The thought of writing a novel resides in the minds of thousands of people. Many more have excellent ideas that would make best sellers and classical novels. However, many people do not have an idea of how to write a novel. For those who have succeeded, this is one of the most rewarding experience. By following simple steps, you will realize your dream in months without struggle.
Summarize your idea into a single sentence. This sentence should not exceed fifteen words yet must capture your intentions. In fact, this is the sentence you are going to use when selling the title upon completion. It should be convincing enough to make editors, publishing committees and book stores to accept your book. Leave out the names of characters or scenes from the sentence. Look for major book reviews and craft a sentence similar to what they give.
Expand the sentence into a paragraph that captures the main occurrences in your plot. Describe the setup of the story, the major disaster and triumph as well as the ending. Take the Three-Acts structure where Act One captures the introductory disaster, Act Two offers the second disaster midway while Act Three is the ending of your story. Five sentences are enough to summarize the book.
Characters are the drivers of your story. The summary sentence and paragraph provide an idea of what is expected of you. It is time to grow them by assigning names and attributes. This should only be done for the main characters. Minor characters will emerge during the actual drafting. Use a single sentence to describe each character. Each of them should have a motivation, goal, personal conflict and epiphany.
In the process of drafting your plot and characters, you will encounter the need to change your summary sentence or paragraph. This is acceptable and an indication that the development process is teaching you something. There does not exist a perfect summary. So many other things will become clearer as the story develops.
It will take several days to a week to develop these characters, scenes and story line. It is time to provide a summary to your work. It is a lot of fun to dismantle a story line and engage individual characters as you attempt to connect them. But with the one page summary and a view of individual characters and scenes, you are ready to produce your first draft.
With clear details of scenes and characters, time has come for you to bind them into a single story. You will realize that you are engaging in a lot of filling. Characters and scenes that did not exist will have to be created. Avoid diluting or substantially changing your story line based on discoveries made when developing secondary characters. This stage is demanding and requires total concentration and a substantial amount of time.
Novels are written by dedicated and focused authors. Set a goal including a completion date. Split the goal into workable tasks each with a strict deadline. Read widely on occurrences and scenes to get a captivating imagination. Even fiction writers must give a realistic imagination to make their writing enjoyable. You should have your first draft in six months to one year depending on the time you dedicate.
Summarize your idea into a single sentence. This sentence should not exceed fifteen words yet must capture your intentions. In fact, this is the sentence you are going to use when selling the title upon completion. It should be convincing enough to make editors, publishing committees and book stores to accept your book. Leave out the names of characters or scenes from the sentence. Look for major book reviews and craft a sentence similar to what they give.
Expand the sentence into a paragraph that captures the main occurrences in your plot. Describe the setup of the story, the major disaster and triumph as well as the ending. Take the Three-Acts structure where Act One captures the introductory disaster, Act Two offers the second disaster midway while Act Three is the ending of your story. Five sentences are enough to summarize the book.
Characters are the drivers of your story. The summary sentence and paragraph provide an idea of what is expected of you. It is time to grow them by assigning names and attributes. This should only be done for the main characters. Minor characters will emerge during the actual drafting. Use a single sentence to describe each character. Each of them should have a motivation, goal, personal conflict and epiphany.
In the process of drafting your plot and characters, you will encounter the need to change your summary sentence or paragraph. This is acceptable and an indication that the development process is teaching you something. There does not exist a perfect summary. So many other things will become clearer as the story develops.
It will take several days to a week to develop these characters, scenes and story line. It is time to provide a summary to your work. It is a lot of fun to dismantle a story line and engage individual characters as you attempt to connect them. But with the one page summary and a view of individual characters and scenes, you are ready to produce your first draft.
With clear details of scenes and characters, time has come for you to bind them into a single story. You will realize that you are engaging in a lot of filling. Characters and scenes that did not exist will have to be created. Avoid diluting or substantially changing your story line based on discoveries made when developing secondary characters. This stage is demanding and requires total concentration and a substantial amount of time.
Novels are written by dedicated and focused authors. Set a goal including a completion date. Split the goal into workable tasks each with a strict deadline. Read widely on occurrences and scenes to get a captivating imagination. Even fiction writers must give a realistic imagination to make their writing enjoyable. You should have your first draft in six months to one year depending on the time you dedicate.
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