Better Novel Writing: My Process
I am writing a novel and its the story I have always wanted to tell. Its the story that I day dream about when I waiting for doctors appointment. Its the story I tell myself on long drives across the Minnesota landscape. I knew I wanted to write the story, but I needed a process to get it on paper. This is how I am writing. Now I will turn the marketing of a book over to the gurus on Fiverr and YouTube. This article will focus on my process for attacking the beast that is the first novel.
Write about what you know.
This may seem odd. Especially if you are writing science fiction. That isn’t what I mean here. Think about your daily life and the various conversations that you have had, the arguments, the conflicts, the mundane daily discussions that make up a life. We all know conversation. Think about the events that happen in your life through out the year or even throughout your life. Think about your wedding day or the day your boyfriend broke it off with you. As you build your outline you can use these conversations and events to weave the narrative. Its easier to simply replay an event you have lived through than to try and recreate the wheel. Write about yourself and your life. Its what you know best.
Tell yourself the story first before your write.
I like to tell myself the story before I write it out. First if it doesn’t play well in your imagination, its highly unlikely it will play out well on your PC screen. I also like to tell and retell the scenes I am working on. When I commit to typing it I want the narrative to flow as smoothly as possible and just writing without a well imagined story is setting yourself up for failure. Typically for me writers block is commonly linked to not day dreaming the story. I find that the best way to get myself out of it is to look at pictures and then world build the scene in my mind. Don’t be afraid to tell the story first before your write.
Write with a plan.
I used to scoff at the writers who sat on blogs and in writing groups whining about their outlines. But I now know that writing means planning. Few writers today have the ability to just sit down and bang out a 300 page novel without SOME form of a plan. I use a software package Bibisco to organize my book. It forces me to plan out the story. What is the theme, what are narrative strands, who are the characters (like really who are they?), where are the locations. Once you have that you can create a basic story outline. I have caught myself relying heavily on my writing plan. Sometimes as I reread a chapter I quickly realize that I am using the wrong language or even the wrong location! Having a plan allows you to focus on storytelling and not remembering what happened over the last 70 pages. Build a plan to stay on track.
Have a daily minimum word count.
Lots of writers put impossible goals on themselves. Look, if you can write 10,000 words a day good on you. I can’t do that. But I do have a daily minimum. I have 500 words to write about what is most important to me that day. Some days it takes that much writing to get to the actual novel itself. Sometimes that is all I can get on the screen that day. But having a minimum word count keeps your writing SOMETHING which is better than writing nothing. Remember even if your writing never sees the book, write it out anyhow.
Flash fiction is a great way to get feedback and focus.
I love to use flash fiction exercises to create a scene. Especially when I have writers block. I will use a flash fiction challenge from a number of blogs and will build a scene for my novel using my characters. If a picture is the inspiration even better! There is a theory that you should never get feedback on a book until its done and has aged on a shelf for 6 months. I have been a writer since 2002, I subscribe to the theory that I need a lot of feedback as I write if nothing else than for motivation. Blogging your novel puts you in community with other writers and readers which can give you a barometer on whether a scene is working or not. If your stuck consider flash fiction.
Finally, consider blogging your novel.
One of the toughest things a writer has to do is wait for the book to be completed, edited and designed. It sucks. I abandoned a prior project because of this. So I decided to blog my book. Not all of it but a good chunk of it. First it builds excitement among your potential readers. Second, you get the thrill of publishing SOMETHING every day! There isn’t the long battle of feeling like you are toiling alone. Even if only 1–2 people read your stuff its better than writing and then leaving your desk wondering how people would respond to the piece. Its also a great way to test if you are staying true to your premise or drifting away from it.
So for me that is my basic system for getting my novel done. I am still writing and I am still motivated to tell the story that is on my heart. I hope these tips will help you to write consistently and with more discipline as well. Happy Writing!!
