Tag Archives: writing tip

5 Things You Should Know about Writing a Novel

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Even though I have not yet published a novel, I’ve written several full first drafts of novels. For the fantasy trilogy that is my current main project, I’m working on the third draft of the first book. Since I’ve completed more than a few full first drafts, I do feel qualified to talk about the work that is entailed in writing a novel from beginning to end.

So if you’ve started a novel, are thinking about writing a novel, or are wondering what the difference is between a novel and a short story, then I believe these five tips can help you:

Your NaNoWriMo novel is not ready for publication in December. Nor is any first draft ready for public consumption. See the first paragraph of this post for reference. Notice that I mention that I’m on my third draft of a novel. Even the best writer in the world goes through several drafts and rewrites. Also please note that tidying up a few spelling errors and run-on sentences does not qualify as a rewrite or second draft. If you want your finished novel to be publication-ready, then get feedback from some good critique partners or beta readers, go through several full rewrites, and then send it off to an editor. 

A novel is more than just a long short story. If you’re a master at writing short stories, then be prepared for an entirely different experience with writing a novel. Even if the core of an idea could work for either a short story or a novel, there’s a lot more to it than just padding out the word count of a 20,000 word short story to make it into a 80,000 word novel. In a novel, a plot can be much more complex, there are usually one or more subplots, more characters can be used, and there needs to be a greater variety of pacing. Also, even if you’re a pantser, writing a novel usually requires a bit more planning and outlining ahead of time than a short story might.

Know Your Genre. Yes, there are some wonderful cross-genre stories out there, and everybody wants to invent a new concept or spearhead a new trend. But if your book doesn’t have a clearly defined genre, you’ll have trouble finding your ideal readers, and book stores and ebook sites will have a hard time listing the book properly. Your genre can be something broad – fantasy, mystery, literary – or something very specific, like YA urban paranormal, historical cozy mystery, or women’s fiction. But pick a category, so that both you and your potential readers know what you’re writing.

There’s no “one right way” to do it. No, I’m not contradicting my previous three points. Some people outline out every scene before they get started, some just have a loose kernel of an idea and discover the story as they go along. Some write every scene in order, some jump around during the first draft stage. Some people use Word, some use Scrivener, some use pen and paper. Find what’s comfortable for you. If you’re not enjoying the process of novel writing, it will be that much harder to finish.

It’s a big commitment. This is perhaps the most important point of all. Whether you’re a NaNoWriMo winner who’s pounded out a full first draft in 30 days, or it’s taken you years to finish a draft, writing a novel takes commitment and dedication. Always remember that if you want to write a novel, no matter what your writing technique is or how long it takes, your goal should be to finish. Finishing takes guts, no doubt about it – but it’s something that anyone can do.

Would you add anything to this list?

What Scares Me About Writing

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Even though I love to write, there are some things I dread doing as a writer. Sometimes it’s hard to come up with blog posts. Writing stuff for my job isn’t always the same thrill-a-minute adventure as writing my own stories. But sometimes, I even dread writing my stories.

The biggest thing I dread writing are battle scenes. For some reason, I find it equally hard to write a big epic battle with armies as I do to write a sword fight or sparring match between two people. My stories are never bloodbaths or fight-fests, but since I write mostly high fantasy, there’s got to be at least a good battle scene or two.

In the fantasy trilogy that I’ve been working on for some time now, I’m currently almost finished with a major rewrite of book one. I’m almost done with the book (yay!) but that means that I’ve come to the point of the big climactic battle (sigh). Revising the battle scenes isn’t much easier than it was writing them the first time.

Epic fantasy battle look great on a screen, and they look pretty good in my head; but getting that into words on the page? That scares me. I write the scenes with much grumbling and trepidation, asking myself why I do this to myself. Because I love high fantasy, that’s why, and I always wind up telling stories that need a big battle.

So, enter a new genre. While I’m slogging through this fantasy rewrite (and fussing over the stalled book two, which I’ve paused because I’m at the battle scenes in that book, too), I decided to start another project. Because I’m a glutton for punishment I thought it would be fun. This project is something totally new for me – historical fiction.

This new story is set in the Golden Age of Hollywood, so I was delighted as I was doing my outline and realized that I have no battle scenes to write. What a freeing feeling! I thought I’d have no challenges with this story because the climax does not involve sword fights or goblin armies hurling magic spells. But there is something about this story that does intimidate me – I’m writing about something real.

Fantasy, for me, is easy (except for the battles). I can basically do whatever I want, and I’m the expert because I made it up. But historical fiction? Now I’m writing about something that other people know way more about than I do. And there are some people still alive today who lived through this time period. I’m writing about a real place, real events, and one of my point of view characters was a real person. I’d (almost) rather write a sword fight.

So why do I keep on writing all this stuff that I dread to write? Because I’m a storyteller. Maybe this is part of the “work” part of writing, the part that makes it not fun. But I know that if I push through my fear of writing a battle scene or my fear of portraying a real person in a work of fiction, I’ll come out a stronger writer for it.

Please share with me – is there any part of writing or storytelling that scares you?

What to do with a Shiny New Idea

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If you’re a writer (or any creative type, really), you’re probably working on at least two projects at any given time. So what do you do when you’re going along as planned, making headway (or not) on your current creative projects, and a Shiny New Idea hits you out of the blue?

The way I see it, there are three ways you can handle this:

These finished books began as Shiny New Ideas for the authors

These finished books began as Shiny New Ideas for the authors

File it away for later

Whether your Shiny New Idea is just the vaguest form of a concept or a full-blown Idea, write it down. You’ll never bring your Idea to fruition – now or later – if you don’t first write it down. And no, you won’t remember it later. Writing it down and filing it away is a good way to a) remember the Idea when the first Shininess has worn off, and b) let it cool before you interrupt all your current projects to work on it. Being creative is great, but some discipline is needed to finish projects. Resolving to file away for later every New Idea until you’ve finished at least one other project is a good way to discipline yourself and get things accomplished.

Mull it over and brainstorm and work it into your schedule

If your New Idea just won’t leave you alone and it keeps popping back up at inopportune moments, you might decide to go ahead and bring the Idea out of the file-for-later bin. But remember the thing about discipline and finishing stuff from point number one? If you’ve made certain goals or commitments with your current projects (whether it’s publishing deadlines, submitting work to your critique partners, or just a personal goal), make sure you don’t neglect these. If you’ve decided that you want to add one more project to your plate, then your schedule will likely have to get reworked.

Stop your life and do nothing but the New Idea

This is the most tempting when a Shiny New Idea hits, but it’s rarely a good thing to try. And if you’re an adult (or youth) with a job, school, or other responsibilities, then stopping your life for your latest Idea is fine because adulthood is overrated just isn’t possible.

I’ve been hit by a Shiny New Idea more times than I can count – and of course it always comes when I’m swamped with other projects, because I’m always swamped with other projects. About 90% of my Shiny New Ideas get put into category one. Some of them I have eventually made the time to get back to, but most are still on my to-do list. And that’s okay.

It’s good to remember that you can do anything you want, but not everything you want, and certainly not all at once.

So tell me – what do you do with your Shiny New Ideas?

Story Prompts to Get Unstuck

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I am not usually one who needs story prompts. I don’t mean for this to sound arrogant or bragging – it’s just that I’m usually so inundated by ideas that what I need is more time to write, not more ideas. But even us constantly-flooded-with-ideas folks get stuck now and then, or we want to take a break from current projects and try something new.

I’ve written a couple of posts in the past about generating ideas and breaking through writer’s block. I find that writing something else besides my current project can keep my mind in a writerly mode without it getting bogged down in whatever I’m stuck on.

I also started a Pinterest board with cool pictures and ideas for story prompts.

Another great source of inspiration for me is music. Sometimes ideas come to me while I’m listening to something, other times I purposefully play certain songs or tracks while I’m brainstorming. If you want to know what kinds of music get me going, here are some of my favorites.

I hope that some of these links can help you if you need prompts or brainstorming fodder. What are some of your favorite ways to get your creative juices flowing again?

The Nitty-Gritty of Writing: Tense

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It’s been a while since I’ve done a nitty-gritty of writing post. I often focus on general writing elements like spelling or grammar, but this time I want to gear this post towards fiction writers.

When writing a story, tense is very important. And I don’t mean “tense” as in dramatic tension (although that’s extremely important, too). By “tense” I mean “when is the story taking place.” Is the story told in the past tense, the present tense, or the future tense?

Past Tense

This is the most common way to write a story. It works well for either first or third person point of view.

“I smiled at Joe.”

“Dennis slammed the door behind him, trying to drown out the angry shouts.”

The first example is first person, with “I” telling the story; the second example is third person. But both are written in past tense, as if the action has already happened.

Present Tense

Again, this works for either first or third person narration.

“I smile at Joe.”

“Dennis slams the door behind him, trying to drown out the angry shouts.”

Present tense can have the benefit of putting the reader more directly into the story, because it gives the feel of the story happening right now. I’ve heard many arguments against present tense storytelling, though, saying that it’s less professional or less mature. I personally don’t have a problem reading it, but I think that present tense narration doesn’t automatically work for every story.

Future Tense

Obviously, this writing style would be told as if something were about to happen.

“I will smile at Joe.”

“Dennis will slam the door behind him, to try to drown out the angry shouts.”

Future tense is rather awkward, and I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a work of fiction told entirely in future tense. (If you’ve read – or written – one, please share!)

A Word of Caution

Most people know the difference between past and present tense and can choose the right forms of the words to use. However, the biggest issue I’ve seen in writing is a change of tense during the course of the story.

A lot of people will switch between present and past tense as they’re putting together their first draft. For a first draft, this is okay – the idea is to get the story out, not to worry about polishing it just yet. But I have read second and third drafts (and even finished, edited, and published pieces) where the writer keeps losing track of which tense the story is in.

Of course I’m not referring to a story that deliberately changes tense, as a way of making an artistic point or distinguishing between present scenes and flashbacks. Incorrectly switching tense would be something like this:

“Dennis slammed the door behind him. The angry shouts bother him, and he walks faster.”

I’m not trying to advocate whether past or present tense is better. I think that is a decision determined largely by the story itself, and the writer should be free to choose either one. But please, writers, do choose one and stick with it throughout the story.

Even if you try something far out like writing in future tense, consistency truly counts for a lot.