Welcome to the ultimate guide on how to write a novel your readers will love!
Maybe you’ve already written part of a novel, based on an idea that sounded so good it kept you up at night — or made it impossible to focus on anything else.
But then you hit a wall and couldn’t find your way forward.
Coming up with story ideas is easy enough, but turning those ideas into books that earn you raving fans is not.
It’s not enough to know how to be a good writer, though that’s an important part of it.
You need to know how to turn a story idea into something your ideal readers want to read — with all the elements they’ve come to expect from your book’s genre, plus something they wanted but didn’t expect.
The best way to do this is to follow a general step-by-step plan for writing a novel, from the first rough sketch of your story’s idea to its basic outline to a complete first draft, one chapter or scene at a time.
Before we begin, let’s be clear about what a novel is and whether you should write one.
- What Is A Novel?
- How To Write A Novel
- Novel Writing Tips
- 1. Read more fiction than you write.
- 2. Keep a notebook handy, and jot down stories that interest you.
- 3. Draw inspiration for character details from real people.
- 4. Find something good in your villain and something dark in your hero.
- 5. If you’re not sure which POV to use, try more than one.
- 6. Infuse your story with universal themes.
- 7. Give your characters an arc.
- 8. Let your readers use their imaginations with your story’s descriptions.
- 9. Make sure your story’s setting is vivid and believable.
- 10. Show your character’s personalities through their actions and dialogue.