A learning game that always brings a new challenge. There’s always something new to discover or a new way of handling an issue, so the most important thing is to keep an open mind and keep on learning.

A couple of weeks ago, I started a non-fiction writing course, and whilst the styles of writing are quite different between that and my books, there are bits that can relate to both. Whilst I know I’m not (and never will be) an expert at writing, here’s three things I’ve learnt about writing over the last year or so when getting books ready for publication.

Cut out what you don’t need

It’s a tough and brutal process but when I first decided to publish Atlantic Split, there were a lot of scenes in there that had no real purpose. They didn’t carry the plot forward – they were just there. They weren’t even filler scenes, they were just redundant and I knew they had to go. Everything in the book had to be relevant, so I cut a lot out. I’ve done the same with At Liberty To Live (probably more so) and am doing the same as I start going through book 3 and 4. As a writer, words are sacred, but not if they’re without purpose. So be prepared to cut irrelevant scenes.

Your characters need to be more loveable

You don’t necessarily want the reader to ‘love’ all your characters, but you as a writer need to ‘love’ writing about them. You can’t have a central character, or even a secondary character that you find boring to write about, because if you find it boring then chances are that your reader will be able to tell you don’t care as much about this character as the others. A classic example I’ve mentioned before is in At Liberty To Live where I restructured some of the new characters and now they’re much more interesting and much more fun to write about. People will actually care about them, and that’s hard when you’ve got brand new characters in a book with other characters that are already established. So, if you don’t want to get rid of these characters, switch up their relationships, give them different motives, give them a compelling backstory that readers can’t resist getting emotional about.

Research now rather than later

Whilst this may not apply to all writing, this is something I learnt when going through my series. It’s okay to bend the rules a little, and if you’re writing fantasy, rules may not apply as much, but you need to remain consistent not only to reality but also to your writing universe. If something isn’t realistic, it can take your reader out of the story. Sure, it’s okay to get them to use their imagination, but if you’re stretching reality too much, you’re asking too much. Also, make sure you’re not contradicting yourself in a previous book or scene to one that comes later. Go back over what you’ve already written in case you trip yourself up later and it ruins things for your reader. I had a whole set of scenes in At Liberty To Live that had to be tweaked to make them more realistic and actually, they’re a lot better now. So take the time, don’t just throw anything in your books because you want to, think about the best scenarios and usually there will be a good compromise. Us writers are good at problem solving like that!

These points just goes to show that nothing is ever static. I’m going to apply all those points to book 3 and 4 when they come out and the rest of my writing, and that’ll give me a much better chance at writing better books.

Atlantic Split is the first book in The Luke Bright Series and is available to purchase NOW! Please follow me on my blog and my social media links below and use the links on my website to purchase a copy if you have not done so. Don’t forget to leave a review! The second book, At Liberty To Live will be released in AUTUMN 2018. Thank you once again for taking the time to read this blog post.

N.A.K.