How to Write a Novel.
Many people start novels but never finish
them.
If you are thinking about writing one, here
are some ways to follow through.
You will need A pen and paper or a computer
Imagination Writers club or extended learning
class A pen and paper or a computer Imagination
and a writers club or extended learning class
(optional).
Step 1.
Handwrite or type an overview of the story,
translating from emotional concept to concrete
story idea.
Expand on the story and subplots.
Step 2.
Break the story into inciting incident, problem,
and solution.
This outline, which will be broken into three
acts, will trace the threat, the fight, and
the conquest.
Join a writers club, or take an extended learning
class on novel writing class.
Step 3.
Create your lead character or protagonist
and other principals, working out the back
story or history of that person, their wants
and needs, friends, family, schooling – everything
you can imagine Step 4.
Detail the protagonist’s philosophical and
immediate motivations.
What is the conflict within?
Who blocks his efforts in the real world?
Then build your villain, the one blocking
the protagonist, in the same way.
Step 5.
Build each supporting character and their
back story.
Write a treatment tracing how each plays into
the main dramatic action, with one event leading
to another.
Step 6.
Redraft your original idea and story arc to
adjust for what you have learned so far.
Include only information that adds to the
story or enhances the characters.
None of this needs to be perfect, nor does
the novel have to remotely resemble your plans
and outlines.
You are charting a path to tell the story.
Step 7.
Write five or six good pages every day, even
if you throw most of it out the next day.
Quality in writing is achieved through rewriting.
Did you know Did you know?
Half of the 10 best-selling Japanese novels
in 2007 were written on mobile phones.
