Planning: a simple trick to better writing

For every twenty comment I receive on one of my post, today, I will give away an eBook to one visitor.

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When I wrote Russian Dolls, I pretty much had no idea what I was doing. I just ploughed ahead, one word after the other, one page after the other, one chapter after the other. 

It’s not a bad technique per se. Eh, it did work after all. I had a half decent completed draft done in about 4 months -- not bad, but it could have been better.

Getting to the same point with the next book, Ruby Heart, took me less than 3 months. Sure it doesn’t seem that impressive, but when you actually do the math, you realise that it is 35% bonus time. I’d also like to point out that, while I was writing, I was also adding the final touches on book #1 (getting it through several rounds of critiques, editing, proofreading) and I also started to query agents.

So what changed between book #1 and #2, you ask? Not much. I didn’t take a magical writing class, or drink radioactive potion that allows you to stay awake at night, and my computer didn’t write on its own while I was at work. Hell, I didn’t even spend more time writing. I just planned it more carefully.

In case you missed that, here I’m writing it in all caps because it’s the important part: PLAN YOUR WRITING. It’s a simple trick, but it works.

I actually feel quite dumb for having not thought of it before. It’s not rocket science and I’m sure some of you do that already. But I thought I’d throw in my two cents, just in case. If it can help just one of you it was worth the time writing all of this down.

When I start a novel, I have a basic outline of the whole story. I know how it starts, I know how it ends, and I have a bit of an idea of what goes on in the middle. Then I flesh it out; just throw some random bits, not necessarily in order, down on a piece of paper to fill in the void. All you need at the start are the most important plot points, and then writing becomes like playing connect the dots.

That is all just fine but it could get better. 

Here is where planning steps in; before you start writing down a new chapter -- or a big section of your book -- take some time to write down a summary of it. Take a minute or five to completely flesh out the main oncoming points on a piece of paper, or some loose notepad file on your computer.

It doesn’t have to be amazing, it can be full of spelling mistakes -- or in my case done in an odd mix of French and English that only make sense to me. It needs to be quick and dirty and to the point. Forget adverbs and flourish; strip your words bare and get down to the facts.

Ex: ‘Character A goes to place B and does activity C. Then character D shows up and says “What the hell, Dude ?” They get into a fight. Character A grabs a beer bottle and knocks character D out. Character A laughs a victory laugh.’

I found that if you devote a few minutes to planning before writing, it helps speed up the actual writing process. (You can do it earlier on too, I suppose.)

I like writing an entire chapter at once. So, I usually plan during the week -- after I get back home from work -- and then devote most of my weekends to writing. I sit down and just type and type. It becomes a constant flow of words appearing on the page, and it lasts for entire mornings or afternoons. 

If it works well, it’s only because I know exactly where my story is going. I really know, because I planned it.

So there you have it. Give it a try, and let me know if it worked for you.

- Cristelle

P.S. Also use the planning time to carry out all of the research you may have overlooked. Nothing’s worse than having to stop in the middle of writing an awesome, jaw-dropping, pinch-me-I-must-be-dreaming scene to open your internet browser to Google the name of an Underground station. Just saying...

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Cristelle Comby was born and raised in the French speaking area of Switzerland, in Greater Geneva, where she still resides. Her English is quite fluent as a result of her insatiable thirst for American and British action films and television dramas. 

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Russian Dolls will be available in print and as an eBook: mid-March 2013

Official website: www.Cristelle-Comby.com

Follow on Twitter: @Cristelle

Like on Facebook: Cristelle.Comby

'Russian Dolls' - Blurb & Excerpt

For every twenty comment I receive on one of my post, today, I will give away an eBook to one visitor.

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Story blurb:

Alexandra Neve is a student at University College London whose world suddenly falls apart. When her best friend jumps from the university’s rooftop, she can’t stop herself from asking, ‘Why?’ The police rule her friend’s death a suicide and for them the case is closed — so whom can she turn to for help?

Sometimes the person you need the most is the one you least expect to find, and in this case it’s none other than Ashford Egan, a blind middle-aged history professor, who’s more willing than most to listen to what she has to say. 

Neve and Egan are as different as they come. She’s restless, careless at times, and fearless when the need arises, while he’s almost the complete opposite: a deep thinker with an analytical mind, a highly rational and collected individual.

As they enter the violent world of the Russian mafia, they must overcome their differences and learn to work together. It’s their only chance if they want to survive. 

Excerpt:

I haven’t returned to university since the incident, but I can’t delay going back any longer. I’ve already missed several lectures and I need to be there on Monday morning. I have some catching up to do for History, but my books remain unopened on their shelf. Irina’s list is on the side of my laptop and I keep peering at it. A quick Google search told me that what I mistook to be family names were in fact four Russian places. They are all within a twenty-mile radius of one another and situated some fifty miles north of Moscow. Dmitrov is a small city while the other three are more like villages. I tried entering the names and the matching locations in several online search engines, but nothing relevant turned up.


‘Another mystery.’ I grunt, closing my eyes as I massage my temples.

I ponder again whether I should take this list to Mr and Mrs Anderson or maybe the Metropolitan Police, but finally decide against it. I can’t shake the feeling that Irina somehow wanted me to find this list.

I have never thought of myself as a detective, but I feel drawn to investigate this mystery. I owe it to Irina’s memory to try. She often said I didn’t know how to listen to others. 

‘All you ever do is observe,’ she used to say, with a little disapproving shake of her head, blond locks waving with the motion. ‘Life is not a painting. You have to come out of your dream world every now and then and listen to what people have to say.’

I can’t help but wonder if she was right. Did she try to tell me something? Have I failed to listen to her? Answering her final question was the least I could do.

Forcing my tired eyes open, I type in a new series of keywords in the search engine and despair a little more at the results — but I continue until the darkest hours of the night.

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Cristelle Comby was born and raised in the French speaking area of Switzerland, in Greater Geneva, where she still resides. Her English is quite fluent as a result of her insatiable thirst for American and British action films and television dramas. 

* * * * *

Russian Dolls will be available in print and as an eBook: mid-March 2013

Official website: www.Cristelle-Comby.com

Follow on Twitter: @Cristelle

Like on Facebook: Cristelle.Comby

Introducing 'Russian Dolls' + prize

For every twenty comment I receive on one of my post, today, I will give away an eBook to one visitor.

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I’m  very pleased to be here today to present to you my upcoming book, Russian Dolls. It is the first instalments in the Neve & Egan Cases series I’m writing. The first book will be released on 13th of March, and the second, Ruby Heart, will be available this Autumn.

This new-adult crime drama series features a team unlike any other: young naïve London university student Alexandra Neve and blind middle-aged history teacher Ashford Egan. As they enter the violent world of the Russian mafia, in the search of a killer, they must overcome their differences and learn to work together. The young woman is the eyes. The old man is the ears. She’s the seeker. He’s the brains.

Russian Dolls is not only a crime novel but also a character study. Its heroes are full of flaws and as we follow them we see how the events change their lives and ultimately the way they feel and think. This work also aims to show that everyone has something to offer in terms of solving cases. This is a story of many layers and of deep secrets: of a lot of questions and some unlikely answers; of crime and of punishment — and of the beginnings of a new life.

* * * * *

Cristelle Comby was born and raised in the French speaking area of Switzerland, in Greater Geneva, where she still resides. Her English is quite fluent as a result of her insatiable thirst for American and British action films and television dramas. 

* * * * *

Russian Dolls will be available in print and as an eBook: mid-March 2013

Official website: www.Cristelle-Comby.com

Follow on Twitter: @Cristelle

Like on Facebook: Cristelle.Comby