Novel Writing Tips
A novel is a literary genre that involves a fictional story written in the prose form. There are many novelists who say that they just need to sit before their computer and their fingers automatically start typing the words of their story. Though this is possible, not every writer is able to do this, especially a beginner in novel writing. Beginners in the field of novel writing will often find themselves struggling really hard to explain what is in their minds. Here, the problem is not language, but the way you organize your thoughts. So, take a look at certain novel writing tips for beginners that will show you the way in which you can go about writing your novel.
Tips for Writing a Novel
Genre: Decide on the novel genre that your story idea falls in. For instance, whether you are going to write a romantic novel, a science fiction, historical novel, detective novel, etc. It will be a great idea to read novels written under these genres by contemporary novelists. Now, here do not get me wrong! I do not suggest that you copy their narrative style or the plot itself, rather reading other books in the same genre will help you in understanding various styles and techniques that may inspire you in your novel writing process. You will also know the pace of narration that you have to adopt for writing a novel in a particular genre.
Outline: You may have a brilliant story in mind, but you are unable to organize it into a single entity. So, one of the most important novel writing tips is creating an outline of the story. Your outline need not have all the minute details of your story. Create the basic structure as to how you are going to start the novel and what are the events that will follow. You also have to decide the point of view through which you are going to narrate the story. You can choose the first person narrative where you narrate the story through the voice of one of the main characters in the novel, or else you can opt for the omniscient viewpoint which is quite a common method of narration.
Characterization: Along with the outline of the story, you also have to work on the characterization. It is necessary to decide in the beginning itself about who would be your main characters. Chart out the outline of your characters as to their personality, attitude, mannerisms, etc. However, remember that you should not list them in your novel while introducing these characters in the novel, rather their characteristics should reflect in the way they act and react to situations and events that happen in the story.
Main Conflict: Conflict is the most essential part of a good story. Your characters cannot lead a perfect life as this may seem boring to the readers. To make your novel interesting and gripping for the readers, you have to think about the conflict that you have to introduce in your story. Think about what the conflict would be, how you are going to build up the tension, how it will affect the life of the characters, and how they will react to it. You also have to think about a way in which you will resolve the conflict at the end of the novel.
Dialogs: Many times incorrect or badly written dialogs can ruin the entire story. So, you have to be extra careful while writing dialogs. While writing dialogs, keep in mind that they should sound like everyday conversations. People in real life have their own distinct style of speaking. So you can write dialogs for the characters that matches their personality, background, etc. Do not make the mistake of writing long sentences because conversations usually involve short sentences. You can also include accents so that the dialogs of each character can be distinguished from one another.
Proofread and Edit: When you start writing the novel, you can include various details that makes the novel interesting. You can also use the various literary devices that will help in accentuating certain important parts of the novel. Once you have finished the novel, the next step is proofreading. While going through the novel, you may come across certain parts which you think is not required in your novel, or you may get ideas about including something that will make the story better. After proofreading your novel several times, it is necessary to send your book for editing. Look up for an experienced editor who will go through your novel and rectify the mistakes in them. He/she will also be able to give you an appropriate feedback according to which you can make significant changes in your book.
You can also read more on How to Write a Novel.
After you book goes through these stages, it is ready to be sent to publishing houses. I hope these novel writing tips prove helpful to you. Remember that these tips on writing a novel are just general guidelines that will aid you in writing a book, however, you have to take a lot of efforts to create an original story and personal style of writing that is unique from the rest. So now go ahead and let your writing skills flow. All the best.
