How to write a Novel?

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   FirstTimeV2posted 8 years ago

   
   At first, I thought of writing a novel is a piece of cake, but when I actually started to do it, I encounter a lots of problem and ended as a failure. Now I want to make a come back and try it one more time, that's why I write this discussion to get some Idea, information and guidelines on how to write a good novel. 
   
   The question is? Are you willing to share your thoughts and help a stranger to solve his problem?

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      TessSchlesingerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

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         Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         The only thing I'd say about that is that it is - as I'm sure you know - only the beginning of the process.  Once the story is down on paper, that's when the real work of editing and polishing starts!   
         
         I think that's especially true for inexperienced writers. I've been critique partners with a few newbies, and those who claim their writing "just flows" often don't have lovely prose - they have verbal diarrhea.  I'm the opposite - I tend to overthink and over-edit as I'm writing, which make for very slow progress and sometimes, a stilted result. 
         
         The bottom line is that we are the worst judges of our own writing, and learning to accept and learn from critique partners and editors is the most important lesson you can learn as a writer IMO.

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            TessSchlesingerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

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               Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

               I'm just saying that when talking to writers without your many years of experience, it's important to remember that your ability now is at a much higher level than when you started out.
               
               I don't have anywhere near your experience in writing books, in fact I have yet to finish my first novel.  Where I'm at right now, I know I'm a bad judge of my own writing.  And that's the case for most writers IMO, until they have a LOT of experience under their belt.
               
               CritiqueCircle has really highlighted that for me - a month ago I picked up a novel I wrote several years ago and I thought, "hey, this is good, I'm going to finish and publish it".   After posting the first 5 chapters on CC, I was soon disabused of that notion - they got picked to pieces.  However, the criticism was constructive and you know what?  They were absolutely right.   I've now plugged the plot holes they noticed, and addressed other shortcomings, and I think the story is vastly improved as a result. 
               
               https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/im-good- … -pottinger
               
               I think this article is great advice for brand new writers:
               
               http://www.justwriteabook.com/blog/writ … ditor-yet/

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         FirstTimeV2posted 8 years agoin reply to this

         I envy your writing ability, Maybe If my english can compare at least half, I can write a good one and After reading your comments and ideas, I realize how poor and badly my english. Now I'm sure for myself, I have a very long way to catch up.

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   Marisa Wrightposted 8 years ago

   Join CritiqueCircle.com. 
   
   I have a novel which has been sitting in my virtual bottom drawer (i.e. in a file on my PC) for far too long.  I'm finding CritiqueCircle is giving me the tools and the motivation to get it up to standard and to finish it.

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   FirstTimeV2posted 8 years ago

   The site looks helpful for me, Thanks for sharing.

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   psycheskinnerposted 8 years ago

   There are a lot of different factors that can stop people from finishing a novel.  For me it is important to have a basic plot, and especially the ending, worked out in advance.  But I know other people can just make it up as they go.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I'm in that category.   I once followed the advice on a writing site, and sat down and wrote a plot outline for a novel.  Once I'd worked out what the ending was going to be, I lost interest in writing the story.  I still haven't written it!

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         psycheskinnerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Yes, many of my writer acquaintances said the same thing.  Whatever advice one writer might give, another will have had the opposite experience.  Basically it comes down to each of us working out how to get the job done.  I have written several books now and each one had its own set of obstacles.  Persistence is key.

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            FirstTimeV2posted 8 years agoin reply to this

            I agree, Persistence is the most very important thing to all writers.

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      FirstTimeV2posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      First, I want to thank you for sharing your idea. Second, You're right, Plot is important it may bring the whole story, and keep on writing like you can foresee the future.

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   Paxashposted 8 years ago

   I've been struggling to write a first novel for years. For me, it's a matter of putting in the time and being persistent in hammering it out. For others, it might be different.
   
   I find writing advice generally isn't very helpful since it tends to boil down to "it's different for everyone," but I do quite like the advice Chuck Wendig gives out on a lot of his blog entries at terribleminds.com. So that may or may not be worth checking out in your case.

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      FirstTimeV2posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      There's a lot of sense to your comment, It may be hard for the others to compare their work, because they have different aspects on writing. I'll give a try and look for this Chuck Wendid  blog. Thanks for sharing your idea.

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