Deborah Bee’s Top Five Writing Tips For Aspiring Authors

I’m delighted to be on the book tour for Deborah Bee’s thrilling, new novel, ‘The Last Thing I Remember’ and today on tour, Deborah shares her top five tips for aspiring writers.

I don’t feel equipped to give anyone advice on how to write a novel as I have only written one. However I’ve been doing features for magazines and newspapers for twenty years so I do have some experience of that. Top five tips, if I can limit it to that…

1. People get hung up on trying to sound clever or posh when they write. (Some people do that when they speak in public – like in a meeting, they suddenly start using words they would never normally say and no one really understands.) If you imagine telling your best friend that really funny thing that happened when you were in that bar last night… you wouldn’t go all flowery language – but you would build your story, describe the bar, the wine you were drinking, the conversation you were having when Mark walked over and whispered…? This style of language is so much more entertaining when you are trying to write a compelling story. So, relax. Pretend it’s a letter to your best friend.

2. Get a pinboard, a white board, some post-it notes. Plan, plan, plan. If you’re writing a complicated plot you need to have an idea where you’re going and keep a note of where you’ve been. Constantly update your timeline when new information creates itself.

3. Don’t ask for other people’s opinions unless you’re sure you want them. I emailed my first two chapters to a fellow writer to see if he thought I was up to writing a novel. Luckily he said yes. After that I didn’t show anyone anything until I sent it to an agent. I think it’s so easy to get put off by someone who may not have a clue what they are talking about.

[amazon_link id=”B0196P0S4W” target=”_blank” ][/amazon_link]

4. Know your characters very well. I borrowed from people I know. For example the lady who runs the self-help group, Fleur, is a girl I used to work with, also called Fleur. I needed someone who was kind and empathetic, slightly dippy in a gentle sort of way (sorry Fleur), warm and intelligent. When I needed her to react to a situation, I would think about what the real Fleur would do, how she would do it, what she would say. I think that makes your characters more believeable. (I don’t think Fleur minds.)

5. Give up your brain 100%. No music, no email, no phone, no whatsapp, no mailonline, no “celebrities who’ve had too much work done”, no water-cooler breaks. If you must, check your messages every three hours, and hide your phone under your pillow.

6. (I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop at 5.) Don’t get hung up on details – just keep writing and go over it later. When you go over it later don’t get too critical. I re-wrote the first six chapters about twenty times – when I could have been getting on with the rest of the story. And when you decide that it’s all rubbish and you really should take up macramé instead, persevere. You never know.

You can pre-order [amazon_link id=”B0196P0S4W” target=”_blank” ] The Last Thing I Remember from Amazon [/amazon_link] and will be available to buy from 3rd March 2016.