How does one start writing a novel?

[Jeanettex3]

Hi, im not sure where to post this.. hopefully this is in the right place. But my question is, can anyone give me some advice on how to start a novel/book? At first i was using the "snow flake method" but then i came across a thread on this site about how some didn't use it. So i was wondering what did any of you use to first start out writing? Any advice? Any help would be very aappreciated.

Jeanette.

[Clair Dickson]

Remember, just because 'some' people don't use method a, q, or x, doesn't meant that YOU should or should not use that method.

Pick what works for you and that's ALLLLLL that matters. Some people outline, some just jump in. Some people even eat coconut. Find what works for YOU. That's the key to being a writer.

I ususally think of a situation (a what if), then think through some ideas for the end. Come up with a few characters, then muse over how to start the story with something that's going to grab the reader by the shirt collar and drag them in, slamming the door behind. Once I get that first line or scene, I push, poke, prode, and otherwise coerce the words from my fingers, one sentence at a time.

[blacbird]

The . . .

caw

[CheshireCat]

What Clair said.

Figure out what works for you. And do yourself a favor; don't jump on every "fad" idea or theory on how to write a book.

Read a lot. Then write a lot.

Repeat.

:)

It's really the only way to find your path.

[CheshireCat]

The . . .

caw

He ...

She ...

It ... was a dark and stormy night. :D

[blacbird]

He ...

She ...

It ... was a dark and stormy night. :D


No. Not Option 3. Please.

caw

[maestrowork]

Yup, type the first word. Then the second. Then the third...


Seriously, there's no one method. Some people write by the seat of their pants. And some outline. Some use the Snowflake method; many don't. Some start with a bunch of characters and throw them into a situation. Some determine what the story is about and go from there. And plot out the whole thing first, and some just start with the inciting incident and go from there.

It's like asking: "How do I start painting a picture?"


Well, you paint the first stroke. Then you paint the second. Then the third....

[blacbird]

It's like asking: "How do I start painting a picture?"

Well, you paint the first stroke. Then you paint the second. Then the third....

Or baseball. First you swing and miss the first pitch. Then you swing and miss the second. Then you swing and miss the third. Then you go sit down.

caw

[maestrowork]

Or sex. Then again, maybe not.

[Chrisla]

I'm in the dark. What's the snowflake method?

[maestrowork]

http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/art/snowflake.php

[Williebee]

I usually start with "What if?" and the do "What happens next?"

[Birol]

I find, not just with my fiction but also my non-fiction, that I start before what I want to say. Basically, I show the reader how things reached the point where the story begins.

This may or may not get edited out later, but it helps me ease into the beginning. It gives me a running start so I don't have to stress about what to say in the first line or paragraph. For example, on my thesis, I started with the idea that served as a catalyst for the actual thesis. I do the same thing with fiction, starting with what serves as a trigger for the true opening action.

As I said, it can be cut later, in edits.

[Appalachian Writer]

Chapter 1

[HConn]

Do you have a character with a problem that won't be easily resolved? Is that problem different from all the problems you've seen in the novels you read? Have you chosen a setting that will be interesting in its own right? Is that main character an interesting and unusual person?

Put that character into that situation and make them work like hell to solve it. Keep this up for 60,000 (more or less) words. Then let the character see how to solve the problem and spend the last several thousand overcoming all the obstacles that stand in their way.

That's one way, at least. There are as many others as there are books. Be interesting.

Good luck.

[RLB]

http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/art/snowflake.php

He needs to rethink that moustache.

But seriously, I guess I can't call myself an "advanced fiction writer" since that looks like the hugest headache I've ever seen. The diagram alone frightened me. And he recommends trying to sell the book before it's actually written, which is not the norm in fiction, for an unpublished author at least. I'm sure it works for him and others, but it wouldn't be my cuppa.

To answer the OP, I start with a premise, a "what if" question, and then figure out who my characters are and what they're going to do. Personally, I like a rough outline, though I recognize it will change drastically as the story progresses. But I suspect you'll get as many answers as there are writers. So my advice is to just sit down and write. You'll probably wind up with pages of crap - I do - but you might just find the glimmer of your story or your first sentence or your protagonist buried in there as well.

Good luck.

[blacbird]

Or sex. Then again, maybe not.

First you swing . . . no, let's not go there.

caw

[Manderley]

I've used the snowflake method, I've used the 'it's just a phase' method, I've used the 'rough outline' method, I've used the 'idea percolating in head for several months' method - and although they all have different way of getting you there, they all achieve the same: They give you a clearer idea of what the book is supposed to be about and who's populating it. But that's also all they do. This is all just prep work for the real deal: putting words on paper.

Here's the thing: you don't need any methods. What you need, is a premise for a story, a conflict, and a fairly good idea of who your main character is (but you don't really need to do the character charts unless you like those kind of things - it's more important to understand the essence of your character than what her favourite childhood food was). And then you need to sit down and write.

And that's really all there is.

[seun]

It's like asking how you ride a bike. Only with more words.

[flyingtart]

It's like asking how you ride a bike. Only with more words.

I've never written a novel on a bike. I suspect it may be dangerous...:tongue

[IdiotsRUs]

I've never written a novel on a bike. I suspect it may be dangerous...:tongue

Tape recorder. ;)

My first novel - I just wrote and used the words that fell out of my head. This time I'm trying to be organised. Which has only resulted in reams of little notes all over my desk. As everyone else has said - find what works for you. And then just start banging those words out.

[JJ Cooper]

Hi, im not sure where to post this.. hopefully this is in the right place. But my question is, can anyone give me some advice on how to start a novel/book? At first i was using the "snow flake method" but then i came across a thread on this site about how some didn't use it. So i was wondering what did any of you use to first start out writing? Any advice? Any help would be very aappreciated.

Jeanette.

With conflict. And a great hook.

JJ

[chevbrock]

Just as an example, I will explain the process of how I came to this outline. I haven't started writing this one yet, it's still in the outline process.

Inspiration: A club day for my FIL's vintage speedcar association. They all got to get their toys out and drive them around a trotting track all afternoon. Driving home, it made me think about how popular speedway was, how cool it was back then, how it's kinda becoming cool again now.

I like to keep my settings local. That was easy - there was a speedway a few towns away that is now a housing development.

Speedway was very popular with young people in the 60's, making it a perfect subject for my genre, YA. But I still like to write for the present. How to do that?

I know, make it so that a girl in this day finds out she's pregnant. She goes to her grandmother's and, through circumstances I haven't quite nutted out yet, finds out that her grandmother went through the same thing when she was her age - grandmother falls for a speedway motorcycle rider, he gets her pregnant then goes and dies on the track before she can tell him.

Then I thought about how this could open all sorts of worms, in that the girl's mother doesn't know that the man gran married is not her biological father. How to do that? I thought maybe some genetic thing that the girl may need to watch out for. I'm still working on that.

So, the details are sketchy, but I have the basic bones of a story there. I've only just recently started writing chapter outlines, which seem to help me see if there's a story with substance.

I know some people swear by the snowflake method but frankly it looks very confusing, and too much work for me! :)

[roncouch]

Start with an idea that interests you - something you need to say - be enthusiastic. You will know when it's right. That's my take, anyway.

[HeronW]

15ish years ago I had a wet cold marvelous afternoon, despite a massive migraine, being a character in a live action role play. That choreographed plot led to me writing a story about it, then adding my friends characters, then switching to another online RP and making up more characters and having adventures beyond that.

I'm into the 4th book, editing the 1st and will do the same for 2 & 3 and have only my original characters and situations in the series.

It all started with 'what if there's this woman with scales on her left side' then there's how that happened, her family, her upbringing, her friends, her enemies, her loves and hates, what's happening in the larger world, what ties things together, and on and on.

Everyone has a past, a present and a future. No matter the genre here's always more to write about the person, the climate, culture, the civilization, the cuisine. Stories end at some point but the characters have children, friends, enemies, their actions set another plot going.

So you write, and rewrite, and carry a small notebook with you for ideas, and have one in the toilet, in the living room, by the bed, in the car, because ideas are and do come from everywhere.

[Telstar]

http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/art/snowflake.php

It's the first time i hear about this method and I'm reading his page.
Some good advice... but like other people said, whatever works for you.

[tehuti88]

Well, there are kind of two issues here:

1. How does one come up with ideas to start a novel?

versus

2. How does one start a novel if they already have the ideas?

The answer might be different depending on which case it is. If you have no ideas for a novel, there are lots of ways to garner them, and I was going to rattle some off like the others here have been doing.

On the other hand, if you already know what you want your novel to be about, but you're not sure how to start it, that's a whole other thing. You can still use the same methods but they'll need to be focused more on what you already have, as opposed to just coming up with ideas from thin air.

So...not knowing which case it is, I guess I haven't any clear suggestions. :/

[J C Coy]

I usually start with "What if?" and the do "What happens next?"
This works for me.

[Jeanettex3]

Thank you all for your advice.:)

[Gillhoughly]

Check out Jim Butcher's blog on writing.

http://jimbutcher.livejournal.com/

He's been on the NYT best-seller list. I've worked with him. He's freaking amazing, very fun, and more user-friendly than that snowflake thing.

Is that where slush piles come from...???

[Wolvel]

Step one....press ink pen to paper.

Step two....write the first word then another and so on.

Step three..read it to see if it makes sense then continue.

[FOTSGreg]

You can either dive into your idea and start writing whatever comes to you and and forge ahead with that idea until you're done and then go back and rewrite OR you can start with an outline (something you're going to have to learn to do anyway).

An outline is a brief description of what happens in each of your scenes or chapters. It's also the organization template in which you will organize the ideas and things that happen in your book. A brief outline can be expanded from the rough idea to include scene skteches, character descriptions, and more as you go along. It can be nywhere from a few hundred to tens of thousands of words in length. The outline is essentially your story's "bible". It's not rigid and you can divert from your outline if you need to, but the idea and purpose of the outline is to assist you (and your editor) in helping you complete your book and show where it's going. It's like a blueprint for the book's construction.

I don't always outline, but I always have a plan for where my books and stories are going (often in handwritten notes in a couple of notebooks) that helps keep me organized and also helps me keep my facts straight.

Either way, once you've completed your book, you still have to go back and rewrite the entire thing, usually half a dozen times or more and then rewrite it again for your editor if and when it gets accepted somewhere.

[Juliette Wade]

I'd say just start - without worrying about whether the opening, or anything else really, is perfect, but concentrating on the story, following the characters that you care about. Once the initial story lets you go, you can adjust the opening, deepen everywhere, etc. Your story instinct will give you hints for where you can explore personal history, culture, backstory of all kinds. First should come the part that grabs you by the heart as a writer and doesn't let you go until you're done. How else could all that work be worth the trouble? :)

[Oberon]

For me writing a novel is an adventure. I don't know what I'm going to discover along the way. I started: "The day after her eighteenth birthday Sally Herring ran away from home." I had no idea where that came from. It led to a lot of questions. Why? Who is she? What's she going to do? Working on those questions I began to understand Sally, and I discovered, where I needed it, she had an alternate personality, which led to more questions, and I began to understand where she was going, what difficulties and tragedies she would experience. I had to edit as I worked out elements of her story so what I had written would conform to my new perceptions and intentions.

I started one with a title: "The Tail of the Tale," just for fun, and decided first person just for fun. I wrote the whole thing and finally admitted it was a mistake, but I had an outline for a story, so I rewrote, using what I had discovered along the way. It may not work for you, everybody is different.

[Marathonodromos]

Create a strong scene in your head and type it down.

[dawinsor]

I'm using note cards for the one I'm plotting at the moment. Here's a good description of that method:

http://www.lisagardner.com/tricks/article_pdfs/plotting.pdf

I took a workshop with Walter Jon Williams last summer and he says he thinks up three big scenes and plots to those or the ending.

[Dale Emery]

I prefer to know at least a little bit about:

The main characters
The key novel-sized conflict
The inciting incident that will set the conflict into motion
The status quo (for the main characters, for the world around them) that exists just before the inciting incident happensI'm pretty sure I would also like to know the general shape of the ending. Unfortunately, I've never known the ending even when I stop writing--much less when I start writing.

Dale

[maestrowork]

And read Uncle Jim's thread.

[Dale Emery]

And read Uncle Jim's thread.

I've dipped into that thread several times at several starting points, and I have a hard time finding the writing advice among all of the general chit-chat.

Dale

[JVaughn]

Which is why you use the Index to the Learn Writing with Uncle Jim Thread to pinpoint the most useful advice. Or indeed the Writing Novels FAQ, Archives and Helpful Links thread.

[zornhau]

Start with a conflict.

[cacoethesfreelance]

i am an organizing freak, so i find that after an idea hits (which can come from anywhere) i like to try to outline what should happen in each chapter. then i take it one chapter at a time. it helps me to set small goals for writing and actually getting it done.

[blacbird]

Start with a conflict.

A little more specificity: Start with a scene. Characters engaging in interaction. One of them really really really pissed off at one or more of the others.

caw

[loquax]

Write a short story. Write half a dozen. It's all about getting that sense of achievement for having written a story, not a novel. Writing a novel has one of the longest work-to-reward times.... except maybe being an engineer at the Large Hadron Collider.

[dgiharris]

The one thing everyone seems to have forgot to mention is 'the love of writing'.

Writing is a labor of love. It has to burn within you. Whether it starts off small and you feed the flames until it is a raging forest fire, or you were born with a sun blazing in your chest. You have to love writing. And you have to write.

It is hard. It is thankless. It is hard. And did I mention that it is hard???

But in the end, it comes down to an artist's love for his or her art. Independant of whether the art becomes a best seller, or appears in a free online mag. You must love writing. If you don't, you won't last.

If you don't, but you want to. Then start writing. Write everyday until you trick yourself into thinking that you love it. Trick yourself long enough, and one day you will wake up to discover that you do, indeed, love writing. For without that love, the odds are very much against you.

In my humble opinion IMHO

Mel....

[selkn.asrai]

When working on Marathon Man, Dustin Hoffman stayed up for three days and three nights to prepare for shooting, because his character was awake for three straight days. When he told the great Olivier this, he said, "Oh, dear boy, why don't you just try acting?"

There hasn't been a time that this philosophy didn't help me write, beginning, middle or end. So, why don't you just try writing?

:)

[MelancholyMan]

Hi, im not sure where to post this.. hopefully this is in the right place. But my question is, can anyone give me some advice on how to start a novel/book? At first i was using the "snow flake method" but then i came across a thread on this site about how some didn't use it. So i was wondering what did any of you use to first start out writing? Any advice? Any help would be very aappreciated.

Jeanette.

For God's sake Jeanette, don't start! Do yourself a favor and find a different hobby. Base jumping. Or maybe skydiving. Underwater salvage. Sword swallowing. Don't do it!!!

[KWHolland]

Starting is easy -- it's finishing that's hard! :D