| The question I am most often asked about novel | | | | want your book to 'say.' |
| writing is 'Where do you even begin?' This brief | | | | - Construct the setting, by writing brief |
| guide to how to write a novel will hopefully point | | | | descriptions of the overall setting and the |
| you in the right direction. More specifically, it offers | | | | important locations within it. |
| a 7-step approach to writing a novel. | | | | - Decide which viewpoint to use - first or third |
| 1. Think about why you want to write a novel | | | | person? |
| This is one of the most important steps of all, | | | | 5. Write your novel |
| and certainly not one to be rushed. Are you | | | | Like I said, whether to plan a novel just a little or |
| writing for money or for the love of doing it? Are | | | | a lot is up to you. Either way, you will eventually |
| you going to treat it like a job or a hobby? Will | | | | be faced with the task of turning a few hundred |
| you write what you want to write or what you | | | | sheets of blank paper into a first draft. |
| believe will sell well? | | | | The trick here is to take it one writing session at |
| Unless you work out at the beginning your | | | | a time and not to look ahead. Writing 100,000 |
| motivation for writing a novel, what you hope to | | | | words can be scary, writing 1,000 words isn't. You |
| get out of it, and how long you intend to take, | | | | will be amazed at how quickly the pages pile up. |
| you could easily end up disappointed. | | | | Something else to remember is that what you |
| 2. Decide which genre of fiction to write | | | | are doing here is writing a first draft - and drafts, |
| Broadly speaking, there are two types of novels: | | | | by their very nature, end up in the recycling bin. |
| literary fiction and popular fiction. If you decide to | | | | In other words, your prose doesn't have to read |
| write a literary novel, you are free to tackle any | | | | like Hemingway the first time around - so don't |
| subject in any way you choose. If you write | | | | even try. In fact, if you are anything like most |
| popular fiction, you will need to decide which | | | | writers, you will probably hate what you produce |
| category in particular you intend to target - crime, | | | | in the first instance. That is normal. Making the |
| horror, romance and so on - and then to stick to | | | | words pretty happens during the sixth stage of |
| the conventions of that category. | | | | the novel writing process... |
| The best advice here is to write what you like to | | | | 6. Revise your novel |
| read. If you write a detective novel because you | | | | If you have the ability to write a page of prose |
| love to read them, that is great. If you write a | | | | and for that page to be perfect in every way |
| detective novel because you believe there is | | | | imaginable, with not so much as a comma out of |
| more money in it, you could be heading for | | | | place, you are either very brilliant or very stupid. |
| trouble. | | | | A lot of famous novelists - James Michener and |
| 3. Brainstorm for novel ideas | | | | John Irving, for example - have admitted that |
| Novel ideas are funny things. On the one hand, | | | | they are not great writers but excellent |
| they are completely worthless (try getting a | | | | re-writers. |
| publisher to give you some money on the | | | | Editing a manuscript involves both looking at what |
| strength of a mere idea). On the other hand, they | | | | you have said and how you have said it. In other |
| can seem like the Holy Grail when you are | | | | words, first check the plot and the characters |
| struggling to find one. | | | | (and so forth) for inconsistencies, then work on |
| There is a myth among writers that one of the | | | | the language itself. Oh, and don't stop until you |
| most difficult aspects of how to write a novel is | | | | have reached the end - far too many writers |
| finding an idea in the first place. But they are | | | | jeopardize their chances with too-hasty |
| actually easy to find, so long as you know how to | | | | submissions. |
| go about it the right way. In a nutshell, my | | | | 7. Sell your novel |
| method involves lots of brainstorming - for | | | | You have done all the hard work and it is now |
| character ideas, setting ideas and so on - and | | | | time to claim the prize that awaits you: seeing |
| then rearranging all these fragments like jigsaw | | | | your novel in print. |
| pieces, until a picture emerges. | | | | There are two ways of getting a book published: |
| 4. Plan your novel | | | | - First, you can sell it to a publisher (or place it |
| We're getting to the business-end of novel writing | | | | with an agent who will approach a publisher on |
| now! | | | | your behalf). |
| Some writers like to plan a book in great depth | | | | - Or you can go it alone and publish it yourself. |
| before they start writing; others arm themselves | | | | The best advice here is to always try to sell it to |
| with little more than a pen and a blank sheet of | | | | a conventional publisher, and to do so via a |
| paper and see where the story takes them. | | | | literary agent. The bad news here is that this will |
| There is no right or wrong when it comes to how | | | | involve an awful lot of waiting around (agents and |
| to write a novel - you must do whatever suits | | | | publishers are notoriously slow). The good news is |
| you best. But if you want my advice, I would | | | | that this will give you plenty of time to make a |
| always recommend that you plan your story in | | | | start on your next novel. Don't worry, it is much |
| some detail before you begin to write, particularly | | | | easier the second time around! |
| if this is your first novel. | | | | And that is it: a 7-step guide to how to write a |
| More specifically, I would recommend that you: | | | | novel. Of course, the novel writing process is a lot |
| - Draw up mini-biographies for each of your | | | | more complicated than that. But hopefully, by |
| principal characters. | | | | identifying the separate steps you need to take, |
| - Plot the novel, in the form of a | | | | the decision to start writing a novel at all will not |
| chapter-by-chapter outline. | | | | now be quite so daunting. |
| - Decide on the novel's theme - or what you | | | | |