One of the most interesting endeavors that a person can probably undergo is novel writing. In fact if you are someone who has experience in fictional writing, switching to novel writing is quite easy. In writing a novel, keep in mind your reader’s interest first. Here are some novel writing tips to help you have a good start.
Tip number one. Story plot and outline. It is a very vital step to prepare a story plot and outline, actually one of the characteristics of a novel is its complicated plot and story. For this reason, outlining your work before even starting can greatly lend a hand in making your work run smoothly.
Tip number two. Genre selection. Novels can tackle anything about romance, horror or mystery. Whatever genre you would want to write about, all of it requires meeting its challenges and demands. It also necessitates a little bit of research especially if the story involves cultural differences or traditions, as well as places in different countries. Romance types of novels may not entail as much researching as science fiction does or those that may require thorough research, but still, a vivid, almost real description and the idea that the characters do exist is very vital.
Tip number three. Make your plot unique as much as possible Take note that readers are always hungry for something new, thus make it a point to write stories that are not too predictable. The element of surprise should be present since it will keep your reader’s reading from chapter to chapter until the end of the book.
Tip number four. Submit your work for editing and proofreading. Writers tend to write without much thinking about grammar, spelling and sentence construction; most often, ideas are just written directly on paper. Thus, another novel writing tips is to seek editor’s help and proofread in order to help you achieve quality output and professional work.
You can spend hours trying to find the best books on novel writing. You can take writing courses. You can subscribe to writing magazines. Of course, you’ll learn a lot about novel writing from any of these sources.
This shotgun method of learning, though, takes years, and costs hundreds, even thousands, of dollars. I know. This was how I started my writing career.
I thought because I had a novel idea and I had experience writing, I could read a few books and put together a novel. But writing a novel isn’t like any other kind of writing. If you don’t know exactly how all the components of a good novel fit together, writing a book is like juggling ten flaming torches while balancing a tarantula on your nose.
In addition to my books, I’ve had dozens of short stories, essays, and poems published, and I was a newspaper columnist for five years. My first sale was to Teen Magazine, and I still have a copy of that 0 check on my office wall, but since then, I’ve lost count of the number of royalty checks I’ve received. Let’s just say that it’s a nice living.
Because of my writing success, I’ve been a guest on numerous radio shows. I’ve also appeared on national TV, on Fox News Network’s Fox & Friends and the Pacific Northwest TV shows, Northwest Afternoon and Being In Seattle. In addition, my books have received coverage in newspapers such as the The Seattle Post-Intelligencer and in national magazines such as Fitness and Shape.
Obviously, I know a little something about good writing. But having the knowledge and being able to teach it are two different things. Many great authors know what I know, but they can’t get it across in a way that’s easy to understand.
Not only am I a successful author, I’m also an experienced teacher. Before I became a writer, I was an attorney, and I taught basic writing skills and advanced legal writing at the University of Puget Sound Law School. I’ve also taught writing workshops and online writing courses, and I’m a writing coach.
You can spend hours trying to find the best books on novel writing. You can take writing courses. You can subscribe to writing magazines. Of course, you’ll learn a lot about novel writing from any of these sources.
This shotgun method of learning, though, takes years, and costs hundreds, even thousands, of dollars. I know. This was how I started my writing career.
I thought because I had a novel idea and I had experience writing, I could read a few books and put together a novel. But writing a novel isn’t like any other kind of writing. If you don’t know exactly how all the components of a good novel fit together, writing a book is like juggling ten flaming torches while balancing a tarantula on your nose.
In addition to my books, I’ve had dozens of short stories, essays, and poems published, and I was a newspaper columnist for five years. My first sale was to Teen Magazine, and I still have a copy of that 0 check on my office wall, but since then, I’ve lost count of the number of royalty checks I’ve received. Let’s just say that it’s a nice living.
Because of my writing success, I’ve been a guest on numerous radio shows. I’ve also appeared on national TV, on Fox News Network’s Fox & Friends and the Pacific Northwest TV shows, Northwest Afternoon and Being In Seattle. In addition, my books have received coverage in newspapers such as the The Seattle Post-Intelligencer and in national magazines such as Fitness and Shape.
Obviously, I know a little something about good writing. But having the knowledge and being able to teach it are two different things. Many great authors know what I know, but they can’t get it across in a way that’s easy to understand.
Not only am I a successful author, I’m also an experienced teacher. Before I became a writer, I was an attorney, and I taught basic writing skills and advanced legal writing at the University of Puget Sound Law School. I’ve also taught writing workshops and online writing courses, and I’m a writing coach.
Most people think writing a novel is just writing. I have lost count of the number of people who say “I want to write a novel” and think that they will just sit down, put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, and the whole thing will just unfold before them. I’ve read a few novels, they think, why can’t I write one?
If only it were that easy!
The process of writing any story is exactly that, a process. And whether you are tackling a novel, a short story, an essay or a non-fiction book, you need to begin by planning your story.
This is the most ignored stage in the writing process, and yet it is by far the most important. JK Rowling spent five years planning the Harry Potter novels. And that certainly paid off, didn’t it?
The key to writing any story well, is to find the story that only you can write. This story carries your own emotional truth, and as you progress through the story writing process, your character will take you on the journey of emotional growth just as they will your readers once it’s published.
The Deeper Character Journey
The deeper character journey is the most important aspect of any story. It is what your readers will remember and it is what makes the process of writing a story so worthwhile for the writer. Every time you take your character on a journey, you go on that journey yourself.
So how do we find that deeper character journey? Where do we begin?
We begin with this simple exercise:
Without thinking too much about it, finish this sentence:
I am interested in writing a story where the main character discovers the importance of ………………
Write for 5 minutes, preferably in long hand, allowing whatever comes up to just flow onto the page.
When you have finished you will find that you have written a lot of different values into your answer. Values are universal qualities of human experience, either positive or negative. Take a few moments to divide these values into their positive and negative groups. You’ll find that a few similar ones in each group will stand out, so isolate these and then decide on the most important ones from each group.
Once you have done this you can now write your deeper character journey in one simple sentence.
I am interested in writing a story about a character who goes from being….. to being…..
What is your character’s weakness?
Every character has a weakness – something they need to learn to have a better life. Your character’s weakness should now be pretty clear to you, as it is strongly connected to what they need to learn the importance of from the above exercise. With your character’s weakness in place, you can now begin to put them and their weakness under pressure and suddenly your story is off and running.
Predicament
Stephen King says he starts a story with a character in a predicament and watches them to see how they get out of it. So at the start of your story your main character must be in some sort of predicament or stuck in some way. The predicament your main character is in should be a symptom of their weakness. They are aware of their predicament, but they are not aware of their weakness.
For example, a character who needs to learn the importance of patience, is stuck underground on a broken down train. He becomes more and more exasperated and angry as the minutes tick by as he needs to be at an important meeting. As he’s underground his mobile phone has no signal, and he also can’t just jump off the train, as the doors are electronically sealed, and besides he’s underground so he can’t just wander off up the tracks in the dark.
So we know our character’s predicament will expose his weakness, which is impatience. The question for you to answer is, what does he do? How does he respond? What choice does he make? And he will make that choice based on his personal values.
Values in Conflict
Conflict lies at the heart of all powerful stories. It is a well worn adage in story writing that nothing moves forward in a story except through conflict.
But a good story also isn’t just a sequence of random conflicts, things that happen with no apparent pattern or meaning. It is a series of events, putting your character(s) under more and more pressure, forcing them to respond. This then shows us their true character.
Values underlie our choices, our decisions, and in storytelling they drive the story through the characters being forced to make difficult decisions where their values are challenged. A value is a belief system based on what is important to the individual. A value represents something in your character’s life that they are willing to fight for. So if you have a married woman who is attracted to another man, her choice of whether to go with the other man or stay with her husband will be based on the values of romance versus fidelity or loyalty.
Once you have nailed the values underlying your character’s choices, you will have connected strongly with your character’s deeper journey. This in turn connects you to your readers, who will recognise similar conflicts in their own lives.
And you also have the essence of the story that only you can write.
Suzanne Harrison is the Director of Writers Central, an online creative writing school and community. Known as The High Priestess of Fiction, she is the author of four bestselling creative writing, short story and novel courses. She can be found at http://www.writerscentral.com.au
This is a little watercolor I did this past spring to enter in the National Watercolor Society’s all members’ show….I wanted to show you the types of work we’re going to be doing in my watercolor classes at The Etiquette School in Cumming, Georgia. If you go to www.etiquetteschool.net you’ll see details about classes of all sorts: Art, French, Self-Esteem, Finance, Creative Writing, and of course, Etiquette (it’s not what you think!) Video Rating: 0 / 5
You can spend hours trying to find the best books on novel writing. You can take writing courses. You can subscribe to writing magazines. Of course, you’ll learn a lot about novel writing from any of these sources.
This shotgun method of learning, though, takes years, and costs hundreds, even thousands, of dollars. I know. This was how I started my writing career.
I thought because I had a novel idea and I had experience writing, I could read a few books and put together a novel. But writing a novel isn’t like any other kind of writing. If you don’t know exactly how all the components of a good novel fit together, writing a book is like juggling ten flaming torches while balancing a tarantula on your nose.
In addition to my books, I’ve had dozens of short stories, essays, and poems published, and I was a newspaper columnist for five years. My first sale was to Teen Magazine, and I still have a copy of that 0 check on my office wall, but since then, I’ve lost count of the number of royalty checks I’ve received. Let’s just say that it’s a nice living.
Because of my writing success, I’ve been a guest on numerous radio shows. I’ve also appeared on national TV, on Fox News Network’s Fox & Friends and the Pacific Northwest TV shows, Northwest Afternoon and Being In Seattle. In addition, my books have received coverage in newspapers such as the The Seattle Post-Intelligencer and in national magazines such as Fitness and Shape.
Obviously, I know a little something about good writing. But having the knowledge and being able to teach it are two different things. Many great authors know what I know, but they can’t get it across in a way that’s easy to understand.
Not only am I a successful author, I’m also an experienced teacher. Before I became a writer, I was an attorney, and I taught basic writing skills and advanced legal writing at the University of Puget Sound Law School. I’ve also taught writing workshops and online writing courses, and I’m a writing coach.
You can spend hours trying to find the best books on novel writing. You can take writing courses. You can subscribe to writing magazines. Of course, you’ll learn a lot about novel writing from any of these sources.
This shotgun method of learning, though, takes years, and costs hundreds, even thousands, of dollars. I know. This was how I started my writing career.
I thought because I had a novel idea and I had experience writing, I could read a few books and put together a novel. But writing a novel isn’t like any other kind of writing. If you don’t know exactly how all the components of a good novel fit together, writing a book is like juggling ten flaming torches while balancing a tarantula on your nose.
In addition to my books, I’ve had dozens of short stories, essays, and poems published, and I was a newspaper columnist for five years. My first sale was to Teen Magazine, and I still have a copy of that 0 check on my office wall, but since then, I’ve lost count of the number of royalty checks I’ve received. Let’s just say that it’s a nice living.
Because of my writing success, I’ve been a guest on numerous radio shows. I’ve also appeared on national TV, on Fox News Network’s Fox & Friends and the Pacific Northwest TV shows, Northwest Afternoon and Being In Seattle. In addition, my books have received coverage in newspapers such as the The Seattle Post-Intelligencer and in national magazines such as Fitness and Shape.
Obviously, I know a little something about good writing. But having the knowledge and being able to teach it are two different things. Many great authors know what I know, but they can’t get it across in a way that’s easy to understand.
Not only am I a successful author, I’m also an experienced teacher. Before I became a writer, I was an attorney, and I taught basic writing skills and advanced legal writing at the University of Puget Sound Law School. I’ve also taught writing workshops and online writing courses, and I’m a writing coach.
You can spend hours trying to find the best books on novel writing. You can take writing courses. You can subscribe to writing magazines. Of course, you’ll learn a lot about novel writing from any of these sources.
This shotgun method of learning, though, takes years, and costs hundreds, even thousands, of dollars. I know. This was how I started my writing career.
I thought because I had a novel idea and I had experience writing, I could read a few books and put together a novel. But writing a novel isn’t like any other kind of writing. If you don’t know exactly how all the components of a good novel fit together, writing a book is like juggling ten flaming torches while balancing a tarantula on your nose.
In addition to my books, I’ve had dozens of short stories, essays, and poems published, and I was a newspaper columnist for five years. My first sale was to Teen Magazine, and I still have a copy of that 0 check on my office wall, but since then, I’ve lost count of the number of royalty checks I’ve received. Let’s just say that it’s a nice living.
Because of my writing success, I’ve been a guest on numerous radio shows. I’ve also appeared on national TV, on Fox News Network’s Fox & Friends and the Pacific Northwest TV shows, Northwest Afternoon and Being In Seattle. In addition, my books have received coverage in newspapers such as the The Seattle Post-Intelligencer and in national magazines such as Fitness and Shape.
Obviously, I know a little something about good writing. But having the knowledge and being able to teach it are two different things. Many great authors know what I know, but they can’t get it across in a way that’s easy to understand.
Not only am I a successful author, I’m also an experienced teacher. Before I became a writer, I was an attorney, and I taught basic writing skills and advanced legal writing at the University of Puget Sound Law School. I’ve also taught writing workshops and online writing courses, and I’m a writing coach.
If you’ve always wanted to write a novel, but found the traditional structured process too frightening or overwhelming, maybe your imagination works in a more organic fashion like mine. In that case, start with your main character and the idea the character gives you for the plot. Then close your eyes, grab your notebook or computer, and watch the main character. Sooner or later she or he will begin talking and moving around. When that happens, start writing! I guarantee what you hear and see will thoroughly surprise and delight you.
Even though my books are considered literary novels, I’ve always admired the mysteries of Tony Hillerman, and the way he laces his novels with information about the Native American tribes in his area. I call books like these “info novels,” and they are great fun if you’ve never read one. That is also a goal I try to achieve with my Occult novels. With these I’ve been able to weave information about contemporary Pagan life, as well as real spells, chants, or rituals throughout every chapter. This series also provides a wonderful opportunity to add data of interest to my women readers about holistic healing, feral cat rescue, perimenopause, fibroids, and much more.
Anyone who would like to undertake a big project like a first novel should know the sky is the limit. If organic structure development, experimental formats, and “info novels” appeal to you, go for it! Don’t worry if your ideas differ from the traditional novel. And don’t be afraid to seed your novel with information. Just make sure it occurs naturally within the flow of the storyline. For good examples, read the “info novels” written by novelists who excel in this form.
Also, don’t let your first draft scare you, because all first drafts tend to be utterly frightening. A first draft has only one purpose: it’s the place where you put your ideas down on paper. The editing of the first draft is where the magic happens. When I create the first draft of each chapter, it is an exhilarating experience. A real adrenaline rush! But I am first and foremost a poet, and like most poets I love to edit. It’s the polishing of each scene, sculpting it to sail smoothly into the next that gives me the greatest joy.
In fact I am currently working on a new novel, which is proving to be the most organic and intuitive one I’ve ever attempted, making it great fun to write. All I started with this time was the main character and her cats. She never told me her idea for a plot, so I just followed her around, writing down her thoughts, words, and actions as she moved from scene to scene. Suddenly, other characters appeared, and exciting subplots began to emerge.
Now I am six chapters into this novel. The first five chapters have already been published or accepted by literary journals, because I always submit each finished chapter as a short story to gain publication credits for the novel. Yet the main character still hasn’t revealed the plot to me. No problem. This novel seems to be following its own organic, information-rich course, and those who’ve read several of these chapters have enjoyed them immensely and can’t wait to find out what happens next. Me too!
Don’t let fear stop you from writing the novel that’s been bubbling around in your imagination for days, months, or years. Most of all, don’t let a lack of money or education stop you. I never took a writing class, and nineteen years later I’ve published more than thirty poetry books and novels. My poems and short stories have appeared in over seven hundred literary journals, magazines, and anthologies worldwide. How did I do it? I used what was available to me. I found my high school and college grammar books and studied those. And then I read the poetry books and novels of writers I admire, and that’s how I learned to write.
Sometimes if your mind works in an organic fashion this may be the best way to tackle your first novel. Then all you’ll need to do is let go, give total control to an imaginary character who lives in your head, listen to what she or he says, and start writing!
Laura Stamps is an award-winning poet and novelist, as well as a Wiccan and feral cat rescuer. The recipient of a Pulitzer Prize nomination and seven Pushcart Award nominations, she is the author of a popular series of Occult Novels for Women found at http://www.kittyfeatherpress.blogspot.com.
If you’ve always wanted to write a novel, but found the traditional structured process too frightening or overwhelming, maybe your imagination works in a more organic fashion like mine. In that case, start with your main character and the idea the character gives you for the plot. Then close your eyes, grab your notebook or computer, and watch the main character. Sooner or later she or he will begin talking and moving around. When that happens, start writing! I guarantee what you hear and see will thoroughly surprise and delight you.
Even though my books are considered literary novels, I’ve always admired the mysteries of Tony Hillerman, and the way he laces his novels with information about the Native American tribes in his area. I call books like these “info novels,” and they are great fun if you’ve never read one. That is also a goal I try to achieve with my Occult novels. With these I’ve been able to weave information about contemporary Pagan life, as well as real spells, chants, or rituals throughout every chapter. This series also provides a wonderful opportunity to add data of interest to my women readers about holistic healing, feral cat rescue, perimenopause, fibroids, and much more.
Anyone who would like to undertake a big project like a first novel should know the sky is the limit. If organic structure development, experimental formats, and “info novels” appeal to you, go for it! Don’t worry if your ideas differ from the traditional novel. And don’t be afraid to seed your novel with information. Just make sure it occurs naturally within the flow of the storyline. For good examples, read the “info novels” written by novelists who excel in this form.
Also, don’t let your first draft scare you, because all first drafts tend to be utterly frightening. A first draft has only one purpose: it’s the place where you put your ideas down on paper. The editing of the first draft is where the magic happens. When I create the first draft of each chapter, it is an exhilarating experience. A real adrenaline rush! But I am first and foremost a poet, and like most poets I love to edit. It’s the polishing of each scene, sculpting it to sail smoothly into the next that gives me the greatest joy.
In fact I am currently working on a new novel, which is proving to be the most organic and intuitive one I’ve ever attempted, making it great fun to write. All I started with this time was the main character and her cats. She never told me her idea for a plot, so I just followed her around, writing down her thoughts, words, and actions as she moved from scene to scene. Suddenly, other characters appeared, and exciting subplots began to emerge.
Now I am six chapters into this novel. The first five chapters have already been published or accepted by literary journals, because I always submit each finished chapter as a short story to gain publication credits for the novel. Yet the main character still hasn’t revealed the plot to me. No problem. This novel seems to be following its own organic, information-rich course, and those who’ve read several of these chapters have enjoyed them immensely and can’t wait to find out what happens next. Me too!
Don’t let fear stop you from writing the novel that’s been bubbling around in your imagination for days, months, or years. Most of all, don’t let a lack of money or education stop you. I never took a writing class, and nineteen years later I’ve published more than thirty poetry books and novels. My poems and short stories have appeared in over seven hundred literary journals, magazines, and anthologies worldwide. How did I do it? I used what was available to me. I found my high school and college grammar books and studied those. And then I read the poetry books and novels of writers I admire, and that’s how I learned to write.
Sometimes if your mind works in an organic fashion this may be the best way to tackle your first novel. Then all you’ll need to do is let go, give total control to an imaginary character who lives in your head, listen to what she or he says, and start writing!
Of course there are very few people that write novels with pens these days with most authors seeming to prefer PC’s or Mac’s. So, apologies for the pun but USB writing pens really are a cracking idea, particularly for seminars, conferences and press events and particularly when the USB pens are branded up with your company logo.
If you think about it most of these activities require companies that are participating in them to hand out lots of supporting material, copies of presentation slides, speaker notes, agendas and details of other forthcoming events/activities. The attendees on the other hand are likely to want to write lots of notes throughout the event(s) so its typical to provide pens to enable them to do this (often provided by the hotel or venue at which the event is being held)
USB writing pens tackle these two requirements in one simple but nevertheless attractive and stylish approach. The USB pens look and work just like any regular pen but they have the added benefit of containing a USB connector and flash memory. So, it’s possible to pre-load all of the conference or event data (speaker notes etc.) onto the USB pens flash memory and to hand these out to the delegates/attendees and equip them not only with the content from the days event but also with a writing pen so they can start making notes straight away.
Typically the USB connector is discretely tucked away inside the main body of the pen and is accessed by unscrewing the top half of the pen. When revealed the USB “half” of the pen can then be used just like any normal USB memory stick. This means that not only can the recipient access and print the data you have stored on it but they can also use the flash memory to save their own data to and carry it around with them.
USB pens are popular because they are easy to carry (simply clip them inside your suit or jacket pocket), they’re discrete, they look great and they carry branding very well. They’re also a little different from the standard USB flash drives that are typically given away so they create a bit more of an “impact” when given out.
The pens come in a range of different memory sizes starting at 512MB all the way up to 8GB. Some models include a laser pointer and small torch but most are just a “biro” style pens. Because of the need to include a standard USB connector they are a little “fatter” than a conventional pen but not enough to make it a problem or to detract from their overall aesthetics.
Phil is part of the team at USB2U. Launched in 2002 USB2U has now establised iteself as one of the leading supplier of branded flash drives and custom USB memory sticks in the UK. USB2U offer a free design and mock up service couple with great prices and outstanding customer support. Contact us today for a quote. We’d love to hear from you.
