h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

One of the main problems that I have as a wannabe writer is that every potential sentence exposes big gaps in my knowledge base. For example, if a private detective is taking photos, what sort of camera is he using? Why that model? What advantages and features does it have that make it better than another model? The old saying 'write what you know' is no help. I am bored by what I know, that is why I want to write.

Another of the main problems is finishing things. Something. Anything. There is nothing that quite compares to the despair of a writer who has got themself into a seemingly unresolvable plot problem.

I could go on, but I don't want this to be the first thing

Wahoo! I actually know the solution for this one!

If you don't know something, and it's not essential to the plot (like the type of camera your detective is using) just leave it out. Sure it's nice to put in a little bit of detail to colour the piece, but it's a storybook, not a text book, so who cares if you don't include an instruction manual on using a Fuji Finepix (Which is a digital camera, NOT a Japanese pornstar.)

Yes, that would seem to be the best way out of it. However, I can see it getting out of hand. If you don't know what camera is being used, for example, then you don't know about the features it may have, therefore any thing of interest that may come from said features is also lost. This is becoming a bigger problem with new technology that is capable of more and more.

On the surface the above problem may not seem to be a big issue, but when there are several instances on each page (I know very little about anything), it really does become a nuisance. I read somewhere that "you write what you don't know know about what you know" (Grace Paley).

I think that the frustration is with the actual research. It is time consuming and you never quite know what you are going to need. Also, I certainly don't find it as rewarding as writing. I'm more likely to waste that time channel surfing. But, that's another problem.

Well the problm is that the more reaserch you do themore depth yo could put in to your story and that means it has more chance of being published. if you really cant be assed doing resherch you can make evrythjing up from scrach and set it in a differant unaverse or somthing but thatit as lot herder and takes alot longer.

and other thn that things that help with agents is getting short stiories pulished in magasene (ok you get no mony) so you can show that you actully have the qolity for some mor I mean persion to publish you from another wanna be writer who is suposadly to critacal of hinmself..or thats what my wife says..

Okay, a Book Plug for Wannabe Writers. Stephen King's "On Writing" is very useful, both for advice and encouragement. One hint it gives you is to just write the story, and do the research later. A very useful one.

Or just invent the entire universe to suit what you do know; I can think of at least one writer who found success this way (and spawned h2g2 too).

201680 is not my real name, I wanted a personalised number plate but couldn't afford one so changed my name by deed poll.

See, it doesn't really have to make sense at all.

I haven't got the "On Writing" book, but there was one thing in there which troubled me greatly - I can't quote exactly, but I'll paraphrase and if someone wants to quote back at me verbatim, good for them What he said was that a 100 000 word novel should take no longer than 3 months to write and if it does then it's probably no good. Okay, the second bit I may not have remembered very well, but I'm pretty certain he said the first bit. 3 months for a 100 000 word novel? I've been going 20 months for 61336 words (or so ) and about 15000-odd to go... and *then* editing. That, at least, I think you can take with a grain of salt - however many writing books you read, all Authors are different.

But bearing in mind that this is a guy who is a best seller, and can thus do the thing we all dream of- sitting around on our arses with nothing to do BUT write. If we all had this wonderful state of affairs I'm sure we'd find writing a helluva lot easier.

However I found his 1000 words a day rule handy (although now I'm working it's more like 500) and his advice on adjectives, passive voice etc. is all the kind of advice that writers beginning the trade long to have, but can't get at because of their friends telling them "It's good, no really, it is" or English/Creative Writing teachers telling them to "ignore all the rules and boundaries and go with what you feel" which sounds great, but is no where near as useful as "try not to use adjectives unless you really have to"

I think the quote you described (can't be bothered to look it up either) was actually saying that after 3 months the trail begins to run cold, you lose the original enthusiasm for the story, the characters seem less like real people and it starts to feel more like work. I think this definitely has a grain of truth about it. Of course, if after fifteen years writing one novel you still wake up filled with enthusiasm for your labour, that's great, but I think that most of us lack the dedication or the attention span to stick with one story for that long.