Hi and welcome Raziel!

What interesting questions.

Your second reminded me of a book that tackles the question from a different angle - not so much about content but whether or not it will ever be written. Also, once written, whether it will be published.

Alison Baverstock was a publisher curious about why some writers got published and some didn't. Having identified ten areas that seemed important she then wrote a questionnaire and she sent it out to hundreds of writers, published and unpublished. The result was:

'Is there a book in you?' by Alison Baverstock, published by A&C Black


Theres a link on this website to see/hear Alison talking about it:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/There-Book-You-Alison-Baverstock/dp/0713679328

Here there's an an excerpt and further quotes from famous writers:

http://www.writersservices.com/mag/06/Is_there_book.htm

I can sympathise with you about the camera, drawing, etc, as I dabble in all of these from time to time. I don't have any top-of-the-range equipment but they are just such fulfilling activities.

My parner says successful people are those who just concentrate obsessively on one thing. Maybe he's got a point, but for me enjoyment is important too.

Good luck and I do hope you can find a solution to yout practical difficulites. I'm sure there is one.

Sheila

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PS Sorry about the spelling mistakes I just spotted.

Thanks for posting this, Sheila. Especially like this quote:

"The most important thing about actually getting to the end of my first book was proving to myself that I had the patience and stamina to do it. And to realise with some joy that I was doing something at 40 which I would never have been able to do at 30. There are precious few things one can say that about."

Susiex

Yes, the Baverstock book is good, and does talk about things which no other writing book does.

I used to do photography quite seriously - dark room, and all - but I only have a certain amount of creative energy, not to mention hours in the day, and that was one of the things that had to give when I started writing really seriously. I miss it, though, and hope that when I haven't got children to look after I can get back to it, even if digitally rather than silver-based, much as I love the smell of a darkroom.

My parner says successful people are those who just concentrate obsessively on one thing.

Writing novels and publishing each being the difficult business that they are, I think it's very difficult to write - let alone get published - without have a very powerful drive which is, arguably, neither healthy nor entirely sane.

Emma

I'm a painter - though actually it feels wrong to say this these days, because I haven't painted for at least five months now. All my available creative energy has gone into writing my novel. I've beaten myself up about this a lot, but I think the 'obsessive' thing is true, and there's only so much energy and mind-space available.
Susiex

My creative energies over Christmas went into building a castle for my son's history project. Maybe I should say 'helping my son build it', but I got a little carried away. He's got 3 merits for it. I'm chuffed. Now what was my wip about?

Hi, and welcome to WriteWords.

1/ Are there ever any really successful (I don't just mean financially, just that "work") writing partnerships?

There's ghostwriters. I don't know how you find one, though. There are very successful publishing companies that pay writers to write pre-written stories and series. Working Partners (www.workingpartnersltd.co.uk) are one of the more famous of these. They are responsible for - among others - Animal Ark and Rainbow Fairies.

2/ Do you think there is any truth in the saying "Everyone has a novel inside them?"?

I think your friend's analogy is a good one. Any kid with basic carpentery skills can build something you can sit on. Not everyone can build a Chippendale chair. Anyone who knows how to speak and write can bash out 50,000 words. Not everyone can write 'Great Expectations'.

3/ Is writing something that can be learnt or are you born with it?

No one is born knowing how to write. You're taught it in Primary School, along with how to structure a story and what a simile is.

Everyone is born knowing how to tell a story. Stories are how we understand the world - something as simple as 'James was a bastard who cheated on me and left me broken-hearted' is a story, and it's a very different story to 'I'm a hopeless case - I was so useless that James had to find someone else to love'. But they're both different stories to explain the same occurance.

Writing a novel is about taking that story-telling instinct and turning it in an entire fictional world. There are things you can do to make that process easier, or to make the resulting novel 'better', or to help teach you how stories work (reading lots and writing lots are the obvious examples). And certainly some people write better novels than others (things like imagination and empathy are certainly helpful). But all the things you learn just make the novel BETTER. As I said before, any ten-year-old can tell a story.

It seems to me that you're asking two different questions. 'Can anyone write a novel?' Yes - if they have the stamina. 'Can anyone write a GOOD novel?' No. It's bloody hard. It takes skill, practice, determination, imagination, knowledge, luck ...

What do you have to do to write a good novel? Who knows? Every good novel is entirely different. Why not start writing and see what you end up with?

Sally xxx

Just wanted to say, welcome, Raziel. And that if we didn't believe that writing is a skill that can be learned and improved - mainly by practice, but also by exchanging ideas on technique, by receiving criticism, and by reading and absorbing and thinking about others' work - we probably wouldn't be on this site!

Rosy

Hi.
My answers to your questions would be:

1. Yes. There are the PJ Tracey mother and daughter act who write US crime thrillers. Also lots of screen plays are written by whole teams of people.
Writing a novel is so solitary I long for someone to do it with, someone to bounce ideas off...but I suspect no one would put up with my ill prepared, last minute, seat of the pants approach.

2. Everyone certainly thinks they have a book inside them. If I had a quid for each time someone has said, 'I've got this great idea I just need someone to get it down on paper.'
Oh yes, soft lad - you give me a one liner and I'll spend two years turning it into something half decent!!
I think most people have a seed but that's light years away from a book.

3. I think most writers have a natural talent. Fiction writers will be the ones who tell a good tale. However the craft can and must be honed.
I voraciously read everything I can get my hands on about writing and despite the fact that I'm now published I still think I can and must improve my skills.
I'm proud of my debut novel but the second which I'm currently editing is, in my opinion, much better.
Helen Black

Welcome to WW, Helen.

Nik.