Any tips for a new Author writing his first book?

[archaicmalevolence]

As the title says i'm new to writing a proper book, i'm only 15 years old as of now. Any help with writing my new book would be appreciated, i take inspiration from authors like Lovecraft and Tolkien among other. When i've written parts of this book (only 4 pages as of recent times) i've gotten feedback that it's very descriptive and imaginative and also i'm good with imagery. Though i've been told that my punctuation could be better.
I'm wondering how i should go around with writing books as i enjoy writing it to create a mystery in sense, with a medievalist theme. Any help would be appreciated and i'm also able to send someone a copy via email of this book to anyone who might want to skim through it. Thanks

 

[HT_Black]

Alan Wake was right. A story is a living, breathing (okay, maybe not breathing), creature, and it WILL NOT unconditionally bend to your whims. The most important thing you can do is maintain a story properly; make sure the plot fits together; make sure the sentences flow; make sure the prose is creative and descriptive but easily readable; and make sure each and every character is so real they could leap off the page at a moment's notice.

Otherwise..woe unto you!

 

[Frozen Donkey Wheel2]

Read. A lot. Pay attention, as a writer, to the techniques they use. Learn from it. Oh, and always get other people to read your shit. You are not a good judge of your own skill.

 

[FallenJellyDoughnut]

3 words: No awkward teenagers.

I cannot stress this enough, in so many books/movies there's this wierd kid with absolutely no social skills, to the point that, to me, it seems like they have Autism and it annoys the crap out of me.

 

[twasdfzxcv]

You can follow all the advises in the thread. Or you can just go for the shock value, write something outrageous and get your 15 min of fame. With good marketing you can make a shit load of money. It helps if you get famous on internet first though.

 

[Blemontea]

You should keep a pen or pencil and a notebook with you at all times in case you get a brainstorm at work or on the toilet. Along with that Try first to work out the character so you have a clear and definite person without a bi polar personality and no vague look even after a long description. then Work on the rest of the characters and the world in which they live.

 

[koops]

Don't write a book. I can appreciate the romanticism of being an author but you should just get a job at the supermarket and save up for university.

 

[Extraintrovert]

Write something about an awkward pre-adolescent wizard or a virginal sparkling vampire. That seems to work.

 

[Piecewise]

i take inspiration from authors like Lovecraft and Tolkien among other.

This is related I believe http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=58081.0

Wrote it a while ago, out of boredom. You may find it useful to steal from/ recognize errors within.

 

[Lacsapix]

Be aware that of the million books written only thousands gets published and only fifty times it gets the fame it deserves.

 

[Piecewise]

Be aware that of the million books written only thousands gets published and only fifty times it gets the fame it deserves.

And only a handful within the author's lifetime

 

[rabidmidget]

A novel seems a bit large, maybe you should start with a novella first.

Some of my favourite books are novellas anyway.

 

[David Bray]

Read a lot
Know your lineage
Grammar
Start with bullet points
Be prepared to rip up 5 books

 

[MintyNinja]

Write every day. I don't mean try to write every day and give up after ten minutes, I mean write every day. Like it's your job and you need it to live. When you start to hate it, when you wish you could do anything else in the world only to stop, read what you've written and re-write it.

 

[Crystalite]

hm... The problem is, in writing a novel so young, that you can hardly have read much.
I don´t mean to be offensive, you just did not have the time.
What happens most with very young authors, they run into clichees and overworked topics a lot, because they are not aware just how many versions of their concept are out there. Even if you thought of it all by yourself, it has probably been told already.
Come to think of it, it has almost certainly been told already.

That means you should try to tell your story in a new and compelling way. Do not rely on your plot alone. Also, make characters that can not be described in one sentence.
Make them complex and likeable (Yes, especially the villains).

Apart from that, be aware that writing a novel is a hell of a lot of work. Have you ever written something longer than, say, 20 pages?
A novel will have a few hundred pages, that requires a lot (!) of perseverance and patience. This will not be done soon, you will most likely be a lot older when you finish.

But if you want to go through with it, I would advise plot and charakter planing. Maybe make a chart, how everything should progress from a to b, so as not to lose track of your plot. Also, make yourself familiar with conventions of story telling, such as suspension curves and acts. And if you want to ignore conventions, do so in a creative way.

I wish you the best of luck and a lot of fun with your project.
Oh, and yes, certainly always ask for feedback, and, most importantly:
Listen to it, but do not be disheartened, especially if it is harsch. The internet has no sock in its mouth, if something sucks, it will tell you in no uncertain terms. If you are unsure you can handle it, ask your friends, they tend to have more tact ;-)


P.S.:
Another reason to make your charakters work:
If you don´t like them by the time you are 20, you have a problem. That means:
No angsty teenagers! It has been said before, but it is true. Any teenage charakter is very difficult, because when you are no longer one, you will not have much sympathy for them any more, trust me ;-)

P.P.S.:
Noticed your Nickname. Always go for the archaic male violence! *laughs*

 

[Axolotl]

As others have said, read lots of books, of various styles and quality levels. You list Lovecraft and Tolkein as inspirations, good sources to be sure but emulating their writing style is not a good road to success, they've both been copied to death and even then it's very dry and needs some weight and you need to be very good at choosing your words even then. I'd advise reading some more 'pulpy' authors, just to get a good idea of more easy flowing text.

Oh and if you use real history as a basis do research into it, this will pay off immensly, but don't wave said research in the reader's face either.

Also don't be afraid to spend more time than is needed editing and revising the text.

 

[archaicmalevolence]

Thanks for the quick replies and on the book i thought about a novel but i'm focusing on a short story and seeing how far i might get it. No angsty teens either, i don't intend to copy Tolkien or Lovecraft but intend to understand aspects of there writing. Like Lovecrafts way of devising confusing yet amazing ideas of how things happen or will and Tolkiens poetic type of styles etc.
My story in a sense is quite different to how both of those writers go, but i intend to shock the reader and i intend to do something original and not childish (even though as someone said, there's someone out there that's probably done it already). Btw IS James Joyce and Edgar Allan Poe a good author to learn from

 

[Kif]

From what I've heard from other people and famous authors certainly expect your first maybe expect your first few to be not very good. But then, that's like anything really cant just sit at a piano and play Chopin, takes practice.

 

[Axolotl]

i don't intend to copy Tolkien or Lovecraft but intend to understand aspects of there writing. Like Lovecrafts way of devising confusing yet amazing ideas of how things happen or will and Tolkiens poetic type of styles etc.

Right, I just warned you because I've seen alot of people tryand rip them off (I myself did it when young), it rarely ends with anything worthwhile. Use them for inspiration sure but their style is not something to attempt to emulate without alot of effort.

My story in a sense is quite different to how both of those writers go, but i intend to shock the reader and i intend to do something original and not childish

Sounds fine but don't try and root a story in shock or novelty value alone unless it's a short story.

(even though as someone said, there's someone out there that's probably done it already).

That depends onhow original you try to make it. The idea that there's nothing new under the sun isn't correct originality is possible. And even if the idea has been done before, a new take is always a good thing.

Btw IS James Joyce and Edgar Allan Poe a good author to learn from

Depends on what you're writting. I could help more if you provide us with a little more info on what type of thing it is you're writing.