A Novel Approach
Seth Godwynn
Why would I write a book about writing a book? Why would anyone want to read a book about writing a book? Surely the people writing a book wouldn’t want to read a book about writing a book, and the people interested in reading books surely wouldn’t want to read about writing.
All this makes no sense, unless you spend time on the writing forums and see the endless posts asking for help from fellow writers who are just as lost as they seem to be; perhaps more so.
When it comes to the internet, you’ll find that it’s largely the blind leading the blind. Sites and forums are stuffed with amateur hobby writers all trying to tell one another what to do. You rarely see professional authors posting there, let alone editors, or other industry professionals. So who are these new writers to turn to for their advice?
The art of writing a novel seems to be very much in decline. Stories, and the way they’re put together, is waning in modern times. YouTube is brimming with channels dedicated to mocking the numerous inconsistencies in movies. The stories rarely stand up to scrutiny; even the most well-written of them crumble upon close inspection. I use movies as my example because countless millions of dollars are poured into them. Here, the story is the foundation of a gigantic enterprise, and if there was one aspect of production that should absolutely be done right, it would be the writing.
Novels are similarly being put out in shockingly poor form. Professional creative writing is degrading to a worrying degree. Books are being released that barely seem ready to leave the hard-drive of their creator’s PC, let alone get through the editing process of a publishing house.
Authors shouldn’t, of course, be expected to put out absolutely perfect work, and when it comes to a submitted manuscript, some kind of plot hole is to be expected. This is somebody working alone, usually fighting to keep their eyes open while they pour their hearts and souls into their efforts, frequently in their spare time and against the odds. We have to expect errors to creep in.
The author, if published, should be backed by a host of industry professionals that can spot and factor out these mistakes. And yet they keep happening.
A common complaint from the industry is that people aren’t reading anymore. Well, if that’s true, and I don’t believe it is, it’s because there is an increasing trend towards simplifying content down until there’s nothing left of value. I believe there is a huge body of readers out there who are being ignored and unsatisfied by the work being offered to them. I don’t think we can blame them.
For this reason, and because of constant nagging, I chose to write ‘A Novel Approach’, a guide to writing a novel. Certainly there are other, and probably better, works out there for you to find. There might be a guide that will go into far more detail about the points you’re weakest at and will help you more for that reason. But, what this book is, is an introduction to the entire business of writing. It covers a broad spectrum and serves as a gateway to authors to the art of bringing their story to life.
It contains a toolbox of options and explains how they can be used to give your story the depth and scope it needs.
The book is intended to help you get ready to bring the very best work out of yourself. I wanted to create a way for new authors to realise what they can do, and to better understand what’s expected of them.
The internet is brimming with frankly rather awful work. Much of the self-published writings just aren’t worth reading. They’re riddled with poor form, terrible grammar and weak spelling. In some parts of the world, the idea is spreading that writing a book might be a great way to make a quick buck. Consequently we have tons of extremely weak books entering the market, totally unchecked.
I support amateur writers, but they do all of us a disservice when they dump their ill prepared works into the market. The audience is increasingly lost in a sea of books that simply aren’t ready. They are struggling to find the really good new works, the ones that have been properly authored by somebody who not only has the first clue what they’re doing, but does it well. Really excellent new authors are being lost amidst the novels that would never have a chance to be published any other way.
So, this book is for anyone with an interest in writing, and would like to get better. It’s free on the site, so it’s available to everyone. It tells you what should be expected of every writer who is serious about their craft. Moreover, it explains what the audience expects from their novelists.
There are no shortcuts on this path. If you can’t take the time and put in the work to tell the very best story that you’re capable of, then please stand aside and let the audience find the people who can.
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