The 4 Step Recipe for a Best-Selling Novel
Lesson from Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming wrote 12 James Bond novels.
In 1963, he revealed the recipe for writing a best-seller.
"You have to get the reader to turn over the page."
Here's how to do it, in his own words:
1. Write for clarity
"Your prose must be simple and unmannered. You cannot linger too long over descriptive passages."
2. Avoid complicated names
"There must be no complications in names, relationships, journeys or geographical settings to confuse or irritate the reader."
"He must never ask himself 'Where am I? Who is this person? What the hell are they all doing?'"
3. Don't spend too much time in your character's internal thoughts
"Above all there must never be those maddening recaps where the hero maunders about his unhappy fate, goes over in his mind a list of suspects, or reflects what he might have done or what he proposes to do next."
4. Keep up the pace
"Each word must tell, and interest or titillate the reader before the action hurries on."
My Thoughts:
It’s important to remember that advice like this is aimed toward authors writing specific kinds of novels.
Ian Fleming was explaining the similarities of best-selling novels that are page-turners.
You could have more “literary” aspirations for your story, in which case ignore this advice.
The Future of C.S.M. Fiction:
I find this advice from Fleming helpful for the current novel I’m working on because I want it to have that feeling of a page-turner.
My novel will release this summer in an unorthodox format:
You’ll receive a new chapter every week for FREE through this newsletter.
I’m certainly not the first person to try this format of publishing fiction through a newsletter, there’s already a growing fiction community on Substack.
But I am trying to take things to the next level…
Free subscribers will receive all of the novel for free
Paid subscribers will receive additional bonus materials related to the story and behind-the-scenes author commentary
I’ll reveal more information about the additonal bonus materials as we get closer to the release date, but I’ll say now that I want my novels to be multimedia releases.
You know when a big movie comes out and there’s also a novelization, soundtrack, comic books, etc?
What if I could do that, but just without the movie… 👀
As shown in this recent post by
it doesn’t seem like traditional publishing makes any sense for a newer writer like me:
But I also don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing.
The internet has opened up a wide array of opportunites, it’s just about finding the best way to use them in the context of novel writing.
That’s all I’ll share for now, but if you’re interested in becoming a paid subscriber, I encourage you to upgrade:
You’ll get all the additonal bonus materials for my novels and instant access to a growing library on how to become a better writer:
Eventually I’ll move away from sharing writing advice and focus on bringing you quality stories and documenting how I write them.
Until then you can still expect a free writing lesson every week and a summary and analysis every month.
Thank you for going on this writing journey with me.
I’m excited to share more of my plans in the weeks ahead.
- C.S.M.
