some highlights from my writing seminar with honestly one of my favourite authors of all time who shall remain nameless bc i dont want her to know i was spilling her secrets online
The first trick is to detach yourself from your idea. You don’t have just one novel inside you, and it’s not a big deal if you don’t finish this novel.
She was skeptical of the common advice “just write!!1!” – she talked about how long ideas for her most popular novels were marinating inside her before she properly wrote them
As a continuation of that, she was a big believer in knowing what you want to write before you write it. Not what you’re going to write, what you want to write.
The first thing she decides about a novel is what the mood is going to be, and this informs every other decision (e.g. the mood for Shiver was bittersweet)
Ideas should be personal, specific, exciting and they should exclude secondary sources. A personal idea isn’t necessarily autobiographical (which should be avoided), but it speaks to your emotional truth.
She said she had been read Ronsey fanfiction and she couldn’t view her car in the same way since.
Story is the thing that seems most important to reader but is most changeable to the author – story is subservient to your mood and your message. Change what you like in the plot as long as your book retains its sense of self.
Story is conflict, exploration and change. A good story has active tension -the characters want something, instead of just wanting something not to happen (e.g. wanting to kill an enemy instead of simply defending a stronghold against an enemy)
A story needs to have a concrete end, something to be done.
Satisfaction is important – deliver what you promise to the reader. The other shoe has to drop. Ronan Lynch doesn’t ever talk about his feelings, so its rewarding when he does.
Earn your emotional moments (she threw shade at Fantastic Beasts lmao)
Forcing a character to be passive is dissatisfying to the reader.
Characters are products of their environments, consistent/predictable, nuanced and specific, moving the plot, and subservient to other story elements.
She always starts with tropes for ensemble casts like sitcoms. Helpful for building good character dynamics.
Write scenes with characters saying explicitly what they’re thinking and then go back and make them talk like real people in the edit.
An action can also prove what they’re thinking, instead of making them say it or another character guess it (e.g. Ronan punching a wall).
Move the reader’s emotional furniture around without them noticing.
All her books follow the three act structure. Established normal -> inciting incident -> character makes an Active Decision -> fun and games -> escalation -> darkest moment -> climax.
Promise what you’re going to do in the first five pages.
Read your book out loud. Record yourself reading it.
If you have writer’s block, it’s because you’ve stopped writing the book you want to write. She likes to delete everything she’s written until she gets back to a point where she knew she was writing what she wanted to write, and then carrying on from there.
This, in a nutshell, is what I did to get a book with my name on it.
NOTE: This is just my personal way of making the words go. Other people have different ways to make their words go. In the world of words, there are no right answers. There’s just lots and lots of tea/coffee/tear stains.
1). The Idea
When I get an idea for a story, I open up a document, label it “Brainstorming,” and start making a bullet list of events that consist of the plot.
It has to be an idea with tangible weight. A stray bit of dialogue or something vague like Halloween, that doesn’t give me much to work off of. Halloween creatures living on the same street where it’s Autumn every day– now that’s something I can build from.
What kinds of creatures are they? What do they do? What do their houses look like? The best ideas are the ones that spark more.
2). First Draft
This is the easy part- and the most challenging. Easy, because there’s literally no bar. I just sat there and typed. But it’s a huge mental challenge.
When I was in first draft mode, I wanted that story out. I thought that by making it such a rough, far-away version from the concept in my head, I was only delaying the day where I’d hold it in my hands. Turns out, that’s what got it to take on physical form in the first place. So I quieted down, grabbed my laptop and some hot tea, and typed.
3). Dissecting the First Draft
After I finished draft one, I printed it all off and highlighted the scant amounts that were passable for the next phase. Dialogue, descriptions, setting- anything that didn’t look like it was up to par was scratched out and omitted.
I call the above pictures A Slow Descent Into Madness.
4). The Second Draft
On a fresh document, I rewrote the story altogether- and it make a difference. I was coming up with things I hadn’t even thought of previously. And it was surprising how much better the plot was than the first time around. But it was still rough.
5). Draft Three
My method was to start with the bigger, more obvious issues and work my way down. Any plot holes I found were noted, and my outline was constantly under revision. I cut out entire scenes and made mental notes on ways they could be fixed/replaced.
This is where I started cutting chapters in half to make the story flow better- but I didn’t bother writing in usable chapter titles. Instead, I improvised:
6). Drafts Four and Five
These were dedicated to correcting the smaller, less obvious plot holes. This was the point where the story finally started to look close to what would become the final version.
7). Drafts Seven Onward
With the story line looking how I wanted, I then moved on to sentence structure. That one song that looked terrible? Rewritten. Over-the-top descriptions and excessive prose? Gone.
8). Editing and Proofing
This is where I had outside help. Besides this useful tool, I had two people check for spelling issues and the overall story. Once it was in decent shape to be made public, I asked for some additional help.
9). Betas
My betas were in the age range that my novel was geared toward, along with a couple of teachers and parents (as it was middle grade). I gave them the full manuscript, along with seven basic questions like “Which characters were your favorite/least favorite and why?” and “Was there a part of the story that didn’t make sense?”
I gave my betas three months to read a 42,590 word story, and by the end they gave me back the review sheets.
10). Final Adjustments
After I read over the reviews, I let the comments sit for three days so that I could proceed with a clear head. I smoothed out any flaws, scanned over the MS twice to make sure everything was right, and that is how I got to the end of writing my first novel.
Next comes publishing- which is a different beast entirely.
For future reference. Wow, what a comprehensive post.
Nikki Bradley 