This is my tried and tested process

The fastest I have ever written a first draft is four weeks, which broke my previous record of six weeks. Now, these are the easy books – the ones that burst into your head fully formed and simply require some dedication and slightly unhinged addictive typing to get written. My average time to write a first draft is three months. It’s also important to point out that I am not one of those writers who edits as I go. I don’t. I rarely even read over what I wrote the day before. I just let it tumble out in a gloriously clumsy, scruffy, and undoubtedly ugly splurge. The real hard work, the editing and rewriting comes after and that can take me a few years!

But here’s how I get that first draft out of my head and into a book form.

Step 1: Yep, it’s as simple and as old-fashioned as that. I get a notebook and allocate it to the book idea. The ideas are crowding my head now and need to be written down. It won’t be particularly organised. Other than pages for character bios and plot ideas, the initial writing will be an outpouring of what has been building in my head. I highly recommend the notebook approach. I know its tempting to do it all online or on Word, or whatever you use, but there is something scary and clinical about that crisp fresh new document blinking back at you and it can feel intimidating, even impossible to get started. A notebook is far friendlier and you can carry it about with you. No one has to see it. It’s private, just for you. It’s a way in. An open door. Now, anything can happen.

Step 2: The next thing that happens is an ideas explosion. Mind-maps or brainstorms are good too, but I like to just list my ideas and then later when chapters are being written I have the satisfying job of going back and ticking off what I’ve done. These ideas won’t be in order, by the way. And a lot of them won’t make it into the book. New ideas and sub-plots will inevitably muscle their way in too.

Step 3: The next step is chapter outlines. This is easier if the whole book has leapt into your head the way this one did in mine, but it can be achieved with less as well. I often find that starting chapter outlines gets me really far into the book, and often ends with me plotting the entire thing. Outlining one chapter, for example, very often leads you into the next.

Step 4: Start writing the book on your laptop. I prefer Word for many reasons. The notebook of chaos runs alongside the writing. The notebook is indeed now very chaotic! New chapters have pushed themselves in between the original chapter outlines, and I end up with circles and crosses and arrows all over the place. No one else would be able to make sense of it, but I can, and that’s all that matters. Why still use the notebook? Why use one at all? I’ve already mentioned my own reasons for writing a book this way but there has also been a lot of research lately that concludes that all our brain is active when we handwrite, whereas only part of our brain is active when writing on screens. In other words, writing by hand makes us think more! I often wonder if my books would be different if I planned, plotted, outlined and wrote all of it on the screen.

Step 5: Using the notebook of chaos to guide you, ticking things off, circling ideas, crossing things out, now, you write the book! And how do you do this? It’s easy. YOU JUST DO IT. I can’t explain it any better. You just sit down at the keyboard and write. You make a habit and stick to it. Go for walks when you get stuck. Keep going. One word at a time until it is done. There is no secret formula, no magic spell. YOU JUST WRITE IT.

Step 6. The book is now written in the first draft. I go back to the start and read through and at the same time I make note of a timeline in the notebook. I should do this when I am writing the first draft but I nearly always neglect to. For me, the purpose of a second draft is to read through what just happened, as I often don’t remember, and to apply the timeline so there are no date based plot holes or inconsistencies. I will also make changes and amend typos etc if I see them.

Step 7. The third draft is the first rewrite! By rewrite I mean that I’ve found plot holes or changed my mind about sub-plots, or have decided to cut down some POVs, or change something fairly major. This involves more actual writing rather than editing typos. This is more time consuming than the second draft but much quicker than the first!

Step 8 is what I call the Kindle edit. I’ve written the book, applied the correct timeline and rewritten bits I didn’t think worked. Now I need to step back and read it as a reader. I send it to my Kindle and with a notebook on the go to pick up typos, repetitive words etc, I get going. I am mostly assessing how the book reads. Is it too fast or too slow? Are there parts that are in any way repetitive? Are my characters nodding or shrugging too much? (Yes, they always are.) Are my characters well written? Is the dialogue realistic? I am highly critical when doing this edit. Mostly I want to assess how much I enjoy reading the book!

Step 9: The fifth draft happens next. I go back to Word and fix anything the Kindle edit picked up. This might be quick if everything went well, or it might involve another rewrite if I wasn’t happy with the book!

Step 10: What happens next? The sixth draft. Another Kindle edit. Another draft. Then off to my editor. Do the editor’s edits. And so on….

So, there you have it. And to summarise, my top tips for writing a book?

• a notebook
• plan as much as possible before you start
• THEN JUST WRITE THE BOOK