Terry Tyler - Author Interview [1] Perspiration?

There's a saying "1% inspiration, 80% perspiration." With respect to writing, what say you?

I’ve thought about this long and hard!  Aside from the fact that your MATH is way out (as we’ve already mentioned!),  here’s my version:

10%  Inspiration – you need to be able to think up an unusual story that works, great characters, good plot twists/cliffhangers to keep your audience’s attention.  It’s been said that there are only seven plots in the world; maybe so, but ideally you should have a new take on your choice from those seven.

10% Individuality – your ‘voice’ ought to stand out in the crowd.  I don’t know whether that’s something you can work on or not; I dare say you can’t TRY to be individual!  I hope I write like ME and not like anyone else; I’ve been told this is the case.  Ah - I hope that’s a good thing….!

20% Talent – as I have often said, writing is not something you can learn from a formula.  You can  read all the articles about ‘how to build suspense’, buy your ‘how I became a bestselling author’ book, attend all the creative writing classes you like – they might improve your technique but they won’t give you that ‘spark’.  Having said that, practice, hard work and not being too proud to take advice can develop what you do have.

I read a 1 star review of a book today that said ‘just because you’ve thought of a good story it doesn’t mean you can write’.  Alas, this is all too true.

20% Aptitude for the basics – If you can’t punctuate, if your grammar is poor, it doesn’t matter how great your story idea is, because people won’t be able to read past the first couple of pages.  You’re not sure about it?  Learn how to do it before you to start to write a novel.

35% Dedication – Okay, so you’ve got that 60% of other stuff.  Now you’ve got to sit down and write the thing.  For hours at a time.  Without being distracted by Twitter, Facebook, the telly, the pub, Spider Solitaire, lying on the sofa gazing at the ceiling.  I have a friend who is a far better writer than I; even his Facebook status updates are so clever I can never think of a worthy comment.  He used to write blogs on MySpace that were riveting.  But he can’t apply himself.  ‘That’ novel remains in his head.  Tragic.

…..and not forgetting….

…. 5%  Proof-reading – for all those mistakes, like the ones I sometimes discover in my books, AFTER publication – we’re none of us perfect, eh!