First and foremost, a great story.
But then it has to be well written - my first efforts at writing had the first but to be brutally honest they weren't well written so, I paused my writing, went away and read every book I could on writing. The best was probably Stephen Kings 'Writing: A Memoir of the Craft., it absolutely nailed what you need to do as a writer. I still re-read bits now. The result of all that learning is The Race Is On Series, a series I'm really proud of.
Two authors spring to mind, Blake Crouch and Michael Crichton.
The reason is that they take seemingly impossible science and make it believable, so much so, that the reader doesn't know where the fiction stops and fact starts. That's what I've tried to the do with The Race is On Series and so far, as the reviews attest, it seems to be working.
I'm an early bird with my writing - up at 6 and write till 9. After that it's back to the day job. If it's not written before 9 AM it doesn't get written that day.
Although I'm thinking about the story all day so that when I sit down the next day I can write straight away.
Much more structured. I used to be a pantser (as in 'fly by the seat of my pants!' - I'd sit down and make stuff up. That meant there was a lot of wasted time as I disappeared plot cul de sacs
Now I pre plot the story and then write. However I don't stick too rigidly to the plot - sometimes the story takes you in unexpected directions and I do go with the flow and change the plot if the idea is good enought.
Absolutely critical - I have experience. My first effort at writing a book ( you can find it on Amazon:( ) was awful. A terrible book cover with a title that sounded like a non fiction book. The result was poor sales. With my latest release, LEAP, which has a fantastic cover, sales have been buoyant.
I'm so much more disciplined now on two fronts:
1. To make it as an Indie author you need to publish consistently and, consequently, have to write constantly. Now I have my first book out, I have already finished my second to be published in May 2023 and am 2/3 through the third with a publication date of Nov 2023.
2. You have to be as dedicated to marketing your book(s) as to writing them. I now spend as much time promoting as I do writing. The two go hand in hand. Both are needed. Both are critical if you want to break through the noise and allow your writing to reach your readers.
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton inspired me to think about writing. It ticked every box in what I look for in a sci-fi thriller.
- Believable science
- Fast paced
- Twisty turny plot
But it wasn't' until ten years ago that I started writing - my first efforts weren't great but I've improved and have written three books now with a fourth on the way.
