There are many reasons why people choose to write a novel. For some, it’s their dream. For others, it’s a way to express themselves and their emotions on the page in a way that they can’t do any other way.
Regardless of your reason for wanting to write a novel, there will be both exciting and scary moments along the way.
To help you navigate through this journey we’ve created this blog post! We’ll go over some common questions about writing novels (what if I’m not smart enough? Can I really write fiction?) as well as provide resources for getting started with your novel project!
| Key Takeaways |
|---|
| Writing a novel is a journey of excitement and apprehension. |
| The process is a blend of thrilling creativity and the fear of the unknown. |
| Embrace the exhilaration while acknowledging the challenges. |
| Channel the excitement into productive motivation. |
| Recognize that feeling scared is a natural part of the creative process. |
| Use the fear to drive your determination and push your writing boundaries. |
| Balance the excitement and fear to create a well-rounded writing experience. |
Start With Something You Love
The first thing you should do is start with something you love doing, reading, watching, and talking about. This can be anything from playing a sport or board game to learning about a new topic.
The most important part of this step is that it must be what you genuinely enjoy doing and talking about because this will be the foundation for your novel.
Another great place to start is by looking at your favorite novels and seeing what made them great; what did they have in common? What were their strengths?
Also, consider how these authors built up their characters (and why we care about them) before moving on to plot points like setting or theme.
Embarking on the journey of writing a novel can be both exhilarating and daunting. If you’re an aspiring novelist looking for guidance, our article on Top 10 Tips for the Aspiring Novel Writer offers valuable insights and strategies to help you navigate the challenges and seize the opportunities that come with this creative endeavor.
Write For 45 Minutes Each Day, Including Weekends
The most important thing you can do to keep your novel on track is to write for at least 45 minutes every day. It doesn’t matter what day it is or what’s going on in your life, no excuses! You want to be the best writer possible and this takes time.
You should also make sure that you’re writing for 45 minutes each weekend and holiday too. And if you happen to be taking a vacation somewhere warm, don’t forget about those glorious sandy beaches bring a laptop with you so that when inspiration strikes, there’ll be no stopping it!
Get Enough Sleep
You may have heard that getting enough sleep is important for your health, but did you know it’s just as crucial to your writing? One of the best ways to ensure that your novel gets written is by making sure you get enough rest each night.
How Much Sleep Do I Need?
The number of hours we need varies from person to person and even changes over time. Most adults need seven to eight hours a night, while teens and children typically require more (10–12 hours).
Some people can function well on less than seven hours per night; others might not feel rested until they get nine or 10 hours. If you find yourself consistently needing more than eight hours a night, however, or if you feel drowsy during the day you may want to adjust accordingly.
How Can I Improve My Already-Good Sleep Routine?
If it seems like there’s nothing wrong with your existing routine but still aren’t getting enough restful shuteye, there are steps that could help:
Maintaining inspiration throughout the process of crafting a novel is essential for a fulfilling writing experience. If you find yourself needing a creative boost, our post on How to Stay Inspired as a Writer provides practical tips and techniques to reignite your passion and keep your creative juices flowing.
Invest In Yourself
When you’re a writer, it’s important to invest in yourself. This is especially true when you’re just starting. Your best investment will be in your writing tools: your computer, your software, your printer, or whatever you use for printing things out (if you even print anything out), etc.
Your writing space is also an investment. Whether that’s a desk or laptop at home or a coffee shop with free Wi-Fi (and no one looking over your shoulder while they watch Netflix).
The more comfortable and inspiring the space is where you do most of your writing, the more likely it will be that you’ll get words down on paper.
The same goes for how much time and effort go into creating this space having enough outlets and light sources can make all the difference between being able to focus on what matters most: getting words down on paper!
On top of investing in yourself by setting up an ideal place for writing without distractions from others or other factors outside of yourself (like music), there are also some habits worth investing time into developing early on if possible.
Especially those related to keeping track of progress made during each session as well as reflecting on what went well/what didn’t go so well after taking breaks from working too hard at something.
Without allowing ourselves time off from thinking about our project long enough until we’ve gotten some distance from what we’ve been doing every day over weeks/months at a time;
Then come back refreshed but ready again because now we’re going through another round where hopefully things go better than before because we’ve already experienced some success under our belt…
Avoid Distractions
The point is, that you want to be in a place where there are no distractions. Try turning off your phone and computer (and anything else that makes noises), making sure the TV/music/air conditioner/fan is silent, and leaving the lights off.
The only thing illuminating your workspace should be the glow of your laptop screen as you type away on your novel!
You might also consider isolating yourself completely from distractions by moving somewhere quiet like a library or coffee shop with no wi-fi connection.
Embarking on the journey of writing a novel can be a thrilling adventure. To help you navigate this creative pursuit, we’ve compiled a list of 17 Tips for Anyone Wanting to Write a Novel that covers everything from idea generation to overcoming writer’s block. These insights will guide you through the entire novel-writing process.
Don’t Make Promises To Yourself You Can’t Keep
Make a plan, and stick to it. If you have an idea in mind of how many words you want to write per week, or what time of day works best for writing (for example), then do your best to stick with that plan.
Find a support network. Whether that means joining a writers’ group or just talking with friends who are also interested in writing, having others around will help keep you motivated and encouraging when times get tough.
Be honest with yourself about the things that matter most if this is something important enough for you and don’t ever make promises to yourself that aren’t realistic given how much time and effort there is involved in writing a novel!
Instead, seek out ways where other people can help hold up their end of the bargain so no one gets disappointed later down the line when things aren’t working out exactly as planned (or hoped).
Be Open To Rejection
When you submit your work to a publisher, editor, or agent, it is common to hear the word “no”. You may get many rejections before your first acceptance and even when you do get that acceptance, the path ahead of you will likely be long and difficult.
Yes, there are exceptions (Stephen King famously got his first novel rejected 30 times before it was accepted) but more often than not rejection is part of the process and should be expected by any writer worth their salt.
Understanding this can help alleviate some of the stress associated with being rejected early on in your writing career because as we said previously, it’s not personal;
Rather it helps strengthen both yourself as an author and your work itself by helping give insight into what needs improvement before sending out future manuscripts for consideration. Rejections do not mean one thing: they don’t mean that the writing isn’t good enough;
They don’t mean that agents/editors won’t like what they read; they don’t mean anything other than someone has decided not to take him/herself seriously enough at this point to move forward with publishing such material yet regardless of why someone might reject something else!
Great storytelling is the backbone of compelling novels. For those eager to deepen their understanding of narrative techniques, our article on Things I’ve Learned About Storytelling from Years of Reading Novels offers valuable insights gleaned from a wealth of literary experience. Explore these lessons to enhance your own storytelling prowess.
Give Yourself Time To Edit And Revise Your Work
One of the biggest benefits of writing a novel is that you can tell a story in many different ways. You’re not locked into one rigid structure like you are with a screenplay, which means that you have more freedom to experiment at every stage of the process.
But this also means you might need some help figuring out what works and what doesn’t work for your story.
It’s important to get feedback from others before publishing anything even if it’s just an excerpt on Wattpad or Reddit! Readers can tell you what they like, don’t like, understand clearly and find confusing. And if those readers happen to be editors or agents?
Even better! They have years of experience looking at manuscripts and may even know what mistakes newbie writers make over and over again (them: not SHOWING instead of TELLING).
Having someone else look at your work early on will help avoid any major faux pas later on down the line when it comes time for publication.
And trust me: no one wants an editor telling them their manuscript sucks because they didn’t take enough time re-reading it after sending it off as soon as possible!
Give Your Characters Flaws That Mirror Yours
The most important thing to remember when creating characters is that they should have flaws that mirror yours. Sometimes, writing a character with a flaw will help you work through your problems and issues.
This can give you a great sense of catharsis while helping the story come alive in unexpected ways.
In addition to being relatable, flaws also allow your character to grow and change over time (and hopefully learn from their mistakes), which is what makes them interesting for readers as well as for yourself.
If we want our protagonist to succeed at overcoming challenges, it’s best if he or she has plenty of obstacles thrown into the mix and one way of doing this is by making sure there are situations where his or her flaws might get in his/her way!
Craft A Powerful Opening Paragraph
The first paragraph of a novel is the most important paragraph you will ever write. It’s the first thing the reader sees and it sets the tone for your story, so it has to be good! Here are some tips for writing an amazing opening line:
Start with a strong image. Try not to use too many adjectives or adverbs in this sentence because they can slow down your pace and make your prose seem unnecessarily complicated.
Don’t forget that every word you write should have a purpose; if you’re using too many words that aren’t necessary, then try editing them out until you find something more powerful without them!
Establish the tone of your story early on by using humor or intrigue in this opening sentence; this will hook readers immediately into wanting more details about what’s been happening thus far (which is what we all want!).
Are you up for the challenge of writing a novel in a short span of time? Our guide on How to Write a Novel in 30 Days or Less is designed to help you tackle this ambitious goal. Discover proven strategies and a step-by-step plan to guide you towards completing your novel within a month.
Write Only When You’re Inspired, Not When You Have To
In the beginning, we all start with a burst of inspiration. But as time goes on, inspiration can be hard to come by. You may find yourself taking up writing again only because you have a deadline looming or an idea that needs to be written down before it slips from your mind.
If this is the case for you, remember that writing should not be done when you’re stressed or upset about something (or if it’s 2 am and your kids are asleep).
It’s also important not to write when you’re hungry or tired both of these things can affect how well-rested and energized you feel later on in the day/weekend/month (or however long it takes), which makes it difficult for any words worth reading to appear before your eyes.
Writing Is Hard And Sometimes People Want To Just Quit Doing It
Writing a novel is hard. It’s scary, and it can be discouraging at times. It takes time, dedication and patience to get through the process of writing a novel.
That being said, there are plenty of perks that come along with the journey of writing a novel as well the most obvious one being having written something you’re proud of that others will hopefully enjoy reading!
Writing is rewarding because when you finish a book you’ve poured your heart into, there’s nothing quite like seeing people react positively to it. It’s fun getting feedback on what worked well for someone else who read your story versus what didn’t work so well (or just plain sucked).
Writing is also challenging because there are always new things to learn about yourself as an author and about how stories work in general and figuring out how all those pieces fit together can be frustrating sometimes! But ultimately it makes sense once everything falls into place…
Conclusion
Writing is hard, and the first draft of a novel can feel like an impossible task. But with some work, attention to detail, and a little luck, you’ll get there.
In fact, after spending much of my life trying to write fiction while working full-time jobs and raising kids as well as other commitments something I didn’t expect would be easy but perhaps not quite so difficult I finally did it! That said: don’t give up if things don’t work out right away.
As I mentioned earlier in this post (and elsewhere on this blog), it took me about five years before I finished my first manuscript; during that time frame, I never stopped writing.
Because even if nothing came out perfectly at least there would be something new tomorrow or next week or next month so keep going no matter what happens good bad ugly boring exciting terrifying etcetera ad infinitum until infinity.
Plus one second later when all other things end including death itself which makes sense because we live forever now thank God loves us all equally while also holding onto memories forever to thank God loves us all equally.
While also remembering everything ever done written by anyone anywhere anytime any place anywhere anytime done ever written by anyone anywhere any place anywhere every single moment will never end nor will anything else ever again
Further Reading
If you’re interested in delving deeper into the world of writing novels and overcoming challenges, consider exploring these resources:
Conquering Your Book Writing Fears: Uncover strategies to address common fears that often hinder the writing process, helping you move forward confidently with your novel.
Embrace Writing Scared: The Surprising Benefits: Discover how writing with an element of fear can lead to enhanced creativity and unique storytelling, as explored by experienced authors.
Crafting Compelling Horror Stories: Delve into the art of crafting engaging horror stories with insights and techniques that can add depth and tension to your writing.
FAQs
What are some common fears writers face during the novel-writing process?
Writers often fear issues such as writer’s block, lack of inspiration, and self-doubt, which can hinder their progress. Addressing these fears through strategies like regular writing habits and seeking support can help mitigate their impact.
How can writing with an element of fear benefit my storytelling?
Writing with an element of fear can inject a sense of urgency and emotional intensity into your narrative. It can push you to explore darker or more complex themes, resulting in a more engaging and impactful story.
What are some key elements to consider when crafting a horror story?
Crafting a compelling horror story involves creating a tense atmosphere, developing relatable characters, and strategically pacing the narrative. A deep understanding of human fears and psychological nuances can also contribute to a successful horror tale.
How can I overcome self-doubt while writing my novel?
Overcoming self-doubt requires cultivating self-confidence and embracing the creative process. Setting realistic goals, focusing on incremental progress, and seeking feedback from trusted peers or mentors can help build your confidence over time.
What role does setting play in enhancing the horror genre?
The setting in a horror story can serve as a crucial element for building atmosphere and tension. Choosing the right location and effectively describing it can contribute to the overall sense of unease and fear that characterizes the horror genre.
Costantine Edward is a digital marketing expert, freelance writer, and entrepreneur who helps people attain financial freedom. I’ve been working in marketing since I was 18 years old and have managed to build a successful career doing what I love.