Control: Starting a new novel

Daniel Trump
Jul 30, 2017 · 2 min read

Starting a new novel is a difficult endeavor. I sit at my room. I, Dalton Lewis, tried several times to start this novel. I only succeeded when I decided to get a certain, reasonable amount done every day. For me that is ten pages: if you are getting started, start with 5. 5 pages is a reasonable amount to write at first.

The key to writing is to understand people, emotions, and dramatic conflict. One needs specific scenes. I finished watching the Starcraft 2 tournament last night — Rogue won — and I fell asleep until it was time to take my meds. Then I took my meds, fell asleep again, and woke up around noon. Okay? If I say that I watched something and then slept some, that’s not as effective. Specifics help.

Read. Reading books helps one to write more effectively. Pay attention to what works when one is reading. Learn what works. I recently read a book called We Were Liars, in which there is a big twist in the end. In the beginning we learn that Cady, the protagonist, was found naked and crying and injured in the water one evening when she was fifteen. The mystery is solved at the end of the book, in a satisfying and surprising manner.

Some people talk about a three act structure and a central problem. I don’t really know if those are necessary. I think that sometimes one spends too much time on a surface plot and not enough time developing characters and building a world. In Game of Thrones a lot of events happen all the time, and everything doesn’t all fit together in one nice, tight story. It meanders and goes in several directions at once; this is because it reflects the way people speak and act. The good guys don’t always win, the bad guys don’t always lose, and life is often stupid and messy. The good guys aren’t all on one side, and the bad guys aren’t on the other side. This is a good change from most conventional stories, I think.

Description is important. If I describe a full detailed world you can live there and notice it in your head. This is a positive change from simply telling a story. It involves showing you the story instead.

Have tension between characters. The good guys should disagree with each other, and frequently. This is called dramatic conflict. Melodramatic conflict is heightened conflict, or conflict with a villain. This is the lesser kind of conflict. You want some of both in your stories.

Then you have to juggle everything and put it all together. That’s the hardest part: balancing all those various elements into one work of prose. I think that the effort matters and that books are worthwhile even if they won’t sell a million copies. I urge all of you writers to try to write a novel.

Thanks, and take care, friends.

Daniel Trump

Written by

Daniel Trump wrote the slasher/horror epic Impressions of Suburbia. Buying it is the way he makes money for his writing. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RPXPQPC

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