13. Writing Dialog - Or 'He Said, She Said' (Writing for Success)

Note: This is part 13 in a series of 25 articles from my upcoming 'Writing for Success' series (NEW: Buy the book HERE).

13. Writing Dialog - Or 'He Said, She Said'

“Don’t you dare do that,” Sarah carefully said. 

“Why not?” David daringly replied. 

“Because it’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of,” Sarah nervously laughed. 

“In that case, I’ll do it,” David triumphantly replied.

We’ve all read these passages before. And from time to time we all write them. Even my novels still have a few that I need to root out and destroy at some point! Sometimes they’re called Swifties (after Tom Swifty). Basically they are pieces of dialog where the writer has used adverbs to describe an emotion that has been added to the actual dialog. These adverbs usually end in –ly. The simple rule here is cut them out. Why? Two reasons. First they sound stupid. Try reading the passage above out loud. It just doesn’t sound right. Second you should be trying to convey emotion in the dialog and not in the description of the sentence. At the very least, add a little action to the dialog to help convey the proper emotion of the words spoken.

First let’s try the above example without the adverbs:

“Don’t you dare do that,” Sarah said. 

“Why not?” David replied. 

“Because it’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of.” 

“In that case, I’ll do it,” David replied.

Okay not bad, better than the original but now you need to get in that daring, joking, worried part. So let’s add a little action into the dialog:

Sarah took a step back before she spoke. “Don’t you dare do that.” 

“Why not?” David replied, picking up the paddle and waving it at his sister. 

“Just because. And besides, it’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of.” 

“In that case, I’ll do it!” David splashed the paddle into the pool, covering his sister with water.

A totally different passage of writing! It’s amazing what you can do with a few words if you try hard enough. Of course these are very short examples, written in a limited space, but you get the idea.

So that’s part one of our lesson – try not to use descriptive adverbs in dialog. Part two is even easier. Basically, you are allowed to use the following constructs in dialog: said, replied, asked, whispered, said quietly, said softly (the last two are allowed because they qualify the said, and are not new adverbs). On very rare occasions you may choose to use other words, but they must be very rare occasions. Then when you have mastered only using these words, you can further cut out how many times you actually use them.

How do you know how often you should use he said, she said in a section of dialog? Well, it depends on three things: the age group of your readers, the length of the passage of dialog, and the number of people speaking. Simply put, the younger the age group, the longer the passage, the more people speaking - the more you need the he said, she said parts. Mature readers, short passage, two people – maybe one or two he said, she said parts. Lesson over.

Dialog needn’t be that difficult to write, but it is a very important part of the story. It’s also the part that many people struggle with the most trying to create something that seems natural. It’s weird really if you think about it. We spend our lives in one part of a dialog and yet we have difficulty writing it down so that it seems natural. Try recording a piece of dialog between two people and play it back. It will sound nothing at all like you remember. And without the circumstantial surroundings you may not even remember what a certain part of the dialog was about! Creating good dialog is something that is a little artificial and yet when you get it right, readers will love your dialog. One of the things I’ve realized is that good dialog reads fast and keeps the plot moving forward. So bearing that in mind, make dialog say something and don’t complicate it too much with descriptive stuff. Pretty straightforward. Readers like reading dialog because the pages look empty and they can be skipped through. Also, they get a chance to see how two characters interact and that is always enjoyable (or should be). Let’s end with a piece of dialog that hopefully demonstrates all the points we have talked about. Good luck!

“You took your time,” Sam said, pushing a Guinness towards him. 

“Cheers,” Beau said, taking a sip and putting the glass back down. “I told you I had a couple of things to do. And then I hit the traffic. No one in this city knows how to drive once it starts raining.” 

“Tell me about it.” 

“So Beau, who’s going to be in your team?” 

Beau looked up to see Tim anxiously looking his way. “Tomorrow, Tim. I’ll be sorting this all out tomorrow. Tonight we are celebrating.” 

“To Beau,” Sam shouted above the conversation. “May he prosper and not suffer the same fate as his predecessor.” 

“To Beau,” everyone replied. 

“Thanks,” said Beau. “That’s very reassuring.” 

“You’ll be fine. You always seem to land on your feet,” Sam said. “I don’t know how you do it. I wish I had a tenth of your luck.” 

“Luck, eh? You think it’s luck. More like hard work.” 

“Sure Beau. Hard work. Cheers!”

12. Creating Believable and Well Rounded Characters (Writing for Success)

Note: This is part 12 in a series of 25 articles from my upcoming 'Writing for Success' series.

12. Creating Believable and Well Rounded Characters

Craig was tall and thin with short-cropped golden hair. His blue eyes shone like jewels when he smiled and he always had a kind word for the ladies.

Now, I’m sorry if this is the sort of stuff you like to read in your books, but it’s not what I like to read! Personally I’m thinking I don’t want to read any story that contains this Craig character! Now that’s not to say that your story can't contain someone who is just like Craig, but the secret is in how you introduce him and let him come alive in your book.

Character descriptions can be a good thing, but they can also hurt you. Generally readers only need enough description to get by; to distinguish one character from another. The rest will be things the reader makes up in their mind added to a dose of the character’s personality that comes across. So let’s try the description part again.

Craig entered the pub and made straight for the bar. He nodded to a couple of the regulars and took a seat on a stool between two women. “Rum and coke, please,” he said to the barman. He turned and smiled at the woman seated to his left. “Hi.” 

The woman smiled back at Craig and took a sip from her drink as she studied his face briefly. She couldn’t help notice the twinkle in his blue eyes. He looked like he could be the trouble she was looking for.

Now I’m not saying this is perfect writing here; I’ve compressed things down to make an example, but you get the idea. Do you need to mention the fact that Craig was tall and thin immediately? Or that he had short-cropped golden hair? These things may be necessary to the character of Craig but they can be introduced at a time that is appropriate in the story. This second example gives a much more rounded look and feel to Craig. He’s obviously a bit of a ladies’ man and he knows it too. And if that’s an important thing to get out, then get it out.

Creating believable and well rounded characters is something that is central to a good book. You need to create characters that readers can identify with and they each need to have unique personalities. What does this mean? Readers need to visualize your characters and know who is speaking and be able to follow along as you write. Just giving them a bland description won’t do it. Characters, like real people, need markers (or traits) to identify them. What is Craig’s marker? I’m sure it’s not his short-cropped golden hair or the fact that he’s tall and thin. It’s probably more that he’s trouble with women everywhere he goes. That’s what the reader needs to understand from the outset. That needs to be his marker. The physical description can be filled in as the story progresses. Most characters also have a unique phrasing as well. This means you need to understand how they speak and how they will react in conversations. I usually give major characters key words that they repeatedly use throughout the story. This also helps the reader with character identification.

So what makes up a personality? A lot of it is based on situational experience. This means they had a history that made them into the person they are. What are your characters’ histories? Where did they grow up? Who were their school friends? Did they live in a stable home? The list is endless, but to create a well rounded character you need to work all these things out. You need to be sure of exactly how they would each react in a situation. And it needs to be consistent. Don’t go changing the rules half-way through your book.

Real people have flaws too. So should your characters. Superman had his kryptonite. What do your characters have? And I state this point most seriously as knowing what flaws your characters have helps you put them in exciting plot situations and helps the reader become more engaged with the book. Let’s give an example. I have decided that Craig doesn’t swim and that is something that is established early on in the book. In fact it’s worse than that. He hates the water and won’t go in it if he can possibly help it. Once the reader understands this piece of knowledge you can use it to your advantage in many ways. If your Craig character is a good character then he may have to overcome his fear of water by helping a drowning woman. Or, if he’s a bad character maybe a potential girlfriend wants to go on a date with him and decides to take him to the lake. He will then do everything he can to not go in the water. Creating flaws in characters mean you already have great story points to write about!

So when you’re next sat down and thinking about the major characters for your novel, create that back-story about their lives, add a few personality traits, maybe some speech markers, and lastly their kryptonite. Creating believable and well rounded characters will help your books come to life by creating pictures in the reader’s mind.

Who is Lucy Weatherington?

Yes, that's the question of the day. Who is Lucy Weatherington?

Lucy Weatherington is the heroine of my latest novel I started writing today. Set in modern suburbia, this is a slight departure from a lot of the things I write. The currently unnamed novel (Update: New Blood (Melrose Part 1)) is aimed at older young adults (16+) and is an Urban Paranormal thriller. This book will most likely be the first in a series of three. And I say most likely because I'm not sure exactly how many books there will end up being at this point. The plot is still fresh and unexplored. I'll have to see where it goes.

So, over the next month or so I'll let you know how the story is coming along. It's going to be an interesting journey for me as I write something new and challenging. Later this month I will also start reviewing the first draft of my upcoming third novel in the Xannu series. Then, in between all this I will finish up my ebook on 'Writing for Success.' It's definitely going to be a busy May!

So, back to the original question. Just who is Lucy Weatherington? (Clue: Lucy Weatherington is a character from another of my books.. Who?) Please leave comments below.

11. Plot Pace (Writing for Success)

Note: This is part 11 in a series of 25 articles from my upcoming 'Writing for Success' series.

11. Plot Pace
How should a story ebb and flow? How quickly should the stakes be raised and how quickly should they fall again? These are all questions for the debut author to consider. I have read several samples of stories from potential new writers over the years and they generally fall into two categories: those stories that are descriptive passages, pages at a time; and those that rise to fever pitch and never come down long enough to allow the reader to catch a breath.

Clearly there needs to be some kind of compromise. Most blockbuster hits start with some real conflict, an event of some description that grabs the reader, and after a little while the story settles down a little to allow the reader to catch breath and find out what’s going on. Plot place is a major key in writing a successful novel. The writer needs to keep the reader interested in what they are writing enough to keep them wanting to turn pages, but not too engrossed that they race along without taking breath. Imagine the roller-coaster. During the brief journey there are periods of anticipation, thrills and straight up screaming! I’m not suggesting that your book should evoke those emotions, but the principles are the same. Anticipation is a huge page turner. Readers want to know if something is going to happen or not. They will read several pages as the anticipation builds. But then the writer must deliver. Anticipation must be followed with action of some kind so that the reader has a chance to release some of their built up feelings. Then you can start building again.

So how many times do you do this? The answer is as many times as is necessary. A good book has several undercurrents flowing through it that build at different speeds. These will all hit at different times in the book and then hopefully combine for one big hit somewhere just before the end.

Let’s go back to the typical book openings that new readers write one more time. Many authors start books with descriptive passages that give back-story and a gentle introduction. To a certain extent we covered this topic in the article about not starting a story at the beginning, but it’s worth mentioning again. Generally, starting a book with long descriptive passages won’t get the reader hooked and anticipating something. Generally there’s no conflict introduced and all the reader can do is hope that the story gets going at some point. The plot pace here is too slow.

Onto the other type of beginning, the fever pitch start that goes on forever. Firstly, there’s nothing wrong with a fever pitch start. It’s the length that’s important. It needs to be long enough to grab the reader’s attention but not so long as they can’t take a breath. Why is this you may ask? The simple answer is that it can’t be sustained forever and the reader will ultimately be disappointed that the remainder of the book was not as exciting as the beginning. Like all things in life, we need some down-time, even in a book. That’s not to say there needs to be boring passages, just pieces that help the reader bridge things or put things together. The reader needs to be able to process the book as they’re reading and slower passages help do this. The brain naturally reads exciting passages of books a little faster than others. We are anxious to see what happens and we process the passage at the fastest speed possible. Some of the little details get lost. If the whole book is written at this pace, then many of the important points will be missed by the reader. So, slow down from time to time.

Finally, another question that people ask is how many exciting passages should there be in a book? Of course this is also something else that is difficult to answer as one person’s definition of exciting varies from another’s. The reality is that there needs to be enough exciting passages to keep the reader hooked, introduced with enough anticipation to keep them turning pages. Of course, all this will be set up with character and situation conflict, another topic we have already covered in this series. Ultimately plot pace is something that you will have to experiment with to find what works best for you. And also realize that what works for one person may not work for another. Different people have different expectations. I have already had very different comments from readers of my books, and that is a fact of life. As an author you have to understand you can’t please everyone with what you write. All you can hope to do is create a book that pleases the majority of readers. But if you do strive to get the pace of the plot correct, you won’t get comments that people got bored by your book. It may just be that it’s not their kind of story. But that’s the topic for another article!

An Author's Reflection

I've had a fair few reviews of my YA Fantasy book, Xannu - The Prophecy, now and I thought I'd post a few reflections on the comments I've received.

Firstly I've been very pleased overall by the positive response. It seems that after all, I wrote a pretty good book back in 2002. Not bad for a first novel.

Secondly, it's interesting how different people take to different characters. Many people like Terry and Joe, which isn't a surprise to me, but others have taken to Maria and Selene. I have my favorites of course, but I wrote the book for my pleasure and not for any particular reader. Therefore it's always interesting to hear people's comments about parts of the book.

It's also been interesting to hear how some people have taken certain parts of the stories, what they think is good and what is not so good. And I say interesting because when one person loves a particular thing and another hates the same thing, you know it's a matter of personal taste. Hmmm.

So, the question comes up, what can you do to please everybody or leave everyone with the same thoughts? You can't!

Finally, as the author, I know something that all my readers do not know. I know that the first book is just that, the first book. The first book deliberately leads the reader down a path that is then blown apart in book two and then completely demolished in book three. Of course, reviewers can't possibly know that until they have read all the books... And there are going to be five of them. What a journey it will end up being!

All in all, I have very positive reflections on the book. After all, I'm not going to complain about any of the reviews I have received so far - they've all been great. But I am interested in seeing how readers themselves reflect on the whole series - once they finally read it.

The Southern Lands epic fantasy series is going to be one heck of a ride!

Get the first book at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords for only $0.99!

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For fans of Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and The Narnia Chronicles, the first installment in a thrilling epic fantasy series…

Would you wake up in a hot sweat if you lived your night’s dreams as a soldier battling un-earthly creatures, witnessing powerful magic and fighting to save your own life on a daily basis?

English schoolboy Terry West does. Frequently. After digging up some rune coins near a roman road, he has been living in another world inhabited by warlocks, seductresses, priests and prophecy. There Terry is a soldier, Teern Truthbringer, who has been tasked with finding the Xannu - 'he who will lead the people into deliverance.'

If only it wasn’t real; but it is. Very real. When it all began it was even enjoyable, but now Terry’s life is getting very complicated. Somehow he involved his best friend Joe and although it had seemed a good idea at the time, the consequences had been dire. Then there is Susan, the leggy sister of klutzy school-friend Brian. Why does she keep sending him messages?

Terry is struggling to balance the two lives he leads and every day he is losing his grip on reality just a little bit more. He’s been forced to kill enemies; his companion, the magical woman Maria, is scaring him half to death with her abilities; and his parents are on his back about his school work.

How will he balance the two lives he leads, solve two sets of problems, and understand the lessons he receives from both? Only time will tell. But time is something Terry doesn't have too much of, as everything is unfolding in ways he could never have imagined!

Book 1 of 'The Southern Lands' saga
“Listen to the teachings of a wise man. You may not understand all he says but you will surely have nourishment for the future. Be positive and plan for success. Failure to plan is to plan for failure. Worry not at what came before but only prepare yourselves for that which is ahead.” (Pika’Al 10:1-5, The Scriptures of Al’Zaneed)

10. Conflict and Its Importance (Writing for Success)

Note: This is part 10 in a series of 25 articles from my upcoming 'Writing for Success' series.

10. Conflict and Its Importance
What is a great book without conflict? Just a book of course! Great books ooze with conflict. Almost every page has something going on that makes you want to turn the next page. Can you name me a great book that doesn’t have any conflict? I can’t. And yet so many debut authors don’t pay enough attention to this subject. There are so many other things they are trying to get right that they forget one of the major ingredients of the story.

I remember reading Cujo by Stephen King – an amazing novel chock full of conflict. A lot of people have see the movie, but not read the book, and the book is so different. The dog Cujo is a good dog at heart, he doesn’t want to do bad things. Then there’s… Oh wait, I’m spoiling the plot. Just read the book.

So what do we mean by conflict? The dictionary describes conflict as: A fight, battle, or struggle, especially a prolonged struggle; strife. Controversy; quarrel: conflicts between parties. Discord of action, feeling, or effect; antagonism or opposition, as of interests or principles: a conflict of ideas. That’s a whole lot of stuff! The nature of conflict in your novel will depend on the subject matter. Is there a love interest? If so, then the conflict will be that the two people never seem to get together. Everything conspires against them. This conflict will make your readers want to keep turning the pages in the hope that they eventually get together. Or maybe your book is about something that your hero needs to do but isn’t strong enough or have the means to do. How will he struggle through this weakness to eventually overcome it? Perhaps your hero has witnessed something and doesn’t know what to do about it. How will he cope with the information he now has? Conflict. Sprinkle it liberally throughout your book.

I remember a saying I heard as a young kid: Smile and be happy, for things could get worse. So I did smile and was happy, and things did get worse! This is what makes a great book. Things need to get worse instead of better sometimes. Get the reader hooked, draw them in. Make them want your hero to be successful, but keep that success just out of reach right up until the end of the book. Most conflicts in life aren’t simple either. They come about because of morals or beliefs or something else that is put in a person’s way. And your conflicts in your book must be layered like this as well. As the book progresses so the conflict needs to get more and more layered. Creating a plot with complex conflicts is a huge key to creating a successful novel. Boy meets girl; boy gets girl; boy and girl live happily ever after, just doesn’t happen in a great story does it? And yet so many debut novels are a little like this.

So how do we create conflict? And how much should there be? Let’s tackle the second one first. In most cases it’s true that you cannot create too much conflict. More is usually better. As for the first, how to create conflict, then you really need to get inside your characters heads. You need to know what makes them tick. Maybe they’re afraid of the dark or don’t like to go outside. Whatever it is, signal it up front, at the beginning of the novel. Then create a scenario where they need to overcome that fear. Now you have conflict! The only way the hero can save the girl is to travel at night into the dark haunted forest. The reader will instantly feel for the hero and want to keep reading. Part of you knows that something will happen, but you have to keep reading, just to find out. And maybe the hero gets through the forest successfully, and the reader breathes a sigh of relief, only for him to get attacked by the boat launch at dawn!

Plan your conflicts in advance. Don’t leave them until you are halfway through writing your novel. There’s nothing worse than having to go back and add some forced conflict to make the story better. Like I said, you know your characters; make sure they have plenty of challenges as the book progresses. If you need to, draw on things that have happened in your own life. Nothing ever happens as we plan it, does it? So use some of those life experiences. Sometimes people get sick or even die. If the plot can take it, add it. Just remember whatever you do, if you want to write a great book, make sure it’s full of conflicts.

Xannu - The Prophecy hits the press again...

Two new mentions of Xannu - The Prophecy this morning - one in a blog review and the other on an Indie Blog.

Never tried Fantasy before? Here's your chance. As Akshay says, this is a great book for people looking to try their first fantasy read...

The review can be found here - Akshay Bakshi: Xannu - The Prophecy review

Juggling two parallel worlds, storylines and switching between them smoothly isn’t an easy task but Paul Dorset does this throughout the book and even makes it feel natural. The life of Terry West is one all of us have dreamed of, whisking away to a different world, having adventures but still returning in time for your mother’s wonderfully cooked food. Dorset employs a tiered approach to introducing his characters and new ones keep coming in till the very end. This method works very well for the most part and is even necessary to unfold the story properly and keep the identity of the Xannu a mystery but the people who come late into the story feel slightly underdeveloped. The villain, Mayhem, supposed to be the enemy if the Almighty one, doesn’t seem strong enough to be so. He’s good (bad ?) enough to be an antagonist but he can’t seem to pull off being the nemesis of all that is good. On the other hand, the character of Maria Pengollen is written damn well. The protagonist Terry West is very human, acting like any 12 year old would but its Maria who took me for the real ride. Though she is supposed to be a mother of perception, supposed to help and heal people, she is also new. Dorset’s words reveal her inexperience and determination equally well. 

One of the highlights of the story, is the friendship between Joe And Terry. Their friendly banter, personal troubles, school life are nearly perfect. The language Dorset uses is exactly how preteens talk, and is a huge help to the narrative. However, the problem is that some of this language and feel carries over to the other world as well where it feels weird because the setting of The Southern Lands is in medieval times. The prophecies mentioned at the beginning of every chapter and provided at the end of the book splendid, I wouldn’t mind reading a book of verses written by Mr. Dorset. 

After going through weeks of epic fantasy, Xannu was exactly what I needed, an easygoing but imaginative tale. It took me back to fantasy at it’s simplest level and is a great read who people thinking of starting the genre and seasoned readers looking for a refreshing story.  7/10

The Indie Blog mention is on Spalding's Racket

Go check these out and then head over to Amazon or Smashwords to pick the book up for $0.99!!

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For fans of Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and The Narnia Chronicles, the first installment in a thrilling epic fantasy series…

Would you wake up in a hot sweat if you lived your night’s dreams as a soldier battling un-earthly creatures, witnessing powerful magic and fighting to save your own life on a daily basis?

English schoolboy Terry West does. Frequently. After digging up some rune coins near a roman road, he has been living in another world inhabited by warlocks, seductresses, priests and prophecy. There Terry is a soldier, Teern Truthbringer, who has been tasked with finding the Xannu - 'he who will lead the people into deliverance.'

If only it wasn’t real; but it is. Very real. When it all began it was even enjoyable, but now Terry’s life is getting very complicated. Somehow he involved his best friend Joe and although it had seemed a good idea at the time, the consequences had been dire. Then there is Susan, the leggy sister of klutzy school-friend Brian. Why does she keep sending him messages?

Terry is struggling to balance the two lives he leads and every day he is losing his grip on reality just a little bit more. He’s been forced to kill enemies; his companion, the magical woman Maria, is scaring him half to death with her abilities; and his parents are on his back about his school work.

How will he balance the two lives he leads, solve two sets of problems, and understand the lessons he receives from both? Only time will tell. But time is something Terry doesn't have too much of, as everything is unfolding in ways he could never have imagined!

Book 1 of 'The Southern Lands' saga
“Listen to the teachings of a wise man. You may not understand all he says but you will surely have nourishment for the future. Be positive and plan for success. Failure to plan is to plan for failure. Worry not at what came before but only prepare yourselves for that which is ahead.” (Pika’Al 10:1-5, The Scriptures of Al’Zaneed)

9. Writing Your First Novel: Words & Routine (Writing for Success)

Note: This is part 9 in a series of 25 articles from my upcoming 'Writing for Success' series.

9. Writing Your First Novel: Words & Routine
Writing a novel is all about getting into a routine and churning out the words on a daily basis. So what is the correct number of words that you need to write each day? This is an answer that I can’t give you. Everyone has their own speed and method. Some writer’s churn our 3,000 words a day, while others stick to 1,000. You’re going to have to experiment and see what works for you.

The important thing though is to set yourself a target. Without a target you’re not going to be successful. This is one thing I will guarantee! If you write a novel like you approach a summer garden project and just get a bit done now and again, you’ll always find an excuse not to get the novel written. You’ll start off well enough but as soon as something comes up, the dedication will stop and suddenly your novel will be languishing on the computer, waiting for you to open it up again.

Writing a novel requires a dedicated routine. Do you work at your best in the mornings, afternoons or evenings? I am at my most creative in the mornings and so that’s when I try and write. I have written at other times of the day (even all day long), but that’s not my norm. So when I am writing a novel I make sure I get up early, and get started before 6am. That way I can write when I am at my best. You need to set yourself up for success.

And what about the number of words? Do you know how many words you write an hour? Try it. Write a simple story. Make it up as you go, but try and write for an hour without stopping for a break. Then count the number of words you’ve written. Then do it again the next day. And the next. After you’ve done this for four or five days, count up your words and see what you average. I average about 1,300 words an hour when I’m in normal mode and I can churn out 1,600 words an hour if I’m feeling very creative and everything is just flowing.

When I’m writing a novel I always set myself a target for each day. It’s normally somewhere around the 3,000 word mark – or about two to two and a half hours. I usually split that into two segments, and take a short break in between. Sometimes I will write more, but that’s about my norm.

The other thing I try and do is to split my chapters at about the length of my writing sessions. That way I know that each day I’m writing a chapter (or two if they’re 1,500 to 1,800 words in length). My targets are very defined and I don't allow myself to stop writing until I achieve what I’ve promised. There’s nothing worse than having to start the next day halfway through a chapter because I was too lazy to finish it the day before. Therefore this works as a good motivator for me.

Returning to other things we’ve discussed before about story points, etc., you should have an idea of how your novel is going to be split up and written. Let’s say you have your 200 story points and you’re writing a novel of 80,000 words at 2,000 words a day, that’s forty days of writing. Each day you’re going to get through about five story points. Therefore it probably makes sense to split your novel into about forty chapters and each story point is going to be expanded to about 400 words. Seems fairly straightforward, eh? Not at all. As you begin to write, so the book will start to find its voice and new ideas will come and new story points will be created. Maybe whole new sub-plots will be developed. Maybe whole new chapters. That doesn’t matter. The point is that your plan is to write 2,000 words every day and those 2,000 words should try to map to a complete chapter. There may be days when you finish a chapter at 1,500 words, or another day when a chapter overruns to 3,000. That’s okay too. The important thing is to do what you promised yourself you would do and get the chapter completed. The finished book may turn out at 78,000 words or maybe 82,000 words and it may have 39 chapters or 42 chapters, but either way you know it’s what it should be.

Finally, I want to touch on the topic of how often do you need to write? Is it every day, including weekends? Is it just Monday to Friday? Or is it okay to only write Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays? This is something you’re going to have to answer for yourself. My only comment is that the more ad hoc your writing time is, the less likely you will stick to it. If you force yourself to write every day, including weekends, you will be successful. It’s very easy after a day off to be late the following day, or just not get to it. Discipline is your friend. Discipline is my friend too. I set out to write about 800 words in each of these articles and I write until I have done so, making sure I cover the points I wanted. Lo and behold, my 800 words are written and it’s time to start the next article. How about you? How’s your routine?