How to write a very good book

Have you ever read a chapter of a very good book and wondered just how the author managed to think of that first, jaw-dropping sentence? And how she approached that dazzling descriptive paragraph? And just how many rewrites it took to get that other amazing bit at the end?

Or, writing a story of your own, have you ever wondered how other people do it?

Well, I have. And guess what, I have actually found an author, a good one (Maggie Stiefvater) who has taken the time to go through a whole chapter of her latest book (The Scorpio Races) and explain, line by line, what she was thinking.

Wow. It must have taken her AGES. When she could have been working on one of her new books. (She writes two at a time, she says).

I think her description is amazing. And so useful. As someone who never quite managed to do a Creative Writing course (neither did she), I do often wonder about how other people do these things.

So here is the  link to that post, written earlier this month.

I hope Maggie won’t mind me showing you one of the illustrations from her draft. She then comments on every note – showing what she was thinking at the time, what she was trying to do, and how she tried to make it better.

I must admit I haven’t read The Scorpio Races yet, but I’m in awe of her writing in Shiver. If you happen to be wondering how to do it, this is one version of how it’s done. And if you happen to know of any other links to great blogs about the writing process, perhaps you could share them here. Our very own  Sarah Webb, for example, has just launched an eight week ‘Write That Book’ course. If your New Year’s resolution was to write a story of your own, what are you waiting for?