Writing Advice July 23rd 2025
Writers don’t just write. We market our books, do some research
(if applicable) and advise other writers. I wonder at times, if our writing
advice is not so much to remind other writers, as to remind ourselves. A lot of
writing advice is very generic and mostly aimed at novellists. Most writers who
post on public forums are novellists. I have never known whether that means
most writers are novellists or just those who blog about writing. I have
written magazine articles and so has a close relative. I write primarily about
astronomy, so I’m a non-fiction writer. Here’s a look at some of the advice
given out and my views on it:
Don’t give up the Day Job
Yes, I agree. Most writers make no money at all and, of
those who do make money, it does not make a living income. Even if,
hypothetically, you match the income from your day job, it does not follow that
you will next year or the year after. Also, if you write full time, you become
very isolated from daily life and that is harmful if you are a novelist.
Write every day
Many writers actually do write every day, seven days a week.
They might miss out a few days where there is a celebration, such as Christmas
or birthdays. I would suggest that it is not necessary to write every day. If
you have a day job and a family, it just won’t be possible. Set realistic
targets and accept that life gets in the way sometimes. Also, you will spend a
lot of time refining and editing any writing project, probably at least as much
as you spend writing.
You need to write 1 000 Words a Day
Related to the above, there are no hard and fast rules,
unless you have a deadline from a publisher. Even then, you should look more
towards weekly targets and allow time for refinements and editing. Other than
that, 20 good words are better than 1 000 bad ones. If your book includes images,
it is more about page count than word count.
Each Genre of Book has its own total Word Count
Yes, this is true, especially if you are writing a novel and
you are hoping to get a publishing contract. The general guideline for a novel
is 80 000 to 120 000 words but some genres, like science fiction and crime
drama have more rigid requirements. However, if you are self-publishing, it is
not as important but readers can be put off my books that take a long time to
read.
You need some sort of formal Training to be a Novellist
From my experience, some form of creative writing course is
a help. I would suggest that, as a minimum, you should have a basic
understanding of human psychology. The exception is when you are writing fantasy
but, even then, I would suggest that the characters are believable, even if
they are non-human and are not in a traditional setting. I once had what I
thought was a great novel idea but a publisher explained the reason why it wouldn’t
work.
Update July 22nd 2025
Life gets in the way of writing, something I will blog about
another day. Astronomer, Reincarnated crossed the 100 page boundary. Yes, it
needs a lot more sections to be written but also requires more time outside
with my smart telescope. With the weather being poor, I managed to catch up a
bit with writing.
Update July 16th 2025
For a list of published books and a description of them,
please refer to:
http://philippughastronomer.epizy.com/About_Phils_Books.html
I had not been writing very much at the time of writing.
Instead, I was outside taking photographs or on my PC processing them.
Sometimes, I even add them to my books or replace existing photos with more
recent, better versions.
I currently have three works in progress (WIPs). As they are
all dependent on photos, this does not cause any problems.
Astronomer, Reincarnated (due Spring 2027)
This is my main project. It chronicles my adventures in
Electronically Assisted Astronomy (EAA). It started when I received a “smart”
telescope for a milestone birthday. It enabled me to photograph objects that I
had not been able to before. I have visited lots of deep sky objects and
revisited some of the more interesting ones. To see my images, see:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/philippughastronomer/
Keep watching, as this gets updated several times per week.
Guide to the Stars (working title, due Spring 2026)
This is a departure from my usual genre of astronomy book.
Although it is of interest to astronomers, it is also suitable for the general public,
even those who have no intention of looking through a telescope. It explains
the different types of star, how they work and how they are born, live and die.
This is done using words and diagrams that can be understood by people without
a scientific background.
I have completed the text of this book, well as complete as
any writer will admit! I made some minor revisions today to clarify the
different types of nebulae.
The main issue is that I need better versions of the
photographs I have taken. I may also add some photographs of new example
objects. Whilst this does not improve the content of the book, it will improve
the aesthetics. People say “never judge a book by its cover”. Unfortunately
(for writers!) they do, as they also judge a book by its graphics.
Being an Astronomer (7th Edition, due whenever!)
This is my beginner book.
The 6th edition contains an introduction to EAA. This
has been expanded for the 7th edition but the main enhancement will
be the addition of new objects (or replacing existing photos with better ones)
in the Constellations section. I am doing this in parallel with new images from
Astronomer, Reincarnated. Whether I will add any new constellation descriptions
or new sections is debatable.
