Choosing a Book Title

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book titles, books, publishing, writing, writing groups

Choosing the best title for your book: sometimes this is the easiest part of writing, and sometimes it’s one of the most difficult things to get right.

My two most recently published books, The Herbarium and The Chesil Apothecary were a doddle in this respect. I started with the titles and wrote the stories to suit them. No bother at all. The next one in the pipeline, Dropwort Hall, is a straightforward naming of the place where the story unfolds, so that was pretty painless, too.

But my current work-in-progress, a 25,000-word novella, gave me rather more pause for thought. The working title is The Road to Larus. This is both literally and metaphorically descriptive, as the story is both a journey from a to b, and also a journey of self-discovery for the main character. It’s a good-humoured mystery, with magical overtones, as most of my stories are.

For all that, I worried about the title. For anyone who has read my other Larus stories, it’ll make perfect sense – but what about new readers? I’ll admit I dithered, toyed with alternatives. This story is a prequel to the other Larus tales, but it could also be read as the beginning of the main tale. I could just as well call it Search for Larus, or The Call of Larus, or indeed, Call of the Merry Isle, all of which would make sense. Dither, dither. In the end, I did the obvious thing and consulted my writers’ group (what would I do without them?). Oh, no, Kath, they said, The Road to Larus will do nicely. But then most of them have read the original books. You can see I’m going round in circles here.

Having said that, I haven’t yet sorted out the chapters, or given them titles yet. Sometimes the book title reveals itself in the chapter headings, so I’ll do that before I take it much further. There are online ‘Title Generators’, and I have looked at those, too, for ideas. I’m aware, that marketing-wise, there are criteria to meet if a book is to be easily found online, but I feel that obeying them too strictly can strangle the life out of a title. I suppose, in the end, it’s best to go with your heart on these things. Actually, I quite like the cheery sound of Call of the Merry Isle, now I’ve thought of it…

The Herbarium and The Chesil Apothecary are available from www.veneficiapublications.com

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How do you write a novel?

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books, characters, editing, novels, storytelling, subplots, writing

It’s a question I’ve often been asked over the years, and I was talking to my daughter about it on Zoom the other day. Non-writers usually say they wouldn’t know where to begin. Every writer has their own modus operandi, but for myself I usually start with a broad idea, and, often, a single character. After giving it some thought, and asking myself a few questions about what sort of story it’s going to be, I’ll write a short piece. This might be a character sketch, or a specific little bit of the story. Something that sets the tone. Occasionally I’ll use a piece of flash fiction I’ve written previously. This initial piece will then set off ideas for more short pieces. While I’m doing this, the general direction of the story will reveal itself, and the short pieces will form a structural basis for the novel. Since I tend to write fantasy stories, there isn’t often a lot of research to do, so I can get straight down to the writing.

I will continue to write these scattered bits of story until I feel I can’t take it any further without an organisational rethink. By this time I could have anything up to 20 or 30 pieces, of varying length. Within them I will have done the groundwork of establishing the main characters and the most important moments of the story. I may even have written the ending. All of that is the wildly imaginative, fun part.

Now comes the more difficult part. I need to sort these pieces into approximately the right order. It can, and probably will, be changed as I move on. The next job is to read through and identify what needs to be done to link all these pieces together. This can be quite an intense process, as you need to keep the future and past elements of the story in mind as you work. Woe betide anyone who interrupts me while I’m doing this! Writing these connecting links stretches your ingenuity to its limits at times. This process will be repeated several times, refining the details and ironing out any rough joins. I will also be looking for any loose ends, unanswered questions and anything else that doesn’t make sense or disrupts the storyline. Subplots need to be looked at with special care to see they don’t wander off down a blind alley. Any subplot that doesn’t contribute properly to the story needs to be rewritten or thrown out. Sometimes you might find you need an extra subplot. I don’t mind doing this at a late stage, if necessary, but I wouldn’t be adding any new characters unless they are very minor. Every character and subplot should be a means to an end – to move the main plot forward. Every bit of dialogue should be there for a purpose, too; to add to the personality of characters, or move the plot onwards. At least, that’s what I aim for. Editing of the completed story is the final stage.

I don’t pretend for a moment that it’s easy, or that I don’t make numerous mistakes. It takes a lot of refinement to whittle down the contradictions, to write my way out of plot holes of my own creation, and to make the whole thing make good sense. It’s difficult. I do it because I enjoy using my imagination and I get a kick from problem-solving. I lose myself in a world of my own invention, and it’s a happy place. And finally, the sense of achievement when I’ve sorted it all out is delightful.

But, of course, completing a book leaves a huge gap in any writer’s life – so bring on the next story!

Benefits of Writers’ Zoom Meetings

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books, ebooks, novellas, series, writing groups, zoom

I have often wondered how we would have made it through the past year without Zoom. Yes, it has its disadvantages, but overall, it’s been a huge benefit, especially to the writing fraternity. My own writing group, Weymouth Writing Matters, unable to meet in person for more than a year now, has offered a Monday morning Zoom meeting since last September. There are six or seven regular attendees, generally the same people that attended the in-person meetings, and we have been able to offer each other the help, support and useful information that every writer needs.

This week, for instance, Val told us about the London Writers’ Salon, another Zoom set-up where people actually have the chance to sit and write together companionably – something we all miss very much. I rushed off and subscribed to their newsletter, and may well join in at some point. Why didn’t we think of that? Do go and have a look if you’re feeling isolated. It isn’t just for Londoners!

With our own group being small, everyone has a chance to talk about their ongoing projects and ask for help, or opinions. We do all seem to be regaining our creativity after the long winter lockdown. I’ll admit my brain seems to have gone into overdrive, and the novella I started work on just a couple of weeks ago is more than half finished. I asked what everyone thought about splitting my existing, out-of-print, three novels in the series down into a series of novellas. The first two books, Isle of Larus and Sea of Clouds were actually written in 25,000 word chunks, so would split easily into three each without much effort at all. The third book, All the Wild Weather, was written in one piece, but I don’t think it would be difficult to break it down in the same way. Including the book in preparation that would give me – wait for it – a series of ten novellas. Or seven novellas and a full-length novel. Quite startling when you look at it that way.

‘Ah,’ said Judi, ‘the coming thing, novellas. Very popular.’

Very true, I guess. Read-in-a-single-sitting books, with more available in the series, is a popular format. Publish them individually as e-books, and either individually or bundled together in ‘omnibus’ editions in print. The reader doesn’t have to invest much time or money to find out whether they like your writing style, and there’s always another one to read if they do. Certainly worth thinking about.

It’s amazing what you can get from a forty-minute Zoom chat!

What can illustration add to fiction?

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Artwork, books, illustration, novella

When I told members of my local writing group that I was writing a prequel novella for my Isle of Larus series, I received the (these days) inevitable question: would I be illustrating it? I answered truthfully that I didn’t think my art skills were up to full-scale illustration. But I do like the idea of a bit of page décor.

Perhaps a little drawing in a box at each chapter heading? Or indeed a decorated chapter title? Love that! It’s a deeply old-fashioned idea, but I do think it can help set the mood for what follows, and it’s something I could use on the rest of the stories in the series, should they be republished later. With thoughtful design, that’s not necessarily incompatible with publishing in ebook formats – often a fraught problem with illustration. So what’s not to like? My books are set in a sort of imaginary version of the eighteenth century, so a little graphical assistance for the reader might not be a bad thing.

It would be, it goes without saying, a pretty ambitious programme of work if I applied it to the three full-length novels in the series. It would certainly incline me to think carefully about combining some of the shorter chapters into longer ones! On the plus side, it would be relatively easy to create covers using these small pieces of ‘décor’. It’s worth thinking about – and it would certainly create something unique and atmospheric.

My sister remarked the other day that the Larus novels are very ‘me’ – probably because they were my first books. A touch of author-generated illustrative detail would only make them more so. I shall be thinking about it.

Oh, and a little update on the novella – the ten-thousand word barrier was shattered this week, and I’m boiling over with more ideas, so I’m pleased with that.

My illustrated books The Herbarium and The Chesil Apothecary are available from www.veneficiapublications.com

A new slant on an old project

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books, novella, prequel, writing, writing projects

Like so many people I have found it difficult to maintain my creativity at its usual level during lockdown. Since the beginning of the year I have produced a dozen coloured illustrations for a very small book, and edited the thing into shape. Finding enthusiasm for it has not been easy, and I‘m not sure that this doesn’t show in the finished product. Still, I kept going, and that is the most important thing. So, what next?

I do have an idea for another short book, and that’s been on the back-burner since last autumn. I feel that it will fall into place more easily once I can get out and about more freely – so perhaps a project for later in the year. In the meantime, I asked myself, what would I really like to do? Something comforting, came the answer. And there’s nothing quite as comforting as revisiting something enjoyable from the past.

My first novel, Isle of Larus, was a fantastical mystery, with quite a lot of fun and mayhem attached. It’s currently out of print, along with its two sequels, so I can muck about with it a bit if I choose. I loved the characters, and I think it would be fun to revisit them. How about writing a ‘prequel’, I wondered? As soon as this thought bedded in, I found the ideas started to pour out.

What I have in mind is a novella of around 25-30,000 words, following the story of one of the main characters, the Reverend Pontius, and how he came to live on Larus in the first place. Easy-peasy. And fun to write.

So down I sat and wrote: ‘It was surprising how often the notion of frolics recurred in the life of the young Reverend Pontius, however hard he tried to avoid them…’ and another 3,000 words rapidly followed.

The book already has a working title, The Road to Larus; I can’t wait to see where it’s going to take me.