Starting a New Novel? Follow These Tips

Let’s face it: no one likes staring at a blank page waiting for words to appear. Writing should be enjoyable. It should be the chance for you to delve into your own world with your own set of characters and see what happens. However, even if you have a brilliant idea planned out in your head, it can be challenging to get it on paper.

If you find yourself at a loss on where to begin, follow these tips:

Have A Beginning and End

Personally, I’m a pantser (ie. A writer who doesn’t plan.) I enjoy writing this way because it is the most fun for me. Not knowing where my story is going to go or what is going to happen is part of the reason why I write. However, I do like to have at least a vague idea (or set of ideas) on what might happen in order to get me started. Having an idea of how you are going to start a story and how you are going to end it at least gives you parameters to work with. They don’t have to be set in stone, but it’ll give you a goal to work towards.

Have a character sheet

Even though I usually have no idea where my story is going, I like to get an idea of who my characters are. Sometimes they can surprise you, but having a brief description of their personality and characteristics can help you when describing how they interact with other characters and the world around them. Starting out with an average character with no personality or any distinctive traits will make the writing process more stressful than it needs to be. Before you delve into your story, take some time to make a list of your characters and what they are like. If you need more help, see this blog post about character creation and how to make them believable.

Have a lore sheet

If you are writing science fiction or fantasy, the setting is just as important as the story. Once you get absorbed into your story, it can be easy to forget little details about the world you’ve created. It happens. Creating a “cheat sheet” about your world and all its details before you jump into your story can give you reference guide for later. Don’t know where it begin? Check out this guide.

Setting goals (and sticking to them)

Whether it’s a daily page goal, weekly word count, or entire chapters, setting goals for yourself (and sticking to them) will help you move your story along and get things accomplished. Making your writing a routine is perhaps the best thing you can do if want to finish a story. Even if it is just an hour a day, making a habit of writing will make finishing your novel more manageable.

Treat Yo ‘self

Writing a novel is not a simple task and it is easy to become quickly overwhelmed during the process. Most of the time, writers are viewing the end goal of finishing the book and can quickly loose motivation when they hit a stumbling block along the way. The trick is to set small milestones along the way and reward yourself when you reach them. Wrote five pages? Awesome! Go watch TV. Finished your first chapter? Great! Take the rest of the day off and do something fun. Setting small milestones and rewarding yourself along the way will help you motivate yourself to keep writing.

Happy writing!

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