Many people dream of becoming a successful author. Being able to make your living through writing is an amazing thing, offering the chance to live a very different kind of life. Of course, though, you can’t become a bestseller without having written your own book to start with. With a focus on novels, this article will be exploring some of the crucial steps for getting started, enabling you to finally begin writing the story you’ve been mulling over for years.
Routine
The average novel will contain more than 90,000 handcrafted words. While this may not sound like much, many novelists struggle to get more than 1,000 words each day onto paper, and this means that your story is going to take some time to finish. Having a good writing routine can expedite this process, and it’s worth forming your routine before you start on your book. Evening times can be good for this, though many people also find that their mind is most creative before they go to work.
The Story
Once you have a routine in place, you can begin to think about the story you’d like to write. Figuring out the genre you like the most can be a good place to start with this, enabling you to pinpoint the type of story you’d like to bring into the world. Then you can begin to think about the setting, key events, and the start and end of the book, going through it in your head to make sure that everything makes sense from the perspective of someone who hasn’t read it yet.
Planning The Plot
With a story in mind, it will be time to begin one of the most time-consuming parts of the process: planning the plot. It can be all too easy to write far too much or far too little if you don’t plan this out very well. Some of the world’s greatest authors swear by the value of this process when they produce their own work. Many people feel that this process is best done by hand, giving you the chance to think about what you write in a deeper sense than if you were typing it.
It’s crucial that you keep your ideas flexible and your mind open to changes at this stage. Most people can’t craft an intricate story on the first pass, and some authors will actually spend longer planning their work than they will writing it. Ideally, you will start the writing portion of your project with an idea of what each chapter will contain, giving you an easier time of putting all of the little pieces together.
Getting Started
The first paragraph of your story is likely to be one of the hardest to write, and many novels stop at this point. One of the best ways to get yourself used to creative writing is through reading, with other books giving you clear examples of how something like this can begin. Of course, though, it can also be worth thinking about ways to make your story distinct. The opening chapter in most books is devoted to introducing characters and setting the scene, but this is something you can turn on its head if you wish to. You can find loads of writing tips for beginners around the web that will help you to make a great start to your first book.
Proof Reading/Feedback
While many books never get past the first paragraph, even fewer make it past the first chapter. It can be very hard to judge your own work, and writers can end up feeling unhappy with their novels for no good reason. This makes it well worth having people proofread your work for you, even when you haven’t finished your book.
It can be hard to choose the people who get the first chance to read your work, and this makes it worth spending some time thinking about it. You need people you trust and who will be honest with their thoughts about what you’ve produced, and this can be a difficult mix to find. It’s worth being open to criticism here, as this will only improve your work and make it better for your future readers.
Writing a novel is a great way to express yourself, giving you the chance to spin a story that will touch those who read it. Of course, it’s always worth treating something like this as a hobby when you first start with it, ensuring that you stay excited about the process and don’t feel disappointed if it isn’t a massive commercial success. Remember that writing and flexing your creative muscles can be a worthwhile endeavor even if you never get published.
*This is a contributed post. You can read more about that here.*