CornerScribe

Novel Writing Tips

Whether you’re writing your first novel or you have a few novels stuck in a drawer somewhere, you should find these tips handy. These tips will walk you through how to begin writing a novel and help you get through the novel writing process.

Outlining vs. Spontaneous

If you’ve done something like NaNoWriMo, then you probably have some experience with trying to write a novel by the seat of your pants. That works well for some people, not for others. I say, you’ll never know if it works for you until you try. I enjoy this method, but it doesn’t usually result in a good first draft for me.

The pros: You’ll have fun watching the novel unfold as you write. You’re probably less likely to get bored, and you’ll enjoy the plot twists and surprises this novel writing technique provides.

The cons: You’re more likely to write yourself into a corner and not know how to get out. You may write and write and have no idea how to end the novel. The draft is likely to be much less tightly structured and need a lot more revision on your second pass through.

If you choose to outline, you’ll avoid some of these pitfalls, but this novel writing method brings its own problems as well. I find writing from an outline can be boring and stale. Often, I’ve worked on the story so much I’m already getting a bit tired of it.

The pros: This draft should be better organized and the novel structure should be tighter. You’re unlikely to get lost or find yourself with 100,000 words and no ending in sight.

The cons: You may find this writing method stale or boring. If you find it boring, then your readers certainly will.

My compromise is this… I outline a little ahead of where I am in the novel and work from that, allowing it to change if it needs to. I don’t know the novel’s ending when I begin, but I do know the first few scenes. I keep that perspective throughout the work.

Editing vs. Proofreading

Editing is much harder than proofreading and should be done first. You’ll ask yourself tough questions, like

• Does this scene work? Ask yourself whether it advances the plot, or shows something crucial about the characters involved. If the answer is no to the former, then can you show the same thing in another scene that is necessary?
• Does the scene belong in the novel at all? If you removed it, would anyone but you miss it?
• Would a person really do that? I’ve seen this one in my writer’s group a lot. For whatever reason, fictional characters do things in the novel that no real person would ever consider. Even if you need the character to do it for the plot, you can’t make it happen if it doesn’t make sense.
• Does the plot need restructuring? Flashbacks are a good example. They’re tough to handle well, so you might want to avoid them if you can. Also, many writers start the book much too early, with too much backstory. Start the novel as late as you can.
• Is the point of view right for this novel? Is it consistent? Even if you’re used to one point of view, consider trying one scene in a different one to see if it works. Make sure that your point of view is consistent throughout the novel.
• Do people really talk that way? This one is a little tricky. You don’t want your characters to sound stilted or fake, but you don’t want to mimic real conversation either. Real people use lots of incomplete sentences, mutter, add ums and uhs, skip around, etc. Read your dialogue aloud to make sure it sounds real without sounding TOO REAL.

You’ll typically do more cutting than adding, and you’ll need to be ruthless. This is a good time to show the novel to someone who can do a critique for you. Be clear that you’re not interested in commas and quotes at this time, you’re interested in the larger view.

When the story is tight, the scenes are well-developed, and the characters believable, then you’re ready to tackle proofreading. Spelling, grammar, punctuation should all be on your list of things to check. This is a good time to get someone who’s good at that sort of thing to review your work, even if you’re good at it too. You can’t catch everything.