A Peek Into My Novel Writing Journey.
We were in the grip of the pandemic at the time, and I was working from home part-time. Because I had a lot of free time, I decided to write the book that everyone had been requesting. A nonfiction business book; a ‘how-to’ manual, if you will. A step-by-step guide to starting a business. I knew I needed to write this book, even if it was just to stop people from asking me the same business questions over and over again.
But that day, I sat at my home desk, feeling a little down, possibly because I knew how boring writing the business book would be for me. I was confident that I could write this business book using only a fraction of my brain cells. Of course, I’d have to look up a few laws and procedures that may have changed over time, but I’d be writing about something I’d been doing my entire adult life, and I wasn’t motivated. Instead, I began surfing the web, and lo and behold, an advertisement for editing and publishing your novel caught my eye. Something I wished I could do but didn’t believe I was capable of. Writing a novel necessitates creativity, which I sadly lack. Another advertisement for writing a novel appeared as I continued to browse the internet. I’m not sure why my initial reaction to the second advertisement was to look around my office as if someone was playing a prank on me. Writing a novel? Was this a sign? I wasn’t going to start something I knew I’d fail at, sign or no sign.
About a week or so later, my daughter, Robin, sends me a Twitter link to a conversation about new novel writers. I clicked the link, thinking, “why not?” To my surprise, it was a very interesting conversation. The Tweet was started by Nadia Bulkin. (Side note: Nadia is my granddaughter’s name – Just can’t ignore those signs). Nadia Bulkin was asking those who had written books to give their best advice; Steven King and Paul Tremblay joined in the conversation by tweeting:
People who have written novels: what’s your best advice for writing a novel? Please share! ⤵️
— Nadia Bulkin (@nadiabulkin) February 25, 2021
3-4 pages a day. Nothing but a walk (to think) and breakfast before they are done.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) February 25, 2021
A plot summary? Three or four pages a day? That doesn’t seem so difficult. Long story short, King and Tremblay were the reason I mustered up the courage to put pen to paper or, in this case, fingers to keyboard. Without their encouragement, I would never think it possible.
I decided, then and there, that I would write a novel. Of course, I didn’t start writing until months afterward, but the point is that I did start.
If you’ve decided to write a novel, that’s fantastic! Please keep in mind that there is no correct or incorrect way to begin this process. If my approach doesn’t work for you, please feel free to modify it until you’re comfortable with the progress of your writing.
Remember: The goal is to finish that book.
After deciding to write a novel, I read a few ‘how to write a novel’ articles on the internet and came up with my first three steps.
Step One – Writing Tools
- Find a writing space. A location dedicated just for you and all of your piles of papers, which you will definitely have. A space for books you’ve read or will read, for highlighters, and balled-up rejections; some landing in the trash basket as you toss this away, some only making it to the floor. This place should be interruption free so that you can access your inner creativity. This was essential for me because I’m easily distracted. Keeping focused is crucial, especially while your writing energy is at a peak.
- Buy a notebook with at least three dividers. (you won’t need this if you prefer typing everything on your computer.) I preferred using the notebook to scribble all kinds of details and draw as I figured out the journey my characters would take. But after I was sure things were the way I wanted, I’d type them into the computer in case I needed to share some of them with a friend. I used the three-divider notebook for:
- Character development
- Daily notes (scribbles)
- To-do list
Step Two – Picking Your Genre
Figure out what type of novel you want to write. Here’s a list of a few genres:
- Action and Adventure
- Detective/Mystery
- Fantasy
- Historical Fiction
- Horror/Thriller
- Romance
- Sci-Fiction
Suggestion: Look around to see what types of books you read. That will be a hint of what you should probably write. If you haven’t read a lot of novels (like moi) you may want to go ahead and purchase a few and read them so that you get the feeling of how they are written. Once you decide on the genre (pronounced zhaan-ruh), proceed to step three.
Step Three – Planning
Before you begin writing a novel, you must ensure that your story idea contains all of the necessary elements of a complete story.
At this point, you should know your genre, and you should have a pretty good idea of what you want to write about.
Answer the five questions below.
1. What is the name of your main character, and what is their defining characteristic? (e.g., Katniss Everdeen, survivalist – The Hunger Games)
2. What is their current situation? (e.g., Harry Potter enters a magical school of witchcraft and wizardry)
3. What do they want? Your main character, The Protagonist, may want survival, justice, winning something, getting rid of something, money, love, selfishness, etc.
4. What’s keeping them from getting what they want? Any struggle that your protagonist must overcome to achieve their goal is referred to as conflict. It could be a ‘real world’ obstacle or antagonist (external conflict) or some inner turmoil that our heroes must overcome before obtaining what they desire or require (internal conflict)
5. What disaster will raise the states of your novel? (Hunger Games – The game’s rules are changed at the last minute, forcing Katniss to choose between killing her closest ally and being killed by him.)
Trust me, your answers to these questions will probably change quite a few times during your writing process. But that’s okay. It just means you’re finding your way.
Happy writing.
