Writing When You Don’t Want To Write

'Being a real writer means being able to do the work on a bad day'. Norman Mailer I read this Norman Mailer quote on Sheila O’Flanagan’s Facebook page yesterday and it’s been ringing in my ears ever since.

I’m not feeling great this morning – I’ve spent the last few nights working on an Arts Council Funding Application, after a day’s writing and other things. My lower back is at me, from lifting Brownies over logs in the forest on their Indian Tracking Day yesterday (don’t ask!), and I don’t really feel like writing at all. But here’s the thing – it’s my job. And I know once I actually sit down and get on with it, I’ll be just fine. So that’s what I have to do.

I’m working on the second Shoestring novel – for 2013 – and I need to get it finished before the summer, so I can take my family holiday without feeling guilty or stressed. I’ve written 25k so far and plotted the whole book loosely, so I’m doing well so far. As the setting and the characters are the same (although it’s a different voice telling this one – Pandora rather than Jules), it has been easier to get into than other books. Then it’s straight back to the 5th Amy Green book. I’ve also got plans for another adult book which I think has a really great and very simple hook. More about that soon.

But sometimes it does take a huge amount of will to get me sitting down in the first place. I have books to review for Monday, two of them, and I could be curled up in bed reading them. But right now, I have to write (yep, still trying to talk myself into it).

Mailer is right. I’ll be teaching a popular fiction workshop at Listowel Writers’ Week in June and the first lesson will be – you got it, bum glue. Sitting down and getting on with it. So I guess I’d better take my own advice. And GET ON WITH IT!

Yours in writing,

Sarah XXX

PS Well what do you know? I managed 2,544 words this morning after all the procrastination and moaning. Just goes to show, sometimes the worst writing days turn into the best writing days.

Dream Editorial Feedback

Dear Fellow Writers and Readers,I got the most wonderful email from my editor today - the kind of feedback that makes all the hard slog so worthwhile. So I wanted to share it with you. I've taken out any spoilers, don't worry. I got an equally lovely one from my other editor too, a fab young editor I'm having such fun working with. I do hope you all get emails like this some time in the future. Yours in writing, SarahXXX

Dear Sarah

I just wanted to let you know how much I loved THE SHOESTRING CLUB. It's a really terrific, engaging and totally unputdownable read with wonderfully drawn characters. While it's incredibly warm and the humour is well done, there are some very dark moments which you've executed brilliantly. Julia is a complex character with whom the reader sympathises in every way - urging her on to find the right man in the end and to forget about . . . (spoiler) The scene where she confronts her. . . is so moving, and her Dad, Pandora and Bird are such a terrific support to her. It's so heartwarming Sarah, and has much about it which reminds me of Marian Keyes without being in the least derivative.

I've always enjoyed your books Sarah, but I really feel this one is a big step up and we're all confident that it will bring you the success you so deserve. I know . . . is really enjoying working with you on the book. We'll be doing proofs for this one so we'll be sure to get them for . . . in good time.

So let us know when you're over here so that . . . and I can take you both to lunch.

More on Titles

The title for the next Ask Amy Green book – book 4 in the series – has recently changed from Party Drama-rama to Love and Other Drama-ramas. And it was difficult enough to find a new title. The story changed quite a bit at editorial stage, so the old title didn’t really fit anymore. Originally Sylvie’s hen party (Amy’s mum) was a big part of the book, but now it plays a less important role. So ‘party’ didn’t work. Back to the drawing board.

The book is mainly about a boy called Bailey Otis who is Mills’s new boyfriend in the first few chapters, but (spoiler alert!) something happens and he changes utterly and lets her down.

So it’s about family ties, boys, the nature of friendship, and loss. Here are some of the titles I came up with:

Friends and Other Drama-ramas (from the start we were all keen on the word drama-rama) Double Drama-ramas Dublin Drama-rama The Friendship Drama-rama Dates and Other Drama-ramas Disaster/Dizzying Dilemma (and a lot of other d words!) Double Dilemma Friends and Frenemies Boys and Other Drama-ramas

But none of them were quite right. So then my lovely editor, Annalie came up with Love and Other Drama-ramas. And I breathed a sigh of relief. It just seemed . . . right. The book is – at its heart – about love and all the drama that goes with it. The search was over.

Some titles come easily. From the very start the first Amy Green was Boy Trouble, simple. The next one – Summer Secrets – again, easy. Although the word ‘Summer’ can be a tricky one as sometimes bookshops won’t stock ‘summer’ books in the depths of winter. A discussion for another day. And Bridesmaid Blitz – again easy!

Books 5 and 6 are (at the moment) called Dancing Daze and Wedding Belles. But book 4 was always a sticky one for some reason. Sometimes titles are just difficult. Doesn’t mean the book isn’t brilliant of course. And I ADORE Amy 4. Hope my readers will do. It’s out in September so we’ll have to wait and see. With a brand new cover look for all the titles.

I think the best titles are simple, catchy, easy to remember and either sum up the book perfectly or give a taste or a mood of the book.

My Sister Lives on the Mantlepiece is a recent example of a memorable title. It’s about a teenage who literally lives on the mantelpiece – in a jar – as she was blown up by terrorists. No, not subtle, but very, very strong image don’t you think?

Wuthering Tights – another good one.

Billionaire Boy – simple yet effective.

Names work well – especially unusual, funny or odd names – Skulduggery Pleasant, Judy Moody, Coraline. Alliteration can also work well – Bridesmaid Blitz.

For romantic comedy, song titles or well known sayings can be good – Always the Bridesmaid, The Loving Kind (yep, I borrowed them both!). My latest adult one (out next spring) is called The Shoestring Club. It’s about two sisters who run a second hand designer shop called Shoestring (designer clothes on a shoestring is their slogan). It’s simple and I think it works.

Above all, make your title interesting and make it say something about the book. The one title I’m not all that keen on of my own titles is Some Kind of Wonderful. It doesn’t really say anything about the book. I should have put more thought into it to be honest.

So do think carefully about your title, it’s important. And if you’re having problems coming up with something good, ask for help. Sometimes us writers are too close to our own work to see the wood for the trees.

Good luck with finding the right title for your own book.

Yours in writing,

Sarah XXX

What Makes a Good Book? An Editor's View

Right, a quick blog on what makes a good book, prompted by an Irish Pen meeting last night. The following comments were made by the panel - Ciaran Carty, Patricia Deevy, Bob from The Gutter Bookshp and Margaret (a reader):

Ciaran Carty, ex film critic of The Sunday Tribune, has moved New Irish Writing to a new home at the Irish Independent. Good new for short story writers. He's looking for original stories with something special at thier heart - he said their is no 'type' of story he wants in particular, anything goes!

The stories will now appear on the last Sat of every month in the Irish Indo. New Irish Writing has been running since 1988 and it’s great to see it continue. It's a good shop window for new writers and people like Martina Devlin and Joe O'Connor and John Boyne are past 'New Irish Writers'.

He believes good books are made by good readers.

Patricia Deevy from Penguin Ireland was also most interesting.

She spoke as her role as an editor and what she is looking for in a ‘good’ book to publish. ON editing - she said that good writers are keen to be edited as they know it makes their work better – very true.

‘Writers must believe in what they are doing,’ she said. ‘They have to express clearly what they want to say and their book has to come from somewhere deep inside them.’

She suggested that the best books give readers an immersive experience – which is an excellent way of describing it. She also said that popular fiction is the result of a lot of hard work (hear, hear!) and that writers need to be ambitious and to push the boundaries. Above all she wanted to see original books. And no copy cat books please, or books written to a formula.

Patricia only took on one new novelist last year – one! Scary statistic!

Bob Johnson from The Gutter Bookshop said reading gives writers an understanding of how books work. He also said that originality is vital and he only accepts one in every ten books he is shown as a book buyer.

And a reader, Margaret shared her loved of Little Women and a book called South Riding. She said a good book is like falling in love – you want to spend as much time as possible with the object of your affection.

All in all, an interesting evening.

Yours in writing,

Sarah XXX