I'm Andy, no idea how to write a book but I threw a ten chapter 130,000+ word fiction novel together for friends and family to try to inspire my brother to do something in his spare time after he was made redundant. I have no experience at all, but found the art of writing extremely satisfying and a massive stress relief. By the way, excluding all of the technical manuals, I have only ever read three books and I'm fifty three years of age (of mice and men, the dead zone, and I have forgotten the name of the third). I'm looking for any advice on what to do next, currently I have 80% of it edited (my edit), but where do I go from there? I know it's probably start from scratch as I just started typing one night with no idea about characters or story as it was only supposed to be two chapters long. Is there a good resource that explains the real basic stuff about how certain things should be done such as 1) How do you write down that the character is thinking to them selves in terms of punctuation. 2) Same sort of thing for if the character is reading a sign post or a note to themselves. I know you guys will probably smile at what I'm putting down here and the answer is probably go read some books but before I put this in the bin I thought I would ask. Thank you
Hey Andy. Yeah, it definitely helps to read—the more the better probably. It's like listening to a language you want to learn how to speak—it's best to surround yourself with native speakers so you're hearing it done right all the time, then you know what you're aiming at. As for guides, there are several different options. Probably the best-known is the Chicago Style Manual (CSM). You can also find books on specific things like punctuation, syntax, grammar etc. There are also other (less expensive) style manuals. I have one called the Gregg Reference Manual, actually made for business writing, but it covers a lot of the same stuff as the CSM. I got one that's spiral-bound, so it will lay flat on a desk and stay that way when you let go of it, rather than closing like most books will. Very handy when you're trying to look through another book at the same time and only have two hands. Generally though you can do a search and, if you put together the right terms, you should be able to find what you're looking for. Example: punctuation for dialogue. If you paste that search in you'll find many entries, and right at the top I get this from Reedsy: Dialogue Rules: Punctuating and Formatting Dialogue Like a Pro 1. Use double quotation marks (if you’re in the US) ... 2. Put punctuation inside the quote marks (with some exceptions) ... 3. Start a new paragraph every time the speaker changes ... 4. Indicate pauses by interrupting speech with dialogue tags ... 5. Replace dialogue tags with action beats for variety ... 6. Don’t use end quotes between paragraphs of speech ... 7. Use em-dashes — to interrupt speech ... And if you can't find anything that way, you could come in here and ask. But if you make a habit of relying on us and don't seem to be doing your own homework you might get some guff about that (as you would anywhere of course).
This depends partly on the POV you're using (point of view). If it's first person (I) mostly you don't need to do anything special, it would be the same as any internal thought the character is having. In other words, no need to use italics or quotation marks, though in certain circumstances you should. If it's third person (he, she, they) it gets a little more complicated. There are essentially two different kinds of third person. The kind most of us (especially us older types) are familiar with is now called Third Distant, and the new kind is known as Third Deep or Third Close. It's handled just like first person. It requires more explanation than that, and some examples. Let me see if I can find a good explanation. I'll be back in a bit.
What you're looking for is called inner (or internal) monologue. It's the character talking to themselvews internally. Here's what looks like a good article on it: Inner monologue examples: Characters’ hidden lives Any questions, feel free to ask.
Welcome to WF! I just wanted to slide in and say that you shouldn't worry about your lack of reading experience, it doesn't mean that your desire to write is any less valid. See, I'm like this too, I was introduced to reading and writing four years ago during my English classes (that sadly only lasted for one year). So, I'm pretty new! And I always felt a great sense of insecurity about how I haven't been reading from childhood like other people. But I found that the great members of this place, who are world's better than me, didn't really seem to treat me as anything less than them. These forums can become a great source of experience if you participate. There is a workshop for all kinds of fiction, contests, blogs and of courses the various forums on all sorts of writing where you can ask (and answer) questions. It might seem hard at first, and your work might get a bit chewed on at the workshop, but always remember that it's all for the greater good My advice is for you is to read, and like Xoic above said, to put it in a lot of effort towards your work and yourself as writer. Do research, read lots, write lots, gain experience, try to tackle some of the questions here — all sorts of things you can try! But it's undoubtedly important to read books, and I promise you that many are very worth reading, so please do that! I just wanted to say this as a fellow insecure person. By the way, judging from Mice and Men and the bin, I guess you are from the UK. I can also guess that you might have read Of Mice and Men during high school. Ah, great, I feel nostalgic now.
Thank you Xoic for your responses and for opening the closed door that was in front of me. It does sound more obvious when someone else gives you direction. I have ordered a used spiral-bound copy of the Gregg Reference Manual from Amazon, which will arrive in a few days. I did, previously, google a few things but I guess the issue for me was the correct terminology, which I hope to gain more of with the use of the manual and through the advice you have given. I found the “Inner monologue examples: Characters’ hidden lives” webpage very helpful. I will look at how to help out with the community and hopefully become a valued member. Again thank you for this and your other responses it is greatly appreciated.
Thank you ps102 for your response. Yes, you are spot on with the UK and Of mice and Men from high school I know there were other books, but I don’t think they had the same impact. I think the other one from school that I can remember was Ice Station Zebra. As per your and Xoic’s advice, I will try to read a book a week and make the time to do it. Your response is very refreshing and I hope that in time I do write something worthwhile and not just file it under B for Bin. Again thank you it is greatly appreciated.
Go back to your old high school reading books ie: Of Mice and Men by J Steinbeck and/or To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. You'll see and understand if different from when you were a student to writing now too.
You inspired me to dig mine out. Shamefully, it ended up at the bottom of one of the many book-stacks in my house, because of its size I think. It's big enough the be a stable foundation for such a stack. I used to always have it open on the table beside me, and would consult it frequently—I recommend that. Also, take 10 or 15 minutes each day at some point, maybe last thing before bed (though hopefully not when you're too tired), and just go through it section by section. You won't be able to memorize everyhting at the first go-through, but you'll at least create indexed sections in your mind that you can then fill in with a few repetitions. Repetition is how we learn. And after repetition, and possibly even more important, is to use what we've studied. Write a few sentences using whatever principle you've just read about to ingrain it through practice. That's what really makes it stick. Another good time to consult the book is whenever a question about grammar or usage comes up that you don't know the answer to. Or when you see something done in a story, or maybe something somebody in here wrote, and you're not sure if it's right or not.
