The Creative Writing Process: How to Write a Novel from Start to Finish

Michelle E.
4 min readSep 28, 2022

--

The creative writing process is the method used by writers to create fiction, stories, poetry, blog post or novels. It can be broadly defined as the steps taken by a creative writer from inception of an idea until the work is published. The process varies between authors, making it hard to give a single definition of how to write a novel.

The creative writing process begins with an author’s inspiration for a story or nonfiction book, usually sparked by an event in their life, questions they have been pondering, or some other thought that piques their interest. They then start to develop these thoughts into a narrative that could potentially become a novel or nonfiction book. This initial stage includes research on related topics and formulating a plan for what they want to write about. Once an outline has been created, the next step is either developing some characters or starting on the first draft of your story. This process can be followed into few simple steps:

Introduction: Approaching the Creative Process

In the past, writers would use a creative process as a way to generate ideas. These processes can be considered as a series of mental steps that the creativity goes through from the initial idea to the final product.

In this paper, we will be exploring how a creative process can help us understand creativity and how it is related to important aspects of our lives such as success and innovation. We will also go over how creative writers have been using different creative processes in order to generate new ideas.

Creativity is an important aspect of human life which is used for many different purposes — from solving everyday problems to coming up with new innovations. Creativity has also been linked to success; one study found that people who are more creative are more likely to be successful than those who are not.

Plotting and Creating Characters

An author’s ability to develop compelling characters is the difference between a good story and a great one. It can be challenging to create memorable, complex, and realistic characters. Authors have to keep in mind that not every character needs to have the same personality traits or achieve the same goals. Some might need more attention than others, depending on their importance in the storyline.

Structuring Your Story

The three most important steps are organization, coherence, and cohesion. Organization is the step where the writer plans out the main ideas of what they want to write about. Coherence is making sure that everything flows together well so there are no awkward transitions. And lastly, cohesion is keeping sentences in order so that there are no dangling or misplaced modifiers.

When one follows these steps they will better organize their thoughts and be sure that their writing meets the needs of the reader.

Creating Dialogue and Setting the Tone

This section will focus on how to create dialogue and set the tone of your story.

Dialogue is a fundamental part of any story, as it is the fundamental way in which we communicate through stories. Dialogue also helps to establish the setting and tone of the story.

It’s important that dialogue is not just realistic, but it’s also interesting and relevant. It should be tailored to your characters and what they’re saying at that point in time.

The Role of an editor and what Does an Editor Do?

Editors are the ones who make sure that the content is grammatically correct and it flows well. They are responsible for the content, style, and editing of written material like books, magazines, advertising copy, speeches and more. The words they use are meant to inform or persuade readers into wanting something or taking an action. They are also responsible for checking if the content is relevant to the audience and if it has any factual errors. Hiring a professional editor is always recommended and a good idea to ensure your writing flows in a well-structured manner from start to finish.

Concluding and Revising Your Work

The conclusion of your paper should summarize the main points of the paper. But it should not be redundant to what you already discussed in the introduction or body of your work. It is important to address any potential questions that may arise after reading your work, but don’t feel like you need to include everything or anything that could be perceived as an answer. For example, if you did not talk about the implications, then do not conclude with them; this is something that can be explored in future research.

After finishing writing, take some time to go back over what you have written and make sure there are no mistakes in grammar or typos.

--

--

Michelle E.

Researcher | Writer | Developer — Works @ Freelance