Your story already exists

The story you want to tell already exists. As a writer, your job is not to make it up — it’s to illuminate the truth that’s already there.

One of the questions I’m asked most frequently about my books goes something like this: “How do you make your writing so detailed and believable?” I have given a variety of answers to this question in the past, and here are the usual explanations:

1. I do a huge amount of literary research, and have spent many years ensuring I’m as close to an expert on my subject as it is possible to be.
2. I focus on creating believable characters who can take over the hard work of writing the plot for me (seriously — every novelist will tell you that this is a thing).
3. I strongly believe in immersing myself in the world of my characters, and I have suffered to achieve that ideal. I have climbed Scottish mountains in winter conditions using Victorian climbing equipment, trekked Alpine passes discovered by my characters, slept rough on glaciers, been avalanched, climbed rock pitches in hobnailed boots without a rope, chipped steps up fifty-degree ice with an Alpenstock. I cannot write my books if I am not willing to suffer as my characters suffered.

All of these answers are true, but they skirt around the truth.

The truth is that writers need to believe in their work. I don’t mean that in an abstract, motivational-slogan kind of way — I mean that in a very concrete sense. If you do not believe absolutely in the truth of what you’re writing, give up and go home. It doesn’t matter if what you are writing is a fictional interpretation of real events, or indeed something entirely imaginary; to you, the writer, your story must be true and you must believe in it without question.

So here’s the secret. For every book I write, I start with the assumption that my story already exists somewhere, and my job is merely to illuminate it — to shine a light on a truth that is as firm and solid as the mountains about which I write. Whenever I have tried to write a book from a different point of view, I have failed. If I find myself dwelling on issues like I need to figure out what happens next or how can I resolve the conflicts in this section? then I’m doing a bad job and the idea is probably a rotten one. The real questions are how can I find out what happens next? and how do the characters resolve their conflicts in this section?

The distinction is extremely subtle, and all in my head, but it makes an enormous difference to me.

Obviously planning and plotting still need to be done. The difference is in the approach. Rather than believing that it is up to me to come up with the answers, it feels more like a process of research. My job is not to decide what happens in the story; my job is to find out what happened, and then record it.

With my particular brand of historical fiction that isn’t such a difficult leap to make, because 70% of what I write about actually happened in some form or another — the fictional component is merely the glue that fills in the gaps. But it’s absolutely critical that the fiction is as real as the historical component, and I believe that writers in any genre can benefit from that philosophy.

If I can believe in a story so powerfully that it seems to exist with a truth beyond and outside my own mind, then the reader will believe in it too.

When's the next book coming out, Alex?

2014 has whooshed past in something of a blur. My plan at the start of the year was to release three titles: one major novel, plus two shorter companion pieces. I’m sorry to say that I’m on track for releasing precisely nothing.

Work continues on A Year of Revolution — the sequel to The Atholl Expedition and the next volume in the Alpine Dawn cycle — but it’s nowhere near ready and I only have a few chapters completed. A Christmas release just isn’t going to happen, and at the rate I’m going it will take another six months. As for other titles, I have made progress on a science fiction short story for an anthology project, but that’s about it.

Worse still, 2014 has been a year decidedly light on mountains. I managed three trips. The first, in January, had to be called off due to terrible weather. In May we went to Edale for a few days, which was enjoyable, and in July I went to the Alps, which was a significant and worthwhile expedition. However, I’ve only stood on two summits all year and it’s starting to feel like a really long time since my last adventure in the Scottish hills.

Last year I was productive, discliplined, and made short work of Atholl’s first draft. I also managed to fit in several excellent trips to the mountains. So what happened this year?

Real life intervenes

Until recently I worked part time as a consultant at the Carphone Warehouse. This job worked reasonably well for me last year and I managed to fit both writing and mountaineering trips around my shifts (which generally didn’t exceed four days a week). The balance worked.

However, our manager left late in the year to help a struggling store and that’s when things unravelled. As a small team of four, we worked well together — but removing a key component changed the dynamics. Another member of staff left shortly afterwards, leaving just me and the new manager. We entered crisis mode. As far as I can tell, the store remains in crisis mode nearly a year later.

Early this year I was working 6–7 days a week. At first I thought this would just be for a month or so, until we found new members of staff, but somehow we failed to hire anyone for months. Few people applied for the job, and the candidates we called in for interview were astoundingly bad. Eventually we hired someone, but they only lasted two shifts.

After months of burning the candle at both ends, we finally hired someone who was actually suitable for the role. By this point I already knew that Carphone wasn’t working out, but it wasn’t until July that I made the decision to go freelance and establish Pinnacle Editorial. I owed it to my colleagues to wait until a reliable new member of staff was on board before I could leave.

Of course, from that point on I have been dedicating every working hour to getting my new business off the ground and establishing a client base. I’m glad to say that things are going well in that regard, and my working week is full of varied and interesting work, but I am not yet at the stage where I can relax and focus on other things. New ventures — particularly freelance ones — require time to nurture and grow.

Excuses, excuses

I know, I know. If I was a real writer I would have found time — etcetera etcetera. I’m aware of all the motivational ephemera floating around the Web that exists to make writers believe that if the words aren’t flowing out of them in a torrent at all times then they shouldn’t be doing it. The fact is that not all writers are alike, and for me much of the work of writing is an unconscious process that does not involve putting words down on the page. I can be sat staring into space and still writing. Most of the work is done by my characters, anyway … all I have to do is record what they are up to.

Being serious for a moment, there are also priorities to consider. Writing is not my main source of income. For most of this year I have had to prioritise the things that pay the rent.

Balance

It’s all about balance.

For me, the ideal balance allows me to dedicate several hours every week to writing — not necessarily every day, because I don’t have to write every single day to be productive. This balance would allow me to conduct my editorial work from 10–6 every day (my preferred working hours). It would also allow me to read for an hour or two in the evening, and give me the time and money to escape to the hills for a few days every couple of months. A day off every week for a long bike ride or hike through the Wolds is also an important ingredient.

This is the balance I am trying to build in my life. I very nearly hit it last year for a few months; the only sour note was the uncertainty and stress of a day job that I was never particularly good at.

In 2015 I will have more control over my life than ever before. I am master of my own time and can assign it as I see fit. The ideal balance will take a little while to achieve, and I have no doubt that I’ll have to continue prioritising my editorial work for much of 2015 … but I also know that I’ll only have myself to blame if I don’t find the time to write as well.

Thanks for reading, and if you’re one of my readers then thanks also for your patience. The new book is going to be worth the wait.

I quit the day job

It's a fact of our profession that, throughout history, most writers have been obliged to take on secondary employment in order to pay the bills and put food on the table. I'm no different. Although I have been a published author since October 2012, income from my books isn't anywhere near high enough to support me alone — although it's a welcome supplementary income, of course — and I have worked part time at the Carphone Warehouse as a customer consultant to earn the money I need to live.

It hasn't worked out too badly for the most part, and if anything I enjoy having a day job. It provides structure and new ideas, and of course the financial flexibility to write when I have the time.

However, for the last year I've become increasingly aware that the system isn't working as well as it used to. The nature of my role has changed, becoming increasingly competitive and salesy in a cut-throat industry, and it got to the stage where I felt it was no longer the right job for me.

The easy option would have been to find another "safe" job unrelated to my writing career. However, I've been nurturing an idea for a while now and last week while walking in the Alps I decided that the time had come to act on it.

Whenever I go to the Alps, good things happen in my life:

1. In 2007, I conceived the idea for my first novel.
2. In 2008, I made the decision to move to Scotland shortly after getting back from the Alps, largely thanks to a chance conversation with someone James and I met out there (and who is now a friend).
3. In 2010, I put the finishing touches to my first novel, and not long after returning I made the decision that I wanted to move away from Scotland to be with my new girlfriend Hannah (now my long term partner).

So you see, the Alps are good for me, and this time is no different!

What's next?

For years now I have been doing manuscript critiques, beta reading, document appraisals, and even line editing on an informal basis — never taking payment for it, and usually as a favour to someone. I am also a dedicated reviewer of mountain literature, and am frequently contacted by publishers and authors to review new books before they go on sale. From self editing my own books I have learned how to be rigorous and focused in knocking a manuscript into shape. I've also been writing (both fiction and non-fiction) for many years now and have learned a fair bit about the mechanics of stories and the market itself. I have contacts high and low in the industry and plenty of allies to help me.

I think I have a great deal to offer new writers who are starting out and need some guidance.

After seeking advice from others in the same field, my intention is to find work as a freelance editor, proofreader, and literary consultant. I will offer a range of services from lightweight manuscript appraisals through to full, in-depth line edits. I'll also be offering my abilities as an ebook formatter and paperback layout designer. I already have the basic skills and a reasonable amount of informal experience; what I need now is to hone those skills and do some paid work for clients.

This is a bold step, but it's the right thing to do on so many different levels. If I'm going to do it then now is the right time.

I will be able to reveal more details about my exciting new direction in time, but for now, if you are an author with a manuscript that needs attention, or anyone else looking for editorial or copywriting work, please get in touch and we'll talk!

Three years of work on Alpine Dawn

In summer 2011, I read a book that would change my life.

That book was Travels Through the Alps of Savoy by James Forbes. I've already discussed it many times on this blog, so I won't go into it again now, but it is sufficient to say that it introduced me to a new period of Alpine history and a remarkable character who achieved more over the span of a single summer than most scientists achieve in their entire lives.

In 2011, I was working on The Only Genuine Jones and planning a sequel set in the Zermatt and Evolene area. However, after reading Travels I was seized by a grand new idea and abandoned all plans for a Jones sequel.

Early stages

At first my new project was simply called 1848 and it took me nearly a year to do the preliminary round of research and reading I needed to do in order to get up to speed on the era and the history. By 2012 it had a new name: Alpine Dawn, a phrase taken from the works of James Forbes (who speaks of "standing on the threshold of an Alpine dawn" in 1842, which is remarkably prophetic considering the golden age of Alpinism began not much more than a decade afterwards).

I started working on a first draft in 2012, and by the end of the year I had four chapters written ... but it was hard work, harder by far than anything I had written before. On New Year's Eve I wrote:

Alpine Dawn is not easy to write. It haunts me, challenges me, defies easy classification or comfort. I suspect it has the potential to hold more truth than anything I have written before, but it will have to be wrenched from me, and it won't be ready for a long time.

In early 2013 I got bogged down, decided the tone was too bleak and that my main character, Thomas Kingsley, wasn't sympathetic enough. I archived everything I had written and started work on a sideline project which later became The Atholl Expedition.

A bigger picture emerges

I picked up my old Alpine Dawn manuscript and realised that what made the story great was not the details, but the bigger picture. I scrapped the character of Thomas Kingsley, abandoned the dismal Victorian London setting, and focused on my key characters: James Forbes, Albert Smith, and the shadowy legacy of Horace Benedict de Saussure. I wanted to create a grand vision of hope and enlightenment, not financial ruin and despair.

Echoes of my story can be seen everywhere in The Atholl Expedition and it soon occurred to me that this book was, in truth, a prologue to the tale I really wanted to tell. So that decision was easy. The Atholl Expedition became Alpine Dawn Book I. It's a very optimistic novel and it reflects my vision perfectly.

Instead of being hopelessly overwhelmed by a huge plot far too big to be contained in a single novel, I decided to split it into more manageable parts and focus on each at once. The tactic worked. The Atholl Expedition was completed in a timely fashion and published at Christmas 2013.

A Year of Revolution

I am currently working on Book II, which originally had the (rather boring) working title of The Solomon Gordon Papers. I'm now using the title A Year of Revolution instead, which reflects the fact that 1848 is the year everything changes — the tipping point beyond which the actions of my characters begin to have consequences on a European scale.

A Year of Revolution focuses initially on Albert Smith, the London journalist, showman and mountaineer who seeks the answer to the legend of the Pegremont — a mountain of ice discovered by the great explorer Saussure in the 18th century, but lost ever since. The book opens with the June revolution in Paris and Smith finds himself on the barricades, desperate to make his rendezvous with Doctor Barbier of the Hotel Dieu, his old tutor — and an amateur Alpine historian who Smith believes knows the truth behind the Pegremont. He is helped by a savage young woman called Josette who organises the defence against General Cavaignac's National Guard.

It's the beginning of a series of events that will lead to Balmoral, and the hunt for Solomon Gordon's papers — the documents that hold the key that will unlock the mystery of the Alps.

The future

I foresee no end to this series as of yet. After three years of work I have completed one novel, am a good way into a second, and have a third (The Ice World) partially planned. The opportunities for the future are virtually limitless. The Alpine golden age is filled with drama and romance, larger-than-life characters and legends, and it remains an untapped gold mine for the writer of mountain fiction.

People have asked me How many books will there be in the Alpine Dawn series? but the truth is that I simply don't know!

Breaking the ice on a new novel - the pilot chapter method

Actually getting started on a new novel can be a difficult step. Every writer is different: some of us leap headfirst into a new project, eager to get going, while others linger over characterisation and plot plans.

I tend to fall into the latter category. I have failed on novels before due to poor planning, so nowadays I like to be sure everything is ready before I write a line of the story. I spend weeks (or sometimes even months) conducting research, writing notes, drawing up detailed character files. I write complex historical novels so it would be foolish to jump into the deep end before I'm ready.

However, sometimes it pays to set aside the research and just get stuck in — even if it's only to test the waters.

The Pilot Chapter

What do I mean by a 'pilot chapter'? Put simply, it's a test run. It lets you explore characters, themes, and plot elements without committing to anything. Think of it as a sketchbook.

I'm currently at the point in planning Alpine Dawn II (boring working title The Solomon Gordon Papers) where most of the prewriting has been done and I'm itching to get into the meat of the story — however, I'm well aware that I'm not quite ready yet. I still need to outline the overall plot and answer some important questions before I begin.

I'm introducing some new main characters in this volume, including the journalist and showman Albert Smith. The pilot chapter I'm currently working on is set in Paris on the 23rd of June, 1848 — a date when revolutionary battles broke out between the desperate workers of the eastern quarters and the government forces of the west. This won't necessarily be the actual first chapter of the finished book, but by putting Smith in a stressful situation I can learn about how he acts and reacts as a character. The chapter is also answering lingering questions about various subplots.

As you might expect, I began by creating a first line. Here's mine:

A brick crashed through Smith's hotel room window.

Will it end up as the first line of the book? Probably not, but for now it's serving its purpose.

As a Springboard

Sometimes the pilot chapter can be something more: it can be the seed for the first draft. If the story really takes off and you find yourself three chapters in and still going strong, you're probably onto something good and should just keep going!

This is more or less what happened when I was working on The Only Genuine Jones. After two false starts — one of which got to over 20,000 words in length — I eventually decided just to start writing, no pressure, and see what happened. That pilot chapter worked well and, with a few modifications, became the final version of Chapter 1 as it exists today.

Ultimately we're all different. The pilot chapter method will be completely unsuitable for some writers; after all, some novelists don't plan their books at all, and thrive on jumping straight in. However, for those of us who like to plan for every eventuality before committing words to the page, the pilot chapter method can be a great way of breaking the ice on a new book.

Focused writing apps for Windows 8 (part one)

Windows 8 is a controversial subject at the moment. More and more of us are using "post PC" devices instead of traditional computers, both for work and play, and Microsoft is attempting to bridge the gap with an operating system designed to work well on both tablets and traditional workstations. Whether or not they have succeeded is open to debate, but it cannot be denied that the lines have become blurred. Devices like the newly launched Lenovo Thinkpad 8 are as small and light as an iPad, but run full-fat Windows.

Windows 8 (aka "Metro") apps have been criticised lately for their questionable utility on non-touchscreen systems. However, the focused writing app is an important niche for the modern writer - and the Metro environment is perfect for applications of this kind. For my general thoughts on focused writing apps please see my blog post A tablet computer as writer's companion. As a general rule software of this kind deals with plain text or Markdown files.

These apps aren't just for people who own a Surface tablet or a convertible hybrid; they also work on any desktop or laptop running Windows 8, although for heavyweight editing tasks you will probably want to use a classical text editor like Notepad++.

In this article I will be examining the focused writing apps Poe and WritePlus, plus the more advanced text editor Code Writer. All screenshots are from my desktop PC with a 1920 x 1080 monitor.

POE

(roryok / free)

With app bar open

This is one of the first distraction-free text editors I found in the Windows store, and I was initially attracted by its simplicity. This is an app developed specifically for creative writers. The standard view is a simple canvas with words and nothing else, but a swipe from the bottom of the screen (or a right click, if you use a mouse) brings up the app bar with controls including lookups (with links to dictionaries, Wikipedia etc), access to word count, find, and so on. The "Find" facility is rudimentary and doesn't offer a replace feature.

There is a faint watermark of a raven (a reference to Edgar Allan Poe) but this is hardly noticeable in use and actually helps to add a certain distinction to the app.

The settings charm, with dark theme active.

Settings are basic but contain the essentials: theme control (dark, light, grey, or custom colours), font size, and column width - a crucial feature if you're working with a large widescreen monitor, because it's tiring having to scan back and forth across an entire screen of text. Tablet users will probably want the text column to fill the screen.

A gripe: some control over typeface would be nice, even if it's just serif / sans serif.

Document statistics and timer

The wordcount dialogue contains a countdown timer, which is a nice touch. In use I've found Poe to be stable, unlike some Metro apps, and is a dependable tool for everyday writing.

I've been in contact with the developer and he has exciting plans for this app:

I'm working on a pro version of Poe right now which has a bunch of advanced features. The main features Poe Pro will have over the free version are Rich Text support, Online backup, Multiple File Support and a Recent Document History. Version 1.1 and up will add more on top of that:
Document Versioning - Poe will continue to save directly to disk, but will also maintain a shadow copy of documents to allow the user to roll back to a previous version.
Margin Notes - As I write I find myself inserting editing and re-writing instructions into the text, in square brackets. This isn't the correct place for these. Margin Notes will allow you to place notes in the sidebar, relating to specific parts of the document. It's a little tricky to implement, so it might be version 1.1 or 1.2 before it emerges.
"Asset Tagging" - This will allow the user to "tag" any word or phrase in a document. This info will then be easily accessible at any point. For example, a detective might beat an address out a suspect in chapter 6, and in chapter 9 you need that address. If the info is tagged, you'll be able to access it more easily, possibly in a sidebar.
Project Management - Group files together into projects. I tend to throw all files into a folder, but they're not connected. With a good project management feature I should be able to pull together notes, text fragments, ideas, todo-lists, documents etc all into one central project structure.
Character Profiling - See how many times a character crops up, how many lines they have, etc

I think Poe is a great distraction-free text editor for Windows 8 and I look forward to future developments.

WRITEPLUS

(Zig HM / free with in-app purchases) 

Standard editing mode

WritePlus is one of those apps that I initially downloaded, found to be buggy and awful, then uninstalled. Recently I decided to give it another chance and was pleased to find the new version substantially improved over the initial release.

With app bar open. "Menu" and "Tools" replicate features in the full screen toolbar.

WritePlus is a little more complex than Poe and adds some extra options, including Markdown text formatting, a built-in dictionary and thesaurus, a "word cloud" (which I haven't used yet and is part of an in-app purchase) and text to speech. It also allows you to export to HTML (which again I haven't tried yet).

The settings dialogue is comprehensive and offers everything you need. Dark theme shown.

The UI is pleasing to look at but a little inconsistent, as the "Menu" and "Tools" menus are duplicated in two different interfaces: the full screen toolbar and the app bar. Metro design guidelines suggest that controls of this nature ought to be hidden in the app bar unless absolutely essential. I'm not a dev but if I had designed the app I probably wouldn't have included the full screen toolbar at all. The document statistics dialogue is also not very Metro-like and appears to have been lifted straight out of an iOS or Android app.

Support for themes is, however, excellent and the app provides full control over font size and column width. Extra themes are unlocked via an in-app purchase.

Document stats dialogue - not very Metro-like?

The app is fairly stable although I have occasionally come across baffling crashes. Sometimes the app refuses to open files, or opens them with an error message; sometimes it won't save them, or appears to get interrupted during the saving process. I must stress these are only very occasional errors, but it's definitely a less stable app than Poe. I tried to contact the dev to mention these crashes but was unable to find any contact information, and the project's web page has nothing on it.

Still, it's a solid app with more functionality than Poe in its present form, and future updates could improve it even further.

CODE WRITER

(Actipro Software / Free)

Code Writer start screen. This is a great interpretation of the Metro design principles.

Finally I bring to your attention Code Writer, the most fully-featured text editor currently available in the Windows Store. This is a programmer's editor, capable of advanced syntax highlighting and able to handle a wide variety of languages. It also does double duty as an efficient plain text editor.

Full screen mode. Line numbers can be switched off if required.

From a novelist's point of view, this app isn't as good for the daily job of churning out words - it's more suitable for hardcore editing, or for converting your finished book to a Kindle document via the hand-coded HTML route. This is how I prefer to create my Kindle books as I think it provides the greatest control over your final product, and this is the only Metro app I've been able to find that will do the job competently.

The app can also cope with multiple documents. Where Code Writer excels is in providing you with options.

The app bar open, showing document switcher and advanced options.

This is what the Metro design language was invented for: reducing complex structures to simple ones, and more importantly, making them accessible to touch-screen devices. A few years ago only desktop-class software would have offered this level of functionality.

As an editor designed for real editing (as opposed to just putting words to the page) this app provides everything you need in a touch-optimised package. It can even cope with advanced tasks such as changing capitalisation and indentation. However, Find / Replace is very basic and doesn't offer support for wildcards.

The settings bar, with dark theme active.

Settings are comprehensive and allow a high degree of control. By default, line numbers are on but word wrap is off, a clear indication of its heritage as a programmer's editor (you will want to change both these settings if using it as a focused writing app). You have full control over font and colour theme, but - crucially for desktop users - no text column width control. This means that on a big desktop monitor the text fills the entire screen, making it tiring to scan back and forth.

Document stats

As a focused writing app, Code Writer doesn't work as well as the other two I've mentioned (no column width control, more options than necessary, requires some initial configuration). However, this app occupies a subtly different niche and it does what it was designed to do very well. I have observed no crashes or instability while using it.

In my opinion this app works best for tablet users, where it truly excels in offering a competent text / programming editor in the Metro environment. However, desktop users would be better off sticking with Notepad++ or another traditional text editor with a more comprehensive range of features. The lack of column width control is also somewhat of a deal-breaker on a desktop PC.

To conclude

Windows 8 isn't for everyone, and has perhaps unfairly struggled to gain traction so far, largely due to the confusion between its touch and desktop modes of operation. However, I hope in this article I've shown that writers need not fear the Metro - in fact, there are an increasing number of highly useful apps in the Windows Store that can help streamline our daily workflows. I think the possibilities of Metro apps are particularly significant for tablet users.

I'm currently evaluating some other writing apps for Windows 8 and will follow up this post with a second part in the future.

Any other writers who use Windows 8 out there? What are your favourite apps?

Every author needs a support team

They say writing is a lonely business. The meat of the work is conducted at your desk, alone: an introverted process of extracting ideas from the recesses of your mind and hammering them into some form others can understand and enjoy.

The reality, of course, is very different. Writing can feel lonely, but it is never a solitary effort. Every author needs a support team!

Your characters

I don't really believe that the author is responsible for creating his or her stories. When I write, it often feels as if I have remarkably little input - at least, when the story is flowing and I'm writing well. I always plan my books but the plan usually changes several times during the execution. Why do my stories change? The answer is simple: I'm not the one in charge!

A novel is written by its characters. A strong character has a mind of its own and has the power to influence and interact with other characters, direct the action, and even persuade the author to change his or her mind. If a character does none of these things, and you find yourself having to operate them like a puppet, the character probably isn't a strong one and needs work.

My job is to write down the images and scenes acted out by my characters - at most to gently guide the action.

Strong characters are a great source of comfort. They whisper to you, direct your hand, and can boost flagging confidence during the difficult central portion of a book. Most importantly, they bring your imagination to life.

Your mentor

Every author needs a mentor: a more experienced, wiser writer who has been through the little triumphs and tragedies inherent to our profession. Not everyone is lucky enough to find a suitable mentor, but make friends with other writers (it's easy to do this online nowadays) and it will fall into place.

I'm very fortunate to have made friends with Susan Fletcher several years ago when we worked together at the Clachaig Inn, Glen Coe, and her support and advice have worked wonders ever since! It makes a real difference to know there is someone on your side who has been through it all before.

A writing support group

Related to the above, it helps to have a larger network of writers with whom you can discuss aspects of the craft. Online writing support groups have existed for as long as the Web has been around, and today there are many forums to choose from. I am a member of the UK Kindle Users Forum (mostly inhabited by authors), and although I don't post there as often as I used to, it's a great community.

Beta readers

It's impossible to read your own work with a critical eye. First draft material is usually pretty ropey, but the author is so immersed in the work they are unable to see the truth. You need a team of beta readers.

These people must be reliable, impartial, objective, and analytical. At this stage you don't want people to shower you with praise and encouragement at the expense of more useful advice; you want people who will read your work and say what they really think. With rare exceptions, family members make imperfect beta readers (although their opinions can be useful at various stages of the process).

Look after your beta readers. They are one of your most precious resources and can make the difference between a good book and a bad one.

Your editor

Perhaps the most important figure in the pre-publication support team is your editor. Writers who think they can publish without professional editing are almost certainly deluding themselves. Yes, it's expensive, but look at it as an investment; without professional analysis and correction, your work will be riddled with errors and will not survive in today's competitive market.

It's easy to assume that you'll be able to edit your own work, but trust me, unless you are trained as a copyeditor you won't have a hope of finding more than maybe 50% of the problems with your manuscript. Even experienced authors can rarely produce publishable prose by themselves. We all need a skilled editorial team.

My editor is Clare Danek, and I've worked with her on all three of my projects to date. I'd recommend her to any author looking for an attentive, professional editor whose charges are reasonable and whose work is of high quality.

Your illustrator

If your creative gifts happen to include the visual arts in addition to the written word, then you're truly blessed. Unfortunately most of us aren't so gifted and, if we want pictures in our books, we will need to employ someone to do the work for us.

My illustrator is Catherine Speakman, and her work fits my themes and subject matter very well. I recently blogged about the artwork she has produced for The Atholl Expedition.

Your evangelists

When you publish your first book, you are starting from a blank slate. You (probably) have no fans yet, no loyal readers. If your work is good and you have found your audience, this group will grow over time.

Loyal fans will do a lot of marketing work for you. They will help to build enthusiasm about new releases, share your blog posts and social media utterances, and help to spread the word. In my opinion a corps of loyal fans is the single most precious resource in the arsenal of any modern writer, for without evangelists your fanbase cannot grow and the success you crave will always be out of reach.

Look after these people. Ask your most loyal fans if they would like to be beta readers; they will appreciate the chance to help you out, and may feel privileged to be given early and exclusive access to your new work. If they are also bloggers or have their own social media platform, do what you can to help promote them in turn. Build good relationships with your loyal fans, and they will help to look after you in turn.


I'd like to take this opportunity to thank every single person who has helped me over the last year and a bit since the publication of The Only Genuine Jones. As I work towards a new release I am very conscious of the fact that I couldn't have done this alone, and I'm very much in your debt.

Authors: who do you rely on during the writing process?

I maintain a mailing list exclusively for new releases and special offers, and subscribers to this list get early access to my new releases - and at a lower price than the standard published rate. For the opportunity to get The Atholl Expedition before it goes on general sale, please subscribe to my mailing list.

The best smartphone for writers

"I'm a writer. Which smartphone should I buy?"

This is a question I hear all the time. I'm not only an author: I also work for a major phone retailer on a part time basis, and I spend my working days advising customers on which smartphone is the right choice for them. The industry moves at a phenomenal pace and a lot of my work involves keeping up to date with recent advances.

I've already covered tablet computers for the writer, and even hacked ereaders, but what about smartphones? Surely it's impossible to get any meaningful work done on such a small screen? Think again...

Android won the war

The Web is full of fanboys, jealously defending their chosen operating system, but as a technology enthusiast I'm platform agnostic. I use whatever gets the job done.

As 2013 draws to a close it has become clear that, for the moment at least, Android has won the platform war. Google's operating system has beaten its competitors on multiple fronts: power, flexibility, choice of device, productivity tools. Apple's iOS isn't far behind these days, but it remains relatively simplistic and the iPhone has a tiny screen (great for a phone, not so great for a pocket computer). As for Windows Phone, it showed much initial promise but has failed to deliver, and remains a primitive operating system which doesn't even support the use of an external keyboard! I used a Windows Phone last year and eagerly awaited the promised improvements, but they simply didn't appear and Microsoft is now at least two years behind Google.

So, for the purposes of this article I will be looking at Android devices. These machines are just as capable as tablet computers, only in a smaller package.

The appropriate task for the appropriate screen

With a little care and preparation, a modern Android machine is capable of doing almost every single task a writer requires of a computer. Who would have thought the day would come when you could write an entire novel on a phone?

You'll need to decide which specific tasks you want your phone to achieve. Some writers will simply be looking for a social media tool to help them maintain their author platform when away from their desk; others may want to actually write on their phone as well. A smartphone is a computing Swiss army knife that can turn its talents to almost any task - but unlike a PC, a smartphone has a small screen running only a single task at once, so it retains an admirable degree of focus.

There are, of course, some tasks you simply can't do on a smartphone. I can't do intensive editing (although lightweight editing is practical to an extent), I can't run page layout software, I can't comfortably code HTML, and I can't compile eBooks.

Here is a list of "writer tasks" I use my smartphone for:

1. Email
2. Task management
3. Social media (blogging, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest etc)
4. Access to my library of research, document clippings, and stored photos
5. Taking photos
6. Writing first draft material (I'll come back to this!)
7. Lightweight editing

Any Android smartphone will be able to cope with tasks 1-5. When conducting field work in the initial stages of planning and prewriting a novel, having a pocket computer with built-in camera and mobile broadband really is an incredible benefit: it allows you to capture and record every discovery straight away, write notes, and send all this data back to your PC for further analysis. It beats the traditional combination of paper notebook and camera hands down.

If you need no more from a smartphone than this, read no further: go to your latest phone shop and get an Android handset that suits your budget and personal preference. You'll need to spend at least £200 (SIM free) or £17/month (contract) to get a good quality device.

If, however, you want a little bit more from a smartphone - something that can be used for producing content as well as standard phone tasks - then read on!

The challenge of writing on a smartphone

Smartphones have small screens compared to any computer you've used, but they are increasing in size. The average high-end smartphone in 2013 has a 5" display, and you can now get 6.3" behemoths. Devices with screens more than 5" in diagonal are halfway between phones and tablets, and have been dubbed "phablets."

Many people believe phablets are too big and unwieldy, but the big screen can be a tremendous advantage and they tend to have slim profiles. The large screen of a phablet makes writing first draft material more comfortable. Using the onscreen touch keyboard is surprisingly practical for short writing sessions, but for more serious writing you will want a Bluetooth keyboard.

I recently purchased a Think Outside Bluetooth folding keyboard. Manufactured in 2004, this great piece of hardware was one of the first portable Bluetooth keyboards ever produced. It runs on AAA batteries, is compatible with modern devices, folds to a pocketable size, and is clad in a robust aluminium shell. Better yet, I picked it up on eBay for less than £20. 

You will also want a folding stand of some sort. They can be bought very cheaply on eBay.

The resulting setup provides you with a small (but usable) display area and a very comfortable keyboard for touch typing.

Apps are, of course, also important. I currently use Dropbox, Draft (a truly excellent text editor), Google Drive, and Quickoffice. Together these cover all the bases and I can open any document on my setup, including Excel spreadsheets and complex Word documents. 

My device of choice

I'm sure you're curious to hear which device currently gets my recommendation. As pictured above, it's the Samsung Galaxy Note 3.

The Note 3 running Nova Launcher instead of the
abominable launcher Samsung installs on
their devices by default...

This is the Rolls Royce of the smartphone world: expensive, fully-featured, and packed with every productivity feature you could wish for. At over £600 unlocked, this is the "money no object" option, but in my opinion it's the best smartphone for writers currently available.

(Quick note: I would normally pick something less expensive, but let's just say there are certain benefits to my job!)

Aside from the 5.7" HD screen, the best feature of this machine is the "S Pen". This is a detachable stylus which makes use of the display's pressure-sensitive digitizer. In plain English this means you can use it to write or draw directly onto the screen. It's accurate, too - it feels like a real pen, rather than the thick and clumsy rubber-tipped stylus I used to use with my old iPad.

Another important feature for the writer who conducts field work is battery life. I can easily get two days of use between charges with the Note 3, and it's almost impossible to drain the battery in a day.

Samsung includes a bewildering array of extra software on their devices. Most of it is junk, installed as a strategic move in case they ever fall out with Google. The first thing I did when I got my Note 3 was to disable all the useless Samsung apps I will never use; the second thing I did was to install Nova Launcher, which provides a better and more customisable desktop experience. The end result is something that looks a lot like stock Android 4.3 but can still take advantage of the more useful Samsung additions.

Final words

Smartphone choice is very personal and not everyone will like the Note 3. It's undeniably huge, comes with a hefty price tag, and has a thin plastic shell. However, the extra screen real estate and superior battery life are qualities that any writer will find useful if they want more than just the standard phone features from their smartphone.

Some other good choices in the high end:

• Google Nexus 5. This is Google's newest "pure Android" offering, and offers a high quality machine with a great display at an affordable price point. However, battery life is a concern. This was also my experience with the Nexus 4 (otherwise a brilliant device).
• Samsung Galaxy S4. This can be a considered a stripped-down version of the Note 3, with a smaller screen, smaller battery, and no S Pen.
• HTC One. Good battery life and sturdy aluminium construction.
• Sony Xperia Z1. This one is water and dust resistant.

And some more affordable options (which tend to have smaller screens, smaller batteries, and slower processors):

• Sony Xperia SP
• Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini
• HTC One Mini

Of course there is one more choice ... the dependable old Palm m500! I still have mine and it's still going strong, providing sterling service when I go to the mountains and need something indestructible for writing and nothing else.

Writers: what smartphone do you have, and what tasks do you use it for?

The Atholl Expedition moves into beta

After a weekend of intense activity, I have succeeded in converting the second daft of The Atholl Expedition into a beta advance copy: that is, a rough-and-ready (but presentable) version of the book suitable for distribution to a small number of beta readers.

This is something I recommend all writers do with their work before they push the 'publish' button. It is completely impossible for an author to be objective about his or her own work; you need another pair of eyes, or preferably several, to read through and tell you about the inevitable inconsistencies, plot holes, character problems, and bits where it just doesn't make any sense. If possible, I recommend you recruit experts in specific fields who will be able to provide targeted advice on areas you aren't strong on yourself.

Who are my beta readers? Two are family members, one is a Twitter follower who has offered to help me out, three are people who have provided feedback on my work before (and whose objectivity and attention can be relied upon), one is an expert on Prince Albert and Queen Victoria, and another is an expert on the history and geography of the Cairngorms.

Beta reading isn't a substitute for professional editing, however, and as soon as I have acted on the advice of my readers the manuscript will be heading off to my editor for a closer look at what still needs work.

Remember, as indie authors we have a duty to our readers: to be diligent, to hold ourselves to the highest professional standards, to strive to do our work as well as authors who are with a mainstream publishing house. I believe we have absolutely no right to charge readers for our creations if we haven't done everything in our power to get them to a professional standard before publication.

I hope to publish The Atholl Expedition by Christmas. To get the chance of downloading the book at a lower price before general release, click here to sign up to my new release mailing list.

Introducing the Alpine Dawn series

In 1847, Europe stands on the brink: of economic catastrophe, of war, of revolution - but also of a period of heroism, beauty, and wonder like no other in history. The golden age of Alpine exploration is just around the corner. The age of the mountaineer is almost upon us...

In this post I would like to introduce my readers to an exciting project I am planning. Recently I blogged about how the 1840s have become my new playground of choice. One of the main reasons I'm enthusiastic about the late 1840s is that the golden age of Alpinism is only a few years in the future, and this makes it a good subject for a mountaineering writer.

I am planning a series, which will go under the name Alpine Dawn (previously the working title of a temporarily paused novel-in-progress).

The goal of this series is at once simple but very ambitious. I want to create a panoramic, fictional account of the growth of mountaineering as a pastime in Britain and Europe. The Only Genuine Jones stands at a point in history when the Alps were already fully explored, and every British mountain had been climbed. In 1847, by contrast, the majority of Alpine peaks were completely unknown, and it is possible many Scottish mountains also awaited first ascents. This is an incredible period in the history of mountaineering, before Munro's list, before Ordnance Survey maps, before climbing guidebooks, before train travel opened up the Alps and the Highlands to the masses.

~ BOOKS IN THE ALPINE DAWN SERIES ~

The series is not yet fully planned, but I can reveal some details today.

Book One: The Atholl Expedition

Expected publication date: Christmas 2013

SCOTLAND, 1847: Convalescence doesn't suit Professor Forbes. When one of his former students appears exhausted at his door, telling stories of murderous gamekeepers and a lost glacier in the heart of the Cairngorm mountains, he can't resist the chance for another adventure. However, he soon finds himself up against the failings of his own health and the Duke of Atholl's men, determined to find the trespasser and punish him for interfering with a very important hunt. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert are staying at the castle - and Albert has an ambition to shoot the oldest and most cunning stag of the estate.

Will Forbes discover the rumoured glacier of Bràigh Riabhach, or will the Duke have his pound of flesh?

Book Two: Kingsley's Challenge (working title)

Expected publication date: 2014

Thomas Kingsley, a failed journalist who owes a great deal of money to some very determined men, seeks an escape from the stinking cesspit of London. He wants to begin his life anew but feels trapped - until, that is, he meets Albert Smith and his shy sister Peggy.

Smith is an Alpine explorer who turns his disaster-riddled exploits into shows for the stage. The old school of explorers consider him a charlatan. Widely known as the man who never successfully climbed Mont Blanc despite many attempts, he seeks a defining triumph to finally seal his reputation.

Professor Forbes is the world's leading authority on glaciers. He wrote the book on Alpine science, but now he is dying. He yearns for one final mountain voyage while he still has strength; a journey without end, one last attempt to solve the mystery of what lies deep beneath the ice.

Together, these unlikely companions will go through hell, revolution, poverty and storm to forge the beginning of a new age.

Book Three has not yet been planned, but will go beyond the events of 1848 and show the beginnings of the new dawn in Alpine exploration.

Remember, to get access to my books before they go on general sale, and at a lower price, please sign up to my new release mailing list. It won't be long before The Atholl Expedition is published!

I have a rough draft for "The Atholl Expedition"

Months of work have paid off, and today I wrote the final paragraph of The Atholl Expedition, my second novel and the first in an exciting new series of books.

The final word count is a shade over 65,000 words, which is far longer than my original intentions but a good length for a short novel, I think. The final word count is subject to change as I have a couple of rounds of editing and polishing to go, but is unlikely to change by more than 5,000 words either way. I have a pretty good idea of exactly what needs to be done to get my rough draft into a publishable condition.

Now the real work begins!

My first year as a published author

The Only Genuine Jones went live on the Kindle store one year ago today - at first just for a few early readers, then general availability on the 21st of October. Initial demand was high and the book quickly rose to no.1 bestseller in the Mountaineering genre, a position it has flirted with on several occasions since.

In this post I would like to summarise my first year as a published author.

The learning curve

I was prepared before I jumped into the deep end of independent publishing. I had done my research, produced a professional (and well edited) product, and got a cover designed by an artist. I had realistic expectations of what I would be able to achieve, and realistic goals.

However, I was soon to discover that the learning curve was a little steeper than I had expected! Selling and marketing a book is a full time job, one where the goalposts are moving constantly. The modern indie author must be agile and able to react instantly to changing conditions - sometimes several times a week. I have experimented with different forms of promotion, from cut price sales to radio interviews, newspaper articles to online banner ads. The social media wisdom I've learned from establishing and working for Glencoe Mountaineer has been refined and reapplied to my new craft.

I have learned an enormous amount in my first year. Possibly the most important lesson I've learned is that this is a long game in which extraordinary patience, resilience, and long-term strategies are rewarded. There are no quick fixes or short-term rewards. Success is not guaranteed and can only be the result of sustained effort over a period of years.

How has the book done?

I get asked this quite a lot, and it's a difficult question to answer! On one hand, I don't make a living from my writing, and most of the proceeds get invested back into my work. On the other hand the book has attracted surprisingly widespread critical acclaim and has sold better than I expected.

My first statement from FeedARead (the printing firm in charge of the paperback edition) came through yesterday, and after adding up all the figures I am happy confirm that the book has sold in excess of 950 copies in its first year (Kindle and paperback combined). This is obviously small fry compared to some books, but considering that the average self published Kindle title sells less than two hundred copies in its entire lifetime, I'm extremely pleased with the readership foundation I have built up.

On Amazon, the book has been reviewed 34 times, and 27 of those reviews are five stars. I have received only a single one star review to date, and to be honest I'm surprised I haven't received more than that; I've always been aware the book has the potential to polarise readers.

Looking ahead to the second year

This is only the beginning. The purpose of The Only Genuine Jones and Crowley's Rival was to test the waters, to gauge the appetite for historical mountaineering fiction. Given the enthusiastic response to my first two titles I am planning a more ambitious campaign in the years to come.

I plan to release The Atholl Expedition within the next two to three months. This book establishes a new timeframe (the late 1840s) and will be the first in a new and ambitious series of books looking at the mountaineering culture of this earlier period. Watch this space for further details!

The quest for distraction-free writing: 1997 to the present day

Beginnings

I have been writing since about 1997. In those days my only point of interaction with the Web was at school, and the computer I used at home was a rickety old Macintosh SE/30 with a black and white screen (nine inches across!) and a 20MB hard disk. Its processor ticked along at 16MHz.

How did you manage? I hear you cry. Actually, it was one of the most intensely productive periods of my writing career. The answer? Focus.

That computer was the most efficient writing tool I have ever used. The screen was big enough for first draft work (although too small for editing and composing), the simplistic, monochrome interface of System 7 supremely focused and streamlined. It was equipped with a beautiful Apple Extended Keyboard with crisp mechanical switches. Best of all, it had no access to the Web and no distractions.

After the SE/30 died I moved on to a PowerBook 190 - a monochrome laptop, also sans Web connection. Mac OS 8 wasn't as minimal as the earlier version I had used at the start but the overall experience was very similar and, as before, my level of productivity was high.

Then the relentless march of the Web finally came knocking on our door, and shortly after the turn of the century we got dialup at home. From 2001 we had an iMac desktop computer which I shared with my younger brother, and this new, shiny machine was packed with games and a Web connection that worked after a few moments of Ping-ping-beepdy-beepdy-crunchcrunchcrinkle-beepdy-ping.

The iMac still going strong after its tenth birthday

My productivity is never at its best in summer, but that year I really struggled to get the words down. I tried enforcing set times of day to write (2-4pm), but distractions encroached with depressing inevitability and all too often I would give into the temptation of a "quick surf of the Net" or one of the many games we had installed. That year I finally gave up trying to finish the increasingly long-winded magnum opus I had begun five years before.

The writing den years

In 2003 I tried a new approach. I purchased a new Apple laptop (my old PowerBook no longer held a charge) and, with the help of my parents, transformed the old summerhouse at the bottom of the garden into a writing den. It contained a desk with lamp, a chair, some shelves, a power outlet, and an electric heater. We were still on dialup at the time so there was strictly no Web access.

I spent two or three hours in my writing den most evenings. With no games installed on my laptop (at first!) and nothing but my iTunes library and the blank page to occupy my thoughts, my productivity increased and soon I found myself writing more than ever before. I preferred the dark evenings later in the year. Cocooned in my den, writing by the light of a single lamp and wedging myself against the electric heater to take the edge off the chill, I produced material at a rate that seems almost unbelievable now.

The numbers speak for themselves. Between the end of October 2003 and the first week of January 2004 I wrote two complete novels with a total wordcount of 250,000 words. Neither of them got as far as the desk of a literary agent, but the learning process was vital.

My writing shed was a system that made me hugely productive. However, it isn't always easy to see what a good thing you have going without the benefit of hindsight.

The Web encroaches further

By 2005 I had installed a few games on my laptop. I was still getting work done in my shed, but my setup no longer forced me to be productive; I now had a procrastination option, and sometimes I ended up taking it. The days of writing 4-6,000 words a night were over.

That year I began an undergraduate course in computer science at UEA Norwich and I virtually stopped writing for three years. Occasionally I picked at projects, but most of my creative energy was in use elsewhere. My newfound passion for hillwalking also served as a major distraction and it wasn't until 2007 that I stumbled across a topic I thought worth writing about.

By this point I was living in rented accommodation in Norwich with an unlimited Wifi connection. I had installed a large amount of software on my laptop - games, programming tools, plus of course a web browser - and no matter how hard I tried, it was impossible to recreate the focus I had once enjoyed. Even when I had to write essays for my course I would have to go to extreme lengths to really focus; on one occasion I actually ripped the Wifi card out of my laptop and locked myself in a library carrel for a few hours.

The Web offers a vast realm of possibilities - limitlessly empowering, and yet I was starting to realise that it was also a major source of distraction. I simply didn't have the discipline to sit down and do nothing but write for a block of several hours when so many other things to do were only a click or two away. Modern computers are multitasking systems and aren't set up for focusing on a single task for long periods of time.

In 2008 I moved to Scotland and, although my Web connection admittedly took a step back towards the stone age, in many ways the writing situation actually got worse. I was working a physically tiring full time job and every spare minute of my waking life was either spent in the pub or up a mountain.

It took me almost two years to realise it, but these are not the optimum conditions for writing fiction. I had an idea for a novel that inspired me but getting the words down was a painfully slow process and often I would write nothing at all for several months.

I become aware of the need to focus

By late 2009 I had started work on The Only Genuine Jones, and in 2010 I started to take my writing seriously again.

I examined my options. Living in shared accommodation, I no longer had the luxury of a dedicated writing den, or even a desktop PC: the best I could hope for was a quiet table in the Residents' Lounge during my break. I identified this is an opportunity I could exploit. Since 2008 my split shift breaks, three hours long, had usually been spent watching TV or running up the local hill if the weather permitted. Now I started using them for writing.

The Web was still a problem - that particular distraction never seems to go away - but I purchased an iPad and I found that the smaller screen and more focused experience helped my productivity. The iPad is an echo of the Macintosh SE/30: small screen, one application at a time.

The iPad in action at the Clachaig

It took discipline, but it worked. The words flowed, and I finished the book.

A return to the desktop

Since 2011 I have once again had a desktop computer: a general-purpose, Swiss army knife computing tool, jack of all trades but certainly not optimised for creative writing.

A PC can surf the Web fluidly, edit photos and video, play games, store vast amounts of data. Any one of its many functions can be summoned with a click or two of the mouse - or, increasingly in the new era of computing, a tap of the screen or a spoken command. A PC is designed to allow efficient multitasking, but the long, hard lesson my writing career up until that point had taught me was that multitasking kills the productivity of the creative writer. As computers have grown in complexity so have their interfaces and the minimal simplicity of System 7 is long gone.

WriteRoom, a "distraction-free" text editing platform. Unfortunately the
Web is only a click away...

Don't mistake me: a PC is essential to the modern writer. We need an efficient multitasking machine to keep in touch with our fans, edit our books, compile them and publish them. Many of the jobs a writer needs to do can only be comfortably accomplished by a general purpose PC.

But the actual everyday process of sitting down and generating first draft material? I no longer think a standard modern computer is the best tool for the job.

I've tried every trick imaginable: anti-procrastination software, distraction-free text editors, physically disconnecting my router. I often write on my old Palm PDA when out and about but the screen is too small for everyday work. The problem is that nothing is quite good enough; I can't find a solution that works as well as the ancient, primitive machines that helped me be so productive years ago. It's all too easy to jump online "to check something" and find yourself still browsing Wikipedia an hour later. Notifications break the train of thought.

I'm susceptible to distraction and I need a minimal, focused, offline device for writing my fiction. Not every writer will be the same - some will thrive on multitasking - but I'm willing to bet that many writers could benefit from a simpler and less distracting system when they're trying to get words down.

The nuclear option

I am currently in the process of planning a setup I hope will solve this problem. I plan to acquire an ancient Mac computer similar to the one I used in 1997, restore it to full working order, and use it purely as a writing terminal. It will run Mac OS 7 in black and white: a minimal interface, yet powerful enough to get the job done, and with absolutely zero distractions. All other author tasks will be dealt with by my main PC with its humongous widescreen monitor and fast connection to the Web.

Will the experiment work? I don't know ... after all, I don't have my writing shed any more, and I may find the limitations of the old technology too annoying to live with. I may also discover that I'm unable to recapture my old level of productivity for other reasons unconnected to the technology I'm using. However, if there's a chance I can get back up to the level of 2,000 or more words a day, I believe the experiment is worth a go!

Authors ... what steps have you taken to beat procrastination? Have you taken the step of setting up a dedicated offline computer for writing?