Things You'll Need:
- Your plotting notebook
- Your worldbuilding notebook
- A word processor or computer
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Step 1
It has been a month. You didn't even glance at the file or notebook where you wrote your outline. You then spent a week updating it and fixing problems that you couldn't see at first because your eyes weren't fresh. You now have a solid, happy outline to follow. You are awesome!
It is time to begin.
There are some rules that you must follow.
1. Let the story tell itself. Don't force the words or world.
You are going along and your character enters a room. You see, in your mind, a lovely picture of a naked man sitting on a dragon hanging on the wall. Go with it, and have her stare at it or have another character tell her about it. Little things like this can bring life to a dead story.
2. Remain true to your characters.
If you have a character that has never held a sword, then don't let him grab one and fight off a dragon with expert swordsmanship. If you have a character that has spent years perfecting her archery, then make sure her fingers are calloused. If you have a character that is shy and barely does anything but whisper, don't put them on a stage to sing the national anthem.
3. If the story wants to take a sharp right, go with it.
Your outline is not set on stone. If you are going along and your story needs to take a sharp right, and you DON'T have to go back and change anything, then go with it. Your story knows what it needs to be the best it can be. Always come back to your outline when you can. Don't start out writing a fantasy but end up writing a western.
4. Don't let anything keep you from writing.
Theme, character motivation, markets, editing, proper grammar, punctuation, what font to use; this is stuff to worry about in the edit phase. IGNORE it for now and just write the story.
5. Write only for you.
Don't spend hours looking at markets, letting others read it and then changing the story for them. Write the story you want to write and have fun doing it. If you want to have friend read it, let them read a scene but not the whole thing. Don't change a damn thing, other than misspelled words, or if you have the wrong name for a character. Don't change any of the content of the story. This first draft is for you.
6. Make writing a habit.
Spend time on the story every single day, without fail. If you have your brothers wedding on Sunday, spend a few minutes jotting down the scene where your MC talks to the doctor while waiting for the bride to come down the aisle. Always keep your notebook with you. You can go -
Step 2
Editing
DON'T. Period. Do not edit while you are writing. You will get caught up in rewriting and spend months writing the same scene over and over and over and over. Been here, done this, still don't have the t shirt cause I kept re doing the hem line.
When you set down to write for the day, reread what you wrote yesterday so that you can get an idea of where the story is, what beat you are on for the rhythm and then get back to writing. You can correct spelling or punctuation, but don't spend more than 10 minutes on this. Set a timer if need be. Your goal is THE END right now.
Keep your notebook handy to make notes on. If you decide that Jasmine should have black hair instead of red then jot it down and fix it in the editing phase. -
Step 3
Writing
I will say this again; WRITE EVERY DAY! You don't have the time? Well what are you doing now? Stop reading this and get to writing. Check your email once a day instead of 5 times a day. Look at your blog once a day instead of three times. Stop surfing for articles on how to write. Start writing. This is, by far, the hardest part of writing a novel. The writing the novel part. It is not easy, it is not always fun, but to get to THE END, you have to write the story.
Find a place where you are comfortable writing. Is it on your bed, in your den, at the kitchen table, on the couch with the kids playing around you? Do you need silence or noise? Do you prefer to work at a window or in a darkened room by candle light? Find your place and write there. Keep your coffee or chips handy and get to work. Make this a time that is a treat for you. Make it where you look forward to it every day.
Keep your notebooks handy. You don't need a dictionary, world maps, books on dresses from the 17th century, or the skeletal diagrams of horses. You need you, your notes and your computer or word processor. -
Step 4
Goals
Set goals for yourself, and keep the easy. It is very easy to make goals that you just cannot meet. So, make ones that you are going to meet easily, everyday.
Goals for my writing...
1. Open the file for my book everyday. (Okay I have done this for 3 weeks. I even wrote a bit each day.)
2. Write at least 10 words a day. (Great, I got an average of 20 words written everyday for 3 weeks, on Saturday I got 300 written. Go Me!)
3. Write at least 50 words everyday. (Wow, I got about about 163 words everyday for the last 3 weeks. I am awesome!)
4. Write at least 125 words a day. (Okay this was tough. I barely managed to sit down everyday, well okay I did write once in the last three weeks.)
5. Open file for my book everyday. (Okay I am back on track and got about 2K done in the last three weeks.)
See where I am going with this? Your goals need to change as you change. I used 3 weeks because that is the number I hit. I suggest do it on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.
Once your writing is a habit, and it may never become a habit, you can up the anti on your goals.
1. Write 1K a day for two weeks, then 2K a day for one week and back to 1K. (This will give you a break)
2. Write 1K a day Monday - Friday and 3K a day on the weekend.
3. Write 25K a month.
If you notice, I never gave myself a date to be done with the book. This is your first book, you don't have a deadline. But, if you want to set one because you work best that way, then give yourself plenty of time to finish the story.
If you are writing a 60K novel, five yourself 120days, or four months to finish it. that is only 500 words a day. The is a lot if you are just starting out, but enough to keep you motivated.
Comments
deelynn said
on 2/5/2008 It seems that Section 1 is incomplete. It ends in the middle of a sentence. I would love to have the rest of the article available. Thanks.