How to Write a Novel

Before you write your novel, outline the book. How many chapters do you want or need? 12-24 chapters? Then you have 12-24 numbers in your outline. The outline can be written as a topic, sentence or paragraph outline. It can be formal or informal. The outline is a combination of character(s), theme(s), and storyline(s).

To practice outlining your novel, outline a favorite novel, let’s say Steppenwolf. Study the outline. Take notes. Then outline your own original novel, according to what you have learned. You can also include a prologue and epilogue in your novelistic outline.

Do not use similar themes as your favorite novel. Don’t imitate. Be original.

Note: Novels can use techniques from other genres: They can be poetic/lyrical, autobiographical/biographical, historical, journalistic, intellectual/philosophical, scientific, spiritual.

Of course, you can write a nontraditional, improvisational novel in which you don’t outline, don’t have any set chapters, perhaps even in stream-of-consciousness. Nevertheless, if this is your first novel, then I suggest that you work according to a schedule. Even if you write your stream of consciousness novel, in the revision, you should consider this method of outlining to rewrite the book.

Stream of consciousness novels is a technique that many young writers and oldsters make use of, and this technique makes novel writing appear easy; nevertheless, this is a technique that must be mastered as the other literary techniques. Usually it’s best to use the technique of stream of consciousness within a novel rather than making the whole novel a stream of consciousness work, again, unless you’re a master of this technique.

Please don’t imitate James Joyce or any of the other masters of this technique. If you must use this technique, which has helped many to write their first novels, become your own master of the technique. How are you unique? How are you different? How is your character unique? How is your character different?

But as for this “novel” advice or “novel-writing” advice:

Create a working title. What is your central theme or metaphor? This is a question you should ask yourself, among other novelistic questions. You might create a novelist’s questionnaire, of questions that you ask yourself whenever you write any type of novel. If this is helpful, then this is for you to do. A novelist’s questionnaire might be:

• What is your title?
• What is your central theme?
• Who are your leading characters? Describe them.
• What is your principle point of view?
• What type of language should you use with this novel?

Make a list of central and controlling ideas. Even if yours is not an “idea” novel, nevertheless, what are the central and controlling ideas? These ideas do not necessarily have to be central and controlling for you the writer, but significant ideas for your literary persona(s) and your principle and minor characters. These ideas do not have to be expressed within the novel, but can help you to select characters, setting, scenes, etc.

List the principle characters and describe them. Remember that characters are not just outward people but inward people. How do your character behave and act? How do they think? What do they look like. How do they speak? Create some sample dialogue for your characters. Use dialect sparingly.

Try to create the vocabulary and rhythms of speech of different characters of different regions and nationalities. Irish characters, for example, need not speak in traditional “Irish brogue.” What vocabulary words are different from British and American English, for example? How are the rhythms of the language different? Are there different patterns of speaking? Listen to traditional Irish speech. Read and reread books by Irish writers. Do not stereotype speech.

What is the setting of the novel? What is it’s time period? Contemporary? Historical? Futuristic?

You should have a storyline. What do your characters say and do in your story? What type of genre are you writing? Science Fiction? Romance? Literary?

Viewpoint? What is the viewpoint of your novel? Experimental with several viewpoints. First person. Second person. Third person (Central Intelligence). Third person (Omniscient).

These are things that you should know before you begin writing. Again, you don’t have to be elaborate, and you can informally write your ideas and your outline in a notebook, journal, on a yellow legal pad, use your word processor, or on index cards.

In addition, you should be original: Original title, original characters, original storyline.

Of course, most stories have already been told many times by many people in different ways. Even when you read and learn about spiritual stories, if you study the various types of religions from the ancient religions to modern and postmodern religions, you find that many of these spiritual stories, like secular stories have been told many times by many different peoples.

That’s why many people don’t trust religions when they learn that their religion, which they thought unique to themselves, has other religions that have spiritual heroes who tell the same story, many similar situations over and over again. This doesn’t mean that a religion is false, necessarily, it similar means that spiritual stories like secular stories are often told over and over again.

There are also similar characters, called archetypes, that return again and again in fiction.

Make use of archetypes, but try not to stereotype too many people. Of course real people can be archetypes, stereotypes, and types. You can have minor character and principle characters. But even when minor characters try to as fully realize them as possible for their minor status.

Once you have outlined your novel, read similar novels to make sure that your story is truly an original.

Read the best of the best in your genre and make your effort to be better than the best of the best. Of course, this might not be possible. Don’t imitate. But know and learn the best of the best in the area in which you’re writing.

When writing web content, for example, most of us, I’m sure read the best of the best of the bloggers and the web content writers, some of which are true literary artists, some better than the best of the best in the off line world, and getting the recognition they should have.

Continue to read and study the best of the best fiction writers from the ancient world, the modern world, the postmodern and contemporary writers.

Unless you’re writing a historical novels, you must compete with the best of the best from the ancient world to contemporary times. Whether you like competition or not, others compare you to the best of the best. Don’t imitate, but learn from as many writers as you can learn from.

What is your unique voice? What are the unique voices of your characters?

Get software on fiction writing, read books on the subject, learn as much as you can learn.

With your outline and preliminary writing-theme(s), storyline, character descriptions, write your novel chapter by chapter.

You should budget your time with a number of pages that you write per day or a number of chapters per week or per month.

Write your first draft.

Don’t revise the novel immediately.

Revise the novel when you can revise as both “writer” and “reader” and “critic.”

Revise word by word and revise by content.

When you think you have the best writing you can do for now, submit to a literary agent, and/or an editor.

If your work is rejected and you agree with the basis of the rejection, revise and keep revising.

If you and your readers- People that you trust- Agree that this is a worthwhile book, consider self-publishing,

then resubmit to literary agents and commercial publishers your self-published text(s).