One Word at a Time!
That novel you've been thinking about. It's inside.
Deep inside.
A book. A novel. A great one.
A bestseller even.
There's a novel in each of us. Some may be shorter than others. Some may be dark and haunting and scary. Some are passionate love stories that have never ever been told before. Some obviously have more pictures than text. What's yours like?
You bring a perspective that no one else in the world has. It needs to be told. You need to tell it. You NEED to tell it. What are you waiting for?
I see a pattern here, don't you?
Just Do It!
There are many great books and resources on writing. There are plenty on just writing novels. So how do you write a novel?Like the commercial says, just do it. Simplistic you say? Not really.
I separate writing into two distinct areas: writing and marketing.
For me, putting words into a word processor is by far easier than getting a publisher to read those words (and like them). Fortunately, the internet has changed that dramatically. The playing field has changed, and you and I can be a part of that.
Of course there is style, character and scene development, plot, and a host of other things to fuss over when writing that novel.
Every single novelist to date has done it the same way: one word at a time.
A 70,000 word novel is made up of 70,000 individual words.
A word. Then a sentence.
Another word, then another sentence.
Then a paragraph.
Then two paragraphs.
A chapter, Two chapters.
Before you know it, a complete novel.
It really is how it's accomplished. Oh, you'll hear all about theme and scenes and setup and time and dialogue and a whole lot of other literary terms. Those will come in the course of time.
One word at a time is how Grisham does it. Stephen King. Barbara Taylor Bradford. And countless authors in the past.
It's how you can do it too!
#1: Read
Before you begin writing a book you should read all you can. Newspapers, books, letters, blogs, textbooks, novels, magazines, everything you can get your eyes. In fact, it's hard to imagine a writer not reading much at all.Reading works in the subconscious.
Styles.
Patterns.
Manners of speech.
Humor.
Dialog.
Don't worry, you'll never copy your favorite author exactly. YOUR style, however, will shine through.
Which actually brings me to the second point...
#2: Turn off the television.
Think of the time you waste just watching shows that will never have an impact on you. Turn it off. It may be difficult, but after a week of withdrawal, you'll be fine. Trust me on that. The tick goes away in three weeks and the twitch disappears in seven. You'll be fine.
Ok, so the cartoon to the left shows what I really think about the tv. Smash it. You won't miss it. No, really.
When you watch an entire evening of television and are ready to hit the sack, are you refreshed or do you say, "I could have spent that time doing something else?" If 8 of 10 times you could have been doing something else, you should have been.
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#3: Brainstorm for a topic
Pick a broad topic to write about. Brainstorm if you have to. Write down general topics but don't cross anything off. What interests you? What are you an expert in? What do you like? 
What floats your boat?
If you let it be known in your community that you want to form a brainstorming committee of 3-4 committed people and all you will do is brainstorm, you will find takers. But before you, you have to commit to actually brainstorming. Sure, you'll be looked at by others as weird, but that's part of the novelist territory.
Honing the craft
How Not to Write a Novel: 200 Classic Mistakes and How to Avoid Them--A Misstep-by-Misstep Guide
Amazon Price: $9.50 (as of 12/05/2009) 
You Can Write A Novel Kit
Amazon Price: $15.63 (as of 12/05/2009)
How to Write a Damn Good Novel: A Step-by-Step No Nonsense Guide to Dramatic Storytelling
Amazon Price: $14.93 (as of 12/05/2009)
#4: Start writing
Don't worry so much about what you write. Just write. And write. And write some more.
Hemmingway once said, "write every day until you're pooped."
Are you pooped today?
#5: Plot it
Begin sketching it out in your head or on paper where these new ideas could go. Some have an idea where they want to go right away and will draft 10 pages of outline.
Most have a beginning, a middle and are just waiting for that ending to come their way. Those are the people that have the novel in their heads just waiting for it to download itself onto the screen or the yellow legal scratch pad.
By the way, don't worry about finishing the book in one or two sittings. You're in this for the long haul, Baby.
Have an idea of where you want to go but not so much that you get disappointed when you arrive (after you've finished your first novel, this sentence will make perfect sense. Trust me).
NY Times Bestseller List (Fiction)
The top 5 Hardcover Fiction books currently on the NYT Bestseller List
Extreme Measures: A Thriller (Mitch Rapp Novels)
Amazon Price: $18.45 (as of 12/05/2009)
The Brass Verdict: A Novel (Harry Bosch)
Amazon Price: $17.81 (as of 12/05/2009)
The Lucky One
Amazon Price: $16.49 (as of 12/05/2009)
Bones (Alex Delaware, No. 23)
Amazon Price: $17.82 (as of 12/05/2009)
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel (Oprah Book Club #62)
Amazon Price: $17.13 (as of 12/05/2009)
#6: Continue writing
Short answer: as long as you begin it, get your characters in and out of trouble and then end it, you're fine.
Don't worry about word or page count. If it's too short, it's a novella. If it's too long, you can chop it up into a series.
Write only what you have to and no more. You're writing a story and your readers deserve good well-rounded characters and plots.
Don't miss the reason you're writing this: to tell a story.
#7: Tie up loose ends
BEFORE you end the book, make sure you have tied up any loose ends in the book. I have found that after I put an ending on the book, I am less likely to do as thorough of a job in editing it.
There's something psychological about "ending a book" that speaks of finality and "I'm Done!!!"
Squidoo Links of Writing
- Creative Writing Tips
- Useful tips on writing
- Writing a Children's Book
- Great tips and secrets
- Write The Damn Story!
- Getting the story down
- Micro Fiction
- Interesting style. Worth exploring.
- Writing Romance Novels
- Great site for tackling romance novels
- Travel Writing Novels
- For people who write novels and travel too
Writing Magazines & Subscriptions
Writer's Digest (1-year)
Amazon Price: $19.96 (as of 12/05/2009)
The Writer
Amazon Price: $29.00 (as of 12/05/2009)
Writing in Education
Amazon Price: $54.07 (as of 12/05/2009)
#8: Put it away
Now comes the difficult part, the really hard part: put it away.Stephen King - yes, THE Stephen King - recommends that you put it in a drawer and let it set for about six weeks.
The paper ferments or something like that. After that time period, take it out and edit it to pieces. You may have to do that three or four times before you can give it to a close friend or relative to see if it makes any sense at all.
Don't neglect to wait. It works. Ask Mr. King.
#9: Rewrite
Edit. Rewrite. Edit. Rewrite.
Go over everything well and don't be afraid to slice and trim. Tighten it up. If it doesn't help the plot (you did have a plot, yes?), cut it out.
No one likes to read pages and pages of ramble. Think of your reader. Think of books you've read where the writer thought that adding a more detailed description of the Sears Tower in Chicago was about the coolest thing in the world when he should have been describing the people coming in and out of the Sears Tower.
Think of the parts of a novel that you've "browsed" through the years. Yes, it was the endless descriptions. It certainly wasn't dialogue.
#10: Let an "outsider" read it
Trust me when I say this, your editor friend will have your best interests when he or she makes suggestions. It's more likely that your friend will not tell you as much as a "real" editor would. It's your call on that.
My best editor is my wife. I dislike her for 2 hours after she's edited and talked about her edits (after all, she has criticized my masterpiece). After that 2 hours (my cooling down period), I see the wisdom in much of what she says and I make the necessary changes. You would do well to find someone like this.
Perhaps you can avoid the disliking part altogether.
Writer's Market on Amazon
2010 Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market (Children's Writer's and Illustrator's Market)
Amazon Price: $19.79 (as of 12/05/2009)
2010 Writer's Market Deluxe (Writer's Market Online)
Amazon Price: $31.49 (as of 12/05/2009)
2010 Writer's Market
Amazon Price: $19.79 (as of 12/05/2009)
11th Step That's Technically Not a Step: Market it
Another lens. Another time. Volumes have already been written on marketing. This website was in fact founded by THE marketing king, Seth Godin. In other places he talks about marketing books, mainly how he's successfully marketed his.
Novel writing books
The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition
Absolute must have. You must also try to read this yearly. It will take you the better part of an hour from front to cover. Excellent book.
Amazon Price: $9.95 (as of 12/05/2009)
Rules for Writers
Amazon Price: (as of 12/05/2009)
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
Amazon Price: $10.20 (as of 12/05/2009)
My Other Links
- Stones
- What happens if we don't do what we were born to do?
- Encouragement
- Everyone needs encouragement
- The Greatest Ambition
- The ambition that everyone has
- How to Proofread a Document
- Good proofreading can be an acquired skill in everybody's portfolio.
- Devotions ChopChop
- My daily devotional
Kurt Vonnegut's 8 Rules for Writing
2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
4. Every sentence must do one of two things - reveal character or advance the action.
5. Start as close to the end as possible.
6. Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them - in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.
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