How to write your first novel — My experience.
There’s no doubt that writing a story is a dream to many people, and I am lucky to be one of them. This year I have finished writing my first Sci-Fi and thriller novel The Juncture, and that took me nearly a year to do so. The experience wasn’t easy, but it was enjoyable. I came across obstacles and encountered many questions, but I learned a lot along the way and I have seen the fruits of my labour.
In this blog, I’m going to walk you through the things I learned, and the things you should do to make the best story you possibly can.
1. Chill, dude!
Believe in yourself. I know this will sound cliché, and you might’ve seen it everywhere across the internet when you’re about to do anything, but trust me, it really works! Really, that’s what it takes: patience and confidence, as they give you more reason to push it across the finish line.
2. Decide your plot’s idea
This is too obvious, yet it is really worth talking about. When you are writing a novel, the plot is the most important thing. Your story needs to have a compelling plot with a logical course of events. Many of you reading this blog probably have no idea what to write about, yet you want to make a rocking story that you’re proud of. If that’s the case, there are few things you can do to come up with a plot.
Get inspired by the things you see and love
I’m positive that you came across a lot of stories that inspired you, whether it was a movie, a book, a game or even a real-life story. If so, you can use that to generate ideas for your novel, by taking the things you love about those stories and make your own out of them. That said, this isn’t to say you should copy those works, but rather, take some concepts here and there, add your own characters and ideas and morph it into something completely new, something that defines you. In my case, my inspiration was a game called Metal Gear Solid, an anime called Steins;Gate, and Hollywood-style movies.
Keep it simple
I know how frustrating it is when you’re looking on a blank page, having no idea what your final result will look like, but there’s actually an easy solution for this problem, which is called simplicity. When you’re about to write something, you should avoid complications. Why? Because beginnings tend to be harder. Instead you can start with a simple premise, and when you feel like you’re getting into the flow, you can expand upon it. There’s a common acronym which I really like, I came across it when I was learning web development. The acronym is KISS (Keep it simple, stupid). Whenever you’re thinking about making your story, remember that, it’s really helpful.
Think about your goal
Ultimately, you have to think about what your novel wants to achieve, and I think the best way to do it is at the beginning. This will allow you to have a clear image of what you want your final result will look like. It will also allow you to structure your story the way you want it to be.
3. Determine your genre
I don’t mean to insult your intelligence, and I’m sorry if this sounds ridiculously obvious, but deciding your genre beforehand will save you a lot of effort you might encounter later. This will also help you with setting the theme and mood of your story, help you with structuring your story correctly, and help you to limit your writing for specific people, your target readership, which will later come into play with marketing your book.
4. Build the setting
The setting is a narrative that answers the following questions: When did the story happen? And where? Whether you decide to make your setting real or imaginary, there are some steps and tips I followed while I was building mine:
Answer the third and fourth W’s
Your first job is to answer the question “When and where?”, in this step you set the time and place of your plot, and relate them in a way that makes sense to affect the events and the characters. For inspiration, you can use the internet to research places (like google street-view), or you can read other literary works with settings close to what you want to do.
Set up the mood of Your story
The mood of your story plays a crucial part in building the setting, once you do it, it should be easier for you to deliver the feeling you want with your story.
A gloomy dark night in the middle of nowhere emits a different vibe than a rainy winter day in a beautiful, warm house.
Think about the context
After you decide the time, space, and mood of your story, you have to bring them all into context. You can do this by making your setting multi-dimensional thus focusing on the details, like demographics, beliefs, social issues, etc. In other words you have to bring your setting to life and make it relevant to your plot.
5. Pick your POV
Choosing the point of view of your story can be tricky sometimes, and the reason is that it’s tied to multiple factors, which can make the experience that you provide the reader with either exceptional or annoying.
The POV, by definition, is the perspective of which the narrator is telling the story. And fortunately, you have multiple choices to pick from, for instance:
First person
In first person, everything we experience comes from the character’s “eyes” and perspective. Personally, I enjoy reading in this POV, because it allows us to access the character’s thoughts and feelings all the time, and also creates some sort of attachment to the character. The pronoun used in this POV is usually “I”.
Second person
This is when the writer is trying to drag the reader into his story, and make him feel like he is part of the events. This one is uncommon in writing novels and is pretty hard to execute. However, it creates an exceptional and outstanding reading experience if done correctly. The pronoun used in this POV is “You”.
Third person limited
In third person limited, the author reveals the main character’s thoughts, feelings and motives exclusively. In this case, the reader is limited to the character’s viewpoint. The pronouns used in this POV are “He/She” and “They”.
Third person omniscient
It’s when the author has a complete control over everything related to the story, in this case, the reader is exposed to all the details that occur in the narrative’s universe. The pronouns used are the same as the third person limited.
So, I did my best to summarise POV, but there’s a lot to learn about them. I suggest you do more research before you choose what to include in your story, because this is one of the deciding factors between a good reading experience and a bad one.
Before we wrap up the POV thing, the tips I could give you is to look up that will help you narrow your choices is to see common POVs in your genre, and think about your readership, I also recommend you play around with different POVs, to choose the ones you’re comfortable with.
6. Plotter, Pantser, Plantser
There are three types of writers, and you need to figure out your type.
Plotter
This is the disciplined kind of writer, the one that likes to outline every single detail before writing their novels, planning is their top priority.
Pantser
The pantser is that one writer that likes to fly by the seat of their pants. They don’t like to spend their time reading about different methods and structures. Instead, they like to write without any outline. This type refuses to be restricted and values freedom.
Plantser
A hybrid, this type outlines only the big moments, and they leave the rest to their flow.
After you figure out which one you are, it’s time to learn about narrative structure.
7. Structure your plot
Let’s talk about story structure. Before we delve into it, there are plenty of structures, and each one of them is used depending on the the story. Although there is that one structure that’s really simple and helpful, which every fiction writer needs to know. It’s German novelist Gustav Freytag’s pyramid of dramatic plot structure.
Introduction/exposition
This is where your job is to shed the light on your characters, setting, and the overall conflict. In this part you give you reader a sense of awareness of where your story is going, and the challenges your character is going to go through.
The rising action
Now you need to introduce your main conflict and how the character is going through the challenges and obstacles in his way. In this part, the reader develops excitement as tensity gets higher.
The climax/turning point
Usually occurring in the middle of the story, this part sets the flow of the story in another stream. All parts of your story are equally important, but you would do to better give this part deep attention, as it drives the curiosity and excitement of the reader.
The falling action
In this phase, the conflict starts to get resolved and the tension starts to dissipate. Here, you set the fate of the protagonist, whether he reaches his motives or he fails. At this point, you should start thinking of an ending to your story, as I believe this part is the most sensitive, and your job as the author is to tie all the loose ends and fix any possible plot hole. This phase indicates the climax’s ending.
Resolution/Denouement
Often called the conclusion, this part is where I congratulate you for finishing your story. After you solve the challenges of your story, you have to decide how to conclude it, whether it ends happily, badly, or is left as an open ending. Whatever you do, the ending should be satisfying, and make sure not to make the reader feel like he wasted his time reading your story.
That was all about Freytag’s story structure, but there are more structures, namely: Three-Act Structure, The Hero’s Journey Archetype, and The Snowflake Method. Make sure to do more research and decide which one is most suitable for your story.
8. Unleash your reader’s imagination
When you’re writing your first novel and you want people to like it, you have to make it really enjoyable, because you are competing with other forms of entertainment like gaming, TV, movies, and even social media. So, to get your reader really invested in your book, you have to create a unique experience, and you have to get him into your mind. But the question is, how do you do that?
I believe the only way to do that is to create and describe the events of your story in a way that absorbs your reader into them, something that makes him feel like he is part of the story. To do that, you have to make him unleash his imagination, and be aware of the challenges laid in front of him. By doing this, you will create an exceptional experience and your reader will love it.
9. Be an Outlaw
Woah, there! Hold on, the meaning is not exactly what you think. I’m not saying you should break all writing rules, I’m only saying that you shouldn’t follow them blindly. Add your creative touch, be unique, and feel free to experiment. I had to break some rules to make my own novel, and I think that’s totally fine, but you should know which rules to break. At the end of the day, your story should be compelling and your novel should be free of grammatical mistakes.
Final Words
These were some rules and tips I learned and followed while I was writing my first novel. However, keep in mind that they’re not bulletproof, and you’ll encounter some (maybe a lot of) setbacks along the way, but that’s why writing is as fun as it is.
Following these guidelines, I was able to write my first novel, whose summary is written below:
Blinded by glory, American scientist Dr Scott steals his supervising professor’s research to develop the means to travel through time and have his name engraved in history alongside the world’s greatest scientists. Soon, his project is completed, but there is no time to celebrate. His actions trigger a series of events that ends with him fleeing his home after being hunted by an army of genetically modified soldiers, only to be rescued by a group of mysterious people who claim to be from the year 2047. Consumed by guilt, Dr Scott is taken back where it all began, 1988 Moscow, on a one-shot mission to undo his crimes and prevent a dystopian future.
Happy writing!
