Jim Driver - How To Write A Novel The Easy Way Using The Pulp Fiction Method To Write Better Novels: Writing Skills

Im going to show you how to write a novel using my Pulp Fiction Method. Its a system I developed to help me write quality novels in as short a time as possible.

Like the pulp writers of the Golden Age (roughly 1910-1960), the modern author needs to write quickly and without distraction.

Since the first version of this book appeared in 2014, the way I work has evolved. This new edition reflects those improvements and includes a mountain of new material, including a whole new chapter on The Golden Age of Pulp Fiction.

Im a big fan of Pulp Fiction. Not just the Tarantino movie, but all those great magazine stories and paperback novels that appeared in the first half of the 20th century. Raymond Chandler, Dashiel Hammett, Louis LAmour, Isaac Asimov, John D MacDonald, Jim Thompson, James M Cain, F Scott Fitzgerald, Edgar Wallace, and many others, all got their start writing cheap fiction to order.

Pulp novels were often cleverly plotted and sometimes remarkably well-written. Quite a few were adapted into great movies, including The Killer Inside Me, The Grifters, The Postman Always Rings Twice, and Mildred Pierce. They werent all masterpieces by any means, but thousands were written and millions of readers enjoyed them.

Authors of pulp novels were paid by the word. They had to produce great stories in as short a time as possible. They didnt have word processors or computers to write on, every word had to be hand-written or battered out on a manual typewriter.

If they made a mistake, they had to rip out the paper and start again. As a result, pulp writers learned techniques that allowed them to write fast and furiously, without making costly mistakes. They didnt have time for writers block or self-doubt. If they didnt write, they didnt eat.

Im going to show you methods that work. My advice will enable you to write your novel quickly and easily.

This is a short book: a smidgeon under 20,000 words. Im working on the assumption that you need useful information, not waffle. To be a writer youve got to write, not sit around reading books about it.

Im not going to try and reinvent the wheel and tell you exactly how to tackle every single stage of the writing process. Im going to give you the basics, plus lots of useful tips, and tell you where to find out more, should you need it.

If you were looking for a great big how to do everything kind of book, stop reading now and go get a refund. If you genuinely want to write a novel and start selling on digital platforms like iBooks and Kindle, carry on reading

Have you ever written an email or a school essay? Assuming you have, you are already a writer. Going on to write a novel is simply a matter of scaling up.

Writing novels is really not as difficult as you think. Ive written several myself, though none (so far) under my own name. Ive ghostwritten seven novels and the other twelve (so far) have been published under pseudonyms.

You can definitely write a novel. All you need is someone to tell you how to do it as simply as possible. Thats where I come in. But first, its time for some home truths.

You may be a writer but the bad news is that you are almost certainly a dreadful writer. The good news is practically everyone is; at least, to start with.

Do you suppose the first time the great English cabinet maker Thomas Chippendale (1718-1779) picked up a chunk of wood, he was able to create an intricately inlaid cabinet like the one above? Not a chance. Just like everyone else, he began as a raw amateur and he practiced until he got better.

Chippendale could have wasted years reading books on how to make cabinets and bemoaning the fact he wasnt as good as he thought he needed to be. Luckily, he didnt. He learned the basic skills and threw himself into the task. In the end, all his efforts paid off.

What is it about writing that makes new authors despair when they cant write a literary masterpiece at their first attempt? No other job has similar expectations. You dont become a plumber and think youll be able to fit a central heating system your first morning in the job. Would-be pianists arent shocked when they cant play Beethovens Sonata Hammerklavier opus 106 the first time they sit down at a piano.

So, get real!

The first hurdle is to accept that your writing probably isnt brilliant. Believe me, no one (except you) expects it to be.

Just get over yourself!

The majority of magazines and books produced today arent that well written, and yet the people who write them still get paid.

It doesnt mean you cant make a living writing just because youre not a devastatingly good writer. Thousands of bad authors make plenty of money. In fact, being good doesnt guarantee you a pay-rise. Often the reverse is true.

It may surprise you to hear that people dont always want the best. Otherwise wed all be getting our clothes hand-made by master tailors; and the most watched television programs would be clever BBC documentaries and art-house films instead of American Idol, Love Island, and Australias Biggest Loser.

Only a tiny percentage of people insist on buying the best. The rest of us are quite happy getting stuff off the peg and from the bargain bin. Its the same with books. Literary Fiction is one of the lowest selling categories online. Most people want cheap schlock with a fairly decent story. Books about vampires, zombies, murder mysteries, erotic encounters, and so on.

Think you can manage cheap schlock with a fairly decent story?

You bet you can!

Thats what Im going to show you in this short book. Your writing will get better as you go on, but never beat yourself up about it. You can write a sellable novel right now. You just need to be told the nuts and bolts of how to do it.

The second hurdle to cross is closely linked to the first. Its what I call