The Tools to Write Fiction

Unlike most things in life, it is remarkably cheap to write fiction for a hobby (and a hobby is exactly what writing a novel is until you get paid for it). A stubby pencil and the backs of some envelopes will get you started.

As a bare minimum, though, I would recommend the following...

1. Somewhere to Work

Okay, so a chair and desk of some description, and a place to put that chair and desk, isn't exactly a "tool" to write fiction, but it is probably the most important thing you need.

Distractions are the enemy of the creative process. You simply won't be able to write in the living room with the dog whining to be walked and the kids fighting over the TV zapper.

You need a room of your own with a good solid door, and preferably no telephone. Try facing your chair away from the window, too - you'd be amazed how counting leaves blowing off an oak tree is more demanding of your attention than a blank computer screen.

If you can't achieve a peaceful working environment at home, you'll have to work in the library, or park the car along a deserted road, or find anywhere that is comfortable and noise free. Another solution is to stay at home but work early in the morning before anyone else is up. Your mind will be at its sharpest then, too.

2. Pens and Paper

Yes, I know we're living in the twenty-first century, but I think more writers than not find it easier to write in longhand in the first instance. I'm not sure why this is...

• Maybe it's that writing a first draft of a chapter can be a messy affair, with lots of crossings-out and arrows rearranging paragraphs, and it's easier to do this in the old-fashioned way.



• Maybe it's that staring at a sheet of paper is far less trying on the eyes than staring at a screen.



• Or maybe it's simply that writers are romantics at heart, and to work with a pencil or a fountain pen is a far more romantic way to write fiction than to use a keyboard and a mouse.

Personally, I write fiction in exercise books using 2B pencils whilst sitting in an armchair (discomfort is another enemy of the creative process).

You might think that drafting in longhand is a wasted process, given that you then have to type it up, but I find that typing is an opportunity to tidy up the initial draft and make it a little less clunky. But as with all the suggestions in this article on the tools to write fiction, whatever works for you is best.