{"id":6736,"date":"2022-02-25T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-25T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/townhouse\/articles\/a-hundred-ways-to-fall-over\/"},"modified":"2022-02-25T14:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-02-25T14:00:00","slug":"a-hundred-ways-to-fall-over","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/a-hundred-ways-to-fall-over\/","title":{"rendered":"A hundred ways to fall over"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Last week, I got an email which said, in effect, \u201cI want to write, but \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I get a load of these emails, maybe dozens a year. The actual nature of the \u201cbut\u201d varies a little, but some common examples include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I have so many ideas that the new ideas jostle the old one out of prominence. I have books full of ideas that I\u2019ve started and then abandoned.<\/li>\n<li>I don\u2019t know if anyone will want to read it<\/li>\n<li>I realise I\u2019m going wrong and lose confidence in the whole idea<\/li>\n<li>The book just feels bad.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And so on.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s strange to say it, but these feelings are deeply common even amongst commercially successful novelists. That includes people who have written top ten bestselling novels and whose upcoming novel would certainly be expected to sell equally well.<\/p>\n<p>So \u2013 these thoughts have their somewhat crazy edge. But given that they\u2019re so common, they must be grounded in something. And the common denominator is pretty simple:<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 20px;\"><strong>Most first drafts are problematic<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s an observation so familiar, it probably doesn\u2019t need much expansion here. But there\u2019s a second issue, especially where less experienced authors are concerned, and it\u2019s crucial:<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 20px;\"><strong>Purely technical problems manifest as fundamental flaws with the idea or writer.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>So let\u2019s say that you haven\u2019t understood something important about (say) creating a sense of place. Perhaps you do the basics \u2013 this scene is set in a coffee shop, that one on a park bench, this one in an office \u2013 but everything still feels flat and without atmosphere.<\/p>\n<p>How will that feel to you, the author, as you look over your work? And inevitably, given that there will be other issues too (plot awkwardnesses, character issues, some bad prose habits, etc) what are you going to conclude about your book?<\/p>\n<p>The answer, very often, will be that writers think either \u201cthis must be a terrible idea\u201d or \u201cI must be a terrible writer\u201d. Or both.<\/p>\n<p>And look: I do think it\u2019s critical you have a great idea before you start writing in earnest. You should spend as much time as you need to get the idea bullet-proof. You (mostly) can\u2019t change that idea once you\u2019ve started writing and if it\u2019s of only mediocre quality, your book will always struggle.<\/p>\n<p>But if your idea is OK, then everything else comes down to two things. Only two.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Your ability to identify the technical issues in your writing<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>You having the tools to fix those technical issues.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>So take that concern over sense of place. There\u2019s basically a repeatable template for generating atmosphere and sense of place. You have to learn what the template is. Then practise applying it. Then edit, and edit your edits, and edit the edit of your edits. And you\u2019re done. Problem solved.<\/p>\n<p>Assuming your idea is good, and assuming you have the wit to be at least competent as a writer (the large majority of you getting this email pass that test), then the feelings of doubt you are experiencing now are probably the result of technical issues which you haven\u2019t yet properly identified or fixed.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s it. That\u2019s why writing craft matters so much. It\u2019s the siege engine which breaks every challenge down into a set of basically solvable puzzles.<\/p>\n<p>If your writing craft isn\u2019t yet all that it might be \u2013 something that is true of most pro authors as well as nearly all new writers \u2013 then there exist an absolute host of resources to help you out. Ranked (very roughly) from cheapest to dearest, you can consider any of the following things:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>These emails<\/li>\n<li>Blog posts, podcasts and the like<\/li>\n<li>Hanging out with other writers (which is helpful, but also dubious as errors can be propagated just as well as truths)<\/li>\n<li>A decent writing book, like <a class=\"bx-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/How-Write-Novel-satisfy-Jericho-ebook\/dp\/B08HX159XK\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">the one wot I wrote<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>A Jericho Writers membership. If you buy for one month and then cancel, you\u2019ll spend very little money and still have the ability to do our complete How To Write course, alongside an absolute ton of other material. That course is there to help you (A) identify technical issues and (B) solve them. That\u2019s it. It\u2019s about actionable help, not airy-fairy nonsense. (<a class=\"bx-link\" href=\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/join-us\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">More<\/a>.)<\/li>\n<li>A cheaper writing course \u2013 this will focus on skills, not on your manuscript, but your manuscript will certainly improve. (<a class=\"bx-link\" href=\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/creative-writing-courses\/creative-writing-101\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">More<\/a>.)<\/li>\n<li>A manuscript assessment \u2013 this will focus on your manuscript, not on skills, but you will also learn a ton and become a better writer as a result. (<a class=\"bx-link\" href=\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/our-services\/jericho-editors-room\/manuscript-assessment\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">More<\/a>.)<\/li>\n<li>Mentoring. This is where you work on your manuscript in the company of a professional author. You\u2019ll get a mixture of technical and editorial type advice, but also a kind of motivational life coaching. For some writers, this kind of relationship is absolutely core to their evolution as authors. (<a class=\"bx-link\" href=\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/our-services\/121-support\/mentoring-service\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">More<\/a>.)<\/li>\n<li>The Ultimate Novel Writing Course. This does exactly what it says on the tin \u2013 a phrase which will make sense to British writers, familiar with the old Ronseal ads, but which may be perplexing to everyone else. But yes: it\u2019s our attempt to build the most complete possible writing course we could imagine. (<a class=\"bx-link\" href=\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/ultimate-novel-writing-course\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">More<\/a>.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>On the whole, I\u2019d urge people to muck about in the shallow end before diving into the more expensive options here. So for heaven\u2019s sake, before you pay for the top-dollar UNWC, do something low cost \u2013 like reading a book \u2013 to see if the focus on writing craft feels productive. It probably will, but be sure to buy a bottle, before you acquire the whole damn vineyard. Taste the bacon, before you buy the pigs.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s it from me. Oh la la, and what a week it\u2019s been. I have news for you, my little buddies, and you can\u2019t guess what it is.<\/p>\n<p>Shall I tell you? Yes. One day I will.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last week, I got an email which said, in effect, \u201cI want to write, but \u2026\u201d I get a load of these emails, maybe dozens a year. The actual nature of the \u201cbut\u201d varies a little, but some common examples include: I have so many ideas that the new ideas jostle the old one out<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29292],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-harrys-friday-email"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Jericho Writers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/a-hundred-ways-to-fall-over\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A hundred ways to fall over &#8211; Jericho Writers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last week, I got an email which said, in effect, \u201cI want to write, but \u2026\u201d I get a load of these emails, maybe dozens a year. 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I've published trad &amp; self-pub. Love both. Best known for my Fiona Griffiths crime series. Oh yes, and I'm the capo di tutti capi at Jericho Writers.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jerichowriters.com\\\/author\\\/harryjericho\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Jericho Writers","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/a-hundred-ways-to-fall-over\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"A hundred ways to fall over &#8211; Jericho Writers","og_description":"Last week, I got an email which said, in effect, \u201cI want to write, but \u2026\u201d I get a load of these emails, maybe dozens a year. The actual nature of the \u201cbut\u201d varies a little, but some common examples include: I have so many ideas that the new ideas jostle the old one out","og_url":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/a-hundred-ways-to-fall-over\/","og_site_name":"Jericho Writers","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jerichowriters","article_published_time":"2022-02-25T14:00:00+00:00","author":"Harry Bingham","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@JerichoWriters","twitter_site":"@JerichoWriters","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Harry Bingham","Estimated reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":["Article","BlogPosting"],"@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/a-hundred-ways-to-fall-over\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/a-hundred-ways-to-fall-over\/"},"author":{"name":"Harry Bingham","@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/#\/schema\/person\/34f531ec178a2b069ca3debe26c60e5a"},"headline":"A hundred ways to fall over","datePublished":"2022-02-25T14:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/a-hundred-ways-to-fall-over\/"},"wordCount":997,"commentCount":3,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Harry\u2019s Friday email"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/a-hundred-ways-to-fall-over\/","url":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/a-hundred-ways-to-fall-over\/","name":"A hundred ways to fall over &#8211; Jericho Writers","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-02-25T14:00:00+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/a-hundred-ways-to-fall-over\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/a-hundred-ways-to-fall-over\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/a-hundred-ways-to-fall-over\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A hundred ways to fall over"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/","name":"Jericho Writers","description":"Getting you published","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/#organization","name":"Jericho Writers","url":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/cropped-footer-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/cropped-footer-logo.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Jericho Writers"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jerichowriters","https:\/\/x.com\/JerichoWriters","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jerichowriters\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/jericho-writers\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCcs1qhjwLR6bQYDR2x3PbOw"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/#\/schema\/person\/34f531ec178a2b069ca3debe26c60e5a","name":"Harry Bingham","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/harry-bingham_avatar-96x96.jpg","url":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/harry-bingham_avatar-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/harry-bingham_avatar-96x96.jpg","caption":"Harry Bingham"},"description":"Write novels and non-fic. I've published trad &amp; self-pub. Love both. Best known for my Fiona Griffiths crime series. Oh yes, and I'm the capo di tutti capi at Jericho Writers.","url":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/author\/harryjericho\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6736\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}