Thursday, 7 January 2016

A Guide On How To Write A Novel

By Rebecca Bennett


Many people love novels and wish they could tell their beautiful stories using one of their own. Very few have managed to write novels which makes the process to appear daunting. It is not the absence of stories that cause many people to fail to write. The reality is that very few people know how to write a novel. Here are simple steps that will ensure that you have your book in the shortest time possible.

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.

Grow your summary sentence to a five sentence paragraph that tells of the main occurrences in your story. The paragraph should give a hint of the plot, the disasters and triumphs and the ending. Adapt a Three-Acts structure where the main disaster is introduced in Act One, two secondary disasters in Act Two and an ending in Act Three. This paragraph should be precise.

Your novel will be anchored on characters. Since you have an idea of your story line, it is time to develop your characters. Give them names beginning with the main characters. The minor ones will be developed during actual writing. The story of each character should be summarized into a single sentence. Give each of them a goal, motivation, conflict and epiphany.

Do not hesitate to revise your one sentence or one paragraph summary from time to time. This is an indication that the details of your novel are teaching you things that were not clear at the beginning. Take the steps as a learning point. Do not target to write a perfect summary at the beginning or capture the characters fully when you start. Some things will become clearer as the story develops.

The process of developing the story line and characters is time consuming and may takes weeks based on the amount of time dedicated. This is one of the most interesting novel writing phases. Upon completion of this exercise, develop a one-page summary of your novel. This is the summary that will be used to produce the first draft.

With details of each character and scene, it is time to tie them down. This is another discovery phase. You will create other characters and scenes that did not exist. Try as much as possible to stick to your original design. The demanding nature of this phase will require a working routine. This includes a time and place where you can concentrate for longer hours.

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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