How To Write A Novel In Six Months

For the first time in forever, I’m going to put my money where my mouth is and write an entire novel. And not just any novel! A romance novel! I know, it sounds ridiculous. 

But hear me out: I’ve always loved reading romance novels (and watching romantic movies), but I’ve never actually written one before. 

So this is going to be a fun experiment for me and hopefully also helpful for other writers who want to try their hand at writing a book that’s slightly outside of their comfort zone!

Takeaways
Set clear goals and deadlines to keep yourself motivated.
Develop a detailed outline or plan for your novel’s plot and characters.
Create a consistent writing schedule and stick to it, even if it’s just for a short period each day.
Embrace the “first draft” mindset and focus on getting your ideas down without overthinking.
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes or face writer’s block; push through and keep writing.
Use tools and techniques that work for you, such as brainstorming, mind mapping, or freewriting.
Break your writing into manageable chunks to avoid feeling overwhelmed.
Seek support from writing communities, mentors, or accountability partners.
Revise and edit your manuscript after completing the initial draft, aiming for improvement and coherence.
Celebrate your milestones and progress, whether it’s hitting word counts or completing sections.

Write Every Day

Don’t try to write a lot at once and then get discouraged when you don’t finish in one sitting. If you can write for ten minutes, that’s great! 

That is better than nothing at all. Write for half an hour if it helps motivate you to sit down at the computer instead of continuing to procrastinate on Facebook or Twitter.

Set up a schedule that fits your life so that writing becomes part of your daily routine. Write early in the morning before other distractions start popping up it helps if this is also when your brain is most alert and ready to work productively. 

Or write late at night after work/school/whatever has ended for the day and family members have gone to bed at this point, there might be fewer distractions around as well (unless, of course, you have children who are still awake).

Writing a novel is an exciting journey that comes with its own set of challenges. If you’re looking to embark on this creative endeavor, you might want to explore the guide on how to write a novel in six months, which provides valuable insights and practical tips to help you achieve your literary aspirations.

Only Write For One Hour A Day

The first thing you need to know is that writing a novel in 6 months requires a lot of discipline, so don’t try and write all day. Instead, set aside one hour of your time each day to write the best scene you can. 

You might be tempted to spend more time on your book than an hour but this will only leave you feeling overwhelmed and tired by the end of the day.

If you have any doubts about whether or not a certain scene needs more work or if it’s worth writing at all, remember: just because one hour of free time has passed doesn’t mean that comes with any obligation at all you don’t have to use every minute wisely! 

If something isn’t working out well enough yet then come back later when it’s been more thoroughly thought through, that way there will be fewer problems later on down the line due mostly to inexperience rather than bad planning ahead (which isn’t always possible).

Come Up With A Story Idea

If you’re going to be writing a novel in six months, your idea must be something you care about. Writing a novel is hard and takes time, so don’t choose an idea that isn’t close to your heart.

Here are some ideas:

Write about something you’re passionate about. If there’s something that makes you feel strongly or want to learn more about it, then write about it! It might be something like: “I love dogs.” Or maybe: “I hate spiders.” 

Whatever it is, let this passion guide your story and drive the plot forward as much as possible! 

These passions will help keep you motivated when things get tough later on down the line; they’ll also help create interesting characters who have strong motivations of their own (which brings me right into step 2).

Write about something that interests other people too (or at least someone else besides yourself). This is one way authors can find inspiration for new work – by finding out what other people are interested in reading/watching/etc., 

Which makes them feel like they’re part of something bigger than themselves. By tying in what excites us personally with what others enjoy too (like combining both dogs AND spiders), we can create stories within which our readers feel like they belong while using what fascinates us most personally too!

Crafting compelling characters is a crucial aspect of storytelling, whether it’s in novels or video games. Dive into the world of character creation with insights from the article on the best way to design the characters in your novel, and discover techniques to make your characters come alive on the page.

Develop Your Characters

Give your characters a name, and make sure it’s not something boring like John Smith or Jane Doe. Make it memorable why not give them the same name as one of your favorite celebrities? You can also choose a name that reflects their personality, such as Miss Daisy or Ms. Happy.

Give each character a distinct personality and backstory. This is not only important for creating interesting characters with which to populate your story.

But also for making sure that they don’t all sound the same when you write about them (which is quite difficult if you don’t plan).

The more life-like your fictional people are, the easier it will be for readers to connect with them emotionally and care about what happens to them in your book (but remember: too much detail can slow down the pace of writing). 

Details such as age, gender/sex/preference, etc., occupation/job title, etc., hobbies (e.g., reading novels), pets if any at home, etc., favorite food/drink, etc., favorite color (s) might help create realistic personalities out of thin air!

Outline Your Story Before You Start Writing

Outlining is a great way to make sure that you’re on the right track, and it can help you avoid plot holes and writing yourself into a corner. It also helps keep you motivated by giving structure to your writing process.

Don’t Get Stuck On Adjectives And Adverbs

They’re not always necessary, especially if you can say what you mean with action verbs instead of adjectives. 

Instead of saying that something is “frightening”, for example, say that it makes your character feel frightened. That’s a lot more powerful than just throwing in an adjective for no reason at all!

Adverbs are even easier to eliminate from your writing: replace them with strong verbs instead! Just by changing “he ran” to “he sprinted” we can convey the same sense without adding extra words or slowing down our sentences unnecessarily.

Don’t Use ‘thought’ Tags, Just Put The Character’s Thoughts In Italics

A thought tag is a word or short phrase like ‘he thought’ or ‘she thought.’ They’re used to let readers know what the characters are thinking. These tags can be useful for conveying information about what a character is thinking, but only when they’re used sparingly.

In general, you want to try not to use these kinds of words unless you need them because they interrupt the flow of your writing and distract the reader from getting lost in your story. 

If you find yourself using them often, then it’s possible that it would be better for you just to write out what’s going on in their minds instead of trying to give readers some kind of signal that this is happening without actually saying it outright (i.e., by saying “he wondered” instead).

As an aspiring novelist, it’s important to have the right tools at your disposal to enhance your writing process. Discover a collection of essential software tools in the post about the 11 most important software tools for novel writing, designed to streamline your workflow and elevate your writing experience.

Use Dialogue To Tell Readers What The Characters Look Like And What They Think Of Each Other

Great dialogue reveals a lot about your characters, including their personality and background, motivation, and goals. The way they speak also can reveal their relationship with other characters as well as the setting of your story.

Let’s look at some examples:

“Where have you been?” asked my father in a panicked voice when I returned home after being away for several hours. “I was worried sick!”

This example shows that this father has a deep concern for his son and wants to protect him from harm by not allowing him to be out alone without supervision or direction in case something bad happens to him. 

The reader also learns about how long it has been since this man saw his son last (several hours) and how much time passed before he realized where he was going or how long he would take to get there (he wasn’t supervising).

Don’t Worry Too Much About Being Original Or Clever

If you’re serious about writing a novel in six months, the most important thing to remember is that there’s no need to be original.

You can write whatever idea comes into your head, as long as it’s interesting and exciting. The fact is that there have been millions of great stories told over thousands of years and yet we keep coming up with more every day!

So don’t worry too much about being original or clever; focus on telling a story in a way that feels right for you. 

You’ll have plenty of time later on if you want to develop your voice or style; all you need now is something compelling enough that people will stick around until the end.

Keep Descriptions Short And Simple (Nobody Likes Purple Prose)

Avoid big words. More often than not, a simple word will work better than a complex one. (I would have loved to use ‘complementary’ instead of ‘complimentary’, but I’m sure you get my point.)

Avoid long, complicated sentences or paragraphs. You can still be descriptive without being wordy or flowery; your readers will thank you for it!

Avoid metaphors and similes altogether: they’re usually unnecessary in modern fiction when we don’t need them to convey meaning if anything, they take away from the story by making us stop and figure out what it means rather than keep reading forward into where things happen next. 

They also tend not to translate well across cultures and languages anyway not everyone speaks English as we do here in North America!

Every writer faces moments of writer’s block and creative challenges. If you’ve hit a roadblock in your novel-writing journey, the article on how I keep going when my novel writing hits a wall offers practical strategies and inspiration to overcome obstacles and continue making progress.

Don’t Worry About Finding A Voice, Just Write Naturally In The First Person Or Third Person (Or Whatever Feels Right)

This applies to fiction or non-fiction. If you’re writing a novel, write in the first person. If you’re writing non-fiction, write in the third person (or second person if that’s more appropriate). 

If it’s a story about a character, then write in their voice which is either first or third person depending on how they see themselves and how they interact with others.

Write Like An Amateur, Not Like An Experienced Author Who Is Trying To Impress People With Their Florid Prose Style

Write like an amateur, not like an experienced author who is trying to impress people with their florid prose style. Write like you speak, not as you write. Write like you are telling a story to your friends. Write the way that feels easiest and most natural for you to write in.

Write as if someone were reading over your shoulder, and were trying to understand what just happened without having been there themselves (which is how most readers will approach it).

Write as if you are writing a letter to a friend who needs the information right away (which is also how most readers will approach it).

Don’t Over-Describe Things That Everyone Knows About; Describe Strange Things, Quirky Things, And Unusual Things

Readers can easily fill in for themselves what is commonplace and familiar to them. If you’re writing a book set in the modern world, your readers will all have some common knowledge of what cars are, what phones look like, how computers work, and so on. 

That’s great! But don’t waste time describing these things in detail unless they’re unusual or quirky. 

Instead focus on the strange things that most people don’t know about: an ancient talking computer with magical powers; a remote control doorbell; a seven-foot-tall talking snowman who loves eating ice cream sandwiches (it’s delicious!).

Write From Your Heart, Not From Your Head!

You may think that as a novice writer, you should be writing from your head. You should be writing from your heart, not from your head.

Here’s why: there are two parts of the mind the conscious and the unconscious. The conscious mind is where we go for detail and facts; it’s what helps us analyze and process information. But when we write fiction, it’s the unconscious part of our minds that do most of the work! 

This means if we try hard to impress people with words and ideas that sound smart or educated, we’re going against our own best interests by trying too hard at something that isn’t within our natural abilities yet anyway (and thus won’t help us tell a better story).

Time is often a valuable resource, and the desire to write a novel can be both exciting and daunting. If you’re interested in completing your novel in a shorter time frame, explore the guide on how to write a novel in 30 days or less to discover techniques and approaches that can help you achieve your writing goals efficiently.

Don’t Overthink It, Just Write!

It’s very tempting to worry about how your writing will turn out. After all, it’s easy to imagine dozens of scenarios in which the finished product is less than perfect and if you let these fears creep into your mind, they can completely derail your efforts.

That’s why it’s important to remember this: when you’re writing a novel, there is no such thing as perfection. 

There are only moments that feel right at the time, and sometimes those moments are good enough and sometimes they aren’t. As long as you feel like you’re getting somewhere with each word and sentence, then keep going!

The best way I’ve found for keeping myself from overthinking things is by reminding myself constantly that everything I write will need revision later on anyway; 

So long as I’m focused on moving forward with my story rather than stopping for any reason (including worrying about whether or not what I’m doing is “good”), then everything will be fine.

Conclusion

Keep it simple and don’t overthink it. Writing a novel is not hard, but it does take some time and effort. 

The most important thing is that you enjoy the process of writing your book, because if you don’t enjoy the process then you won’t finish writing it! So get started today by coming up with an idea for your story and starting with Chapter One tomorrow morning! Good luck!

Further Reading

The Write Practice – How to Write a Novel Short Description: Learn valuable techniques and insights on writing a novel, from crafting characters to building engaging plots.

The John Fox – 12 Steps to Write a Bestselling Novel in Less Than 6 Months Short Description: Discover a step-by-step guide to writing a bestselling novel within a short time frame, with practical tips and strategies.

Incafrica Library – Lisa Calhoun: How to Knock Out Your First Book in 6 Months Short Description: Get insights from Lisa Calhoun on how to successfully complete your first book in just six months, covering essential aspects of the writing process.

FAQs

How do I effectively create compelling characters for my novel?

Crafting compelling characters involves delving into their personalities, motivations, and arcs. Start by outlining their traits, desires, and conflicts to give them depth and relatability.

What are some key strategies for writing a bestselling novel in a short time?

To write a bestselling novel quickly, focus on outlining your plot, setting clear goals, managing your time effectively, and maintaining a consistent writing routine.

How can I ensure that my first book is completed within a six-month timeframe?

Setting achievable milestones, creating a detailed outline, staying committed to a writing schedule, and seeking inspiration from experienced writers can all contribute to successfully finishing your first book in six months.

What role does structure play in writing a novel?

Structure is essential for creating a cohesive and engaging story. Organize your novel into acts or chapters, ensuring a strong beginning, middle, and end, and use plot points to keep the narrative engaging.

How can I balance quality and speed while writing a novel?

Prioritize drafting a complete story during the initial writing phase, focusing on getting your ideas down. You can then dedicate time to revising, polishing, and refining your manuscript to ensure both quality and speed in the writing process.