trinidad) and absorb how they select and employ geographical detail like seasoning to enrich and attract, without drowning the reader in reportage. Read Salman Rushdie or Louis de Bernières as a lesson in how historical segues act as mortar to the story bricks, whilst rendering the two part of the whole.

If you need to be an expert in a given field – maybe a pathologist in crime fiction or WWII fighter pilot in a historical romance – make sure it’s the characters who sound like they’re living the life. Not the author trawling the internet.

One tip – our own Gillian Hamer took an Open University Forensics’ Course. In her novel where a pathologist takes the lead role, she must sound like she knows her DNA from her CAP – and sound like she means it. If the language and the words become second nature to the writer, rather than something quickly cut and pasted from a website, it adds so much more depth and gravitas to the characters. And the readers will appreciate the effort without even knowing what went into it. Making something incredibly difficult look incredibly easy is vital.

Me, But Better

Another pitfall is the writer who uses fiction as wish-fulfilment. This story’s hero/heroine is IRRESISTIBLY sexy, tall/petite, witty/winsome, glamorous/gifted, muscular/feisty, handy with a Colt 45/cauliflower coulis, genetically/genitally enhanced, an arrogant bad boy/a sassy sex kitten, a horse-whispering human marshmallow in leather trousers/a free spirit who sits naked in a peacock chair while her lover paints the sunset.

This kind of fantasy belongs in teenage notebooks or in locked jewellery boxes, encoded and set to spontaneously combust if any other eyes but the author’s should happen upon them. Unless you're E.L. James.

Just as your average teenager tries on a variety of identities to see which suits, a writer should experiment, move away from oneself and stretch beyond what is comfortable.

I became interested in writing different points of view. And I think I came from a student background and cultural generation which was very nervous about writing outside one’s own experience; gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity and cultural space. I think The Slap is my attempt to resist that. Not to say those considerations aren’t important, but if I can’t write as a woman, a black person, an old man or a teenage girl, what the hell am I doing writing at all? – Christos Tsiolkas

Isn’t It Exotic, Don’t You Think?

At a workshop for non-Fiction Writers in Zurich in 2011, Andrew Crofts (The Ghost Writer) listened to various accounts of the expat experience and finally, with a deep sigh, told it like it is.
“Yes, but the only people who will be interested are other expats. Write a blog instead.”
This astute writer knows her audience and shows how it should be done.

Who are you talking to? Other versions of you? Or do you want to address a wider audience with a story anyone can access? Why will anyone else care about what you care about – and how can you make that happen?

Empathy is a key ingredient. The old adage of getting the reader onside from Chapter One is a rule to ignore at your peril. Whatever genre you chose, make sure that the characters and world you create encompass the reader, so that every emotion is heightened and explored. Hate is fine, sympathy is better. Anger is necessary, passion is perfect.

Write for a wide audience, so that people of all backgrounds and persuasions can live and involve themselves in your world. Fiction is not the place for walking on narrow ground.

Dull as dishwater

Another problem many writers face when they stick to safe territory and write what they know is that unless they are widely read or have imaginative scope beyond a normal person’s wildest dreams … life can be pretty crap. And often pretty dull.

Most of us in our daily life relive on repeat a pretty good take on Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5. It’s normal and banal and just life. We don’t make eye contact with a tall, dark handsome stranger on the bus and experience a life-changing frisson of electricity. We rarely see an armed robbery during our lunch hour while picking up an egg and cress roll from Greggs. No one is going to want to read about an eight-hour shift at a call centre, when the highlight of the day was a visit by the window cleaner.

There are, of course, elements of our life we can take with us on our journey into fiction. Emotions. Experience. Knowledge. Conversations. History. We have a melting pot of resource information bubbling away in our brains. But to make all of those ingredients come together in a perfect recipe, we need to transport the reader away from the normality of everyday life.

Even if we’re only transporting them on the Tube from Holborn to Greenwich. Even if we’re not planning on whisking them away to the Maldives or Great Barrier Reef. It’s still the job of the writer to create a believable world to relate their story, that although the reader can pick out bits they recognise, fits the story you have created – not the one you live on a daily basis.

From all things that you know and all those you cannot know, you make something through your invention that is not a representation but a whole new thing truer than anything true and alive. – Ernest Hemingway

Location, Location, Location

Many of you will know that location is a strong theme in Triskele books. And while it’s clearly not practical for every author to visit the place they set their novels (our JD Smith may find difficulties visiting the lands of Palmyra circa 1st Century AD) a strong setting can really carry a story – and again it needs to be something that although the reader may recognise in passing, does not linger too long on the M25.

Some writers, take for example, Stef Penney and her wonderful The Tenderness of Wolves, admit they have never set foot on the land they so wonderfully describe. But they spend years researching the layout, the towns, the traditions and languages. This is a gift coupled with hard work.

Many writers prefer to visit the location to feel the atmosphere of a setting, and there is nothing more satisfying than to be told in a review that your description of a place has prompted the reader to pay their first visit.


But let's not forget that there are times when writing what you know is the most important thing you can do - for yourself, and for others. Jade Amoli-Jackson is a humbling example.



It’s a big world out there. So, whichever way you do it, take a chance. 

Break the rules. Open up and let the reader in.



by JJ Marsh