How can I begin writing a good novel

Every story, regardless of length, begins with a concept. Every writer will have their concepts originating in a variety of ways. Some will conceive a plot-line, another will imagine a character, and there are those who will have a line or a title idea pop into their head and construct a book around those.

There are times that a writer will set down random story ideas, character concepts, or a specific setting and flesh-it-out until the entire thing begins to come-together all on its own. Then the author will design a full book around whatever happens from the random brainstorming.

If you have designed or planned, your story to its minutest detail, then you will know the entirety of the story. You will have no doubt as to how many chapters your story will need, and you will have no doubt as to what each chapter will cover. Knowing all these little details will permit you to begin writing your book anywhere within that book’s construct. If the book is 15 chapters then maybe you will begin writing chapter 5, or the last chapter, or if you choose to be linear start with chapter one and write continuously towards the end. The key is to know everything, no matter how insignificant, in regards to your overall story, and what it is you wish to say by it.

Once you build every aspect of the story, only then you will be able to start writing it. Avoid writing cold: sitting at a computer with just a bare-bones idea and start writing whatever comes to you. You will spend so much time just trying to write a story, with some volume to it, that you will totally undermine any chance at giving your story body, and some real life. When you write cold you can get lucky and write something of value, but if you wish to write something that in decades-to-come will be considered “literature”, then you have the obligation to plan what you write.

You May read more beautiful novels

Many people believe that a novel begins with the writing of the introductory paragraph to the story. Ok - whatever. I believe that planning and design are the real first step. This planning will be totally unique to you, and to the specific story that you are writing. The planning will dictate not only what to write but where you feel most comfortable starting the story, as mentioned earlier.

You will probably see instructions on how to write something based on a picture of two inverted pyramids, or a spiral, or some linear time placed on a line. Real life, however, is one big story, and if you observe life then you will find that diagrams are somewhat ridiculous in teaching how to write a story.

Look at your own life. For the most part, it is linear, as it identifies your life. But within your life, you have other influences, including your own thoughts, which will flash you back in your life, or project you into the future, through your hopes and dreams. Within your own life events will twist and turn, and people will enter and exit your life, often appearing to be outside of your control. Writing a book can be planned to the minutest detail and you will know those details and use them to the fullest advantage of the story. Only you will know what will happen, and you will reveal those events, properly, and appropriately, in order to engage and retain the reader’s attention.