I’m writing a thriller/Sci-Fi novel write now, and even though it’s only at the beginning, it feels like it’s getting a little boring. I know in your essay about novel writing you said to add exciting twists and all, but I’m not sure what twists I can write currently. Do any twists exist for the beginnings of books so the readers continue to be interested and they wouldn’t put my book down?

Thanks!

Dylan: do you think foreign readers are favourable of thrillers that are set in places they can identify with, or would they rather hear about an interesting setting?

Honestly, I wouldn’t worry about any of that. Unless you’ve lived in a place it’s very hard to write about it convincingly. So write the places you know. (That includes places you’ve invented.) Do the best job you can and then, and only then, send it out to agents. But while your sending your book out start writing your next book. If you want a career as a novelist it’s always good to have a novel in progress.

I’m almost finished writing my first novel. It’s a thriller, and I have a quick question about marketability. A lot of the books that I have read in this genre rely on realistic settings and places to engage readers. With the Australian readership being so small in comparison to the UK or America, I’m worried that if I use Australian cities, streets and landmarks that I will be limiting its potential to be published. I’ve kept all places fictional so far. With your experience, do you think foreign readers are favourable of thrillers that are set in places they can identify with, or would they rather hear about an interesting setting?

Thanks for your time!

And it’s doubly worth it to do the very best research that you can to make sure your book is as truthful and rigorous as you can make it. For instance, many people find the word “Oriental” offensive. You should definitely read around to find out why. You’re a writer so it’s very important you understand the connatations of the words you use.

I have written several posts on these questions. If you click on the state of the world category you’ll pull up many posts by me and guest bloggers on race and class and gender. This one has a particularly good comment section that you should read through.

Good luck!

LOVE your work! And I have a question for you regarding race (and connected stuff). I’m (re)writing a YA steampunkish novel set in an Austalian-ish parallel/off to the side kind of world. I have characters of a few different ‘races’ – there are Indigenous characters, convict witchy people, ‘Oriental’ folks and so on. Being of Anglo-stock myself, I have given myself a heck of a lot of grief over this – do I have the right to speak in the POV of characters whose race I don’t belong to (even if they are sort of in a sideways universe)? You don’t seem to let this sort of questioning stop you, I notice (and take heart from).

Sometimes it seems like I’m damned if I do, damned if I don’t, you know? I read your interview about race stuff in the link on your blog. I would hate to whitewash my story – ugh! I hate the idea of a totally white world, especially an imaginary one that I get to make up myself! It’s just, I find my story itself is getting so fraught with these issues, like, it’s invading the text itself and sometimes I can’t tell if I’m just working through my issues or if this stuff is meant to be in the story.
I think it’s also the steam-factor that is making this extra tricky. Steam = Victorian era = very dodgy time for Indigenous folks at the hands of Empire-building. So, I do think grappling with race relation issues is in-built to some extent when trying to write an Australian-ish steampunkish thing.

Argh! Realising I don’t really have a clear enough question to put to you … besides … is it worth it?! And … do you have any advice for how to stay focussed on the story, without letting the politics totally muzzle and smother what was once a fun, magical steam-driven adventure and is now turning into something that at it’s best is dark in a good way, but at it’s worst is heavy and miserable in a not so great way and not at all of the vibe I originally had in mind … ??

BTW – this is my first novel!

Sorry I didn’t answer this in time for your book report. Hope you went well.

There’s a lot of good advice out their own agents blogs about what your query letter should look like. I’ve never written a query letter in my life. Agents know far better than me.

Good luck!

Um…..what age did you start writing storys at? What year did your first book get published?
I am wondering because i am doing a book report on you…so yeah (:
Thanks!

I think I have a fairly good story I have written that I would like to try and get published. I’ve had it in my mind since I was a teenager and have been working on it on and off for the last two years. I was just wondering what a manuscript would look like, I’ve check around the Internet and found them all to be on US sites. I’m from Australia and I just want to know what our standard is like. I understand I might not get published anytime soon or at all, but I just like to give it a shot, and I don’t won’t to look like an ameteur (even though I am one). It’s just I won’t to look I have put effort in trying to impress them. Any hints?

Good luck to you and keep on writing.

While I’m writing I tend to have working titles like “The Fairy Book”, “The Liar Book”. Currently I’m writing “The 1930s Book,” “The Lodger Novel” and “The Other Book.” I usually don’t come up with an attempt at a proper title till the book’s close to finished or actually finished.

Hmm. Seems I’m not really the person to ask. I am not good at titles. Good luck!

(It’s like looking at a huge cupcake. And as you sit there, with your mouth as wide as it can go, you can’t find the perfect place to start devouring it’s yumminess. So your stuck with this amazing looking cupcake with a very hungry tummy.) Please help me! Thanks you the best!
~ Addy-la

Addy-la: It turns out I have answered part of your question before but buried on the blog. Here it is.

The other part is more about confidence. One of the hardest parts of writing is having confidence in what you’re doing, believing in it. Almost every writer has moments of being full of doubt and convinced their work is unoriginal, boring or bad or all three. It’s just part of the territory.

So keep working on your novel, make it as good as you can, and put your worries aside as best you can! Good luck!

P.S. When I first saw “Liar” ‘s cover in stores, I was like, “What does that say?” It was so confusing—and then I finally worked it out! Yay for me!

Many describe what you’re going through as “writer’s block”. It’s very common. There are lots of ways to beat it but they pretty much all involve pushing through. You have to ignore whatever is creating the anxiety and just write. First drafts are almost always terrible. Mine are. Don’t let that worry you. Just keep writing down the story you set out to tell. You can always fix it later.
Here are two posts that might help. One on generating ideas and the other on how to get unstuck.

Please don't do that.

If you send Scott questions and he doesn't answer them it's because he doesn't have time. Scott gets a ridiculous amount of mail every day. He tries to answer all of them. Sending your questions to me won't magically supply him with the time needed to answer them.

He has a long FAQ of his own. And there's loads of other information on him if you read around his website.]

I frequently write stories lots of different ways before I figure out which one works best. Not only is it fun but you learn a lot about writing.

Here’s what I’ve written about points of view. I don’t think any of them are intrinsically harder than any of the others. I recommend trying your hand at all of them.

Good luck with your story!