Writing Your First Novel: A Guide for Aspiring Novelists
Simple steps for actually starting and finishing your novel.
Image from: Adobe Stock
Simple steps for actually starting and finishing your novel.
I have met many people who have romanticized the idea of being a novelist. Sitting in a sun-soaked room, with a warm cup of coffee, maybe a bourbon, clacking away on a keyboard, each and every word bringing them closer to literary greatness. Every single person has a great idea about a novel but the dream ends at the idea. An incomplete idea that never gets written; a story untold. Then there’s the group of people who start writing but they never complete the book. You’ve probably met some that have been working on their manuscript for years, never really making any progress.
Writing anything, especially a novel, is not an easy undertaking. The act of writing isn’t something that comes naturally to most of us. Linguists suggest that we spend 70 to 80 hours of our waking time engaged in some form of communication. 45 percent of this time is spent listening ― even though most of us are bad at it; 30 percent of it speaking; 16 percent reading, and just 9 percent writing!
But our lack of time spent writing shouldn’t be seen as an excuse for any would-be novelists. Even spending only 9 percent of our time writing leads to stories that change the world. If your ideas are ever going to have an impact though, they need to get out of your head.
How To Start Your First Novel
So you’ve got an idea. You feel confident it’s a good one. You may have even shared it with a few people who agree. Now, how will you go about it making it the next bestseller?
Planning
Planning is something I struggle with daily. I used to think that planning would crush creativity and that routines were poisonous. Turns out, that nothing frees the mind up for creative thinking than having a plan and sticking to it. Routines actually provide the ability to focus more deeply because your brain is less scattered. If you are someone who struggles with planning, I highly recommend taking the time to find a system that works for you so that at the very least you spend a little time every day reflecting on what you ware trying to accomplish. When you apply a planning mindset to your writing, you’ll find it gives you more time to creatively express your idea instead of banging your head against the wall thinking you need to be inspired by a muse.
Beyond creating a basic outline, start gathering research materials and make a commitment to how long you are willing to work on your novel. A standard novel is about 70,000 words. If you are setting a deadline of one year to finish your manuscript, writing 5 days a week, then you need to write at least 250 words per day. It’s better to write more often than try and cram your writing into a single day. Work to make writing a habit and the easiest way to form a habit is consistency.
Outline Your Plot
People fear the outline. Some say it’s because it boxes them in, but the truth is that an outline is one of the most difficult parts of writing because it forces you to really think about your idea. Odds are your idea is unfinished in your head. An outline is the first time you are being forced to think about your plot and the inherent holes that your infant idea possesses. By working through an outline you are beginning to plug holes, deciding on a path, and your brain is being forced to combat the fear of missing out on the limitless branching plot ideas that have been swirling around in your head.
Plan Your People
“When writing a novel a writer should create living people; people not characters. A character is a caricature.”
― Ernest Hemingway, Death in the Afternoon
Give your people name and features. Know where they live and how they interact with one another. The more you know your people on a deep level, the more it will help you avoid writing something your people would never do. The beauty of knowing your people deeply is that although you understand how they’ll react, your audience will only have an opinion formed on the parts you show. This allows you to build in surprises without alienating your reader because, upon reflection, it becomes obvious what your people are truly capable of in the story.
Plan the Major Events
When does person A come into the limelight and when does person C become irrelevant to the story. These examples barely touch on the potential events that a person in your story can experience. Major events should be considered through the lens of each player in your story when planning. Not every person will experience the same major events throughout your novel so it’s important to have them mapped out.
Read Related Author Works
If for instance, your character has to go on an African Safari, there is probability you haven’t been there before. If your budget cannot afford the trip, consider reading related works on an African Safari to have a picture of what your character will be experiencing.
Visit Related Characters
Most of the time, a character is usually inspired by someone we know or have heard of. A visit to the person for firsthand knowledge of how they live will really help. If this is not possible, talk to people who know them. This will improve your description of the character and their participation in the story.
Making the Most Out of Your Writing Time
Life is busy. It’s important to make the most out of each minute you get to spend working on your novel. There are some steps you can take to make the moment you sit down to write more productive.
Write in the Same Place
This may sound funny but it is helpful. When our brain grows accustomed to certain sights, smells and sounds, it can quickly put us in a certain mood. If you have a consistent place to write, your brain will start understanding that when it enters this place, it’s time to write. It’s the same reason why many people don’t like doing work in their bedroom. Working in your bed can slowly put your brain on edge when it comes time to sleep because it doesn’t know if it should be sleeping or working.
Make Everything You Need Easily Accessible
Things like research, maps, and pictures that relate to your story should be placed where you can easily access them while writing. There are digital tools like Scrivener that can help, but if you are an analog person, just ensure that your tools are within arms reach. Different novels will require different levels of research. Carrying around a notebook is a great way to gather real-world information while you are going about your normal day. If your stories are based in a location you are not familiar with, whenever you come across any info about the setting you can jot it down.
Pen and Paper, Typewriter or Computer?
What works best for you is what you should use. There are advantages and disadvantages to each style of writing, but whatever helps you sit down and actually write is the way you should do it. However, no matter what method you choose, make sure you make copies! You don’t want to end up losing all your hard work.
Getting Started
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
― Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
You are finally ready to write. Most writers that I’ve spoken with tell me that the hardest part of writing is not the act of writing, but overcoming the inertia of not writing. If you wrote an outline, the act of writing becomes much easier. The first few days are usually the most difficult, but like any habit building actions, it gets easier over time. Remember it is easier to break a habit than build one so whatever amount of time you’ve committed to writing, do your best not to skip a day. Worry less about your errors or spending too long picking the perfect words, all of that can be edited later ― just keep writing.
Take a Step Back
Taking time at the end of each writing session to pick up your manuscript and do a self-critique can help you reflect on what is happening in the story. Evaluate how the people in your story are engaging with the environment you built and double check that the outlines you created of your people are making sense with what you’ve written.
Procrastinate
When you get stuck, leave it. Take a break and do something else, even if that something is nothing at all. If you are really stuck on a certain part of your novel, go to another section and start again. This can help trigger the same “new idea” response that many people experience when they get stuck. It’s the feeling that pushes people to leave projects and start new ones. Instead of abandoning your novel, just start on another part of the book. Like filming a movie, it doesn’t have to be done in order and often times figuring out later plot points will help create solutions for the earlier ones.
The Climax
“So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads.”
― Dr. Seuss
Edit and Proofread
Your story has been written. Way to go! But the story is just getting to the good part. It’s time to refine. Start correcting grammatical errors in your writing and rewriting paragraphs where there is the need. After you have edited and proofread yourself, consider employing professional editors to catch what you may have missed. Poor spelling and grammar take people out of the story. The more you can tighten up your writing the easier it will be for readers to stay engaged. If you will be self-publishing your novel (more on that later), then a professional editor is vital.
Get Your Manuscript Reviewed
Now that you’ve read your manuscript for grammar and spelling, it’s time to get people to review the story. Before sending it out to publishers, get at least two people who you can trust to read the manuscript and offer suggestive advice. The best way to do this is to tell them to make their review in writing and not tell you about it, they shouldn’t include their names either and should have it typed so that you will not recognize their handwriting. Start opening these reviews after you have them all gathered. This will help you have an unbiased judgment of your work. In case you want a professional review, you can try getting your book across to a published author or literary professor with knowledge in the same or related field of your novel’s genre.
Use Your Emotional Intelligence
You may feel awkward after reading reviews from people you have given your manuscript but this is normal. Every work is subject to a critic. Check the most consistent review in all of the feedback to identify any glaring faults or commendation of your work. Always remember any bad comments about your work is not about you as a person and if a review is personally attacking you, that says more about the reviewer than your writing. Revise your novel as much as you think necessary. You need to find a balance between staying true to your vision and being comfortable with change.
The Ending
You may have thought that a finished, edited, and polished story was the last part of writing a novel. But your novel writing is not complete until you publish. Even if no one ever reads your novel, getting it out into the world is the final step in your novel writing journey. Thanks to the internet, there are plenty of different methods you can use to publish and promote your novel.
Publishing Your Novel
If you are considering the use of a traditional publisher which will save you the cost of promotion, you may need to hire an agent. This will make your pitch easier as most of these agents have connections in major publishing houses which can boost your writing career. Be ready for lots of reviews and need of redraft in this case as you will be subjected to lots of professional critics. To make things easier and increase your publishing chance, make your agent submit your manuscript to different publishing houses even while waiting for a response from any that appears promising.
Many authors who can’t stand the headache of traditional publishing houses demands prefer to use the available self-publishing platforms. This not only saves a headache, but it also gives you more control over your novel. With the aid of different digital marketing techniques and platforms available today, your novel promotion is made easier.
Top platforms to self-publish and sell your novel:
Picking A Title
It may seem odd that picking a title is this far down the list, but you are permitted to work on your novel without having a book title in mind. If you have a title early on, no problem at all, but before you press publish, your novel is going to need a title. A great title must be captivating enough to make any reader want to grab the book off the shelf and at the same time should summarize what the book is all about, even if that summary doesn’t make sense until the reader finishes your book.
Now that you have all you need to write your first novel, start writing and stop depriving the world of your creativity.
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