How to Write a Novel: Chapter 1

Chapter One:  How to Begin?

Novels emerge out of anything that is inspiring to the author, it could be an idea, a feeling, a dream, an experience or it could be a face, a place, an image, or your very own science text book. One of my friends got inspired while watching the news; he then went on to write an awesome crime story, which was eventually published in our college magazine (which is indeed a great honor).

But how do you actually begin? …Just starting writing it! No matter how good and unique your idea is, it’s going to be of no use unless you have it in paper. Allocate an hour each day and start writing. It could be anything like the experience you had at the supermarket today, or the brief bio of the person you interviewed. You don’t have to worry about its application in the novel you’re writing, consider this as an exercise to perfect the masterpiece you are going to construct.

Next, you got to use the spark (that which inspired you to write the novel) to make a fire, for that you need some playing around and trial-and-error methods. Try searching the internet using your user-friendly search engines to find more about that spark. If your spark was about “a monster trapped inside the depths of an ocean”, then try searching for ancient monsters, serpents, documentaries about missing ships, ship wrecks etc. This could provide the basic foundation.

Now use that fire to boil the kettle; Trying linking the idea to a present scenario or a know incident, the above monster could be linked to the Bermuda Triangle, that would explain a lot of unanswered questions. Now widen the area of search; knowing more about Bermuda triangle could help a lot.

Now that you have a strong foundation, its time to build a solid theme with well defined plots and structures and a lot of twists and turns. It’s upon you and your own obsession to select the theme that you find apt. A theme alone won’t make a novel; a good novel has more than two themes.

“Clear Light of Day” by Anita Desai is about a brother and a sister and how their lives changed, but it is also about the journey thru time from childhood to adults, about love and the partition of India and Pakistan. “Liberal Days” by Raymond (my friend) is about an innocent orphan boy who was adopted by a millionaire and how the boy’s life changed, how he fell in love with a girl who was the president’s daughter and a lot of twists and turn, high political drama, crime and nail biting sequences.

The most fundamental preparation to write a novel is to read, read and read. Read with a critic’s eye and understand the various themes, plots and structures used how the characters are created and revealed, the change in viewing angles, the voices, the language and how they have developed their work so perfectly. This is most important exercise that you need to get going from page one to the very end. The more you read, the more you’ll understand and the more knowledge you’ll have to invent tools that will help you in the long run.

Hope this helped. I will be publsihing more useful tips and exercises in my next article on how to write a novel: chapter two: plotting and structure. So don’t forget to read it.

How to write a novel-Chapter Two

How to write a novel-Chapter Three

                                                                                                                                                                                Ronne