101 ways to write a novel
What if someone went through the biggest and best blogs on the internet and pulled out the very best tips for fiction writers? Thanks to all these amazing bloggers for their valuable advice! Which tip is your favourite so far? Read my full review of The Story Course. Thanks so much for compiling this list. Not only is it specific, but you included the links to the sources so we can follow up on those pieces of advice that best fit our situation now.
Novel Writing 101
The toughest part of learning how to write a novel is knowing where to start and how to keep on going to the end. This section of Novel Writing Help is all about demystifying the writing process.
Figuring out how to write a novel can be confusing, probably because there are so many steps to take…. The answer is that you begin by studying a good map and familiarizing yourself with the route. The step-by-step process outlined below is your map.
So please…. And all of them will be right! Pretty soon, it will be time to get to work on your novel. And you too will need to discover a process that works for you. And guess what? The next step is to dig deeper into the process itself…. Planning is broader, including tasks like getting to know your characters and researching the setting. At the most basic level, writing a solid draft of a novel involves just three steps…. The planner puts a huge amount of effort into the first two steps.
The final step, revision, is little more than a quick run-through to correct any inconsistencies that crept in during the actual writing.
The pantster, on the other hand, puts all her effort into the final two steps. The bulk of the hours go into writing the first draft, and then making sense of it during revision. In other words, planning and revising are essentially the same thing. The pantster does it after the event. The last thing you want to hear is someone telling you that your way of working is all wrong.
But I do feel like F. Scott Fitzgerald felt when he said this about Thomas Wolfe…. Think about it…. The main difference between planning and writing is that one happens in note form and the other takes the form of prose and dialogue. Apart from that, they both involve inventing people and places and events in your imagination and getting them down on paper.
If detailed planning in advance is my recommended approach to writing a novel, does that mean there are no disadvantages to being a planner?
Sorry, but no…. A plan is a means to an end, not the end itself. So if you still spend a heap of time on the planning, even though entrepreneur inside you understands that time is money, you need to ask yourself why…. In each case, you need to remind yourself that a plan is just a means to an end. A novel ultimately consists of 80, words or whatever of prose and dialogue. You want the thrill of the blank page, and nothing I say is going to change that! Trouble is, you may end up spending so much time on your plan that you never get around to the task that really counts — doing some actual writing!
Even if you have no idea yet what your novel is about, write anything. The main idea is to…. On the other hand, planning in too much detail can be a wasted effort, because sometimes you only truly discover what you want to say through the act of writing the novel. Though still do some writing 30 minutes a day, say to satisfy your inner-artist , to build up your writing muscle, and to learn more about your story as your characters come to life and act in unexpected ways.
But each approach has its disadvantages…. It gets the pantster to actually do some planning without depriving them of their daily writing fix. And it gets the planner to actually do some writing without the fear of losing control.
Ultimately, only you can decide on the best novel writing approach for you. But I hope that everything above has convinced you to take an approach that sits somewhere in the middle! The most logical way to write a novel is to start at the beginning of the story i.
And there are two groups of writers who do work this way…. Well, novels are complicated things. First, imagine your completed novel as a straight line. The story starts on the left, ends on the right and contains every detail along its course…. Now turn that line into a circle. It contains exactly the same story with exactly the same level of detail, and it still runs from the first chapter to the last, but this time it does it clockwise instead of in a straight line….
Finally, imagine a series of concentric circles. The outer circle is the completed novel, as above. Each smaller circle represents an earlier version of the novel, one that is less advanced and therefore contains less detail than the circle outside it. By the time you get to the center circle, you have very little detail indeed. But it still contains the core of your novel, or the seed that the outer circle will eventually become….
Planning and writing a novel from the inside out means starting at the core and adding layer after layer of detail as you develop the story. Instead of developing the story in a straight line, from Event A to Event Z, you develop it organically, from the point of knowing virtually nothing about the story to the point of knowing everything.
It also makes it much easier to change your mind as you go. Write your novel linearly, though, from start to end, and fundamental changes can potentially become huge undertakings. Not much to say here. I just want to remind you not to miss the introductory articles if you skipped over them.
They cover, amongst other things…. Some people will tell you that good novel ideas are difficult to come by. I would respectfully disagree. As a matter of fact, I believe that most writers face the opposite problem: not having the time to turn every idea they have into a novel. The Big Idea itself is very simple — one sentence long, to be exact.
Yes, novel ideas can and do change as you develop them. And why would you want to rush this stage, anyway? The section on Finding Ideas shows you how to brainstorm for more ideas than you could ever hope to use. If your main character is still on the sketchy side, for example, how are you meant to decide how they will act and react in a variety of situations?
Your story will also have a deeper layer of meaning that sets it apart from more one-dimensional novels. When the time comes, visit the section on Theme and all will be revealed. The first job is to draw up a cast list. But you certainly need to figure out who all the major players are. Doing that ensures that the characters will come across to the readers as convincing human beings.
When the time comes, the section on how to create characters gives you all the how-to information you need. Setting encompasses a lot more than just streets and buildings and houses. It also includes things like…. And so on. The section dedicated to setting covers everything you need to do. The previous step was about getting to know your story world.
The next step is about bringing that world to life by working out the sequence of events in detail. Or to think of it in movie terms…. First, though, you need to set up the cameras and the lights and point them in the right direction. Another decision is whether to use past tense or the present tense. When the time comes to make your decisions, head on over to the section on point of view. Everything you need is there — not only a rundown of the different viewpoints to choose from but, crucially, help on how to handle your chosen viewpoint more professionally when you come to write your novel.
The good news is that the job will be made a lot simpler by following my comprehensive guide to plotting a novel. Start with the introductory articles covering topics like what a plot is and what keeps readers turning the pages.
Also check out the section on subplots. Not every novel contains subplots, but most do. I show you precisely what they are and how to weave them seamlessly into the main plot. What do I mean by that? A plot is a sequence of chronological events — everything that happens from Event A at the beginning to Event Z at the end. Or it can mean playing around with time in a variety of other ways — making Event B last for 30 pages, for example, and Event C for just a sentence or two.
The section on structuring a novel tells you everything you need to know. At last, we turn to the actual writing of your novel! At whatever stage you do it, writing the first draft should be a magical experience.
Vladimir Nabokov put it well…. The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become visible.
Fiction Writing The Elements of Stories. Which is one of the most popular forms of creative writing? You guessed it: fiction writing. Novels are written every. Bestselling fantasy and historical fiction author Ben Galley will show you how to plan out your book, before revealing his top tips for productivity! Crafting the first.
Our virtual workshops are Zooming right along! What better way to stay engaged and creative through this surreal moment in time? Stay healthy, everyone. Years ago before either of us was published, I sat amazed listening to her tell how she put together her first novel by laying all the scenes on her bed and putting them in order!
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So you want to write a book. Becoming an author can change your life—not to mention give you the ability to impact thousands, even millions, of people. You can write a book—and more quickly than you might think, because these days you have access to more writing tools than ever.
Writing 101: How to Write a Scene
The toughest part of learning how to write a novel is knowing where to start and how to keep on going to the end. This section of Novel Writing Help is all about demystifying the writing process. Figuring out how to write a novel can be confusing, probably because there are so many steps to take…. The answer is that you begin by studying a good map and familiarizing yourself with the route. The step-by-step process outlined below is your map.
How to Write a Book From Start to Finish: A Proven Guide
Think about the books you love, the ones you really lose yourself in. It might not be anything genre-specific that you love, but a certain voice, or type of story, or kinds of characters. Write what you love. Do me a favor -- right now, today, start a list of all your crazy obsessions, the things that get your heart pumping, that wake you up in the middle of the night. Put it above your desk and use it to guide you, to jumpstart your writing each and every day. She lives in Vermont with her family. Visit her website or connect with her on Twitter. Begin with character.
Recently, I finished a manuscript of a new book for entrepreneurs coming soon.
Learning how to write a good hook, if I really had to choose, is truly the toughest thing. So how can you start a story with a bang? Here are 12 tips for how to write a good hook! Shocking readers immediately with a jarring moment, visual, or confession will get them excited to read on.
