Let’s just imagine. You’ve had this brilliant notion for a who-dunnit which you think has the possibility of a No1 best seller. You constantly received top marks for your school essays, but you haven’t done any writing since you filled out a job application. So do you discard all ideas of becoming a author or stick to your guns and seek specialist guidance on how and where to start to get your notion into print? There is loads of good advice out there if you’re eager to put pen to paper so you could make that positive move right now! Immediately! At least, have a go because, if you don’t, you know you’ll regret it forever. Here’s a few ideas that may help in writing your first novel.
DEVELOPING A PLOT – Remember these pointers. The Who, Where, What, When and How.
WHO – This applies to the personalities in your book. What kind of people are they? Where and how will they fit in?
WHERE – This will be a particular location, setting or country. Where is your story going to unfold?
WHAT – No matter what your story is, however long or short, there has to be a plot, maybe a drama or a romance or a who-dunnit that needs to be solved.
WHEN - How is your novel going to start and where?
HOW – You need to decide the tense involving the people in your novel. Are they in the present time or past? Are you writing in the first or third person?
Even jotting down a few answers to a few simple questions can help give you the kick-start desired and don’t forget you can always change a few things as your story develops.
SOME MORE SUGGESTIONS.
CONCEPT – How you get your ideas is probably a lot easier than you think as an idea can result from just about anything such as emotions, good, bad and/or indifferent. Most situations can produce a speck of an idea that, however small or fleeting, once written down can turn a line into a paragraph, a paragraph into a page and a page into a whole chapter.
EAVESDROP – In a bus queue, on a coach or bus, a train or a tram, in a wine bar or public house. It is incredible the conversations you hear that you can take ideas from.
LESSONS OF LIFE – We have all gone through and experiences at every level and you can certainly draw on those to help grow your story and give your ideas more depth.
Make a note of all the answers to the questions and start constructing your book. It doesn’t have to be at the start, it can be anywhere and any part.
MUSIC – Is there a song you love? Write some of your favourite words from that song.
TIMES OF THE YEAR – Think of the seasons and pick one that holds special memories for you. Then take a colour you love and associate it with that season.
SENSES – Think of a taste and a smell that has a particular meaning.
It is these occurrences of yours and other people’s lives that can feed your imagination. And don’t forget that you can decide afterwards where they go in your book because, once you begin writing, you could even be finishing the last page first. There is no hard and fast rule to writing, but making a note of a thought, a word, a phrase, etc as soon as they’re in your head is very important.
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writing your first novel.
