I need help with my novel! Any advice welcome

[boatingnovice]

Hi, I am writing a book currently, part of which takes place on a boat in New Jersey. I need the characters to be in an old (1970s era) wooden boat that has a lot of character. I'm thinking it was once a boat used for commercial fishing and maybe also took fishing parties out on day trips to supplement the owner's income. Also, and this is really important, one of the characters now lives on the boat full time. I need the living quarters to be down below (that's about as technical as I'm able to get when it comes to boats!)

As you can probably tell, I know nothing about boats. NOTHING. I did a little research and was thinking maybe a crabbing boat would do, since blue crab are plentiful in New Jersey. I just don't know what sort of boat to research so that my narrator can sound at all like he knows what he's talking about!

Any advice you good people could throw my way would be a massive help.

 

[srm]

I would suggest that you write about something you do know well. The one thing that annoys me enough to stop reading is when an author tries to sound knowledgable but obviously knows next to nothing.

Alternatively, do what a friend does, who is a published author and professor of creative writing. She spends significant time living the experiences that will form the background for the next novel. For instance one summer was spent canoeing in Canada to experience first hand the background for a historical novel.

 

[Wansworth]

Well you don’t want your hero going down stairs to make coffee in the kitchen that’s for starters?I should of thought some leg work or motoring to nearby harbours and chatting to local fisherman,price of a Budweiser should see you aboard a briney old tub!

 

[wombat88]

I'd watch Jaws again as a starter

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Sailing is very much a lifestyle choice and has a lot of specialized vocabulary and technical jargon. It also imposes a certain world-view on its participants - you're always dealing with forces much greater than any you command! "Time and tide wait for no man", and we all remember King Canute's efforts to stop the tide coming in! If you don't take these things into account, you won't achieve your aim. It isn't something non-sailors readily comprehend - you've got to experience things like watching the same landmark for several hours as you try (and fail) to go against the tide. You've got have experienced having to get up at 3 in the morning because if you don't the tide will be against you. You've got to experience being overtaken by a gale that came through sooner than the forecast said. sailing is about a state of mind as much as technical issues.

I'd echo those who say that you should either write from your own experience, OR you should gain experience. But writing with the superficial knowledge you will gain from other people won't work, and will be very unconvincing.

All the great writers about the sea had experience of what they wrote about - Melville, Dana, London, Ransome, Marryat were all either professional or amateur sailors.

 

[Wansworth]

......stepping on to the deck the boat rocked imperceptibly as he moved aft his eye took in the really badly kept varnish work which didn’t instill confidence and the sight out of the corner of his eye of a CQR anchour sent shivers does his spine....

 

[srm]

Not from a boaty novel, but it makes the point.

" . . while waiting he noticed the new moon rising, it looked like a cloud . . "

 

[john_morris_uk]

......stepping on to the deck the boat rocked imperceptibly as he moved aft his eye took in the really badly kept varnish work which didn’t instill confidence and the sight out of the corner of his eye of a CQR anchour sent shivers does his spine....

Surely it was the inadequately straightened shank of the Rocna Anchor that really scared him?

The OP can ignore this facile comment.

I agree with others. I seriously doubt whether the OP will write convincingly about life living on a. converted fishing boat unless he experiences such a life and talks to people who live it. The whole business of constantly being at the mercy of the wind and weather is hard for most people to comprehend. Getting fresh water and provisions is a constant chore unless you are berthed on a pontoon or against a harbour wall. Getting clothes washing done and maintaining personal hygiene is a challenge for some. Unless the boat is big and with a generator, you don't have mains electricity and all the conveniences you take for granted. Then if you have a generator it's noisy and it breaks down... etc etc

 

[Wansworth]

It’s difficult writing a book about being on a boat not using nautical language but non sailers will not understand naval nomenclature.......Riddle of the Sands gives quite a good description of a mankey cabin...

 

[Kukri]

Actually, read The Riddle of the Sands.

 

[DownWest]

Had this from a local doctor when I was Chef Eng for an airtaxi outfit. "My hero is hanging from a skid of a helicopter and he has to disable it to stop the villan escaping" What does he do? My reply was :'Hang on intill it lands or likey die' ( unless he is Tom Cruise, of course..) Don't think he finished the novel.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Had this from a local doctor when I was Chef Eng for an airtaxi outfit. "My hero is hanging from a skid of a helicopter and he has to disable it to stop the villan escaping" What does he do? My reply was :'Hang on intill it lands or likey die' ( unless he is Tom Cruise, of course..) Don't think he finished the novel.

I think that in that case, it's "Die, unless your hero has arms like an orang-utang!" I can't hang by my hands for any length of time - I know because I tried (on an obstacle course) recently.

 

[srm]

I did once get credited as a 12 century nautical consultant for a novel. The author would tell me what the plot and characters required while on boats (as passengers) and I built up a likely description of what they would see and hear in the situations, taking account of winds, tide, geography, type of boat and its handling etc. The author then re-worked my information to fit the writing style. The novel was set in an area I had sailed and knew well.

 

[boatingnovice]

Hi guys, thanks for your replies. I hope nobody took offence to my question. It wasn't my intention to make this sound like something you can learn in a couple of sentences!

The character who lives on the boat is more of a peripheral character, so we won't see him out on the ocean too much. It's more the fact that he now lives on a boat that was once used for fishing. I want him to live at a marina, surrounded by more modern boats so that his old, worn wooden boat sticks out like a sore thumb.

But I'm not even sure if that is plausible (???)

 

[john_morris_uk]

Hi guys, thanks for your replies. I hope nobody took offence to my question. It wasn't my intention to make this sound like something you can learn in a couple of sentences!

The character who lives on the boat is more of a peripheral character, so we won't see him out on the ocean too much. It's more the fact that he now lives on a boat that was once used for fishing. I want him to live at a marina, surrounded by more modern boats so that his old, worn wooden boat sticks out like a sore thumb.

But I'm not even sure if that is plausible (???)

Yes it’s plausible but you’d have to explain either how he’s paying the marina fees or give some reason he’s allowed to keep his boat there and live on it. People who live on manky old wooden ex fishing boats don’t often have the multiple thousands of pounds disposable income to pay the marina fees. (I recently had a quote of nearly £8,000 per annum to keep our relatively modest boat in a marina). You’ve then got the additional problem that many marinas forbid you to live on your boat...!)
One plausible explanation might be that he owned a mooring where the marina was being built and part of the planning conditions for permitting the marina development was that existing moorings were given free (or nearly free) berths. I know of at least one marina where this happened and I can imagine the marina and other berth holders gritting their teeth at having to accommodate this boat with its privileges.

PS Using the phrase ‘Out on the Ocean’ etc sounds very American. We would usually say ‘going to sea’ or ‘putting to sea’ or ‘been to sea’ similar. He might simply say he’d not been out on his boat for months or years’. Or ‘the boat hadn’t moved’. A fishing boat might refer to being out on its fishing grounds with a vague reference to ‘South of the Manacles’ or some well known reference point etc. (Fishing boats are notoriously coy about exactly where they are catching.)

Boats that don’t move are usually fairly obvious in marinas. The lines (ropes that tie a boat up are called lines) get crusty and green where they sit on the mooring cleats on the pontoon and on the boat. (Pontoon in UK, Dock in American). The boat that’s lived on and doesn’t move much accumulates junk and detritus on its decks that would have to be stowed away securely if it ever went to sea. A tv aerial might be clipped to a pole wedged somewhere. There might be an old bike on the deck etc
Go and walk round a marina where you’ve got people living on their boats and if you are observant it will usually be obvious which are the ones that move frequently, the ones that don’t move much and the ones that have people living aboard.

If the boat is used for taking paying guests out (I’ve just remembered you might have mentioned this?) then it as to be regularly surveyed, inspected and coded (receive a coding certificate for commercial use.). If it’s over 12 metres long there are extra regulations about what safety equipment it needs to carry. It can look tatty (to a degree) but it must be reasonably well maintained or the surveyor won’t give it a certificate to allow its commercial use. The skipper needs to have appropriate licences/qualifications for commercial use. It can’t be over 24 metres long or weigh more than 200 tonnes or the skipper has to have even more qualifications.

 

[boatingnovice]

Yes it’s plausible but you’d have to explain either how he’s paying the marina fees or give some reason he’s allowed to keep his boat there and live on it. People who live on manky old wooden ex fishing boats don’t often have the multiple thousands of pounds disposable income to pay the marina fees. (I recently had a quote of nearly £8,000 per annum to keep our relatively modest boat in a marina). You’ve then got the additional problem that many marinas forbid you to live on your boat...!)
One plausible explanation might be that he owned a mooring where the marina was being built and part of the planning conditions for permitting the marina development was that existing moorings were given free (or nearly free) berths. I know of at least one marina where this happened and I can imagine the marina and other berth holders gritting their teeth at having to accommodate this boat with its privileges.

PS Using the phrase ‘Out on the Ocean’ etc sounds very American. We would usually say ‘going to sea’ or ‘putting to sea’ or ‘been to sea’ similar. He might simply say he’d not been out on his boat for months or years’. Or ‘the boat hadn’t moved’. A fishing boat might refer to being out on its fishing grounds with a vague reference to ‘South of the Manacles’ or some well known reference point etc. (Fishing boats are notoriously coy about exactly where they are catching.)

Boats that don’t move are usually fairly obvious in marinas. The lines (ropes that tie a boat up are called lines) get crusty and green where they sit on the mooring cleats on the pontoon and on the boat. (Pontoon in UK, Dock in American). The boat that’s lived on and doesn’t move much accumulates junk and detritus on its decks that would have to be stowed away securely if it ever went to sea. A tv aerial might be clipped to a pole wedged somewhere. There might be an old bike on the deck etc
Go and walk round a marina where you’ve got people living on their boats and if you are observant it will usually be obvious which are the ones that move frequently, the ones that don’t move much and the ones that have people living aboard.

If the boat is used for taking paying guests out (I’ve just remembered you might have mentioned this?) then it as to be regularly surveyed, inspected and coded (receive a coding certificate for commercial use.). If it’s over 12 metres long there are extra regulations about what safety equipment it needs to carry. It can look tatty (to a degree) but it must be reasonably well maintained or the surveyor won’t give it a certificate to allow its commercial use. The skipper needs to have appropriate licences/qualifications for commercial use. It can’t be over 24 metres long or weigh more than 200 tonnes or the skipper has to have even more qualifications.

Hi John, that's such a useful reply and a HUGE help to me. Thanks so much for taking the time to reply. I love the explanation of how someone might get a cheap/free berth because of previously owning a mooring.

BTW, I'm English but my story is set in America. I'll research your suggestion to see if there are any cases of that ever happening over there - I'm sure it will have. Thanks again for the helpful info.

 

[john_morris_uk]

Hi John, that's such a useful reply and a HUGE help to me. Thanks so much for taking the time to reply. I love the explanation of how someone might get a cheap/free berth because of previously owning a mooring.

BTW, I'm English but my story is set in America. I'll research your suggestion to see if there are any cases of that ever happening over there - I'm sure it will have. Thanks again for the helpful info.

No problem. The licensing regulations for taking paying passengers are different in the USA and all people in charge of a boat are called ‘Captain’ there. (As against ‘Skipper’ of small boats here and something I found slightly disconcerting as the first time I skippered a boat in American waters my boss in the UK was a real Royal Navy Captain.)

 

[Robin]

No problem. The licensing regulations for taking paying passengers are different in the USA and all people in charge of a boat are called ‘Captain’ there. (As against ‘Skipper’ of small boats here and something I found slightly disconcerting as the first time I skippered a boat in American waters my boss in the UK was a real Royal Navy Captain.)

Where we were living aboard in Florida, EVERYONE was a 'captain', even the tiny shorted till checkout dolly birds in the chandlers.

 

[[159032]]

I would suggest that you write about something you do know well.

Knowing nothing never did Barbara Cartland any harm.

 

[john_morris_uk]

Authors are usually praised for their research. Why is the OP being criticised? If you haven’t got something positive to say, we waste pixels?