Writing Guide

Why should I write?

Write because you want to write. There is nothing more fulfilling than creating something from an empty page, moulding the words into something which has body, substance and feeling. Do it because you want to do it, do it because you like to do it.

What should I write about?

Its absolutely up to you! If you're writing fact, then obviously right about something you know, otherwise you won't be taken seriously. If you're writing fiction, then 'your only limitation is your own imagination!'. I wrote REM knowing nothing about the in-depth science of molecular reconstruction and atoms and ions etc, although most people wouldn't know about this anyway, I also didn't try to explain it, I just mentioned its use, so hopefully I've pulled this off convincingly. So write about whatever you want, but don't try to fool or kid people into believing something. Write about what gives you pleasure and what you want to write about!

What style should I use?

Use your own style, don't copy somebody else's. Innovation only comes from people's desire to think outside of the box and to do something different, so if you write as yourself using your own style, then you are creating something unique and different, that could get you noticed!

What should I use to write?

Again, its up to you. I use a computer because I like the versatility of being able to scroll back up over what I have written, if I make a mistake I press delete and type again, plus I can type much faster than I can write. You can pick up computers quite cheaply these days either second hand or even new.  And make sure you get a printer, although do investigate the running costs as you'll be printing in predominantly black and each manuscript is going to run to quite a few hundred pages probably. 

Save Often and Back-up

Most word processing packages have an option to automatically back-up after a period of time, make sure this is set to 5 minutes or less.  Also, make sure you save often anyway, there is nothing worse than just finishing a well crafted piece for your computer to suddenly crash or even worse, a power cut.  Also, make sure you back-up your work to another place, i.e. another computer, hard disk, CD, floppy disk, or even a secure FTP site if you have access to one.

How long should a chapter be?

The simple answer is, as long as it needs to be. If for example it was a really simple scene where someone walks into a room, slaps someone around the face and walks out again, six lines could be your chapter. Its like the scenes in a play or the paragraphs in a letter, whenever you feel there is a natural break in the story.

Should I give each chapter a name?

You don't have to if you don't want to. With REM, I only added chapter names once I had finished the book and only because it seemed to be a good idea to give a kind of subject title for the chapter.

How long should the whole story be?

Like a chapter really, as long as it needs to be. The average novel length is 80,000 words although my advice would be to go with the flow, if you've only written, say for example, 70000 words and you're satisfied with the content, then leave it at that. Some books run at over a 100,000 words.

What should I use for the title?

I think the key thing here is not to force a title, especially when you've only just started writing a story. You will find, as I have always done that the title just comes to you when you're writing it. With REM for example, the title came to me half way through when I was thinking about REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement) so I thought I would call it REM. Quite often the title comes from something that is explained or said within the book. A good example of this is this James Bond books and movies where the title always comes from something within the story.

Any additional questions?

If you have any additional questions then please send an email to writing@rwassell.com and I will get back to you.