So, novel writing was at the back of your mind. You’ve always wanted to be a novel writer with that masterpiece of a story. But something or the other stopped you. Maybe you’ve started it before, only to get twenty pages in and then to lose the steam because:
- Your story idea didn’t quite hold up
- Procrastination plagued you.
- You got scared your writing wasn’t good enough
- You ran out of characterization, plot points and ended up clueless.
But this is not uncommon. Even bestseller authors deal with these same exact problems every time. So how to be a novel writer? How to overcome these obstacles and succeed? The thing is imagining a finished manuscript in your hands, or your name on the front of a newly published book is exciting and can drive you to greater lengths in the accomplishment of the same.
So, the point is How to be a Novel Writer?
Given below are some proven hacks that have been instrumental in overcoming that inertia and hit the ground running:
1. Finalize a winning story idea:
It must captivate you so thoroughly you can’t get it out of your head. Only this kind of idea will pull you to the keyboard every day and inspire you to write the novel you’ve always dreamed of and finally zeroed in.
2. Are you an Outliner or a Pantser:
There are novel writers who map out broad lines beforehand; also known as outliners. And then there are pantsers, who start with an idea and see how it unravels. Often a writer is the hybrid of the two. Regardless, some form of structure is needed to keep oneself from burning out after few pages.
3. Create an incredible main character:
The characters need to be enlivened and understood before putting them onto the paper. Your most important character is your protagonist, also known as your lead. The main character must have a character arc. In other words be a different, better-evolved person by the resolution in the end.
4. Expand your plot
A plot is a place where things happen. Plot provides a structure to the whole process. It is the place where characters get evolved. It keeps the writer closer to the core idea or theme of his story. So, plot points need to be defined beforehand in order to proceed ahead in the line of what exactly you want to say.
5. Research:
Even fiction/fantasies must make sense. Though fiction, by the very definition, is made up but to succeed it must be believable. It should be reasonable. So, a proper research process indeed is needed to detail out the various plot elements. The characters need to evolve in a believable frame. Of course, it is fiction and has to be made of still proper research is paramount for it to be a relevant tale.
Suggested read: Tips To Write Outline For A Novel
6. Your Voice and Point of View:
A writer’s Point of View (POV) is more than simply deciding what voice to use: First Person (I, me), Second Person (you, you’re), or Third Person (he, she or it). It is also deciding who will your POV character be. Ideally, there should be one character per chapter or even per novel for the perspectives to unravel. Most novel writer write in third-person narratives.
7. Start where the action is:
You must captivate the reader right from page one. The goal of every sentence, in fact of every word, should be to force the reader to read the next. The beginning should be about the guts of the story and what it really wants to convey.
8. Engage the reader’s mind:
The images our mind’s eye generates are far more imaginative and dramatic than anything cinema can produce. Your job as a writer is to trigger the theaters of readers’ minds. You have to engage their mental projectors. And that’s where the magic happens.
9. Intensify the main character’s journey:
Conflict is the engine that drives fiction. The main protagonist’s journey is to be mired in terrible troubles one after the other. Now, everything he does to get out of that mess must make it progressively worse. His trouble should escalate sequentially because of his attempts to fix it.
10. Let the predicament be hopeless:
The more hopeless the situation, the more powerful your climax and resolution will be. The Bleakest Moment forces your hero to take the action. He uses every new muscle and technique gained from facing a lot of obstacles and proves that things only appeared beyond repair.
11. Build it all up to a climax:
The conflict that has been building throughout now diatribes to a final, ultimate confrontation and all the major setups are paid off. The final resolution, the peak emotional point of your story, comes when your hero faces his ultimate test. The stakes must be high and failure irreversible.
12. Leave readers wholly mesmerized:
The ending should tie up loose ends but it also needs to pack an emotional punch. The ending won’t be as dramatic as the climax, but it should every bit be as provocative and riveting. A great ending is worth the reader’s investment of time and money.
Being a Novel writer is hard. But is totally worth the pain. The satisfaction to have moved your readers by your story is beyond comparison.
