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Dear Reader,
"How does a writer actually go about writing?"
Today's guest author James W. Thomson will show you the way. Enjoy his guest column and then enter-to-win a copy of his first novel, Lies You Wanted to Hear. Email: Jedojim@gmail.com
Welcome James W. Thomson...
One of the questions writers get asked frequently is how they actually go about writing. In longhand? (According to the obits, Elmore Leonard wrote the first draft of his novels in pencil on unlined yellow notepads.) A typewriter? (A few diehards out there still use them, and, rumor has it, are willing to endure the deprivations of polar explorers to find a shop to service them.) On a laptop? A hand-held tape recorder? An iPhone? (I'd like to believe that some of the young people bent over these devices with thumbs flying are working on the next great novel.) It isn't just nonwriters who ask this question; writers ask it of one another all the time. I guess we're all curious about the creative process. We also know how daunting a blank page can be.
When I first started writing I wrote in pen on lined tablets, then transferred the text onto a computer. If things were going particularly well and the characters were "talking to me," I wanted to get as much down on paper as quickly as possible. In the process I developed a kind of shorthand that let me abbreviate words and dismiss normal punctuation. When I tried to write like this on the computer I found I got caught up in how the piece looked on the page; this meant I did a lot of editing as I typed and often lost momentum.
Somerset Maugham once said, "There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are." It's a funny quip, and uncommonly true. When it comes to getting the words down, each writer has to find the technique that works best for him or her. Then again, what worked yesterday might not work today. But here is something I know for certain: all novels get written one sentence at a time. Even those authors like John Grisham--who write detailed outlines of their plot and create short biographies for each of their characters before they get started on the body of the text--sooner or later must sit down and write their novels sentence by sentence. Learning this became a powerful lesson for me. It meant I didn't have to go off to some secluded spot for an extended period of time to work on my novel. I could write the next sentence while I was sitting in traffic or waiting for my morning coffee to brew. The hard part for me is figuring out how to turn it off. People get a bit exasperated when you're looking right at them, pretending to pay attention, and they can see in your eyes that you're far away, wondering how your protagonist is going to explain the $7300 in cash his wife found hidden in an old pair of sneakers.
Simply send an email for a chance to win a copy of Lies You Wanted to Hear.
--James W. Thomson
Jedojim@gmail.com
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
AUTHORBUZZ: WHEN MOUNTAINS MOVE (Fiction) by Julie Cantrell
It is the spring of 1943. Soon after the break of day, Bump will become Millie's husband. And then they will leave the rain-soaked fields of Mississippi and head for the wilds of the Colorado Rockies. A novel of dark secrets, deep hope and second chances.
Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on WHEN MOUNTAINS MOVE to read more and to email author Julie Cantrell, you'll get a reply.
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