Write a Short Novel

You want to write a novel in no time at all? Too time consuming, isn't it? With this guide, you can write a really good novel which you can do for money or for fun.

Steps

Short Novel Help

Doc:Short Novel Outline,Short Novel Mindmap,Short Novel Excerpt

Writing Your Own Novel

  1. Choose your genre. Crime, Horror, Romance,...you decide. If you don't know, just start writing.
  2. Create the cast. Think of one to three characters who are interesting. Write a Breakdown (describing the looks, personality and history of each character). They should be as familiar to you as your friend, brother, sister, mother and/or father. Once you do this, your characters will talk for themselves and they may even surprise you by what they say. When this happens, you know your characters are interesting.
  3. Plan your novel in a notebook or on your computer. An outline of points (places where events happen) can be detailed as you want. Some deviation may happen, but that can keep the feel of the book more organic, but be careful of getting too far off. You can't have a character trying to solve a murder, then decide to go to 'Comic-Con' to hang out with Star peeps, then come back and pick up where he (or she) left off.
  4. Choose a place and a time for the setting (say New York 1929). Make it as interesting and attention grabbing as you can!
  5. Develop the plot. Think of a really good storyline for the characters to be involved in. This can be done with the 'fish out of water' story where the character suddenly is in a situation they know nothing about (ie: Castaway). Or perhaps something happens to them or a member and they have to deal with it. But be aware of obvious lines. If your reader knows what's going to happen before they read it, you might as well be drawing equations on Hooters bathroom paper.
    • Remember, don't go over the top with the storyline! The ones are usually the best.
    • There are parts of a story: setup, conflict, climax and resolution.

      • Your set up shouldn't be very long; just long enough to introduce the characters and the situation. (Scrooge is a jerk; then his friend comes back as ghost to let him know more will visit him).
      • The conflict is then what the character has to deal with and solve. (Ghosts show up and torment Scrooge).
      • All this leads to the climax of the story where the situations reach a head. (Scrooge sees his death and has a change of heart).
      • The resolution ties up ends and sends the story out. (Scrooge gives Crochet a raise and a turkey).
  6. Write. Remember a book should have a minimum of one page, but more would be preferable. Remember, you do not have a deadline so take your time! If it goes over pages, go to How to Write a Novel.
  7. Keep writing and then, once finished, put it away for a week, a month even. Come back to it and then rewrite, rewrite and then rewrite some more. First publications are rare, impossible even. Much of the magic of prose come from rewriting anyway.
  8. Once you've edited and finalized your novel, find a publisher to show your novel to.
    • Consider a publisher for your novel. Many of the the publishers have digests or anthologies that are well suited to works.



Tips

  • Do your best not to edit as you write. You'll get stuck with sentences and paragraphs and eventually lose confidence in your writing. Write at least pages before rereading it again; just like someone else said, just plow through it and worry about getting it right later.
  • Have a limit of how many pages you write per a day. (One page a day, one and-a-half, etc.) This will help you manage your energy and time.
  • To get ideas for stories, sit down with the newspaper, read magazines, eavesdrop in places, revisit your diary, go for a walk and watch the news.
  • Research publishers that would be interested in your work. Review their pages carefully and even hang it on your wall for inspiration. Most will never accept violence but it likely won't be rejected just because your story contains violence, or your romance contains content. There are markets for stories.
  • Don't be afraid to give yourself a day off. It really can refresh your creativity.
  • Writing is fooling the mind into thinking it's there, thus you must make your writing "sensual," or, in words, giving the readers a sense of place through the senses: smell, touch, taste, sight, sound and impression.
  • Some publishers base their categories on counts. story up to words. Novella up to words. Novels have 35,000 words and works are over words. Most word programs can give you a ' count' or you can estimate it at words per double spaced page ( paper) with margins.
  • Minimize or avoid words such as: is, was, has, had, be, been, has been, had been, to be, would be and so on. This will add some action to your sentences and they'll be less stale.
  • If you write a part of your novel each night for at least an hour, that will be enough time to work on it and do your job or routine. Shoot for getting pages done a night; after days, you have a novel.
  • You might want to try the snowflake/snowball method- write out the bones of your story, then read through it, embellishing and improving along the way. You may have to do it repeatedly, but it is worth it when you get pages!
  • Another way of using names is to know what the names mean and have them relate to the character, use words that describe the character but in a different language.
  • Think about your target audience and use dialogue that they will understand and relate to while also keeping it relative to the setting. Don't focus on using "better" words on your first draft. As you go back to edit your work, have a thesaurus on hand, but use words that fit the voice of your story; make sure not to go too formal.
  • Take time to edit after you finish. It will save your patience with an editor later.
  • Possibly don't show your story to friends and family. They may not want to hurt your feelings if they feel strongly opposed to passages or may know too much about what your writing about to sort out inside events, comments or jokes. Also, they tend to want the story to be 'safe' or 'nice.' Instead, join a writer's group that are tough and honest; it's the only way you'll get better. Learn to take, accept, and use any advice and criticism that you may receive.
  • If you're writing a novel, or one that is paced, you must -- absolutely must -- get your character into desperate trouble within pages. Nothing will kill a novel or story if you don't get to the conflict right away. Read Dean Koontz to fully appreciate this. (Tick Tock, Strangers, Lightning and Phantoms are examples).
  • To start off write in your processor "This is a (horror, romance etc) novel." Continue each time by adding other details and plots.
  • If you have an idea, make sure to jot it down right away so you can add onto it later without forgetting it. Nothing's worse that having a great idea and then forgetting what it was.
  • To get names, use a baby book.
  • Consider Nanowrimo - National Novel Writing Month - as an option to get yourself writing.
  • Watch for cliches: dead as a nail, scared to death, out the window, tough as nails, and the like. It makes you look like an amateur. However, if you're on a roll, use them and rewrite them later.

Warnings

  • Do not obsess over an editor's comments if your work is rejected. If you have made a submission, take comments to heart and use it to improve your work. Some editors can be harsh- if you received a nasty letter, think about whether you would want to seriously work with that house at all.
  • Writing a novel is time-consuming so be prepared to work on this for a while.

Things You'll Need

  • A notepad with pens and pencils.
  • A computer or typewriter.(optional)
  • A camera for photography (this might help you get some inspiration).

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Sources and Citations

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