Want to write a novel? Get your butt in the chair, fingers on the keyboard, and write away.

Writing a novel. It’s an item on the bucket list of many. But few will actually sit down and write that novel. It’s a shame because they could be the next JK Rowling or Stephen King and don’t even know it. Your first book is likely to suck but if you enjoy the process you might surprise yourself with the third or fourth and one day end up on the bestseller lists.

Writing a book is simple, but it isn’t easy.

“When asked, How do you write? I invariably answer, One word at a time.”
-Stephen King

Even for those seasoned authors who write a book per year. Each one is starting afresh, the same uncertainties hover around from the self-doubt to criticism, to how in the world am I going to get another idea. It’s natural, don’t worry about it, just keep going.

So how do you really write a novel?

It’s a question I still ask and I’ve so far published three books – one novel, two novellas. I’ve also written a dozen others in various genres over the past two decades (gosh I feel old!), and rightfully so, I threw them in the trash.

Is there a science to writing a novel? A formula? A technique?

There are so many books on the market on how to write one it makes new writers wonder if it’s as difficult as open-heart surgery. Is that why doctors become authors – they need a tough challenge? (Although I’d say after open-heart surgery everything else would seem easy).

Writing a novel is hard work. If anyone tells you different then they’ve either (a) never done it before, (b) are lying to you, or (c) have done it so many times that each book is the same.

Let me clarify.

Writing a novel is simple, but it’s hard work.

Every writer has a different technique to get the novel written. Some are procrastinators. Others pantsters. Some love to outline to the final detail. There’s no right or wrong way to do it. The only thing you need to realise is that your novel won’t get written unless you sit down and start writing it regardless of how talented you feel.

Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.
 -Stephen King

Are you willing to put your butt in chair, start working hard and get writing?

Let me help you out here with a little pop quiz. Don’t worry I’m not going to grade you on it. But it might give you a better idea whether you’re actually in this for the long haul or just dreaming of fame and fortune. Either one is ok but only one has a guarantee.

Do you really want to write a novel?
No. Go do something else. I heard knitting can be fun.

Maybe.
Why?

You enjoy writing.
    Awesome, keep going.

Money.
     Hmm, chances of making a living are slim, getting loaded even slimmer.

Fame.
      It’s like winning the literary lottery.

Entertainment.
     Go for it, it’s entertaining coming up with how to kill your characters or make them fall in love with each other.

Challenge.
    It certainly is. It also teaches you commitment. While it can take as little as a week to write a novel, generally it will probably take you twenty times that for your first one. Unless of course your special and you’ll have five books out in six months.

Yes, I really want to write a novel! 
Awesome. What are you waiting for? It’s time to get started!!

• Open the blank page. Start playing the ‘what if’ game. Start writing.

• Outline your story. Add some quirky characters. Present three challenges. Start writing.

  Keep writing. Finish the damn book.

• Writing a novel is simple. It gets written one word, one sentence, one paragraph and one page at a time. It won’t happen overnight but it will happen.

• Aim for one page per day. Can you do that?

• That’s 365 pages in a year.

• Let’s say a page is 250 words. That’s 91,250 words in 12 months.

Are they going to be good words? That’s not the point when you’re getting the draft down on paper. You just want to write it, purge it out of your system. Prove to yourself that it’s doable. Then move on to the next one.

A few years ago, maybe it was back in the 20th Century, I read a lot of ‘how to’ books, who am I kidding, I still read them. Anyway, I read a piece of advice about writing a novel. Anyone can do it, pick a book of your shelf and start copying page by page onto your word document. You’ve written a novel. Of course, you don’t want to be doing that but the exercise has some merit.

There are three elements that you need to write your novel:

A plot
Some characters
A setting

You could go deeper and consider the theme and subplots but these can arise organically through your writing.

Let’s take the romance genre as an example, it’s an easy one.

Boy meets girl or girl meets boy. They’re attracted to each other. Something or someone comes between them. They are separated. Then just when it seems impossible boy and girl reunite and live happily ever after.

Now fill the in the blanks. Who’s the boy and girl? Where are they from? What do they love/hate? How do they meet? Who doesn’t want them together? List five things that get in the way or add conflict to the relationship. What do they want from each other? From life?

Once you have a basic idea of your story you can start writing. How? Like Stephen King says, ‘one word at a time.’

The best way to learn is to write. Practice makes perfect – although I don’t think there’s anything that’s perfect and if we aim for that, especially as beginners, we’re bound to never finish anything.

With each book you write, and hopefully, you are in this for the long haul, you will improve. Sometimes it’ll be an action scene, the dialogue, maybe chapter cliffhangers, and then one day, the book you write will be like ‘wow, this practice makes perfect BS really does work’.

People will often say that they want to write a book and one day when they’ve got more time, retired, raised the kids, come back from holiday, got a better idea, they’d start writing. Most of them will never write a novel. There’s no ‘best’ time to write a book. If you really want to write one you will without making a single excuse.

Anyone can write a book, but not everyone will.

ACTION STEPS

1. Commit to writing a page every day. If that seems like a lot start with half a page, a paragraph or even a sentence. Over time it all adds up. The point is to create a habit and fit it into work with your lifestyle. Some writers prefer the morning’s others need to burn the midnight oil. I write on my commute to the day job. I’ve drafted several novels by having that hour in the morning and afternoon to write, mind you, I don’t always meet my quota but as long as I get something down it is one step closer to finishing. A good day is 3000 words, a mediocre one is 500. Either way, it’s more words on the page than the day before.
   

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2. If you need motivation, grab a book from your bookshelf and type up the chapter. Obviously, this is for your personal use only. Type it up and note down the dialogue, the description, any flashbacks, action scenes. Use different highlighters. How does it all work? What sort of dialogue tags are used – said, whispered, asked?
   

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3. An editor recently told me I use a lot of the word ‘was’. Do a find on the word and see how many times it shows up. There are often better words to use to strengthen your scenes and your story. That one little tip made a huge difference to my self-editing technique and it’s something I’ll do before sending off my book for a professional edit.

Have you considered writing a novel? Written one already? Did you find it easy or difficult? What is holding you back?