MAGGIE GEE - FINISHING THE NOVEL

Maggie Gee offers her insights into how to cross the finishing line with your novel.

Yes, writing novels is hard, and finishing them is the trick a lot of people never manage. All I can do is tell you how I've dealt with MY problems in finishing -- because believe me, they don't go away.The main tip is...DO finish it. Then and only then have you written a novel. You may say 'I can't,' but you CAN. Play a mind game. Tell yourself you will unfailingly be shot at the end of the year if you have not finished, and at the end of the week if you are not, say, 2,000-4,00 words nearer your target. Take yourself to a place where you will not be interrupted or distracted, like a friend's house or a public library. (The idea being, that come on, guys -- if you REALLY had to do it, yep, you would.)

I have used this 'make yourself do it' approach most successfully with the element of plot and story, actually. This all-important element is often precisely what is missing, and I have sometimes had a block about finalising it. It really does work to take yourself and a blank piece of paper to a quiet, safe place and just give yourself 30-60 minutes to write down the story. It WILL come. And you will see the flaws.

The advice that follows is personal to me, but I know quite a few successful writers who follow it. Don't get too caught up in editing on your first draft. Indeed, my own approach is, don't edit. Just press on forwards, and get the thing written, then you can go back and make it perfect, safe in the knowldge that you HAVE a novel. Editing can make you agonise. Just press on and see what happens. Poets edit first, because they can afford to, they don't have miles to go before nightfall. It's the shortcoming of some MA Creative Writing courses: too much emphasis on the perfect chapter, not enough on the story and the book.

If you're stuck, or bored, with a particular chapter, either bring it to an end, or move elsewhere. Try moving to another character, or a part of the plot that really excites you. Write the end, if you like,so you have somewhere to go. I very often write the end of the novel first, so there is somewhere for me, on my rope, to swing to.

Use word count and arithmetic to press yourself on. How many words do you need to write a week to finish the novel before the beginning/end of a holiday, say? Before Christmas? Before your birthday?
Points that came up in several people's work.

1) Don't forget to ESTABLISH important characters. First time they come in, give them time and space. What do they look like, sound like? First impressions are very important, in life and art. Always start a new section, or para, or at the very least, sentence.

2) FLASHBACKS -- never put them too near the beginning of the book/section, and always clearly separate the flashback from the narrative present. Ask yourself: must this be a flashback, or could you have told it in the main narrative, if you had remembered it at the time?

3) POINT OF VIEW -- decide whose. If you are changing POV, start a new section/ para, and most often, a new chapter.

4) FIRST PERSON -- exciting but limiting. Difficult to use only one POV for a whole book.

5) STANDARD/NON-STANDARD ENGLISH -- it's your book, go for your own style, just do it.

6) DIALOGUE -- try it out with a friend, reading aloud. If it sounds right, great.

7) VALUE OF WHITE SPACE (ie between sections) -- a very useful tool for making a change in the narrative, or introducing an important event. So save it for when you need it. Otherwise use ordinary paras.

8) DEAD WOOD -- watch out for too many 'had's, too many 'I saw', 'he thought', 'she realised'. Also, remember film technique. You just cut between significant events. You don't have to spell out all the journeys and transitions. If you are bored, your reader will be bored.

Good luck, writers! So much talent in this workshop group.

Maggie