How I Managed to Write 14 Books in 8 1/2 Years

Two weeks ago today, I finished my fourteenth book. As always, I tweeted about it to celebrate, and as always, I received an outpouring of support and congratulations from my fellow writers. (Writers really are an amazing support network.) People were telling me how many books they'd written and how long their longest ones were and generally just sharing the love of word counts like only authors can.

@LouCadle took it even further.

So that's exactly what I'm going to do :)

To start with, all I did was fall in love with writing. There's such freedom in writing because you love it and for no other reason. I wrote my first novel because I wanted to write it, and that was all. I didn't know if I was going to tell anybody or write anything else or anything. I just wrote. And I took this with me into the trilogy I decided to write straight after I'd finished it. (I like a challenge). So my love of writing gave me my first novel, a trilogy, and the very first draft of what is now ZA. And I wrote all five of them in just over three years.

Crazy!

But I just wrote and wrote and wrote. Every spare hour I had was spent on my laptop. I'd come home from school, do my homework, and write until I went to bed. And that was how I kept up the pace. I think the number of hours I put in while I was still a beginner was vital to my continued pace many years later.

And then I discovered National Novel Writing Month. NaNoWriMo is a hundred percent the reason I've written so many books. Six (and a full re-write) out of fourteen were written during the month of November (and finished off in December). Writing a book in a month was the key to keeping up the pace I had at school.

By the time I'd left school, I'd found myself in an easy rhythm of writing a book in the spring and a book for NaNoWriMo. And now I'm into that groove, there's no way I'm letting myself get out of it.

It also helps that I'm strict. I don't give myself a break. If I'm writing a book, I make myself write 2,000 words a day every day. (I did give myself a Christmas break though!) No excuses. Now that I'm so busy, this is vital. Otherwise, I'd put it off and off and off and it'd take over a year to get one written. I didn't always have this rule though, I used to pay no attention to word counts and just write into the night, but if you've already been sitting at a computer all day and you just want to collapse on the sofa and not have to think, you need a goal to reach!

I began this goal setting gradually a few books into my writing career. I started off just writing a little each day, then at some point I made myself write 1,000 words a day, and now I'm up to 2,000.

I'm not this strict when I'm not in the middle of a book though. When I'm not writing something, I make myself write 1,000 words a week of something or other, or a few somethings or other. This makes it easier to jump into a novel once I've started it. If I didn't write anything for a few months, I'd be stiff and timid to begin with. After all, the first chapter is always the most difficult.

My two books a year isn't always easy. When I include full re-writes (I wrote the whole novel again from scratch), I've written 16 books in 8 1/2 years, so I'm only a book behind keeping up with my target. I'm not sure when I'm supposed to catch up, but here's hoping!

I don't give myself these goals to give myself a hard time, I do it to motivate myself. What works for me might not work for you. I need strong, tough goals to keep me going. But the downside to that is that they're not always possible. But I've been thrilled to find that most of the time, I've made it!

So I guess I managed to write 14 books in 8 1/2 years because of a determination, NaNoWriMo, and a love of writing.

However, the fact that I just can't stop trumps them all.

Molly


Molly Looby

Author / Editor in Chief at Molten Publishing / Freelance Editor / Writing Coach / Reviewer / Blogger / Wrimo / Movellian / ZA Ready

molly@moltenpublishing.co.uk

Visit me on Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn / Instagram / Pinterest / Movellas / NaNoWriMo

Write! Writing Software

I'm one of those writers who writes on Microsoft Word out of pure laziness. I've seen lots of different pieces of writing software online but haven't been brave enough to break out of my miserable Word bubble. After all, I can't remember not knowing how to work Word. The idea of learning new software is always going to be daunting.

I was kicked out of my lazy cycle when I was lucky enough to receive an email from the lovely people at Write! which propelled me to check out their software. And I'm here to spread the joy.

Let me tell you, there are better choices out there than Word! I think most writers will agree with me.

The first thing I loved about Write! was that I could write on my Microsoft laptop or my Mac, and the document would be sitting ready and waiting on both of my devices. This means I won't have to remember which one I last used. I know this isn't a problem for a lot of people, but it's an issue I've had for over a year now. When you have a tiny laptop for travel and a bigger one for your desktop, you have to remember where everything lives. Write! has taken care of that for me. I can be writing on the go, come home, sit at my desk, and carry on without having to send things to myself or get the memory stick out. This was a huge plus for me.

Write! also does everything I could want it to do. All the usual text options are there, meaning it's easy enough to separate my work into chapters. It's also much easier to find chapters, unlike in Word. I won't waste any more time scrolling through my documents unnecessarily.

Another great feature is being able to export the document into PDF straight from Write! without having to go to a PDF converter like I usually do. Already, Write! is saving me time, which in turn gives me more time to write. You can also convert into Word if once you've finished with the document you're more comfortable looking at it in a Word format. This means you can do the transition into Write! in stages. You can also convert to plain text, which is useful when you come to typesetting.

What I've seen of Write!, I absolutely love. I can't wait to truly test it out during NaNoWriMo. After all, NaNo is the ultimate test. But so far, I'm a total convert!

First blogged on my website: http://www.mollylooby.com/single-post/2017/07/31/Write-Writing-Software

Molly Looby

Author / Editor in Chief at Molten Publishing / Freelance Editor / Writing Coach / Reviewer / Blogger / Wrimo / Movellian / ZA Ready

molly@moltenpublishing.co.uk

Visit me on Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn / Instagram / Pinterest / Movellas / NaNoWriMo

Let's Be Productive!

Happy Work Wise Week! As this is the week to work better and wiser, QuickBooks is sharing tips on productivity. So I thought I would take this opportunity to share my best productivity tips for writers. After all, we writers are sometimes more productive than we ever thought we could be, and other times we sit and stare at a blank screen.

So here are my top five tips to stay productive and stay writing!

1. Write Every Day

I'm sure you've heard this before; most writers say it a lot. That's because it's really important. Writing is like a muscle; it must be exercised. You wouldn't expect to be able to run a marathon without training. You wouldn't expect to be great at a sport you haven't played since you were six. And writing (and creativity) is like that. It doesn't matter what you write or to what standard, but writing something makes all the difference. If you write every day, it makes it easier to write every day, and before you know it, your word count will be growing, and you'll be that productive author you always wanted to be!

2. Set Aside Time To Write

Never underestimate the power of a routine. If you set yourself an hour each day and stick to it, you'll find it'll get easier and easier. We humans love a routine, so it makes sense to make writing part of your normal life. If writing is something you do each day, you'll get better (and faster) at it. This will only work if you keep to it and make sure you spend your hour (or however long) actually writing. Don't let anyone or anything get in the way - that includes your inner editor. This time is for writing ONLY, so write on!

3. Turn Off The Internet

This is the first thing I do if I find myself dawdling to start a chapter or continue on with yesterday's work. The distraction of the internet is too huge and has too many possibilities, so it has to go. Block the Wi-Fi on your computer during your writing time, and if you have to look something up, leave a mark in the manuscript and come back to it. I'm not saying the internet is your only distraction, but it is the biggest. And it doesn't hurt to put your mobile phone out of reach.

4. Set Daily Goals And Stick To Them

Just as important as writing every day is having a word count to reach. Don't panic, you can start small. If you have a word count to reach, you're more likely to write more in an effort to reach it. Otherwise, you might just sit there for your hour and then move onto something else, satisfied. I don't know about you, but if I haven't reached a certain amount of words, I am not satisfied. Once this becomes a habit, you'll find yourself going over the word count in a flash and not quite believing your eyes.

5. Get Help From Your Friends

There are all sorts of different people who can help you stick to your writing. Friends and cheerleaders are amazing because they keep asking for more work, and that gives you the added pressure to keep writing as you've got people you don't want to disappoint. But an underrated helper is the friendly rival. I wrote a novel in less than twenty days once because I wanted to beat my friend to it. Neither of us expected to finish so fast, and we were both flabbergasted by the results. Sometimes to be at your most productive, you have to initiate a 'word war'. I've always considered myself a prolific, productive writer, but never has that been as true as when I took part in my first 'word war'. I encourage all of you to try it at least once. You'll be amazed with the outcome!

Of course, some days are easier than others, and that's a fact of life, but I hope these tips can help you power through the hard days and write like the wind through the good ones.

Happy Work Wise Week, everyone!

First blogged on my website www.mollylooby.com

Molly Looby

Author / Editor in Chief at Molten Publishing / Freelance Editor / Writing Coach / Reviewer / Blogger / Wrimo / Movellian / ZA Ready

molly@moltenpublishing.co.uk

Visit me on Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn / Instagram / Pinterest / Movellas / NaNoWriMo

My Writing Tips Blogs

I'm afraid we've come to the end of my writing tips blogs. I hope you've enjoyed reading them as much as I enjoyed creating them!

I thought it would be useful to list them all in one place for easy access as they've been spread across weeks and months. Feel free to read the ones you've missed or re-read the old ones!


Characters
Motivation
World-Building
Narration
Dialogue
Description
Genre
Pace
Action


If you have any ideas for any other writing tips blogs, let me know!

Molly Looby

Author / Editor in Chief at Molten Publishing / Freelance Editor / Writing Coach / Reviewer / Blogger / Wrimo / Movellian / ZA Ready

molly@moltenpublishing.co.uk

Visit me on Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn / Instagram / Pinterest / Movellas / NaNoWriMo

KEPOW! Action Sequences and Taming Them

BANG!

Do I have your attention?

Action is something that's becoming more and more important in all genres. You could argue that action is less important in some genres, but I don't think that's true. I think it might just look different. There should always be some kind of tension and action. Whether that action comes in the form of some kind of fistfight really depends where your story is going.

One of the most important things to think about with action is whether or not your reader can follow. You can ask a close friend to help you with this. Sometimes action sequences are so fast that the reader can't keep up and doesn't know who's doing what. If your action sequences are complicated, you need to make them as clear as possible so the reader knows what's going on. Otherwise, they might skim past it and all your hard work will go to waste.

Another thing you have to remember is emotion. There are so many cold, hard, action-packed scenes out there, but with emotion, they become a hundred times stronger. You need to include this in the build-up as well as in the action itself. The reader wants to know what your protagonist is feeling. Are they petrified, over-confident, taken by surprise? We need to live it with them. Too much description will feel dry but don't get too distracted by your characters' emotions or it could slow everything down. It really is about finding the perfect balance and the flow of the scene.

The hardest thing I find with action is scaring myself before I've even got there. How can you improve unless you dive right in? I suggest just going for it. If it's terrible, you can rebuild in editing; that's what it's there for. But you need to write it. And trust me, you can do it. I believe in you. Stephen King said 'the scariest moment is always just before you start', and that is true more than ever with action. But you should write what scares you. It's the greatest way to improve.

Molly Looby

Author / Editor in Chief at Molten Publishing / Freelance Editor / Writing Coach / Reviewer / Blogger / Wrimo / Movellian / ZA Ready

molly@moltenpublishing.co.uk

Visit me on Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn / Instagram / Pinterest / Movellas / NaNoWriMo

Pace = Climbing Mountains and Jumping Off Them

Pace can be a tricky skill to learn and reign in. Every writer I know has struggled with it in one capacity or another. Either your work feels like it's dragging and nothing's happening, or everything's happening too fast and you need to slow it down. Pace isn't something you learn overnight. It's a difficult beast to wrestle, but you will defeat it.

I'm one of those writers who writes so fast I almost always have to slow my writing down in the editing stages. You can't have your reader breathless all the time. It's exhausting. But deciding what to add is sometimes trickier than the first draft! Everything you include in a novel has to mean something. Anything that doesn't add something needs to go. So what do you add? Character building is always a great thing to include. Do your characters know each other as well as they should? A heartfelt conversation can add warmth and also give your reader time to catch their breath after some action.

If you find your writing is slow, you might have to read with a careful eye and cut out some of your darlings. Yes, the conversation is beautiful, but is it slowing things down? Do you need it in this moment? Can it be moved elsewhere? Do you need it at all?

Pay attention to every chapter and the way the tension is rising and falling. If it falls too much in one place, something probably needs cutting. If you're too breathless and running away with yourself, add something to slow it down (unless that was the intention or it's the climax).

Looking at the length of your chapters and sentences and paragraphs can work a treat. If your chapters have been the same length the whole way through the novel, wouldn't throwing in a long or short one ramp up the tension in the reader? The same goes for paragraphs and sentences, but this isn't so subtle. Please don't pepper your manuscripts with too many short sentences and paragraphs. (I'm so guilty of this!) If you have too many short sentences and paragraphs, when you add one for effect, it might get lost.

If you've looked at all the things I've said, and the pace still isn't perfect, maybe you should add some build-up. Build-up is almost as important as the action itself. If the action comes out of nowhere, your reader might not react in the right way. It might be too much of a shock to take in. A great writer can have you leaning closer and closer to the page and gripping the book tighter and tighter as you read. This effect is almost always in the build-up.

So whatever it is you need to do to improve your pace, make sure you listen to what you've written and pay close attention. The hardest thing with pacing is deciding what to change.

Molly Looby

Author / Editor in Chief at Molten Publishing / Freelance Editor / Writing Coach / Reviewer / Blogger / Wrimo / Movellian / ZA Ready

molly@moltenpublishing.co.uk

Visit me on Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn / Instagram / Pinterest / Movellas / NaNoWriMo

Genre: Mountain Trolls or Victorian Maidens?

Picking a genre isn't so much you thinking about genres and deciding what you want to write. Most of the time, the genre picks you. To butcher Harry Potter, the genre chooses the writer. Usually, you end up writing what you most read, because that's what you most love, and also, without realising it, you've already put thousands of hours of research in just by reading that genre.

I'm not here to tell you which genre to write in. The beauty of genre is that there's no right or wrong. Just write whatever you love to write.

When you've picked your genre, you have to pay attention to who your readers are. If you write crime for example, your readers are likely to be different from those who read romance. Once you know who your readers are, learn what they do and don't like about the books they read. Goodreads is a great place to discover this. If your readers aren't fans of swearing, don't swear. If they love an action scene, make sure to include some great action along the way. If they're all about dialogue, don't bore them with two pages of description.

With each genre there are certain expectations. We need to find out who did it; the two main characters have to end up together; the aliens must be conquered; we must learn something. What's expected of you depends on your genre. And once you know what your readers expect, you'll know which rules you can break. Breaking the rules and giving your readers something they don't expect can leave you with a book everyone's talking about. However, break the wrong rules and people will be dissatisfied. 

Now, if you're looking for a challenge and want to grow as a writer, I suggest writing in a genre totally new to you. Don't worry, you don't have to show anyone! Changing genre every once in a while can really keep you on your toes as a writer. If you throw yourself into a challenge like this, your writing will improve in this new genre, as well as in your trusty favourite genre. You get to a point in your writing where you feel like you've stopped improving, and this is when you need to do some scary experiments to keep your skill growing. It's the same with anything. Once it gets easy, make yourself work harder!

Genre is personal and nobody can tell you what to write. However, switching it up every once in a while will help you push your writing to the next level.

Molly Looby

Author / Editor in Chief at Molten Publishing / Freelance Editor / Writing Coach / Reviewer / Blogger / Wrimo / Movellian / ZA Ready

molly@moltenpublishing.co.uk

Visit me on Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn / Instagram / Pinterest / Movellas / NaNoWriMo

The Art of Description

Description really is the bulk of a story, and a lot of people try and sidestep it as much as they can. I must admit, I used to be one of those people. Description would take me much longer to write, and I'd have to really think about it, so I'd tend to whizz past where I could. I'm a type, type, type and never stop kind of person. But it really makes a difference when you slow down and take a look.

The perfect balance with description can sometimes be hard to find. Too much and the reader will get bored and start skimming (guilty). Too little and the reader won't be able to picture what's going on. You want your reader to live in your story, but you don't want them to drown there. There is no strict rule about what's too much or too little. Personally, a full A5 page is too much for me. If a book's got a whole page of description, I'm afraid I will skim over it. I want action, action, action! Sorry, Bram Stoker, but you kept describing trees over and over, and all I wanted to know about was the scary vampire!

To make sure you've got the basics covered, check you've described at least a little bit of your character's appearance, their surroundings, and any events that are taking place. Also, make sure you're 'showing' the reader and not 'telling' them. If you were showing a friend around your new house you wouldn't point to your grandmother's china plates and say, "they're old". I'm sure they can work that out for themselves. Your friends aren't stupid and neither are your readers.

This mostly irritates me when people are trying (and failing) at writing emotion. Never state an emotion! Especially in your main character. Don't say, "I am so frustrated about people stating emotions", say, "the idea that some people still state emotions in their writing makes my skin crawl". Don't say, "I am overjoyed when people describe emotions", say, "when people describe emotions, a ball of light comes to life in my chest, and I can't help the smile on my face". See? You will achieve so much more this way. The reader will be living in the world with you instead of jumping up on their tiptoes, desperate to press their faces against the window.

And no clichés. No. None. Don't use them. They're so lazy. Show your reader you're a skilled writer. Please never say something was as "quiet as a mouse". When I read that--or any other cliché--nothing happens in my brain. It doesn't even register in my head. You need your readers to take notice. Plus, there are hundreds of things that are quieter than mice.

Description isn't as hard as you think it is, as long as you put in the time and effort to get it right.

Molly Looby

Author / Editor in Chief at Molten Publishing / Freelance Editor / Writing Coach / Reviewer / Blogger / Wrimo / Movellian / ZA Ready

molly@moltenpublishing.co.uk

Visit me on Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn / Instagram / Pinterest / Movellas / NaNoWriMo

Narration: The Perfect Voice

Narration can be both the easiest thing in the world and the most difficult depending on who's telling the story. It's crazy how different characters can narrate in different ways. Some are eloquent and thoughtful and others just want to jabber away. Some implore the reader to understand, others ignore the reader completely. The only thing that matters is that you pick the right voice.

I find narration can make or break a story. A 'voice' that I love will have me reading and reading. A 'voice' that grates on me is unlikely to get read to the end.

The most important thing to do is to make the narrator engaging and relatable, whichever way you tell the story. Decide whether you want your narrator to be funny, dramatic, poetic, emotional, whatever it is that works best for your story. Why are they telling the story? Are they the best person to? Why?

I cannot stress how powerful it is to keep asking yourself that simple question. Why?

There are a few ways you can go about narration. You have two choices of tense: past or present. You also have two choices of person: first or third. (Don't get me started on second person and future tense. Last time I said they couldn't be used in a full-length novel, I had an uprising on my hands.) What you use is up to you, and I encourage you to try them all. Once you've had a go at everything, you can decide what feels most natural for you.

I always write in the first person past tense. The third person felt too distant to me, and I kept falling out of the present tense. Let me tell you, the past tense doesn't mean you're not right in the now. You can be clever and make the past tense sound immediate. And if you want to write from more than one person's point of view and you're using the first person, just have another point of view character (but make sure you have a break between the two voices!).

It's not for me to tell you how to do this. But please think about who's telling your story, what they're like, and why they're the one to be telling it.

Narration can make or break you, so pick the most qualified character for the job!

Molly Looby

Author / Editor in Chief at Molten Publishing / Freelance Editor / Writing Coach / Reviewer / Blogger / Wrimo / Movellian / ZA Ready

molly@moltenpublishing.co.uk

Visit me on Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn / Movellas / NaNoWriMo

Build Your World Brick By Boring Brick

World building is similar to creating characters but more complex. If you're anything like me, this means it takes a while longer to create a believable world than it does to create a believable character. The more you work at this world, the more detail you can go into. The more detail you go into, the more people will want to live there. And that's exactly what you want. You think Harry Potter would've been so successful if JK Rowling didn't know the wizarding world inside out?

You need to think of everything, but here are a few things that are essential: What's different from our world? What's the same? What's important to the people who live there? What do they hate? What do they love? How is society run? How is the class system set up? What are the cultural norms? What is the collective aim? What sort of education do the people have? What sort of jobs do they do? What are the roles of the family?

The structure of your world is the basic form you can work off to create everything else.

The details will likely come to you in rushes and drips, impossible to predict. In order to speed up, you can live in your world. Immerse yourself everywhere you go, and the details will start flowing. Whenever I'm bored, I do this. I'm usually walking somewhere or in the car.

Basing things off the real world is fine too. While I was writing the beginning of Fire and Ice, I was on holiday, and I used the complex we were staying on to shape the world of Shards and Flares. The very basic structure of the buildings let me breathe life to the Training Centre. Sometimes starting with a blank page is too scary. Letting your real world influence you is a powerful thing.

Once you're in and you know your world inside out, you need to be aware that the reader doesn't need to know everything you do. They need to know the basics and what's important to your story, but don't bombard them with detail. 

World building takes time and patience, but you'll be infinitely glad that you took the time once everyone's wishing to be a part of your world. *cue The Little Mermaid music*

Molly Looby

Author / Editor in Chief at Molten Publishing / Freelance Editor / Writing Coach / Reviewer / Blogger / Wrimo / Movellian / ZA Ready

molly@moltenpublishing.co.uk

Visit me on Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn / Movellas / NaNoWriMo

You Can Do This! Let's Talk About Writing Motivation

Writing isn't difficult. Wait, come back! I didn't mean it like that. Of course writing is difficult, but it's also easy. Sometimes you can look up and be three-thousand words up. Sometimes it's just three.

What's equally bi-polar is the little voice inside your head. This is amazing. This is terrible. Everyone will want to read this. No one will want to read this. This is what truly holds me back, and I know others are the same.

This is why being a writer is such a crazy thing. That and all the people walking around in your head.

Sometimes that voice is your inner editor trying to make something perfect. But what it can't come to grips with is that nothing is perfect. That's when it becomes your inner demon and tries whatever it can to put you down.

I'm here to tell you to almost never listen to your inner demon.

But how do you slay that particular dragon? How do you carry on when you've had eight awful days in a row battling through every word?

There are many ways to do this, but the two I've found most helpful in my writing career so far are to just keep on going, powering through like a mad person, and finding solace in others.

I know that 'just keep on going' might not be the most helpful thing I've ever said, but I stand by it. If you write every day, you get better at writing every day. All of a sudden, it's easy to reach that word count. All at once you feel like you're doing it. You're actually doing it. You're a superhero!

That's how you should feel all the time. You're a writer, and that's incredible.

If you finish your project and stop writing, it'll be harder and harder to write every day once you start something up again. Write every day. Believe me, I know how difficult this is, and I would be lying if I said I'd mastered writing every single day of the year, but all us writers should. Write blog posts and short stories and flash fiction. It doesn't matter how terrible, these things are flexing your writing muscles. You'll thank yourself for it later.

My favourite thing to do is take a character from one of my novels and write something from their perspective. I tend to show no one these pieces of writing and sometimes they're all over the shop, but it doesn't matter. Whatever keeps me writing keeps me happy.

Just as important, is finding solace in others. Writers, you are not alone. Whether you like it or not, there are thousands of us out there, and we all suffer from the same issues. Instead of struggling on and letting doubt weave itself into your head, go and find some like-minded people. Writing websites are a terrific, beautiful places that have made me feel infinitely better about my work. Facebook has loads of groups. Twitter has so many authors to confide in. NaNoWriMo gets hundreds of thousands of writers together every November. And of course, Movellas, my writing home, has made me confident and more of the writer I want to be.

Go check these things out. There's so much out there, and you should use what you can to motivate yourself.

Who am I to motivate you? I only know how it works for me.

So I implore you to go in search of your muse, and when you find it, grab hold and never let go.

Molly Looby

Author / Editor in Chief at Molten Publishing / Freelance Editor / Writing Coach / Reviewer / Blogger / Wrimo / Movellian / ZA Ready

molly@moltenpublishing.co.uk

Visit me on Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn / Movellas / NaNoWriMo

Characters Are Your Best Friends

When I say characters are your best friends, I really mean it. They will annoy you, make you cry, make you laugh, frustrate you, and drive you crazy just like a real friend would. And they should. They should be as real and as annoying as you or me.

Your characters--if you're a character-driven person like me--are the most important part of your story. Because after all, it's their story you're telling. We're reading for them. We want to know how it turns out because we're rooting for them. We're not rooting for the author writing a great book, we forget you exist! (But please do write us a good one.)

In short, we're in it for them.

Many people are plot-driven, and that's okay, but that's just not the way I work. The one time I tried to write and care about the plot more than the characters, I crashed and burned. And I know many people are like me. You want to follow this fantastic person through to the end of their story, whatever the story is. You want to laugh with them, cry with them, and live their life--however awful that could be! 

This is the reason I start with characters once I've got a basic idea. Sometimes all I have is a key word. When I was writing my Immorality of Immorality trilogy, all I had was 'vampire' before I moved on to craft Felix, the protagonist. The same went for ZA. I picked up the word 'zombie' and ran with it, crafting Zane before I planned anything out. After all, how the story goes really depends on what your characters would do.

You might be thinking, this is all very self-indulgent, Molly. We don't care what you do. What do we do? Tell us your secrets!

Well, okay then.

To craft the greatest character you can think of, all you have to focus on is making them real. Make the person in your head have thoughts and feelings outside of your own. Give them strengths and weaknesses. Give them fears and dreams.

First, I flesh out a name and a basic description of what they're like as a person. For example, Felix is shy and anxious. Zane is athletic and loving. Once you've got that you can move on to bigger questions. Who do they live with? Who are their friends? What do they like about themselves? What do they hate about themselves? What do they love most? What do they hate most? What drives them onwards in times of struggle?

After these bigger world types of questions, you can move onto the trickier ones. My favourite question of all time is what's their deepest, darkest secret? This secret doesn't have to have any effect on the story, or it can run the story entirely. Either way, you have to know the answer. Until you know everything about your protagonist, you aren't ready to write. What are their weird hobbies and mannerisms? How do they speak, walk, behave among peers, among 'superiors'? What do they wear? How do they style their hair?

And of course . . . What do they look like?

Then we can move onto the less important but fun questions. Favourite colour, book, TV show, film, food, sport, holiday destination. If you're like me, you'll also want to sort your characters into Hogwarts houses and Divergent factions.

Do questionnaires or personality quizzes on their behalf. I have a 'master questions' document that's five pages long that I fill out for all my characters before I get writing. When you get to the end of the questions document, wow, let me tell you, you certainly know more than you thought you would at the start.

Once you've got all this, live and breathe them. Every situation you come across, think about how they would react. See through their eyes until you don't have to ask yourself that question any more. Once you just know, you're ready.

Oh man, you are so ready.

Some may say you're crazy. Some may think there are people living in your head and now there are. Some may look at you with this bizarre I-think-what-you-can-do-is-amazing-but-it-kinda-scares-me look. If you get that, you know you're doing something right. 

So go out there and write them something phenomenal. You've made them the best, so go and show the world! But most importantly, have the most fun in the universe doing it!

Molly Looby

Author / Editor in Chief at Molten Publishing / Freelance Editor / Writing Coach / Reviewer / Blogger / Wrimo / Movellian / ZA Ready

molly@moltenpublishing.co.uk

Visit me on Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn / Movellas / NaNoWriMo

New Year! Same Goals!

My resolutions are always habits I want to keep up. Too many resolutions fizzle into nothing, when really what you want to do is create a habit. One year I told myself I wasn't going to drink more than two cups of tea in one day for the whole year, and I didn't. But as soon as January 1st came around, I went back to normal. 365 days should set a habit, but don't count on it. So that's why my goals are always the same, or similar. I'm not letting these habits drop.

                                             Read 30 books.

Nothing's changed here. I don't want to push too hard as I know I've got a busy year. But saying that, I don't want to drop my total down, so the goal is to maintain the steady 30-ish books I've managed to read each year for the past three or four years.

Write at least once every week.
I know I tell people to write every day, but in this resolution I specifically mean part of a novel, short story, or blog post. I write every day if you count emails and tweets, but this is a little more specific. Last year I spent a good while not writing anything when I was between projects, and I'm not going to fall into that trap again. It makes starting the next project so much harder.

Write 52 blogs.
Again, this is the same as every year. Even though writing my blog feels like shouting into the void, I want to keep doing it because it keeps me focused. It makes me think about what I'm reading so I can review it. It makes me write about things I've done and notice achievements. And I can't let myself let it go.

Write 2 books and re-write 1 book.
This one is my stretched goal. I usually write two books, and if I'm doing a re-write, I only write one new one. This year I want to write both two new books and re-write an old one. It's going to be tough, but based on the summer of 2016 when I didn't write anything at all, I can do it.



I think the mistake people make with their goals is that they make them too difficult. I'm using this as a way to focus on what I want to achieve in my day-to-day life, and there's nothing on here I can't handle. I don't want to be stressed by my goals, I want to be excited by them. I think we authors put a lot of pressure on ourselves. Don't let it take over your life. It's your life, and they're your stories.

My 2017 is going to be run by me and me alone. And I will smile as I go and read and write and re-write (and edit).

I don't know about you, but I feel good about 2017. Amazing even.

Let's see what's in store :)



Have any writing resolutions? Let me know in the comments!

Molly Looby

Author / Editor in Chief at Molten Publishing / Freelance Editor / Writing Coach / Reviewer / Blogger / Wrimo / Movellian / ZA Ready

molly@moltenpublishing.co.uk

Visit me on Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn / Movellas / NaNoWriMo

See Ya 2016!

I know 2016's been crazy, but for me, it's been amazing!

I've kept up with my blogging, which is some kind of miracle quite honestly. This year I've somehow managed 53 blog posts, which means I've hit my target of once a week.

The most popular blog post this year was the book review I did for India Taylor and her book All Change, which has come as a shock. My book reviews are never the most popular of my posts. Go, India! After that, it was I Am ZA Ready, which I guess means that you guys have been spending the year preparing for the Zombie Armageddon. I don't blame you after the year we've had!

This year I managed to read 32 books, which is a few less than normal, but I've been super busy, as you'll see as this post goes on. I'm still happy though as I hit my target of 30.

Out of those 32, here are the top 10 in the order I read them: 

Next of Kin - Dan Wells

Girl of Nightmares - Kendare Blake

The New Hunger - Isaac Marion

The Rest of Us Just Live Here - Patrick Ness

The 5th Wave - Rick Yancey

The Art of Being Normal - Lisa Williamson

The Infinite Sea - Rick Yancey

The Last Star - Rick Yancey

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne

Beautiful Broken Things - Sara Barnard

You should all go out and buy these books right away. They're all incredible!

Reading-wise, this year Rick Yancey stole my heart. I loved The 5th Wave trilogy so much! I promise I won't blabber on too much, but here are a few words and phrases I've used to describe the trilogy: reading bliss, tore me down and built me back up, phenomenal, both killed me and made me want to live, will stay with me always, a masterpiece, This book became me, need a stronger word than beautiful. I think you get the picture!

As well as reading, I also did some writing too! I'm happy to report that I'm back to my usual two books a year target. I have at last reached the end of my After trilogy, with the final book in the series now complete. I'm proud to announce the current title right here on this blog: Everafter. Make of that what you will! It took longer to write than the others, but that's probably down to tying everything up at the end. I'm going to be honest, the prospect of working on this trilogy is scaring me a little bit, so don't expect to see Abia in any book shops next year. I'm going to have to work out what to do with her first! If you want to know what on earth I'm talking about, you can read the first book on Movellas. Be prepared, it's unedited and an old draft at this point! But I like to share what I can with my readers :)

I also, of course, took part in NaNoWriMo 2016, which marks my 6th NaNo done and won! Woo! Also, I hit a total NaNo count of over 375,000 words, which is a pretty mean feat. All I'll say about this book is that Iris Hale is one badass demon hunter, and I love her. Again, this is even less of a sure thing than the After trilogy, so don't expect to hear about Iris for a while! Though you can read the first few (unedited!) chapters on Movellas.

The most exciting thing that's happened to me this year was the release of ZA, my pride and joy. My absolute world. I'm so thrilled with it I'm not sure I have the words to describe it. I've had such amazing feedback from my readers, and I couldn't be more grateful. If you haven't picked up ZA yet, maybe it's time for you to get ZA ready! You can buy it here :)

If you want all the ZA gossip, you should join my fantastic group of survivors! You can find more about all the cool stuff you can discover, such as facts and new POVs, here.

Because of ZA, I had the opportunity to do some truly amazing things this year. I've been on three radio shows (Phoenix FM, BBC Essex, Gateway FM), been a guest on a podcast, been to an author event, had an author event, run a competition, run a Goodreads giveaway, spoken at a writers' group, and had my very own book signing at Waterstones! I feel like the luckiest author in the world that I've been able to spread the ZA/writing/NaNoWriMo love with everyone!


As well as all that, I finished my website, which you can visit here, and my beloved Molten Publishing turned one! You can visit us at our website, which also went live this year! If you send us a submission, we'll give you feedback!

So, what's next? Gosh, I'm not sure how 2017 can top 2016, but I'm going to try and ramp it up even more! Not to mention, in 2017 I'm getting married to my wonderful fiancé who I've now known for 10 years. Wow.

Fingers crossed, next year I shall be bringing out another book, which needs a rather major fix up, so I'm not going to give you any more than that for now. Though I don't like keeping things a secret, so I'm sure I'll make an announcement sooner rather than later!

And of course, I'm going to write more! Again, I've set my goal at two books: one in spring (probably), and another for NaNoWriMo. But as well as that, I'm also going to be re-writing a book, so wish me luck!

Thanks to every one of you for supporting me this year. Whether you follow me on Twitter (I hit 10,000 followers this year), read my blog, listened to me on the radio, came to my signing, bought a copy of ZA, follow me on Movellas, whatever it is, I love you all.

Thank you for an incredible year, and here's to 2017!

Molly x

Molly Looby

Author / Editor in Chief at Molten Publishing / Freelance Editor / Writing Coach / Reviewer / Blogger / Wrimo / Movellian / ZA Ready

molly@moltenpublishing.co.uk

Visit me on Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn / Movellas / NaNoWriMo

The Thing About Dreams Is . . .

Now I've written many blog posts in the past to do with my self-published books and recently one to announce ZA and it's arrival in the world, and it's got me thinking about how dreams warp and change as we do.

When I first started writing, my dream was to finish a book. Then a trilogy. Write five books. Write ten. Now I'm not sure I'll hit another goal until I've written twenty-five, fifty, a hundred. What I do know is that I won't stop setting them.

I'm one of those people who loves to set huge goals and then race towards them with little time for celebration once the end has been reached. I might have a tiny celebratory whoop with my hands in the air before I move straight onto the next thing. When I was fifteen and I wrote the final full stop of my first novel, I mourned for a few days and then asked myself, so what should I write next? The answer to that was, a book's not challenging enough, let's write a trilogy.

Then when I was in the midst of doing that, I decided the next thing was to get published. Of course, I got rejected over and over (who doesn't?), and now with that beautiful thing called hindsight, I know my books weren't ready. But that didn't stop me ploughing towards my goal. I self-published all three of the trilogy, which was exhausting and stressful and . . . well, either you know the joy and pain of the self-publishing world or you don't. Let's just say I had mixed feelings.

Boom, another dream realised.

So why wasn't I satisfied?

Here I am typing this now, co-director and editor-in-chief of Molten Publishing, and I think maybe I'm getting somewhere. Sharing my knowledge with people and going around talking about books seems to be giving me much more joy than these stupid targets ever did.

Don't get me wrong, writing is my ultimate passion, and there's nothing like writing--and finishing--a book, but now I'm a little older and a little wiser, and I know that dreams aren't always what they seem.

I have officially landed in the publishing world, and I'm so excited to see what everyone thinks of Zane and ZA. And this time, I'm making the most of it.

Here's hoping my little whoops get louder. Maybe next time you'll hear them . . .


ZA will be back in stock on Amazon in September! Watch this space! :) #ZAReady

Molly Looby

Author / Editor in Chief at Molten Publishing / Freelance Editor / Writing Coach / Reviewer / Blogger / Wrimo / Movellian / ZA Ready

molly@moltenpublishing.co.uk

Visit me on Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn / Movellas / NaNoWriMo