Eastbourne writer bares all in Naked Writer project (From The Argus)

Eastbourne writer bares all in Naked Writer project

8:00am Thursday 6th September 2012 in News By Siobhan Ryan

Writing a novel is often seen as a lonely pastime, with the author locking themselves away for weeks on end with just a computer and their thoughts.

But Silvia Hartmann is bidding for a world first by giving her fans the chance to see her latest novel being typed live online.

Ms Hartmann, from Eastbourne, is looking forward to the Naked Writer project.

With the rise of eBooks and print-on-demand paperbacks, many authors are now using the web to bypass traditional publishing houses in favour of self-publishing.

The Naked Writer aims to go one step further and give readers the opportunity to not only see the manuscript being typed, but to also comment on the storyline and provide feedback as the novel develops.

Ms Hartmann said: “This is an amazing opportunity for me as an author to push the boundaries of the author/reader relationship.

“It will be amazing to write knowing that people will be viewing each word, paragraph and chapter, each backspace as I go along.

“Some authors plan their manuscripts in advance, but my stories tend to have a life of their own and I look forward to seeing what unfolds with everybody else.”

Ms Hartmann is a member of the Society of Authors and the author of The Inserein Trilogy, Vampire Solstice, The Magician and The Golden Horse.

The first session will start on Wednesday September 12 at 9am when Ms Hartmann will alert her followers on Twitter and on Facebook.

Using Google Docs, the author will start with a blank document and begin to write .

Fans will be provided with a public-accessible web page to see the book being written before their eyes.

Through this project, readers engage with the process of writing and editing in real-time.

The project is also expected to attract the interest of budding authors, literature students and others interested in the process of creative writing.

The author has also already begun accepting suggestions for the title, with a signed copy of the completed first edition book as a prize for the winner The project is expected to take between four and eight weeks to finish, depending on the final word count.

Ms Hartmann can be found at: Google Plus, Facebook  and Twitter .