There is a classic saying that every person has at least one good novel in them. Which reader and devourer of books doesn’t dream of writing their own stories; of telling their own adventures? To most however, this dream remains just that; a dream. They are intimidated by the work and effort required in putting their ideas on paper. The truth is, writing a novel is hard. It is perhaps one of the most difficult things to do, but it can be done.
Here are ten essential tips every beginning writer can use:
1. Accepting your talent.
Some people are just born with the natural ability to write great novels. Talent is not something that can be taught, but talent isn’t the only requirement to writing a novel. Discipline is just as, if not more important. Talent means nothing unless you have discipline to make use of it. And if you feel your talent is not as strong as it should be, you can supplement it with discipline, study and research. Writing a novel might not come as easy to some, but it will come if you work at it.
2. Study.
One of the greatest and most prolific writers of our time, Stephen King offers this advice to wannabe writers. ‘Read a lot and write a lot.’ But don’t only read for enjoyment, but read to study how the experts do it. How they structure their novels, and what about the novel do you like. When you find this, try and incorporate those aspects in your work.
3. Write from your passionate self
We all wear a mask to protect us from hurt in the world. It also blocks the light of our vision. As children, we quickly learn which behaviours are praised and which are punished. We learn to act other than we really feel in order to maximize our life experience. In time, we buy into that mask, believing it is who we really are. Worse, the mask softens our rough edges and moderates the peaks and troughs of our passion, leaving us afraid to explore the depths of our secret hearts and reveal our true selves in words. To speak with an author’s clarion voice, you must shatter your mask, uncover your actual self, and thrust it into the world.
4. Be a Story Weaver – NOT a Story Mechanic!
Structure is important but not at the expense of passion. No one reads a book or goes to a movie to experience a great structure. Authors come to a story to express their passions and readers and audience members come to ignite their own. While structure is the carrier wave upon which passion is transmitted, without the passion, it’s just noise. Conversely, passion without structure can be full of sound and fury yet signifying nothing. So find the proper balance. Let passion be your captain and structure be your guide.
5. Let your Muse run wild.
The easiest way to give yourself writer’s block is to bridle your Muse by trying to come up with ideas. Your Muse is always coming up with ideas – just not the ones you want. If you try to limit the kind of material you will accept from her, she’ll shut up entirely. So let your Muse run free. When she gives you an hysterical moment with a polka-dot elephant while writing a serious death scene, consider including it, perhaps as an hallucination. Give it a try, it might liven up your death scene! And after you’ve written it, if it doesn’t work, then save it in a file for later use. It may seem like a waste of time, but your Muse will know she has been treated with respect, and will likely now give you just the idea you need.
6. Don’t be a slave to convention.
Beginning writers often look to other successful stories to learn how things ought to work. But so do all the other beginning writers. A book editor, agent, or script reader sees hundreds of manuscripts every year, all made up of the same pieces and hitting the same marks. You’ll never get noticed in that crowd. If you want your work to be discovered, break format, shake it up, do something different. Make your sheriff 8 years old, make your two lovers twins, set your gothic romance underwater. You’ll never be noticed if you don’t stand out.
7. Be your own critic without being critical.
Write something. Do it now. Now look at it not as an author, but as a reader or audience and ask questions about it. For example, I write, “It was dawn in the small western town.” Now I ask: 1. What time of year was it? 2. What state? 3. Is it a ghost town? 4. How many people live there? 5. Is everything all right in the town? 6. What year is it? Then let your Muse come up with as many answers for each question as possible. Example: 6. What year is it? A. 1885 B. Present Day C. 2050 D. After the apocalypse. Then expand by asking questions about the answers you just wrote such as: D. After the Apocalypse. 1. What kind of apocalypse? 2. How many people died? 3. How long ago was the disaster, and so on. By alternating between critical analysis and creative Musings, you will quickly work out details about your story’s world, who’s in it, what happens to them and what it all means.
8. Avoid the Genre Trap
Too many beginning writers see genres as checklists of elements and progressions they must touch, like checkpoints in a race. But a genre is not a box in which to write. It is a grab bag from which to pull only those components you are truly excited to include in your story. Every story has a unique personality, you build it chapter by chapter or scene by scene with every genre choice you make. By drawing on aspects of many different genres and combining those pieces together, you can fashion an experience for your readers or audience unlike any other.
9. WRITE!
No matter what your natural ability, you will never approach your potential without exercise. Jot down every idea. Carry it as far as you can before it runs out of steam. Do it again, and again: as many different ideas as far as you can take them. Write nonsense words. Write your concept of a villain’s shopping list for the supermarket (they have to eat, don’t they?) Write about anything. Write about nothing! But don’t stop, not now, not ever. You are a writer aren’t you? Then for God’s sake, WRITE!
10. WRITE!
That’s right – tip 10 is the same as tip 9. Why? Because it is the single most important tip of all: If you want to be a writer, write! When you write, you are writer, when you don’t, you aren’t. The more you write the better you get. Your vocabulary become more fluid, your word-play more playful. Olympic athletes don’t only run in races – they practice every day, for hours at a time. So even if you aren’t writing something for publication or even to simply share, keep the mental muscles toned and ready. Then, when the Muse does strike, you can hit the page writing.