Gyan From a First-Time Author

The Beginning

Tell me…. if you were looking for a “how to” book on writing your first novel would you choose the impressions of a first-time debutante/debutant author in preference to the advice of an experienced, perhaps internationally renowned author with a hundred or more books to his credit?

I wouldn’t and neither, hopefully, would you.

On the other hand, you may choose to broaden your writing experience by considering the impressions of a fellow novice, one who unashamedly admits his almost total inexperience in his writing career in addition to the recommendations from a renowned author with a number of published books, including some bestsellers, to his credit. I’ve noticed the same phenomenon during my experience as a trainee pilot who hadn’t gone solo yet, but who preferred the sagacious advice of his batchmate who’s total flying experience comprised his first solo flight the day before lasting forty-five minutes, rather than that of his instructor, a qualified pilot with thousands of flying hours experience. What is the reason for this apparently illogical preference?

It boils down to familiarity and therefore (unfounded in this case) trust.

Hence this prelude to the (unsolicited) gyan disseminated below based only on my experiences as a first-time author.

Format and Styles

It helps to write in the format and style preferred by the readers or publisher. Most publishers prefer a font size of 12, style Times New Roman and standard margins in an A4 page. Use American or British spelling and phraseology of your choice considering the preferences of the reader. Most drafts are delivered in double spacing unless otherwise specified.

Publishing Models

This is a purely personal choice, based on factors such as the reason for writing the book (Need to communicate and influence public opinion, spreading knowledge or opinions, career choice, theses, treatises and textbooks, manuals etc). Based on the above, the following models could be considered:

1. Traditional: the publisher accepts the manuscript and undertakes/assumes responsibility for all expenses like production, distribution, promotion and publicity including but not restricted to organising book-signing, reading and similar events where you as the author would need to participate. The pros are that the author needs to do nothing after handing over the manuscript to the publisher as the latter,  having made a large investment, would be keen to to realise his profit and hence undertakes the responsibility for all subsequent activities. The cons are that the author has little control over the manuscript including editing and production (cover design, type of binding etc), but this depends largely on individual publishers. Secondly, the royalty could typically be 8-10% but could go up to 15-20% for successful, established authors. It is usual for the publisher to pay a small advance on signing of the contract between him and the author. Depending on the case, printing of advance copies is carried out.

2. Self-Publishing: In this model the author retains full control over the manuscript such as editing, cover design, binding style etc. The author pays a nominal amount up-front and for other services like types of editing and beta-reading services. Depending on the publisher he would also get a small portion of post-publication services like distribution through agencies like Amazon and Flipkart, obtaining an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) certificate (the bar-code one sees on the back cover of novels), a unique nine-digit number which identifies a book in the international market. Amazon and Flipkart and arranged e-publishing, distribution of e-books. Printing usually follows the ‘print-on-demand’ model where books are printed only on receipt of firm orders, allowing channelising funds to other areas. The self-publishing model yields the most in terms of royalties, upto 100% of the MRP after deduction of production costs, finally amounting to about 70-80% of the MRP.

3. Hybrid Publishing: This model has attributes of the earlier two. The author shares the financial burden, typically paying for production, while the other expenses are met by the publisher. This model results in higher royalties being paid to the author than traditional publishing. The variables in this model are the most, and amount of flexibility in the final contract is much larger than in traditional publishing.

Taking the Plunge…Writing the Draft

I call the process of laying out the structure of the book “plotting”, but it is known by many different names and follows two main methods:

1. Skeletal Method: In what I call the Skeletal method, you lay out a broad point-wise skeleton of the book and write the manuscript as per this structure. This method, in  my personal opinion, is more suited to writing non-fiction.

2. SOP (Seat Of the Pants) Method: My name for this personally preferred method consists of writing the manuscript with little or no pre-prepared outline, letting the story flow as influenced by its protagonists. Character development is crucial in such a process and budding authors would be well advised to refer to the many good books on the subject. It is crucial to honestly imagine yourself in the shoes of the protagonist and react that way. However, if you want the story to go in a certain direction, this is your chance to support that course of action and prepare a convincing reason for it by influencing the views of the protagonist accordingly.

Going Ahead With the SOP Method

1. Thinking Ahead. Letting the protagonists influence the course of the story is all very well, but in the final analysis it is you, after all, who is guiding the “thoughts” of the protagonist, and certainly doesn’t mean relinquishing all control of the story. You need to constantly think ahead and make course corrections as you see fit. I use the SOP method almost always except for non-fiction. I find that I often get brainwaves in conflict with the course the protagonist is taking. Do not hesitate to take charge; sometimes these protagonists get dumb ideas!

2.       Do not confuse indecision/procrastination or downright laziness with freedom of an unencumbered intellect. You need to make writing a firm habit. Choose a time which suits you and sit down at the prescheduled time even if your brain seems frozen and unresponsive. Force yourself to sit there for the pre-scheduled time even if it means staring at a blank screen with nothing on it except: Chapter 1”.  No calls/social media/any other work on or off the comp/verbal conversations with others. Ideas start to flow in pretty soon. To start a draft, don’t try to improve on what gets into your head, get it on paper ASAP. As someone said, you can edit the worst writing if you get it on paper… but you can’t edit a blank page.

3.       Give yourself a break… don’t force ourself beyond the limit which you and only you know. Temper your strictness with common sense.

4.  Research notes: I frequently need to check my facts on the internet or reference work. Write down any additional comments you have in a separate sheet in the in same document if convenient, though I often make a separate document so I can have it open on the desktop, instead of having to scroll up and down the document in search of the notes or facts required. Build a research bank to record your facts, especially those affecting major turns or events in the plot.

5. Dealing with midnight inspiration: I often wake up in the middle of a night and can’t get back to sleep because my mind is stuck to a difficult scene in the book. The clarity that comes during such moments will often surprise you and quite often you’ll get swept of your feet by a flash of inspiration. Remember, your subconscious has been working on the problem while you slept. DON’T make the mistake of thinking you’ll remember it in the morning, because nine times out of ten you’ll forget and lose that idea forever. If I switch on the lights to find a pencil and paper I know I’ll wake up my wife sleeping next to me; the best way is to note down the basics on your smartphone. Don’t forget to expand on it ASAP the next day. In my experience these ideas are usually invaluable.

6.       I found I was, at the start of every morning session, wasting too much time in correcting text that I had written the previous day. Avoid this at all costs, this why we do more than one round of editing. Additionally, any correction you make may need to be updated due to constant changes as the plot progresses. I learnt to restrict my self to reading the previous day’s writing only to get into the spirit of things. If in the course of writing I got a brainwave of a correction/addition/deletion I should have done in an earlier part of the story, write it in the “Notes” section in just sufficient detail to ensure you remember the gist of the correction and link the corrected para to the appropriate portion of the text; and leave it at that. Do NOT rewrite the concerned portion of the document.

7.       There may… no, there will be times when your mind freezes or goes blank. This happens to everyone. If this lasts more than a few minutes, take a break, fix a coffee or take a walk, then get back to work. This works almost all the time.

8.       Once you finally finish that first draft, put it aside and take at least a three week break when you can do anything except that which reminds you of your book. You’ll find this difficult but its important. You’ve been next to your book for weeks/months or even years and will be unable to take an objective, dispassionate view of it. You must have a break; almost all opinions on the subject recommend a break of at least 3-6 months, but I couldn’t stay away for more than three weeks. Stretch the break out as long as you can, the longer the better.

9.       After completing the 1st draft, I found it helpful to take a print-out of the book, extra wide margins for notes, and have it spiral bound, printing both sides of each page. Its easier to make corrections and notings on the book instead of on your laptop, and you can it carry it around without needing the laptop. This doesn’t apply to guys like me, who are perfectly happy to travel with 1 sweat-shirt and 2 pairs of jeans and a tooth-brush, as long as I can take my laptop with me! Don’t incorporate the corrections onto the computer original till all corrections are over, as there will often be second thoughts and changes in the corrections you made earlier.

10.       Its useful to colour-code the type of corrections you make, (red for spelling, green for grammar & syntax, blue for rewording etc as it’ll make things easier especially in a large document. A bunch of highlighters should form a part of your writing kit.

11.       Do NOT use AI to edit your manuscript without first gaining experience with it. Apart from the minor disadvantage of being able to process only about 10 pages at a time I found it did an excellent job of correcting typos and grammar. However, the corrected text though 100% correct as far as typos and grammar was concerned, was devoid of any passion, innuendo or implications so essential to convey moods and atmosphere; the result was a featureless, anti-septic version of your original text. I used Chat-GPT Pro, and what I’ve seen of Grammarly is much better, offers better sentence construction options and better retains the original “voice” of the author. However, I’m not all that experienced in using AI so don’t take my word for it, experiment and find out for yourself but be careful of the issues mentioned above..

12.       After completing your editing, it would be a good idea to give the manuscript to a Beta reader who will provide a reader’s point of view. He will tell you the faults and inadequacies which a reader would find, but will not tell you how to fix it. I used a beta-reader and found the experience worthwhile.

13.      I found I could do most types of editing myself but the most essential type of editing, development editing, is I think most important. A developmental editor does not worry about typos and grammar; he looks at the big picture and comments on the integrity of the plot ie how it holds up to logic and credibility standards and what needs to be done to make the story-line more cohesive and credible, yet capture the imagination and conceptual realities expressed by the author. I feel this is the most crucial of the editing types and hence most valuable.

     The above is based on personal experience, so while taking it with the proverbial pinch of salt keep your eyes open and mind in gear. Above all do not hesitate to take long breaks if required for thinking; it will definitely add to the quality of the book as well as provide relief to you fingers and spine!

      Lastly, please email me with comments, corrections and additions. Happy writing!