KEY POINTS:
I never had any formal training as a writer. Instead I did it the old-fashioned way: by reading lots of other people's books and making it up as I went along. I can't have got it completely wrong. My novels are published internationally and translated into languages as diverse as Greek and Hebrew. But, as I embark on my fourth book, I do sometimes wonder if I have missed some essential truth of storytelling.
So I was intrigued by Maeve Binchy's Writers' Club (Orion, $34.99), which is aimed at anyone who thinks they might have a story in them somewhere.
Written as a series of encouraging letters from Irish best-selling writer Binchy, it has a cosy, reassuring tone. She assures us that everyone is capable of telling a story and exhorts us to jot down ideas that flash into our minds on the several pages within the book that have been left blank for the purpose.
Interspersed between Binchy's jollities are contributions from other Irish writers, including Marian Keyes, and people in the publishing industry.
Many of us start out by tackling a short story and award-winner Ivy Bannister gives some particularly salient pointers on this, from developing character to producing a first draft and the laborious process of polishing the story. There's also advice about writing for the stage and for radio, but by far the most valuable sections in the book are the parts that contain insights into the complex world of publishing. These are all realities I've learned the hard way: the need for an agent, the role of an editor, the way a book goes from manuscript to shop shelf and the fact that publishing is a tough business where they care about profit and loss.
A lot of it is off-putting. Editor Alison Walsh writes that staying published is almost as difficult as getting published. Paula Campbell, of Ireland's leading book publisher Poolbeg, tells how she receives up to 2000 manuscripts a year - and accepts only 50.
Still, the gentleness of Binchy's letters provides some cushion against the harsher truths and the central message of the book is obvious but is the very same thing I say to would-be authors - if you want to write, just sit down and start writing.
So did I learn anything new? Perhaps not, but I was encouraged to keep on keeping on. I did like the quote from American writer E.L. Doctorow who says that writing a novel is like driving across country at night. All you see is what is lit up by your headlights. But if you keep following your lights you will eventually reach your destination.
Actually the very best piece of writing advice I've ever had isn't in this book. It was passed on to me by crime writer Ian Rankin. He said that when you stop writing for the day, always end in the middle of a sentence. It's a simple trick but it works. Someone should pass it on to Maeve Binchy.
