Blog Tour: Guest Post on Writing from Author of The Mum Who'd Had Enough Fiona Gibson

I am very excited to welcome Fiona Gibson back to the blog today as part of the blog tour for her new novel The Mum Who'd had enough. The Mum Who’d Had Enough, was published as an ebook on June 14, and is out in paperback in July, you can click here to order your copy! Don't forget to check out the other stops on the tour after this for other exclusive content and reviews!

Fiona is going to share some writing tips with us today, I will be paying close attention! But first here's what the novel is all about:

After sixteen years of marriage, Nate and Sinead Turner have a nice life. They like their jobs, they like their house and they love their son Flynn. Yes, it’s a very nice life.

Or, at least Nate thinks so. Until, one morning, he wakes to find Sinead gone and a note lying on the kitchen table listing all the things he does wrong or doesn’t do at all.

Nate needs to show Sinead he can be a better husband – fast. But as he works through Sinead’s list, his life changes in unexpected ways. And he starts to wonder whether he wants them to go back to normal after all. Could there be more to life than nice?

GUEST BLOG POST - 10 WRITING TIPS / FIONA GIBSON

When I was younger, I couldn’t imagine being able to write a whole book. I’d try to start one but would dwindle off, convinced I simply wasn’t up to the job. Now I’ve written ten novels for adults and four for children - and it’s still not easy. I don’t think it ever is. But here are some tips I’ve gleaned along the way. 

1.        The cold, hard truth is - you just have to do it. People talk about wanting to write, and that’s fine - sometimes an idea has to simmer away in your brain until you feel ready to get started. But it’s horribly easy to let the simmering go on and on, and nothing real ever gets done (ie, nothing is actually written). So it’s important to just sit down somewhere quiet and private and get started.

2.        What you write at first can be bunkum (in fact, it almost should be). We worry that it has to be ‘perfect’ - that every word we write will be read by millions and reviewed cruelly, and that people will laugh at us. But that isn’t the case. When you start to write it’s generally a first rough draft, and it’ll go through tons of edits and numerous fiddlings before you’re happy with it. That first draft is like laying down the basic foundations of a house. Remind yourself that no one but you is going to see it, and no one will laugh at you in the street.

3.        Perhaps don’t share just yet. It’s tempting to show friends your work at an early stage and say, ‘What d’you think?’ But I truly believe it’s best not to. Friends will generally say, ‘It’s great!’ And you’ll think: she’s only saying that because she’s my friend. It really doesn’t help, and if other people start suggesting ‘improvements’ it just adds to the confusion of what you want to do. While we all crave encouragement, I think it’s best to keep early drafts to yourself.

4.        Try writing in different places. Maybe sitting at home alone, fretting madly, doesn’t suit your temperament. Although I do the bulk of my writing in our flat, I also love to work in cafes and on trains, and to see life going on around me. If you’re stuck, sometimes a jaunt to town with the laptop is the best way to kick-start things again.

5.        Read books in ‘your’ genre. I can’t stress this enough. When I’m lacking in inspiration, I dip into my favourite authors’ novels and somehow feel re-energised. I don’t mean I copy them, obviously - just that their brilliance and cleverness inspires me to try and write as well as I possibly can.

6.        Relax and have fun. We can all sit there thinking, ‘Oh my God, I’m trying to write a book! I am frozen with fear and can’t possibly do this!’ But actually, a book consists of scene after scene, all joined together in a way that pulls the reader along. And if you can find a way of telling a story, and somehow enjoying the process, after several months or a year or so - depending on what else is going on your life - you will… have a book! So why not get started?

Thank you so much to Fiona for stopping by today and sharing your writing tips with us.