Happy World Book Day!

To celebrate I released a copy of Amy Green into the wild – well, the end of Dun Laoghaire pier – as part of the book crossing project – www.bookcrossing.com
Wonder who found it!

Getting back to the writing now after a heady month of events – and enjoying it very much. Of course, I’ve had to start again – reading through the book (Amy Green 4) from the start – as I’ve forgotten what’s happening and all the plot details. Just goes to show, daily writing is the only way to get a book finished – or at least weekly. Unless you have a much better memory than I do – which wouldn’t be hard. The summer I turned 13 – no problem. Last week – um, not so good!

Memory is vital to any writer – how you felt when your beloved godmother died, the fear and panic and joy of giving birth, waiting in the hospital with your 3 week old to get tests back, the agony of waiting for the phone to ring . . . we’ve all experienced so much in our lives. If as writers we can really, really remember how we FELT when these things happened, and can translate that emotion successfully on to the page, then we’re getting somewhere.

Happy writing!

SarahX

Today I was thinking about how lucky I am to have friends who are also writers. Darned good ones too – far better than I am!

I love being able to send a friend a cover design and get some honest feedback – ‘Honey, not in a million years, the woman on the cover looks like a slapper.’
‘Babe that lettering has so much character it could practically walk off the page.’
‘Don’t let them murder your book like that – demand a rethink.’
Oh, yes, writerly friends can be brutal – but refreshingly so.

And they’ll also tell you the truth about your work – if you are very lucky.
‘Not your best to be honest, but put it behind you and move on. The next one sounds like a real gong winner.’
‘Amazing stuff. My favourite by far. You go for it, girl.’
Sometimes you need to hear the truth, other times you just need a writerly hug.

Writers understand, really understand what it means to write, the nail biting horror of publication day (sorry, maybe that’s just me!), the sheer drudgery of it some days, the unimaginable joy of it other days. Trying to edit while cooking fishfingers for the kids yet again, trying to glam up for photographers who are coming at 10am on a Saturday morning, the crushing review or even worse, no reviews at all. Knowing they understand and truly care, that means everything to me.

Writing is a lonely old game – tapping away at a keyboard, day after day after day. It’s nice to have someone on the other end of a phone, or email, or Facebook who can say ‘Cheer up, chuck, only another 50,000 words to go. Nearly there!’ And actually mean it.

So here’s to all my writer friends – and I do hope you all find some good writer friends of your own. And if you do, hang on to them and never let go.

Do not protect yourself by a fence, rather by your friends – old Czech proverb. Hear, hear!

Yours in writing,
SarahX

That’s the funny thing about doing events and publicity for books – publication and all it entails: launches, radio interviews; writing columns; getting pics to go with the columns taken at odd times like 5pm (kids’ tea time in our house and always a zoo!), Sat morning just before you have to get the kids out to soccer; book events and book tours – it makes you realise how much you actually enjoy a normal writing day.

Some writers love the whole buzz of publication – but most don’t. Most – me included – would like maybe 2 or 3 days of it – just to mark the fact that a new book is actually out – and would then like to be allowed slink gracefully back behind our desks to write again.

But such is the life of a writer these days – you must do whatever you can to make your book sell so that a publisher will actually pay you to write another one. And if that includes telling journalists (who I must say are mostly lovely) what you had for breakfast, so be it.

But the most important thing is the writing – get that right first. Worry about all the rest of the hoopla later.

Here’s something I’ve learned over the last 15 years – if your book is really, really good, word of mouth is the most vital ingredient of all when it comes to book sales. You can have the best cover in the world, be on all the radio and telly shows, have bookmarks and posters coming out your ears, and if the book isn’t up to scratch no one will recommend it to their friends or family.

So heads down and write!

But I must say visiting 8 schools all over England and meeting some amazing girls and teachers was an experience I will never forget. More about that next week . . .

Have a fab weekend.

And remember – heads down, the writing’s the thing!

Sarah XXX

Amy Green 2: Summer Secrets and The Loving Kind (adult novel – about plastic surgery and ghost-writing pretty much) are both out next week and I’m bricking it.

Most writers worry terribly that their books will:

a/ not be on the shelves at all – lost in transit or stuck in a box at the back of the shop (happens I’m afraid)

b/ be badly reviewed – we are sensitive souls – saying that I’ve only ever had one stinky review in 15 odd years so I’m doing well. And dozens of nice ones – isn’t it terrible the way we remember the bad ones?

Amy Green 1: Boy Trouble got some smashing reviews, my best yet – so that was very heartening.

We also worry that our regular readers, our life blood, won’t enjoy the new book as much as the last one. And yes, some of them are very honest and will tell you exactly what they think of it!

But most of all, we worry that our new book will be largely ignored – no reviews, no reader letters, no sales.

Yet still we write . . . we can’t help but write!

I’ve just sent Amy 3 to my editors in London – fingers crossed they will like the changes I’ve made to the story. I pulled out the entire middle section and rewrote it with as much passion and energy as I could, concentrating on the central ‘theme’ and plot of the book – and trying not to go off message this time! I think it worked – let’s see if my editors agree. I’ll keep you posted.

Tomorrow I’ll start working on Amy 4 – having a look at what I’ve already written, changing the start, moving scenes around, and again, trying to concentrate on the central ‘theme’. (No, no ‘break’ – I have lots of events coming up in Feb so I have to use my time wisely – anyway, to me planning and playing with a new book is a break! It’s fun – and if I can take my time over it – yeah!)

Over the last 2 years I’ve learned so much about writing – things I wish I’d known when I started out in this business. I’ve learned to write with energy and passion – not to ‘hold back’ – to throw everything I have onto the page, every single writing day of my life.

I’ve learned how important big, wonderful, interesting characters are – characters readers can identify with and fall in love with. Characters with big hearts and big flaws. Clover in Amy Green has been a big hit with readers – she’s certainly larger than life, but realistic too I hope.

My grammar still needs some work – should I be saying ‘learned’ or ‘learnt’ for eg? My spelling – also not so hot. But I can live with that – and I can try and improve!

I’ve also learned the importance of concentrating on the central message or theme – what is it I’m trying to say exactly? What’s at the heart of the book? For this, I often need help from my editors – and sometimes this ‘theme’ doesn’t come until I’ve finished the book and am working on rewrites. In Amy 1 for eg the theme was learning to be yourself, and not being swayed by peer pressure. Book 2 – the danger of keeping secrets and not being honest.

I’ve learned that I tend to fly through scenes too quickly – sometimes I need to slow down, give my writing room to breathe (this was a recent discovery!).

Oh and for an agent, editor, and publishing team to really get behind your book – it has to be pretty special. Aim for pretty special – be original and be yourself.

Yours in writing,

SarahX

Writers’ routines – from Patricia to Isabel, and even Jack Kerouac

Interesting piece in the Irish Times the other day by Frank McNally about writers and how they start their writing day.

Here’s Isabel Allende on the subject: ‘I light some candles for the spirits and the muses. I meditate for a while. I always have fresh flowers and incense. And I open myself completely to the experience that begins in that moment . . . And slowly the story seems to unfold itself, in spite of me.’

Patricia Scanlan also lights candles before she starts writing, and says a little writing prayer.

Jack Kerouac went about things a little differently. ‘You think about what actually happened, you tell friends long stories about it, you mull it over in your mind, you connect it together at leisure, then when the time comes to pay the rent again, you force yourself to sit at the typewrite, or at the writing notebook and get it over with as fast as you can.’

And Patrick Dennis (no, me neither. Apparently he was a big writer in the 1950’s.) said ‘I always start writing with a clean piece of paper and a dirty mind.’

Gore Vidal: ‘First coffee, then a bowel movement, then the muse joins me.’

And finally, William Styron. ‘I like to stay up late at night and get drunk and sleep late. I wish I could break the habit but I can’t. The afternoon is the only time I have left and I try to use it to the best advantage, with a hangover.’ Lived till 81 all the same.

Just goes to show – every writer is very, very different!

So how do I start my writing day?

Breakfast (with the kids – often with CBEEBies on – I can just about stand it as it doesn’t have an ads, I’ve banned everything else in the morning)
I try to read the Sunday papers while eating – this goes on until Friday generally – and zone out the noise.
Get the kids to school.
Walk – usually for about 30 mins – gets rid of the cobwebs and stretches my neck and back out. Usually down the West pier in Dun Laoghaire. No music, just my own thoughts to amuse me. Ideally I think about the scene I’m about to write – but usually I just worry about the teenager and pipes bursting and the usual stuff. (No, we didn’t leave our taps running – honest. Not guilty!)
Home. Try to avoid talking to anyone.
Sit down at my desk.
And here’s my one quirk I guess – switch on the pink fairy lights over my desk. That’s when I know I’m supposed to be writing – when my lights are on.
Try not to mess around on the internet.
Fail.
Check emails, Facebook.
Check out the cute kids singing Eye of the Tiger on You Tube.
Tell myself to get on with the writing.
Start writing. (It can take me a good hour to get to this stage I am ashamed to admit.)
Look up two to three hours later and wonder where the time has gone.
And if I’m lucky, I’ll get my 2,000 words done in that time.
And that’s my writing morning.
Afternoon – edit, write other bits and bobs, do my blogs etc.
No candles I’m afraid – will fairy lights do?

What’s your own routine like?

Yours in writing,

Sarah X

PS I’m going to ask some of my writer friends for their routines and post them for you. I bet Martina Devlin is far more disciplined than I am!!!

Approaching the page with joy

I’ve been having some slow writing starts these mornings. Christmas is looming near and I’m not at all on top of things. No cards sent, few presents bought – apart from the kids’ stuff on Amazon – toys and Xbox games. All Jago, 3 wants is a rubbish truck, bless him. Amy, 6, a bike; Sam, 15, horrible gore-fest X box games. Books I buy from my local bookshops – as a former bookseller I feel it’s really important to support them always and forever but especially when things are a little tough.

Every morning I’ve been taking a walk, an attempt to shake me out of the Munch funk – feeling a little down and slow and sluggish and not all there mentally. I try telling myself how lucky I am, how thousands, millions would give their eye teeth to have one book contract, let alone several.

And I do feel lucky, really I do. But I must admit that now and again it all seems a little overwhelming and I feel swamped with work and scared at what I have to do.

So I have to take a step back (after moaning to some of my fellow writing friends of course, I’m only human), calm the voices in my head (you can’t write, it’s all nonsense, one day someone will realise how rubbish you are . . .) and just get on with the business of finishing the darned book.

I have to stop thinking about deadlines and start concentrating on my plot and my characters. And most importantly, as my lovely and very wise London editors told me, give my story room to breathe. I have to strip back all the unnecessary scenes from the book and let the main characters shine through.

I was at a talk by Carlo Gebler on Monday and he said something very interesting. He said that he only got published (after trying many times) when he started telling his stories simply – going from A to B to C with embellishment. It’s as simple at that. If you get that right, you can add a little sparkle to the writing later. It’s excellent advice.

A to B to C.

I’m currently rewriting Amy Green book 3, Bridesmaid Blitz. It’s set in Dublin and Paris, and Mills (Amy’s best friend) was the star of the Paris scenes. But I see now that Amy was being sidelined and it wasn’t quite working. Yes, even my carefully researched rapping scene starring Clover will have to hit the editing floor. And it’s hard. But it will be a better book for all the cutting and rewriting.

I have to stop worrying about deadlines and reconnect with the joy of writing – the reason I started writing in the first place. Write for the sheer love of it. The privilege of sitting down at my desk and losing myself in a story for hours and hours. You know the feeling you get when you’re lost in a brilliant book and you just don’t want it to end, ever? That’s the feeling I get on a good writing day.

Sometimes it takes days to get to that feeling, sometimes, if I’m lucky, minutes. But today I’m feeling lucky . . .

Back to the blank page . . .

May the joy of writing (and reading) be with all of you.

Sarah XXX

Editing

As you know, one of my favourite subjects – and a vital part of the writing process.

On Monday I was over at Walker Books in London, my Amy Green publishers. In the afternoon I talked marketing with the team – website, events, filming a special Amy Green trailer, fanzine, cute pink leather heart shaped Amy Green luggage tag to give away to readers . . . endless amounts of wonderfulness. And fab choc brownies at lunchtime in the Walker canteen.
They were full of brilliant ideas and I can’t wait to see the finished campaign.

In the morning I met with Gill and Annalie, my editors. They had some pretty interesting things to say about book 2, Bridesmaid Blitz.

Basically they did a nice sandwich – we love the writing, the plot needs some work, love the characters, especially Amy and her voice is fab.

Spot that bit in the middle? The plot needs some work.

Ah yes. ‘Some’ might be underplaying it a bit. I need to unpick the whole plot and piece it back together again, with more emphasis on Amy and less on Mills, her best friend. They said it very nicely of course but it still pinches.

Writers secretly want to hear how brilliant their book is, how it doesn’t need a bit of editing, how it just fits together so seamlessly that not one little tweak would make it better. But unless you are Roddy Doyle or Marian Keyes (who I bet would all laugh if they read this – as I know they both work very hard indeed on their rewrites and edits) your book will always benefit from an experienced editor’s eye.

I’m so grateful that Gill and Annalie took the time to read and really think about how I could improve my work. The more editorial notes I am given, the more grateful I am. Even though it means a lot more work.

So for the next few weeks I have to rip Bridesmaid Blitz apart and piece it back together again – my very own patchwork quilt of words and sentences and scenes. It’s up to me to make it as good as I possibly can. I owe it to myself and to my readers (bless them) to put everything I can into this rewrite and hopefully make it better.

How much of the original book will remain? I’d say about 1/3 or less. 2/3rds will be completely new material. Scary stuff really. Quite the cull. But it has to be done.

I’m thinking of putting the deleted scenes on my website – as an added extra – like they do on DVDs of movies. What do you think? Or maybe they should stay exactly where they belong – in the deleted scenes file on my laptop!

It’s all a learning process and nothing is every wasted. Or so I keep telling myself.

If you are interested in an editor/agent’s point of view on editing – read this post by the excellent Nathan Bransford, Curtis Brown, US:

http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2009/11/how-to-respond-to-manuscript.html

Good luck with your own edits.

Sarah X

To say thank to all the lovely people out there in blog land for all your loyal support over the past year, I have a wee pressie for you – exclusively signed copies of Amy Green, Teen Agony Queen: Boy Trouble and Anything for Love.

Absolutely free.

I will sign them with your/your loved one’s name and send them to you before Christmas – it might make a nice present for you or someone who likes reading.

To be in with a chance to win, simply email me at sarahsamwebb@hotmail.com with Christmas Competiton in the subject box and your name and address.

I am happy to post anywhere in the world, so all you lovely people in Australia etc get emailing.
Only 1 email per person and the names will be drawn out of a hat (literally – I’ll video it and post it!).
Good luck!

SarahX

I’ve been suffering from writer’s fatigue this week – I’m plain old tired basically. Ben’s away in Chicago and he’s usually very hands on. We share the mornings – the kids can get up pretty early and I hate the pre-school dash – making the sambos makes me scream, which is funny as I’m generally quite a calm person.
So I’m a bit on edge this week – stiff neck, slow moving, generally not shiny and happy.

But I’m still writing. So how does how a writer is feeling effect/affect their work – hang on, just grab my dictionary – I can never remember which is it – I need Martina Devlin’s amazingly brilliant grammar help – OK – effect is the noun . . . affect their work. (Sorry, told you I was tired!).

Well it slows it down, that’s for sure. But sometimes I try to go with my mood – if I’m grouchy I write a grouchy scene. If I’m emotional, I write an emotional scene (often making myself cry buckets in the process), if I’m in a lively mood I write a lively scene. Doesn’t always work – and my teen books don’t have all that many really sad scenes – but it’s useful when it does.

Often once I start writing, I write myself out of a bad mood – it’s great therapy. I’ve never sat down at my desk and not been able to write a thing – but I’m pretty stubborn that way – I won’t let myself get up until I’ve at least got a few words down.

Hope you can write through your own bad moods. And even if you are too wrecked to physically write, keep the story in your head and think about what your characters are up to in the scene you are about to approach next. Always keep them in your head.

Agatha Christie said she did her best plotting while washing the dishes – she must have had a lot of clean dirty dishes – her plots are fab!

Yours in writing,
SarahX

Today I’m back to writing again, as opposed to editing. Amy Green book 4 – set in Dublin and New York – with the current working title of Big Apple Adventures. But I also like Manhattan Mayhem. We shall see. The editorial, sales and marketing team play a big part in the final choice – which I like as it’s good to have a second (third and fourth) opinion. Writers tend to be good at writing, not marketing – which is as it should be.

I’m off to a great start – nearly 3,000 words today – although some of those words were originally to be in book 3 – but it just got too darned big to squeeze all the different plot strands in.

But of course it’s never as easy as that – The Loving Kind page proofs are also sitting on my desk waiting to be checked – which I’ll get to in a few minutes – just taking a wee break! I’m 183 pages in and I can’t wait to finally sign the book off. I keep spotting things I’d like to change – repetition, dialogue that could be sharper – but it’s too late now – my copyediting team wouldn’t thank me for writing tweaks at this late stage of the game.

I have four books coming out next year which means I’m at different production stages with each of them – but I have to keep writing the next book. I can’t afford to wait for edits to come back – I have to keep going.

Is it stressful, all this editing, rewriting and pressure – it can be. But it sure beats commuting for three hours every day, snapping at the kids in the evening ’cause I’m over tired, having to ask for days off or holidays, and so many other things. The ironic thing is I take less holidays now than I used to take when I was working as a bookseller – I love writing so much I even work on my holidays – Ben has to physically stop me most of the time!

Writing is a funny old job, but I do love it. The best bit – sitting at my desk, on my own, lost in the world of my own creating. At the moment being 13 again – while writing Amy Green – is just so much fun! And I hope one day, if it’s also your dream, that you get to experience a writing life too.

Yours in writing, SarahX