Secrets From A Best-Selling Author

If you want to become a best-selling author, you need to learn the tricks of the trade. We discover what one author has done to sell 4.5 million books in 36 languages around the world. We spoke to fantasy author Garth Nix – who has written Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen and the young adult science fiction novel Shade’s Children – about the secrets of his success.
1. Be open to different sources of inspiration
Garth says that inspiration comes from a variety of places. “I get inspired by all kinds of things,” says Garth. “I might hear a song, the emotion of that song will inspire particularly I think I want to try to capture that same emotion in the story. Or I might just get fired up to want to write because I see a great film or see a play, have a fantastic walk on the beach or any of these things that serve as inspiration. “Or you see two birds fighting with each other in the sky or something like that. It can spur an idea which might come in use at some point.”
2. Read widely
According to Garth, writers should read widely in a range of diverse genres. “I read everything and I still read very widely,” he says. “I recommend to beginning authors that they do read very widely because, particularly if you’re writing in a genre like fantasy or you’re writing mysteries or thrillers, if you only read in that genre then when it comes time to writing your own material and finding your own voice and style, you have less to draw on if you’ve only read in that one area. “And it’s likely that you’ll be copying someone else as opposed to actually putting together your own. The more that you have in your head the more variety of stuff, the more I think you’ll be able to create your own particular style and find your own voice.”
3. Always look forward
While some authors say they look back on their published books and want to rewrite them or change the ending, Garth says he’s never felt this way about his work. “I can’t understand that attitude at all,” he says. “Having written the book…and it’s out there, to me, it’s there. It exists. It’s like a person…you can’t change it. It’s got its own life. It’s gone; it’s going to live that life. I always want to just move on, I’m always interested in what’s next, not in what I’ve done in the past I want to write a new book and try to make that new book better and closer to what I imagine. I may not be entirely happy with them but they are what they are for good or ill.”
4. The right environment
Although Garth says he has a slow start to the day, the pace picks up. “I do have a separate office. I walk from home to it, and in that walk I think that’s part of sort of gearing up to write. Though typically the first few hours of my day is sort of doing admin and answering emails and that sort of thing,” he reveals. “But then when I do sit down and start to write I do often quite slowly get into it, but I just force myself to stay with it. And the more I write the more I do get drawn into what I’m doing and it slowly accelerates. “It takes about 80% of the total time I spend in writing a book to write the first half. The first half of the book takes way more time than the second half because I slowly build up momentum and get drawn into the story and so on so. But mostly I just have to force myself to return to it, as with any work and I think I’m naturally lazy, I would avoid it if I could.
5. For the sake of writing
When you are writing, it’s important to enjoy the process – and write for its own sake, instead of worrying about whether it’s going to be published, says Garth. “Don’t worry about how you’re going to sell a novel, find an agent or whatever because you have to write it first and it should be the most important thing,” he continues. “And also just write what you want to write, and write what you love. Maybe it isn’t the hottest genre or about things you think are in demand at present.” As an ex-editor, ex-literary agent and working author, Garth says the best books are “always the ones where the people just wrote what they wanted to write.”