About The Book
Title: How to
Write A Book (even if you never have)
Author : Bridget
McNulty
Genre: How To /
Non-Fiction
How to Write a Book (even if you never have) is
the brainchild of Now Novel co-founder Bridget
McNulty – a culmination of all the advice and tips she's been
sharing with the Now Novel writing community over the last year. It’s a
fantastically helpful resource for anyone wanting to write their first book, a
guide for all those who love writing and want to tackle the Mount Everest of
writing projects (a novel) and a reference for writers at any stage of their
careers who need reminding of the building blocks of novel-writing: ideas,
mood, theme, plot, setting and characters. It’s also, quite simply, a great
read.
Find out more about the Now Novel online novel-writing process at www.nownovel.com
Author Bio
Bridget McNulty is a writer and editor with a
passion for helping people write novels (even if they never have). She studied
Creative Writing at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
and went on to publish her first novel, Strange Nervous Laughter, in
South Africa with Struik Publishers and in the USA with St Martin’s Press.
Since then, she has co-founded an online novel-writing process, NowNovel.com, that
helps aspiring writers start – and finish! - their books, and founded a
diabetes lifestyle magazine, Sweet Life, that focuses on the positive side of
the condition. She lives in Cape Town, South Africa, with her husband and son,
and spends her days reading, writing and drinking tea.
Links
website: http://www.nownovel.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/nownovel
Book Excerpts
Excerpt #1
“So, how do you write
a novel?”
It’s the million
dollar question – and the one that started Now Novel, our online novel writing
website. A surprising number of people asked me about writing a novel: those I
met through publishing my novel in South Africa and the USA, friends of friends
at dinner parties, and readers over email and chance encounters. I wanted to be
able to give a real answer to the question. Not just some thoughts on the art
of writing, but actual, concrete advice and tips that would help aspiring
writers finish their novel.
I wanted to be able to
tell people how to write a book, even if you never have.
So, together with a
small team, I created a website that offers a structured method designed with
one goal in mind: to help you finish your novel. It’s an organized process
that’s easy to use, with helpful mentorship and consistent motivation all
helping you take one step further to that goal of finishing your novel.
When we looked at what
was available for aspiring novel writers, it was all stuffy and dull (and
didn’t motivate us at all). We wanted something fresh and unique – an online
novel-writing process that was easy, structured and inspiring. So we created www.nownovel.com
But we also recognize
that if there’s one thing writers love to do it’s read – especially about
writing! And there is such a wealth of advice we have to offer about every
aspect of the writing life that it seemed a waste not to put it all in one
book: this book that you’re reading right now. How To Write A Novel (even if you
never have) is the culmination of months of research and careful thinking about
the essential elements necessary to write a book.
So who is it for?
Well, as the title
suggests, we wrote the book for first time writers. But it’s also for all those
who are already established writers but now want to tackle the Holy Grail of
Writing: a novel. Writing a novel isn’t like writing a short story or a
magazine article or a blog. It’s a commitment – to a goal that will be with you
for many months. A goal that you can achieve, with the right help.
Excerpt #2
Many people want to write a novel, but they face a variety of obstacles
in getting started. Some people want to write but feel that they lack ideas.
Others have too many ideas or wonder how they can assess which ideas are the
best ones to pursue. Still others may think they have ideas, but when they sit
down to begin planning the novel, they find that the ideas are not substantial
enough.
Whether you have too few ideas or too many, this chapter can help you.
Not all writers walk around brimming with ideas all the time. Even seasoned
professionals struggle with blocks and an inability to find something new to
write about. However, there are a number of tips and techniques for generating
and developing great novel-length ideas, and in this chapter, we discuss some
of them.
This chapter will also cover starting your book. This is an exciting
time for many writers, and the sheer excitement of starting a new novel can
often provide the momentum needed to get past the first few pages or chapters.
However, this is not necessarily true for every writer. Even with a great idea,
some writers may find themselves facing a blank page and struggling to get
started.
Struggling to start can be overcome as well. In this chapter, we will
set you on your way with tips for generating and evaluating ideas as well as
suggesting some approaches for beginning your book.
No comments:
Post a Comment