Of course, many of these are common-sense rules, but it’s interesting to have them all put in one place by one successful writer and elucidated so clearly and helpfully. We’ve played slightly fast and loose with the details in paraphrasing them, but in the link provided above you can see exactly what Moorcock recommends in his own words. This advice will be of interest principally to readers who wish to write in a particular genre, particularly mainstream fiction – but even if you want to do something a little less formulaic (or are not interested in writing something yourself, but simply interested in the writing processes of authors) it may be useful, and interesting, to learn how a popular writer of genre fiction approaches his craft. So he must have been doing something right.īut how do you write a novel in three days? Moorcock explains it all in detail here, but if you’re impatient to get your own novel started, then we can boil down his principles to a few core pieces of advice.

(It goes without saying that he wouldn’t have time to do much else in those three days – perhaps even sleep all that much.) But it worked for him: his novels featuring Elric, Dorian Hawkmoon, and Corum (‘the Prince in the Scarlet Robe’) had a considerable influence on fantasy writers in the 1960s and 1970s and continue to be read and enjoyed many decades later.

He wrote many of his early fantasy novels at such high speed. Moorcock is famous, in writing circles, for being able to write a book in three days. Here at Interesting Literature we’re avid fans of his work. For over fifty years now, Moorcock has been a significant writer in a number of genres, notably fantasy, science fiction, and horror, although he’s also written more ‘literary’ works, such as Mother London (1988).

Michael morecock