How to write a novel
How to write a novel
Or, rather, how I write a novel
Why you may enjoy reading this
There are thousands of ways to write a novel. I spent years reading about the process of other writers and testing their methods. Getting up early, staying up late, writing over my lunch breaks. Writing prompts, morning pages, peer groups. I shopped master classes and browsed writing coaches. I annotated my copies of Lamott, Goldberg, Woolf, Dillard. I toyed with doing NaNoWriMo more than once.
Pages were written, but what I lacked was momentum (to be addressed in earlier posts) and trust in myself (saved for later posts). In the meantime, I explored different kinds of storytelling, gave a few workshops and worked with other prose writers, poets, screenwriters and playwrights to further our collective skills.
If you are looking for a way into the locked box of your creative mind, some of my learnings may provide insight into your own process. I learned about mine because of other writers who shared their process with me. Paying it forward, you know?
Why I am writing this
In January 2022, I stepped away from my 20-year career in advertising to help take care of my ailing father. In March of that year, I had the idea for YWBB. By May, I was writing the thing and in November 2022, had a full first draft. An ugly, messy thing, but a fully viable form nonetheless. I worked on the second draft from January-July 2023 and am currently querying literary agents.
In September 2023, the second idea presented itself and as I begin another novel, I thought it might be a fun side project to share my process as it’s happening.
But mostly because now I know what works for me and I know how to articulate it.
Even if this doesn’t catch on, writing about my process will probably help me be a better writer, so WIN.
What form this will take
A post a week. Some of the topics that I already want to address are the murder wall (with or without the red string), exploring the overall tone, how to differentiate characters through the words they use, choosing a tense, how to manage other languages, ratio of downtime to writing time, taking care of your instrument. I want to introduce you to other writers I know too.
And whatever else comes up as I build this new manuscript, as I continue talking to other writers about how we do.