Talking a Novel to Death

Someone asked me the other day whether I spoke to anyone about my writing. It started me thinking about writing and the process of talking about it.

First of all, I don’t think writers should talk too much about a work in progress. Telling your story over and over can be an avoidance tactic. Talking is the same as doing – you get the same sense of satisfaction.

And depending who you talk to,  it can crush a sensitive idea. Most people can’t quite see how you intend to tackle it. Describing isn’t the same as writing. It takes a certain skill to be able to enter into the writer’s world and visualise it in its finished form.

Insensitive friends can pour scorn on an idea, which will cause you to view it, forever more, with hot and cold waves of humiliation. If it’s a first book, friends will refer to your “NOVEL” in arch tones. It can stop you believing in it.

Writing my first two books, I was lucky enough to have an extremely sensitive friend to confide in. I needed him to keep believing in myself and my process. But even then, I didn’t tell him what I was going to write beforehand.

He knew my writing times and would phone just before, to encourage and urge me on. He insisted that I send him every completed chapter. His comments tended to be encouraging, rather than too critical.

I can face severe criticism when I’ve finished a first draft. Well, okay … I always have difficulty with it, but I know I have to face it then if the book’s to be any good. No book is ever perfect after one draft.

I needed to know I was on the right track. If I wasn’t, he would point it out. But if I was vaguely trundling along in the right direction, his comments would urge me on, rather than hold me up.

He was the perfect reader. He had read widely and understood what I was trying to do. He could give me some idea of whether I was succeeding, without crushing me.

I was lucky to have had him. He died of cancer after my second book came out. I still miss him.

I have had other readers, and they’ve been fabulous. I am always grateful to people who tirelessly read my drafts and comment thoughtfully. A good friend once commented that she’d read my third novel more times than she’d read To Kill a Mockingbird, which was her favourite book.

I can’t stress enough that, to work for you, it has to be the right person. I don’t think a partner is necessarily the best person. I prefer my partner to be my tireless supporter. I get truculent when he criticises.

But I can use him to discuss logistical problems and he has, at times, come up with the most creative solutions.

Richard and I are very good at brainstorming together. Somehow we spark each other’s creativity. But he takes too long to read my chapters. I get impatient.

At the moment, I’m between readers. I think that’s okay too. If you don’t have exactly the right person, I think it’s better to try to be your own reader. Mull your ideas over in your head, encourage yourself, give yourself little rewards, urge yourself forward. After all, no-one can be keener on your own work than yourself.