Ever wondered how to write a book? Photo by RetroSupply on Unsplash
IT'S THE BEGINNING of March and the birds have started to peck out the tulip shoots from my plant pots. Storms Arwen, Eunice and Frank all tried valiantly to blow my shed into the Channel, and the neighbours’ cats, emboldened by calmer weather, have now crept out to kindly water my premature strawberry plants.
It's in this picturesque setting that I’ve started to write the third novel of my romance series: An Earl for all Seasons.
So as I begin this latest instalment of beleaguered copywriter Jess Smith’s romantic adventures, just how do I write a book?’
How to Begin to Write a Novel
Perhaps you’re a beginning writer and wish to publish your first book, or you’ve tried writing before only to lose steam half-way through and are looking for guidance on how to write your own novel.
Or maybe you’re just a nosy parker like me and want to peek over an author’s shoulder as she pens her latest romance book.
Well, here is my tried-and-tested method for writing short stories and novels.
What are the Rules for Writing a Good Novel?
As even literary greats such as Leo Tolstoy and Jane Austen had their critics…
'Every time I read “Pride and Prejudice” I want to dig her up and beat her over the skull with her own shin-bone.'
…I highly suspect no one knows the answer to this question, as one reader’s Pride and Prejudice is another’s er...Fifty Shades of Grey. But from my own limited experience, the more I enjoy story writing the more readers seem to enjoy it. So I use that as my guide when writing any fiction and strive to write the best story I can.
Can Anyone Write a Novel?
Of course! Thanks to self publishing platforms such as Amazon KDP, you can literally write an epic novel about a bloodthirsty horde of pirate guinea pigs and self-publish it tomorrow.
Will anyone read it? If there’s a market for it, sure.
However whether it will be worth sinking weeks, months or even years into writing will largely depend on your motives.
Want to publish a novel to boost your credibility in your profession? Great! Want to write just for squits and giggles? Why not? Want to make a full-time living out of writing fiction?
Your chances of success increase if you write to market.
You can also send your work to an agent or publisher and vie for publication against other authors in a sort of literary Squid Game. Or for the more squeamish, there's the path of the hybrid author who has skin in both the publishing and self-publishing games.
How to Write A Novel for Beginners: A Rough Guide
First, a warning. This is not a definitive guide to writing a book because there’s nothing worse than a novel writer descending from Mount Sinai with two tablets held aloft, claiming their method is the only one.
From my own experience it’s better to build your own writer’s toolbox from a variety of techniques that work for you. Or you might just lift another author's method wholesale.
So How Do I Start a Novel?
As I’ve mentioned before in this blog, I normally start by playing video games. But it’s not some tool of planned procrastination, it’s only to stop my favourite character Kiki from leaving my village after I’ve spent thousands of bells kitting out her house. Ungrateful cat.
However, I never play games as a reward after writing, because it makes it feel more like a chore rather than something rewarding in itself. That sense of gratification also makes the bumps in the writing process much easier to bear. But if rewarding yourself gets you writing, by all means do it .
If I have one writing rule set in stone, it’s always do what works.
Why Writing Tools are Important
One of the most common questions authors get asked, apart from how to write a story that will make Shakespeare weep, is what tools they use when writing a novel.
My most important tool is the desire I’ve had since childhood to write my own stories. It’s the same motivation that kept me from quitting when one day an editor sent back an entire book so that I could add a single punctuation mark. Yes, that happened.
It’s also what has kept me writing for decades when a sane person would have long given up.
The rest of my tools are far more tangible.
Far from being handed a fountain pen fashioned from elder wood by a man whose name was plucked out of a Benedict Cumberbatch Name Generator, my writing tools are as basic as possible.
As I’m not a real wizard like Neil Gaiman there are no magical fountain pens, as it took almost two decades for me to write legibly with a red Berol. So I’m never going back to the tyranny of ink and paper again, unless it's to jot down plans or write a shopping list for Lidl.
Is Pen and Paper Better?
But what if you prefer to write by quill on the candlelit pages of a leatherbound Moleskine? Then I strongly believe you should use whatever tool gets the job done. Whether it be by pen, typewriter or West African talking drum.
So whenever I start worrying that perching my laptop on my knees in the living room, while the Countdown clock ticks rhythmically in the background isn't the most glamourous way to write a novel, I simply remind myself that multi-millionaire author E.L. James wrote parts of Fifty Shades of Grey on the loo.
The Perils of Microsoft Word
My other tools are a Microsoft Word so dated that I have to launch it on a stone tablet and that other colossus of writing software: Notepad.
Why Notepad? It loads in a blink, is quick to brain-dump ideas into or write outlines. And when I suffered from the Great Stick Drive Crash of 2011, I could recover most of my Notepad files from the abyss, whereas my Word-based stories perished in a blizzard of pixels.
That is not to say that novelwriting software such as Scrivener isn’t great for keeping your writing organised. I just like to use as few tools as possible to remove any barriers to getting that first draft down, because I personally find that unnecessary steps can waste time and prolong finishing my novels.
The Cold Blank Page
I never dive into writing a novel or short story cold. First, I create a very rough outline for each book, which I add to as new ideas pop up during the writing process. This outline doesn't have a prescriptive length as it’s a document that I’ll update until I finish the book, whilst keeping my writing on track.
However the best thing about outlines, is that they give me SOMETHING to work with before I begin writing instead of facing a cold blank page wondering where to start. Nor do I need to worry about how to begin the next chapter, because the outline is already waiting to guide me.
Some authors also write character bibles with all the names, ages and important details about each of their cast beforehand. But personally I wrote my bible after I finished the first novel, so I could refer to it while writing later books. This is because I prefer to jump straight into the story instead of spending weeks, months or even years planning.
But What if I’m a Pantser?
Some writers are plotters, others are pantsers; writers who don’t outline but like to fly by the seat of their trousers, discovering the story as they go along. If you're the kind of writer who finds outlines stifle their creativity, then you're in good company. As Stephen King once said:
‘Outlines are the last resource of bad fiction writers who wish to God they were writing masters' theses.’
Far be it from me to argue with squillionaire authors but I’m one of those thesis writers who needs a roadmap, otherwise I’ll end up riding a literary Segway backwards up the M25.
It's also probably why King is a squillionaire and I'm er...not.
The Writing Process
When I start the first draft I write in chronological order. If a future scene pops up (usually somewhere completely inconvenient!) I jot a general sentence or two about the idea then stick it roughly where I think it may appear in my story, then I’ll write the full scene when the time comes.
I rarely write the whole scene ahead of time because if it doesn’t fit, it’s a real pain in the bum to hit that delete button.
Now there are authors who write out of sequence, such as Arundhati Roy author of The God of Small Things. She also managed to win a whole Booker Prize so I might have to rethink my strategy...
Then I write each chapter during the first draft, not worrying about finding the right word or even creating a perfect story at this point. Then at the end of each chapter I spellcheck, tinker a bit then move on.
It’s during the second and third drafts I start finding the truest words I can to flesh out a scene. This is where I also polish and start editing my book. It’s usually at this stage I begin to worry about other intangibles such as originality and that's when I hunt for advice from authors far more talented than myself:
“Some writers confuse authenticity, which they ought always to aim at, with originality, which they should never bother about.”
W.H. Auden
How Many Words a Day Should a Writer Write?
I currently write around 2,000 words a day for a Summer Romance with the Earl which is fairly average compared to some authors such as Chris Fox who can write up to 5,000 words an hour and with few errors. You can get a free copy of Chris's book 5,000 Words Per Hour at this unaffiliated link here.
The advantages of being a fast-paced author is that you can get books out much quicker than snailpacers like me, where as in my experience juggling speedwriting with my clients' work results in copious headdesking so I shoot for my own manageable goals instead.
I also never really schedule times to reach my word count either. Instead I aim to write a minimum of 2,000 words by end of day. I find that this takes the pressure off, factors in procrastination and as a result I almost always reach my target.
However if a stricter schedule suits you better or you prefer longer/shorter word counts, by all means use them especially if it helps you get the results you want.
Do I Struggle to Write Sometimes?
Oddly enough, sitting down to write every day is still my biggest hurdle-- even though I really enjoy writing and wouldn’t want to do anything else. However I don’t think authors or anyone else for that matter should beat themselves up for procrastinating.
I once read an interview where an astronaut confessed to needing NASA to schedule his day or even he would procrastinate. So if one of the most competent human beings ON THE PLANET is prone to dilly-dallying, then clearly it’s on the spectrum of normal human behaviour.
Do Writers Enjoy Writing?
When I nail a scene, absolutely yes! But often when writing a story I can run through the whole gamut of emotions. So in truth I do not enjoy ALL aspects of writing, especially when I’m really going through the ringer with my heroine, but I do feel gratified when the book comes to a satisfying end and I feel that I’ve told the best story I can.
Besides, expecting to enjoy all aspects of writing is not realistic, especially as it’s the job of a writer to create drama and it sets the bar too high for other authors to follow. Even I have days where I give my laptop the hairdryer treatment, especially when Word decides to update itself before I’ve saved a chapter and changes all my hard work into unrecoverable hieroglyphics.
So expecting writing to always be a zen-like oasis where your fingers dance delightfully over the antique typewriter on your handcarved Venetian desk, before you're whisked off to a swanky party to rub shoulders with Margaret Atwood and Haruki Murakami, is just a tad unrealistic.
How to End A Book
When I feel that I’ve been through the book enough times and written the best ending I can, I complete a last spellcheck in case there are any errors I've missed earlier. The book is then whipped off to an editor who kindly wrestles excess adverbs, purpool prose and semi-colons from my writing like slightly gnawed crayons from a three-year-old.
I then graciously incorporate their suggestions and as soon as my revisions are accepted my book is ready to be published and hopefully enjoyed by my readers!
So that was my not-so-comprehensive guide to how I write my books and short stories. To be honest there are probably as many different writing methods as there are writers and if one tool makes you weep inconsolably, then it’s better to try something else instead of remaining stuck and frustrated.
As long as it helps you finish your book or short story then as far as I’m concerned it’s a great writing method.
However, if there’s any aspect of writing you feel I haven’t covered or you just want to share your own writing experiences, please feel free to let me know. I love to share your ideas with other readers and writers.
Happy writing! Kate