Posts Tagged ‘how to start a novel’
How To Start Writing a Novel Today
July 4th, 2009
Many writers dream of crafting a well-written, compelling novel that publishers can’t wait to get their hands on and that readers will love. However, they often forget the most important step that will help them make this dream a reality. If you are serious about writing the best novel you possibly can, don’t overlook this critical first step.
Creating a Compelling Vision
You must first create a clear, step-by-step map for your journey through your story. It’s essential to go through the process of exploring and developing your initial ideas for character, setting, and plot. By clarifying these key elements of your novel before you begin writing, you will actually be able to finish it without getting lost somewhere in the vast middle section wondering where to go next. Everything will fit together in a unified vision that will inspire you to move forward and get your novel on paper.
Let Your Characters Introduce Themselves
To start with, you’ll want to really explore who your characters are and what is important to them. Starting from the seed of your initial ideas, you can give each character depth and dimension by asking yourself a series of key questions about their lives and motivations. As you go through this process, eventually your characters will come alive for you in your imagination. You will know them and feel for them and feel invested in where they are headed. To help you get there, explore the following questions for each character:
Who are the key players in your story?
Physical Appearance: how they look, age, ethnicity, defining characteristics.
What are their idiosyncrasies, habits, personality traits?
What is their background and history? What key experiences deeply influenced who they are today?
What do they love most, hate most, fear most?
What are the deepest dreams in their hearts? What do they most want and what are the internal and external obstacles in the way of getting it?
Answering questions such as these help you know your characters deeply and feel connected to them and their dreams. Once you achieve this, you’re ready to move on to the next step.
Explore Your Novel’s World
Next, you will want to take some time to decide on the key details of location and setting for your novel so that these, too, will come alive in your imagination. Here are some questions to consider:
In which state, country, or region does your novel take place?
When does your novel take place specifically and over what period of time?
What are the key settings for the novel? the house, the business, the ship, etc.
Describe the seasons that are experienced in your novel.
What are the meaningful objects for your novel? i.e. an old love letter, a trunk in the attic, an inherited book collection.
Plot: Explore Where Your Novel Will Go
Next, you should take the time to work out a tight, compelling plot and overall structure that flows logically from point to point and culminates in a page-turning climax. The character work you did in step one will help you understand the basic conflicts and issues that your novel will address. There are a number of helpful story structures that writers can use as a foundation for writing, but essentially these plot outlines help you clarify a few key questions:
What is the starting place for your characters? What is their life like at this point?
What do your main characters want to happen at this point?
What are the obstacles in the way of achieving their goal?
What strategies do your characters use to overcome these obstacles?
As to basic structure: Often your character will have some initial success about a third of the way through the story. Then, complications are introduced and things begin to fall apart about halfway through the novel. Next, your characters will have an experience of failure or loss about 2/3 of the way through your novel. This then leads to a deeper re-commitment to their goal and final push which eventually climaxes in the greatest effort and ultimate success.
Taking the Time For This Crucial Step Leads to Success
If you take the time to complete this important step, you will be rewarded with an inspiring, step-by-step blueprint that will guide you through the vast expanse of your novel. I encourage you to take the time to get to know your characters deeply, imagine your settings vividly, and know the through line of your plot. Having these ideas clearly thought out ahead of time will make the process of writing your novel easier and more enjoyable that you would have ever thought possible.
Posted in 
Tags: 
