Writing a novel is not an easy task. It takes more than writing the words of your story, you need to plan it out before writing anything. You can’t just write whatever comes to mind and expect it all to work out in the end – that’s why planning is so important! Planning will help keep your writing process on track, improve your writing speed, make writing more enjoyable for you, and ensure everything flows together flawlessly while avoiding any plot holes or inconsistencies.
There are many different ways writers use when they’re planning their novels before they begin writing them. Here are a few tips on how to plan a novel from idea to first draft:
Pick a Planning Method for Writing a Novel
The first thing you will need to do is decide on what writing method works best for your writing style. Some writing methods include: mind mapping, bullet points, writing an outline, story-boarding or free writing. This step can be the hardest part of planning a novel as one type of planning may not work well with your personal writing process and writing style.
I personally like writing an outline, but some writers prefer to write or use creativity writing prompts so they can get their ideas out of their head and onto paper more easily.
Which writing method you choose is entirely up to you!
There are two classic writing styles for you to adapt especially when you’re writing a novel. These writing methods to help you flesh out your plot includes:
The Snowflake Method
The Snowflake Method is a writing method created by Randy Ingermanson. It’s a unique writing style where the story you want to write slowly builds up over time in stages – just like when snowflakes start out as tiny ice crystals and then grow into larger, complex shapes that come together to form beautiful snowflakes.
The Free-Writing Method
The Free-Writing Method is one of the most basic writing methods and it’s a great starting point for beginners who want to try writing their novel before they write an outline or storyboard. It allows you to jot down all your ideas, thoughts, and plot points in free writing style so that you can see how everything flows together as well as writing out your story in a stream of consciousness.
There are many other writing methods for you to try, but these two writing styles should help get the ball rolling!
Sketching Up Your Main Protagonist
In writing a novel, you have to build up your main protagonist from scratch. Your main character is the person who drives forward your plot and story throughout the course of writing a novel so it’s important that they’re interesting enough for readers to want them as their protagonists.
Some questions you should ask yourself when creating your protagonist include:
- – What is their name?
- – Why are they interesting and unique?
- – Do they have any special powers or abilities that make them stand out from other characters in writing a novel ?
Setup your protagonist with a powerful core & a strong belief system. It can eventually make the entire writing project considerably easier as you can write through the character’s perspective more easily. For example, Brute has always trusted in himself more than the systems that were established around him. Survival of Brute and his family is important for him and therefore his core belief reflects that survival where he puts more of his faith in his intelligence and wit.
This way, you can find your starting point writing a novel and your story can jump start writing itself!
Create a Form of Challenge for Your Character
One of the best writing tips for writing a novel is to establish an interesting challenge that your protagonist must face. It doesn’t have to be anything too difficult, but something they need to go through in order for them to learn about themselves.
The story you want will only work if it’s realistic and believable so don’t pick a writing challenge that’s too hard for your protagonist to overcome. For example, Brute is given the opportunity by his new family & friends of selling houses in North Carolina; however they make it clear this isn’t going to be an easy project. They aren’t going to coddle him or give him special treatment like other rich families might have done. Instead, he will find himself facing a challenge and would love to make an effort.
The Journey of Your Main Character
The real estate broker journey is a path where your protagonist learns valuable lessons and finds himself coming across different people who have interesting stories to share with Brute. It’s important for these stories to become better over time so Brute can have an exciting and fun filled life. They can’t be perfect, but that doesn’t mean they don’t grow throughout writing the novel either!
It may seem like an overwhelming writing task, but it’s one of the most important writing tips you can get! In this way, you may find:
- – your protagonist is surrounded by different people.
- – he learns from them and changes because of their stories.
If you want to learn about these concepts more, you can always read “The Storyteller Method: Outline & Plan Your Novel in One Day” – Kindle edition by Carol Tice, JT Sawyer.
Concluding Thoughts
Writing a novel is no easy writing task, but it’s one of the most rewarding writing experiences you can get. This article has given you some writing tips on how to plan your story or novel. I am sure these practices will help give you an edge over other writers! So what are you waiting for? Start planning out your next writing project by writing a novel today.
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