Spider Star

The human colony on the planet Argo has long explored and exploited the technology left behind by an extinct alien race. But then an archaeology team accidentally activates a terrible weapon...
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Praise for Star Dragon

"Seldom does a storytelling talent come along as potent and fully mature as Mike Brotherton. His complex characters take you on a voyage that is both fiercely credible and astonishingly imaginative. This is Science Fiction."
-- David Brin

"Star Dragon is terrific fare, offering readers a fusion of hard science and grand adventure."
-- Locus Magazine

"Star Dragon is steeped in cosmology, the physics of interstellar travel, exobiology, artificial intelligence, bioscience. Brotherton, author of many scientific articles in refereed journals, has written a dramatic, provocative, utterly convincing hard science sf novel that includes an ironic twist that fans will love."
-- Booklist starred review

"Readers hungry for the thought-provoking extrapolation and rigorous technical detail of old-fashioned hard SF are sure to enjoy astronomer Brotherton's first novel."
-- Publishers Weekly

"Mike Brotherton, himself a trained astrophysicist, combines the technical acuity and ingenuity of Robert Forward with the ironic, postmodern stance and style of M. John Harrison. In this, his debut novel, those twin talents unite to produce a work that is involving on any number of levels. It's just about all you could ask for in a hardcore SF adventure."
-- Paul di Fillippo, SCI-FI.COM
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The Secret to Writing Novels

August 26th, 2008

There isn’t one.

Having said that, I’ll expound on this point and why I believe it.

Some writers need total quiet. Some need music.

Some writers write a complete draft then revise. Some revise as they go.

Some writers outline. Some surprise themselves.

Some writers write every day. Some don’t.

Some writers work in the morning. Some in the evening.

Some writers come up with the premise first. Some with characters.

Some writers know the ending before they write the first word. Some don’t know they’re writing a novel when they write the first word.

Some writers write in longhand. Some type. Some dictate. Some write on a cell phone.

Most writers I’ve talked with have a completely different process than I have, and they’re different from each other. And moreover, every book is a bit different and the same process that might have worked in the past might require adjustments.

There are no secrets. There are lots of guidelines, however, and what one person has done another can learn.

What works for me is this:

First comes the premise, an idea so interesting it keeps popping into my head for weeks, months, or even years after I’ve first had it. That’s a keeper. Sometimes it needs to stew around and join with other similarly good ideas before it’s appropriate for novel length.

Next comes a vague notion of a story to go with the premise. Orson Scott Card wisely advises in his writing books to figure out who hurts the most, and that’s your main character. Who are the players? What do they want? What are they’re obstacles?

Usually research comes next. Sometimes it isn’t quite possible to figure out the story without knowing some key information. Maybe it’s setting. Maybe it’s a skill. Maybe it’s a physics calculation to see if something is possible.

Then I outline. I write maybe a thousand words or so for a synopsis, like a summary, as an abstract sort of short story.

Then I think hard about the point of view characters and what perspective and tone they should have given who they are and what they want.

I think about what the feel of the book should be. If I picked up the book and read a page at random, how would it strike me? That’s things like the balance between dialogue and exposition, the vocabulary level, other books it would remind me of.

When I’ve done this, I can beat writer’s block. I’ve hit it before writing novels and the key for me is to answer these questions before word one. Otherwise if I have to stop and figure it out later, sometimes I just stop.

Then the writing. I aim for 500-1500 words a day, ideally around 1000, and write every day. Just one page (about 250 words a day) will get you a draft of a novel in a year. I can manage under six months, but if I stop for a day I can stop for weeks without intending to. Travel, work crises, visitors, and similar interruptions to the daily schedule also can cause a bad break. Once my subconcious realizes the rule to write every day can be broken, it gets unruly.

I write with music with the right mood for the book (or character at the moment). I prefer MS Word with a single large file, single-spaced Times font. It makes a difference for me. I don’t know why.

I try to write a draft without revisions, but sometimes I think of something better to happen and go back to set it up while it’s fresh in my mind.

After the first draft, I take a vacation. Then I go back and reread the book and see if I’ve accomplished what I’d like to accomplish. I never do, quite. I fix it up quickly, obvious things, things for consistency, and get some trusted readers to provide feedback.

I usually have to go through 3-5 revisions before I’m mostly happy with the final product. Joe Haldemann, who writes first drafts that don’t usually require much revision, still says that stories are never finished, just abandoned at some point as good enough.

And I think I’ll abandon this post for tonight and go to bed for an early start tomorrow.

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