A Guide To Writing

Many writers dream of crafting a well-written, compelling novel that publishers can’t wait to get their hands on and that readers will love. However, they often forget the most important step that will help them make this dream a reality. If you are serious about writing the best novel you possibly can, don’t overlook this critical first step.

Craft an Inspiring Blueprint To Guide You Every Step of The Way

You must first create a clear, step-by-step map for your journey through your story. It’s essential to go through the process of exploring and developing your initial ideas for character, setting, and plot. By clarifying these key elements of your novel before you begin writing, you will actually be able to finish it without getting lost somewhere in the vast middle section wondering where to go next. Everything will fit together in a unified vision that will inspire you to move forward and get your novel on paper.

Get To Know Your Characters

To start with, you’ll want to really explore who your characters are and what is important to them. Starting from the seed of your initial ideas, you can give each character depth and dimension by asking yourself a series of key questions about their lives and motivations. As you go through this process, eventually your characters will come alive for you in your imagination. You will know them and feel for them and feel invested in where they are headed. To help you get there, explore the following questions for each character:

Clarify who the central characters are for your novel.

Physical Appearance: how they look, age, ethnicity, defining characteristics.

What is their personality like? habits, idiosyncrasies, temperament.

What is their background and history? What key experiences deeply influenced who they are today?

What do they love/hate/fear?

What do they want most out of life and what is keeping them from achieving this?

Use this time to really connect with your characters on a deep level. Once you feel invested in them and feel you understand the essence of who they are, you’re ready to go on to the next step.

Create Your Novel’s World

For the next step, take some time to explore the central locations and environments for your novel until you can really imagine yourself there. Here are some questions to get you started:

Where does it take place: country, state, region?

Time frame for your novel: When does it take place and over what period of time?

Where does your novel take place specifically? i.e. house, business, castle, spaceship and what is it like there?

Describe the seasons that are experienced in your novel.

Are there important objects for the story? heirlooms, treasured gifts, magical talismans, etc.

Map Out the Journey for Your Novel

Next, you should take the time to work out a tight, compelling plot and overall structure that flows logically from point to point and culminates in a page-turning climax. The character work you did in step one will help you understand the basic conflicts and issues that your novel will address. There are a number of helpful story structures that writers can use as a foundation for writing, but essentially these plot outlines help you clarify a few key questions:

Where are your characters starting from at the beginning of your novel?

What do your main characters want to happen at this point?

What is keeping them from having what they really want?

How do your characters get past these obstacles to get what they want?

Here’s a basic structure that you can use: Your character will usually have an experience of some success at their goal about 1/3 of the way through your novel. Then about half way through, what they’ve accomplished begins to get more complicated than they expected and additional obstacles are introduced. About 2/3 of the way through your plot, the main character often loses what they’ve gained and tries to return to what they had at the beginning. This then leads to disappointment and eventual re-commitment to their original goal. At the climax, they find the strength overcome the final obstacle which leads to success.

Taking the Time For This Crucial Step Leads to Success

If you take the time to complete this important step, you will be rewarded with an inspiring, step-by-step blueprint that will guide you through the vast expanse of your novel. I encourage you to take the time to get to know your characters deeply, imagine your settings vividly, and know the through line of your plot. Having these ideas clearly thought out ahead of time will make the process of writing your novel easier and more enjoyable that you would have ever thought possible.