Having written just two novels, I would hardly call myself an experienced author. But I would offer the following advice to anyone considering going down this route.
The first is to identify a subject and plot. And then to decide on a structure and timeline. This will enable you to prepare a start, middle and end which the audience will be able to follow.
I would strongly recommend breaking your work up into separate chapters. In a work of fiction, this ensures that the plot progresses in a logical and step-by-step way. It is a good idea to have a prologue which sets the scene for the plot that is about to emerge and an epilogue to finish. I also recommend having a heading setting out the time, date and location of the action taking place. This helps set the scene.
Consider whether your narrative is central to the plot. It is too easy to go off at a tangent and include something that drifts away from the core story you are telling. This risks losing the audience’s interest.
Always use your spellcheck. When typing at speed, it is easy to miss a letter or misspell a word. Even works by established authors have gone into print with such errors not being corrected.
Keep an index of the main characters and their roles in the plot. This ensures you maintain consistency throughout the story you are telling. I made this mistake when writing “Kingdom Come”; I changed the first name of two characters after starting to write and, although I thought I’d made all the consequential changes when I sent the draft to the publisher, I found that the original names had slipped through my self-edit on two occasions.
When you have completed your first draft, I recommend that you read through the text again. This is an opportunity to correct any spelling errors, to delete repepetitive text and to make any amendments that you think will make the story more compelling.
The availability of self-publishing has been an immensely valuable resource to new writers who otherwise would not have the opportunity to get their work into print. Companies offering self-publishing can also help new authors by offering an editorial service, design facilities for the book cover and publicity. However, anyone considering the self-publishing route needs to understand that they will be self-financing publication by themselves and will need to ensure they have the capital to finance publication. A conservative estimate is that they need at least £5,000 just to get their work into print. Any additional services offered will cost extra.
