Where to Start When Writing a Novel – A Quick Guide on Writing a Novel
Writing a novel takes time, effort and more effort. People often think that it requires inspiration, but inspiration may very well just be a trap. People who lean on inspiration more often than not fail to finish their work on time. Publishers dislike that, as do the fans, if a writer already has fans.
In order to write a novel, the upcoming writer should know a couple of things before they get started, because it might save them time, money and last but not least, their health. This isn’t that surprising – you should read a guide on writing before you start.
Getting Experience (Inspiration)
The best way to familiarize oneself with a topic is to get experience with that said topic. If you are going to write an action novel, one that takes place in a casino, for example, you will need to do some groundwork. Visiting casinos, even if you don’t plan on gambling, is a great way to observe the situation and meet and talk to frequent visitors in hopes of getting to know the environment, atmosphere and the necessary slang.
On the other hand, if you plan on writing a novel about agriculture, or if that is one of your main topics, then by all means, do research on agriculture or visit a local farm, ask to lend a hand, use the tools, machines and everything at your disposal to learn and experience these things for yourself. Sometimes, the best things come from experience.
Plan Ahead
Writing is a process which takes time. If you start meandering all around, like people who are not focused often do, for example, clicking multiple links and arriving on a site which is completely unrelated to your starting point, you might end up making a mess of your novel before you even get to develop your characters.
Planning ahead, every chapter, character and situation, will help you from meandering too far. There should still be some room left to fill in the gaps and make things better, just like actors do when they improvise during various scenes which ends up in the final cut.
Keep Writing
Inspiration comes and goes, but writing is something which can bring out the best in you. Inspiration often comes from experience and in the case of writing, from doing your job. Just the sound of the pen or pencil scribbling on the paper, or hearing your keyboard, especially mechanical ones, can be satisfying. It might also bring you back into that “writing zone”. If you don’t have the inspiration, then leave the book for a day or two, go do something else. You do not need to stress about it, but rather work when you feel like working. While also being an emotional journey, writing is primarily work, and as such, should be done on a regular basis, inspiration and emotions aside.
Have Your Work Reviewed Regularly
When you start to work on something, you should have people read it while it’s still being worked on. You know, developers have alpha and beta versions of their software, and the testers often tell them what is wrong, thus helping them find the bugs which need fixing. They also might also have suggestions to improve on some things which might have been unintentionally neglected.
These are the tips you need to start writing so get to it. The joy is in writing itself!