How to Start Your Novel
Write Better Now
Eight steps. Twenty-three steps. Five.
There is so much advice out there about how to start your novel that it can feel pretty overwhelming. That’s because there is no one way to start a novel. Anyone who tells you that there is? They’re lying to you and probably trying to sell something.
It’s okay to sell things like coaching and books and advice and services.
It’s not so okay to pretend like there is only one way to do art.
THE COMMONALITY
The common piece of all these ways to start your novel is just this: you have to actually put words on a page at some point.
That’s it.
Oh, and you have to make stuff up.
THE METHODS
In the rest of this post, I’m going to give you a quick debrief of a couple of methods.
JERRY JENKINS
Author, editor, writing coach (more titles than I have space for) Jerry Jenkins has a pretty well thought out method of 23 steps that includes multiple prewriting steps. These are all linked to his website and are from his words.
“Part 1: Before You Begin Writing Your Book
Part 2: How to Start Writing a Book
Part 3: The Book-Writing Itself
Now, this might feel overwhelming, maybe? For some of us. Or it might not be how our brains work. That’s totally okay.
REEDSY
This site connects writers to professionals (editors, marketers, formatters and designers) vetting the professionals and getting a cut on all the fees, which is pretty brilliant.
Their list with links is a bit thinner than Jenkins’ and also has a section about hiring a professional. Though I am a professional who has been hired a lot. I’ve helped over 1,000 writers now), you do not need to hire a professional to help you with your book. I didn’t. Tons of people don’t. But it’s an option when you feel lost.
This is directly from Reedsy’s blog, which has a ton of good information.
“How to write a novel in 13 steps:
SELF-PUBLISHING SCHOOL
Self-Publishing School also has a great rundown of the steps. Those are from here and directly excerpted with links below.
“Here are the steps for how to write a novel:
JUST DO IT METHOD
Some of us (often me) just write. We figure out the novel on the page as we write it. Maybe we hear a line of dialogue (“He wants to know why it happens”) or maybe we see an image (Girl crying near a toilet, Mom standing the the threshold) or maybe we have a question (how could someone do something so cruel?), but it inspires us to write and type on the page.
This is often called the Pantser method because rather than plotting, you’re writing by the seat of your pants.
We don’t outline. We don’t make a logline. We just write for the joy of writing and discovery. This is an awesome way to be in the flow, but it’s also an awesome way to have to revise a lot for structure and nuance.
It’s my favorite way, honestly, because when my books form like this they tend to be deeper and more passionate.
MICHELLE RICHMOND METHOD
Over on Medium, Michelle Richmond has ten steps that I love, which you should check out if you can.
The whole article is super interesting, but I’m just going to excerpt her first step because it links in a bit to the JUST DO IT METHOD.
She writes,
"1. Forget the outline. Start with situation.
“Outlines are fine unless they derail you. I’ve seen it again and again: writers who end up spinning their wheels for years, beholden to a failed outline. The good thing about an outline is that it gives you direction. The bad thing about an outline is that it limits your novel’s possibilities and may cause you to get hopelessly stuck.
“For the first fifty pages, at least, write your novel without an outline. Start with a situation and see where it goes. It works for Stephen King, who explains in his essential writing guide, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft:
I believe plotting and the spontaneity of real creation aren’t compatible. A strong enough situation renders the whole question of plot moot. The most interesting situations can usually be expressed as a what-if question.
A teacher shared the “what-if” advice back when I was an undergraduate at The University of Alabama, and it has served me well ever since, providing a starting point for all of my novels:
“What if a couple receives a wedding gift that promises to help them achieve a lasting marriage…with some rather serious caveats? (The Marriage Pact)
“What if a child goes missing on a beach while in the care of her soon-to-be stepmother? (The Year of Fog)
“What if an FBI agent in the aftermath of personal tragedy moves home to discover her small Northern California town has become a Silicon Valley suburb on steroids, obsessed with an annual exam called The Wonder Test?
“Once you have the situation and some words on the page, if you want more structure to your process, you can create a scene list, mapping out some of the key scenes you want to write.”
LAST THOUGHTS
I’ll be potentially writing more about this if people are into it, so let me know if you are or if this is too basic for you all. Sometimes, it’s good to have a reminder of those basics though, right?
Happy writing and I hope you’re all doing okay! I’ve had a kind of sad week, but I’m hopefully bouncing back.