This Year You Write Your Novel

It is often better if you use images and physical descriptions rather than mere informative language to present people, places, things, and events in your novel.

Another source of restraint for the writer is the use of personal confession and the subsequent guilt that often arises from it.

The first draft of the novel may have been written in many different ways (e.g., typewritten, entered on a computer, scribbled in pencil), but now you need a printed version of the book (preferably double-spaced) and a pencil with a fresh eraser. You need a stack of blank paper that you will use to make notes, lists, internal schedules, and longer

Always try to pare down the language of your novel. Is that word necessary? That sentence, that paragraph, that chapter? Most writers tend to overwrite. They either fall in love with their use of language or want to make sure that the reader understands everything.

The intuitive and structured methods are equally valid. Whether you start out knowing the whole story or you don’t know a thing beyond the opening scene, you will still have a finished novel at the end of your labors.

The reader is always looking for two things in the novel: themselves and transcendence.

Most of the details are pedestrian. Why, you might ask, would we want to make the experiences of our character ordinary? Because everyday experiences help the reader relate to the character, which sets up the reader’s acceptance of more extraordinary events that may unfold.

The beginning is only a draft. Drafts are imperfect by definition.

A character talking is an action too.

There are many kinds and styles of narrative voices, and it is imperative that you decide which one you will use to tell your tale.