Write Now: A Practical Guide to Becoming a Writer

By Kieran Beville

Write Now! A Guide to becoming a Writer is a helpful book. It is practical and covers a lot of ground. It begins with self-analysis – with a view to discovering if you have the personal qualities needed to fulfil your ambition to become a published author. It offers encouragement, analyses the nuts and bolts of writing and explores many genres, especially the novel, but also has chapters on newspaper/magazine articles, the short story and poetry. This work will be of benefit to those who want to develop both the craft and art of writing. The author demonstrates how grammar is linked to style and how it aids clarity. If you want to know how to create realistic characters, write good dialogue, set a scene and develop atmosphere it's all here at your fingertips.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Limerick Writers Centre
• Release date: Jun 3, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463882788

Kieran Beville

Kieran Beville is author of Write Now – A Practical Guide to Becoming a Writer (Limerick Writers' Centre, 2019). He has had a substantial number of poems and articles published in various newspapers, journals and magazines and four collections of poetry (Revival Press). His book, Pulling Back the Clouds is a short biography of Mike Kelly, collector of the die-cast model aircraft display at Shannon Airport (LWC, 2020). In 2022 Beville was appointed Ollamh (Poet Laureate) for Limerick.

Book preview

"It’s none of their business that you have to learn to write. Let them think that you were born that way." This is a famous quote from the great American novelist and journalist Ernest Hemingway. We all won’t be as successful a writer as the Pulitzer Prize winner, and the man who penned classics like The Old Man and the Sea and For Whom The Bell Tolls, but we can all strive to make sure that we make the best of any talent that we possess.

I have no doubt that this book by Kieran Beville will be a great help to any aspiring writers who want to get their work published.

A visit to any bookshop in any town in Ireland will testify that more and more people are writing books than ever before.

Coupled with international best sellers you have nestling in these stores, books by local authors from important local history publications to novels.

We are now all better educated than ever before. We read more and have travelled more and have the internet at our fingertips to make research so easy.

But, having said all that, writing a book is not easy. And writing a best seller is certainly not. Publishers get thousands of manuscripts sent to them each year and many are rejected and in some cases the editor does not end up with the work on his desk or get a chance to spot a prodigious talent.

Take the case of Donal Ryan, the now extremely successful and award–winning author who had his first two novels The Spinning Heart and The Thing About December rejected 47 times before someone eventually spotted his talent.

You need a good idea or plot structure, talent and much more as Kieran Beville outlines in this must–read book for anyone contemplating getting their work published.

Kieran has had almost 20 books published along with contributions to newspapers, journals and magazines all over the world.

Kieran is a former teacher of English literature who has a splendid command of the English language.

In this book he shares with the reader his talents and his knowledge in an effort to help aspiring writers reach their full potential. Every conceivable angle is covered from start to finish including writing novels – Romance, Historical Fiction, Detective Stories, Thrillers, Horrors, Westerns…Kieran deals comprehensively with the mechanics of writing – good dialogue, creating atmosphere, plot structure and much more. He also has chapters on the Short–Story and Poetry, which are insightful and helpful. But this book is not just a forensic analysis of style and structure as Kieran gets to the very soul of writing.

I will finish with another famous Hemingway quote, For a true writer, each book should be a new beginning where he tries again for something that is beyond attainment. He should always try for something that has never been done or that others have tried and failed. Then sometimes, with great luck, he will succeed.

Eugene Phelan (Editor, Limerick Leader)

1. MAKING A START

The scariest moment is always just before you start.

(Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft)

Lots of people cherish a desire to tell their story, to write a novel or book – it seems to be on the bucket–list for so many. The wish to become a writer can be translated into reality. The aspiration to write is a noble ambition. It is not just about fame and fortune. What does it mean to be a writer? Where should you start? Well, I hope this book will help you to explore, test and develop your gift. Is writing an innate gift or is it a craft that you can learn? I believe it is both. As you journey with me I trust you will develop confidence, find inspiration and hone your skills so that you can tick that box on your wish–list. I hope you will succeed.

Are you hoping to make a career out of writing? Are you pursuing an artistic aspiration, knowing, like most artists, that you may not be able to make a living from your work? Only you can answer these questions. Whatever your motive(s), I think that if you write for fun you will not be disappointed. However, if the desire to become a professional writer is uppermost in your mind I feel obliged to at least caution that you may find that goal more difficult to achieve.

Maybe writing a novel would be the fulfilment of a dream that is sufficient in itself. This is achievable. Perhaps you want to become rich and famous. This cannot be guaranteed. Most writers have to work at other jobs to earn a livelihood.

From thinking to doing

In the achievement of anything there are several stages in our thought processes. We begin with pre–contemplation – a thought somewhere in the recesses of your mind that someday you would like to write a novel. We move from there to contemplation. This is actually thinking it through and having that thought develop and come into sharper focus. From there we move to decision. Thus, we have made up our minds about it and say, I’m going to do it. From there we move to action. Here is where we actually begin the project. You alone know where you are in that process. If you make the decision and begin the action there is always the possibility that you will relapse. Don’t worry about it. You can always begin again at the decision or action stage.

Writing is a discipline. I have met many who aspire to be writers. They seem to be on the contemplation–decision–action–relapse circuit for a long time. The only way to break out of this loop is, in my opinion, to actually sit at your desk (if you have a desk), with your computer (an important tool, I think) and write. It might seem so obvious that it is not necessary to state it but in reality it needs to be said.

The writer’s approach to life

As you aspire to be a writer you ought to view life itself as a writer would. All experiences, whether your own or those of other people (happy, sad, frustrating, tragic…) may be examined as potential material for you to use. It is valuable to note down these experiences, good and bad, and all the facets of human emotions for future use. It is helpful if these notes are filed in a way that makes them easy to retrieve as needed.

In order to make the most of what is happening around you try to use all your senses. If you do this nothing will escape your keen observation and scrutiny. Try to become an enquiring person. Ask yourself questions about why things are being done, the background to events, and the circumstances that surround them and the reactions of those involved as well as observers.

There are ideas for articles and stories all around if you can recognise them. Writers must train themselves to make mental notes of what untrained observers would miss in the everyday, ordinary events of life. What is important is the ability to analyse an incident for use in your fiction.

Developing your imagination

The keener your observation of the world, the more this will help develop your imagination. Once you cultivate the habit you will automatically see potential material that previously passed you by. If you are making notes about people be discreet as somebody might get the wrong impression of your intentions and that could be rather embarrassing.

Imagine you are a journalist with a column to fill each weekday. Walk down the main street of your home town or village and observe the passing scene. Next go in to a café, a pub or park and note your observations. When you get home write a paragraph about something you saw while walking down the street. Make your description as interesting as you can. It can be about some building of outstanding architectural or historic merit, a new shop just opened or friends meeting and greeting on the street – anything that grabs your attention.

Write a factual description of people you saw. What was the colour of their hair and eyes? Were they fat, thin or average build? How were they dressed? What kind of opinion did you form about them? Would you be able to give a forensic description of them to the police? The purpose of doing this is to develop your powers of observation. There is something unique about even the most ordinary person. It is the writer’s task to spot it and to convert it into text that will be interesting to a reader. Alternatively go to a café and write something – a simple piece of observation, to see if you can write with flair. Such pieces can be integrated into articles, short–stories or a novel at a later date. Below is a piece I wrote twenty years before I used it in a short story:

He remembered the first time he saw her, in the meat market. He was perched on the balcony restaurant, like a bird of prey, watching the people below spilling through the arched gateway – a babbling brook. He sipped coffee, observing. A butcher’s stall was clearly visible. Women stopped to buy meat. The joints of lean, burgundy flesh had been carefully arrayed. The butcher, in his white blood–stained coat and red apron served a young woman. Her long fingers fumbled in the purse and her thick crimson hair tumbled over her bent head in youthful abundance onto her face. She lifted her head with a flick which threw her hair back and offered the money – a bare arm outstretched, pale flesh. Emmet saw her profile as she waited for change from the till. The butcher said something. Her ruby lips stretched and parted in a slender smile. She took her parcel from the counter and turned suddenly and looked straight up at him with large, green, almond–shaped eyes. She smiled and her face lit up. Emmet averted his stare and tried to focus his attention beyond her. The butcher fondled a rump steak into the space vacated by her purchase and wiped his hands on his apron. Emmet looked for her again. She was gone.

There were footsteps on the bare wooden stairs, light, fast, female. It was her. Emmet realised that was why she looked up. Her clothes indicated that she had stepped out of an office or shop where she worked – a white blouse and short, scarlet skirt. At the counter she was animated and laughed. Her voice was fruity and sweet. Rose, that’s what he heard her called. She walked towards him with coffee and cake on a tray – confident. She moved gracefully with a seductive swagger. Emmet watched the movement of her hips. Great legs, he thought. He let his mind indulge the fantasy of undressing her and could almost hear her breathe his name in warm whispers.

That piece was called Meat Market. I had forgotten about it but then I found it at a time when I was writing a short story called, The Kiss and it fitted in well, I think.

We meet and talk to people of all ages and from all walks of life. Think about this. Choose one such person and base a mini story on or around him/her. Tell what happened and why and the outcome. Listen with more concentration to the conversations of friends, relatives and acquaintances and a story will likely become obvious. Names and some circumstances could be changed but the general theme can be retained.

If you are overly concerned about using your friends and family as a source of ideas for your writing material then be consoled that it’s not about betraying confidences – best to avoid doing that – it’s about gleaning useful material. The people who provide the inspiration may not read your work or if they do they might not recognise themselves in it. If they do recognise themselves they may be flattered to have been a source of inspiration, if they are not presented in a negative light.

Invent a story

If no obvious story emerges from your observation then you may consider inventing one. Take any simple set of circumstances you see; for example, two smiling young women going into a pub for a lunch–time drink. Why are they so happy? What is the story behind their smiles? Try to think of stories to explain everyday things you see around you. Give your imagination full rein and you will probably surprise yourself at how inventive you can be. Even if you don’t come up with some cracking good stories you will still have a lot of fun thinking this way – whilst at the same time developing your imagination and honing you craft.

At this stage you are not trying to produce something of publishable standard. The objective has been achieved if your capacity to observe and be analytical has been improved – though this writing should also help to develop your powers of expression. Later on you may be able to use the writing you have done in these exercises in your fiction manuscript. No writing is ever really wasted. It can nearly always be used somewhere, sometime.

Where to write

Some writers are unable to work unless the environment is suitable, with no distractions. The desk must face a blank wall instead of the view from the window and there must be no interruptions from family or friends. On the other hand some people seem able to write anywhere, oblivious to surroundings or even inspired by adverse conditions.

When he was imprisoned in Paris during the Reign of Terror, Tom Paine did not let the threat of execution stop him writing. He went ahead and finished The Age of Reason. There’s dedication for you! A man who can write in the shadow of the guillotine is surely an example to us all.

Similarly the Letter from Birmingham Jail is an open letter (16 April, 1963) by Martin Luther King Jr. while he was imprisoned in Alabama. The letter defends the strategy of non–violent resistance to racism. It says that people have a moral responsibility to break unjust laws and to take direct action rather than waiting potentially forever for justice to come through the courts. The letter was widely published and became an important text for the American Civil Rights Movement.

Unfortunately we are not all capable of such dedicated concentration. A train of thought can be disturbed and the thread of it lost by a noisy distraction, especially the telephone. We are all mentally different. If you are one of those people who can be creative while all around you the hurly–burly of the world goes on, then you are fortunate indeed. If you are not such a person try to find a place to write where you are happy and comfortable – a place where your creativity can flourish.

Comment

A comment is needed here – nobody could possibly be an expert in all genres and I am certainly not claiming anything of the sort. My job is to guide in terms of style, humbly offer advice about developing the craft of writing, analyse various genres and explain how writing within them might be achieved. I trust that those who travel with me in reading this work will find it both enjoyable and profitable.

2. A DANGER TO AVOID

It is not a good idea to slog away day and night for a weekend and then take several weeks off to compensate for work done. This leads to mental slackness and poor creativity. Better results are achieved by regular daily production. You may object that you are not a factory worker to be constrained by regular hours and continual production and that you can only work when the feeling of inspiration occurs to you. That attitude is negative and unproductive. So–called writers with that outlook on the craft will write very little of publishable standard. Excellent fiction and non–fiction has been produced by writers who sat down and dredged up ideas. Any staff newspaper journalist who tells his editor that he is waiting to be visited by inspiration would very quickly be told that he was in the wrong job.

Arnold Bennett (1867–1931), an enormously successful novelist and journalist, was a great believer in steady work. He said, Even mediocre talent, when combined with fixity of purpose and regular industry will, infallibly, result in gratifying success. We can learn much from the life and work of Arnold Bennett. When he was at the top of his creative form he could turn out about 6,000 words a day. All those words were written by hand with his famous stylo pen – a forerunner of today’s ballpoint.

In his attitude to work he resembled Anthony Trollope, for he abhorred idleness and the artistic temperament which can easily become an excuse for not writing. He maintained that nothing in life was humdrum and often talked about the interestingness of existence. Enthusiasm like that shines through a man’s work, for if a writer is bored his readers will be equally bored because his writing will be boring. In other words, Bennett and Trollope emphasised the motto learnt by so many professional writers from their early years, that the only sure way to write is to apply the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair.

How to start writing

The ideas and inspiration to write and the motivation must, of course, come from within. The only way to start writing is to sit down in your den and get on with it. If you have difficulty at first, do not be put off. This is not at all uncommon. A good analogy is to compare the human brain to a motor car engine. They both work best when warmed up. On a cold morning the engine can be slow to start and then it chugs along a bit. The warmer it becomes the better it works. In a similar way your mind will work better when it is warmed up.

So, it’s important to just start writing. Anything will do at this stage in order to get the brain functioning and words on paper. Later you may well discard what you first wrote, but this does not matter if you have achieved your primary objective. Soon you will find that the ideas flow better. You will be able to express yourself more freely and put down your thoughts precisely as you want them. No matter how silly, uninspired or rough your first thoughts and way