How to Write a Novel

Creating a Fictional World

Seek out sources of inspiration for your novel. Writing a novel is a creative process, and you never know when a good idea might come to you. Carry around a notebook and a pen—or the digital equivalent—so you can jot down ideas wherever you go. Scribble down sentences, fragments, single words, or even doodles that will become part of a more complete story. Don't simply wait for inspiration to come to you, however. Seek out examples of exceptional creativity to help spark your own. Your inspiration doesn't necessarily have to be a book—it can be a TV show, a movie, or even traveling to an exhibition or art gallery. Inspiration comes in infinite forms! Think of something from your own life that has inspired, troubled, or intrigued you—how can you explore this topic more fully in a novel?

Put some thought into your preferred genre. Not every novel fits neatly into a certain category, but it's helpful to think about your intended genre. Read key books to get a good understanding of how to construct a novel within your preferred genre. If you haven't decided on one genre or are working in more than one, that’s no problem—read widely and create your own genre if you must! Commercial novels are divided into many genres, including science fiction, mystery, thriller, fantasy, romance, and historical fiction, among others. Many novels in these genres follow broad formulas and are written in long series. Whatever genre you like or choose to focus on, read as many novels as possible within that genre. This will give you a better sense of the tradition you'll be working in—and how you can add to or challenge that tradition.

Envision your target audience as well. While you shouldn’t make blanket assumptions about who will and won’t read your novel, put some thought into the most likely readership for your work. That way, you can keep this target audience in mind as you plan, draft, and revise your work. Your likely audience usually depends on the genre for your novel. Think about popular novels within your chosen genre and who they seem to be targeted toward. You don’t have to aim for exactly the same target, but at least keep this readership in mind. For instance, maybe your chosen genre of fantasy novel tends to attract readers in their teens and early twenties, or your romance genre tends to attract readers in their forties and fifties. But always remember that these aren’t hard and fast rules for readership!

Develop an expansive, captivating setting for your novel. The setting for your novel goes beyond the particular city where your characters will dwell; you've got an entire universe to dream up! The setting you create will determine the mood and tone of your novel, and will affect the problems your characters will face. Think about these questions as you sketch out the parameters of the new world you're creating: Will it be loosely based on places that are familiar to you in real life? Will it be set in the present, or in some other time? Will it take place on Earth, or somewhere imaginary? Will it be centered in one city or neighborhood, or expanded to a range of locations? What kind of society does it take place in? Will it take place over the course of a month, a year, or decades?

Create memorable characters to populate your world. In most novels the most important character is the protagonist, so flesh them out with recognizable personality traits and thought patterns. Protagonists don't necessarily have to be likable, but they are usually relatable in some way so that readers stay interested in the story. There can also be more than one protagonist. If you have a primary antagonist to counter and conflict with your protagonist, they need to be three dimensional and relatable, even if they’re acting as the “bad guy” in your story. Secondary characters may not need to be fleshed out so fully, but they still need to be humanized to some degree. Envision each character fully, even if you don’t end up utilizing them in great detail. Many novelists describe thinking of their characters as real people, asking themselves what the characters would do in a given situation and doing their best to stay "true" to the characters. Spend time creating profiles for your characters so you can really flesh out what their personalities are like. EXPERT TIP Melessa Sargent Melessa Sargent Professional Writer Melessa Sargent is the President of Scriptwriters Network, a non-profit organization that brings in entertainment professionals to teach the art and business of script writing for TV, features and new media. The Network serves its members by providing educational programming, developing access and opportunity through alliances with industry professionals, and furthering the cause and quality of writing in the entertainment industry. Under Melessa's leadership, SWN has won numbers awards including the Los Angeles Award from 2014 through 2021, and the Innovation & Excellence award in 2020. Melessa Sargent Melessa Sargent Professional Writer Put a twist on everything you write. Melessa Sargent, the President and CEO of Scriptwriters Network, says: “Make all your characters different — don’t do the same thing as others. If you’re writing a doctor, make him unique like House, or Doogie Howser who was different because he was young. Ask yourself why we would want to read about or watch your doctor.”

Do research before and during your writing process. The amount of research you need to do will depend on the novel you write. Research for a historical fiction set during the Revolutionary War, for example, may be more copious than that for a young adult novel inspired by your own experiences. In any case, do enough research to make sure that your novel feels believable, no matter the subject matter. Even if you’re writing a futuristic sci-fi novel or a fantasy epic, use scientific and/or historical research to give your created world a realistic grounding. Writing fiction rather than nonfiction does not make you immune from plagiarism. If you’re drawing from other sources, make sure to identify them through citations or acknowledgments. As with other types of planning, walk the fine line between skimping on your research and letting it block your path to actually writing. Trust your instincts.

Visualize the broad outlines of your novel’s plot. A novel with good characters but a lousy plot will not resonate with most readers. A common theme in designing a plot is to create conflict. Tension builds until the problem comes to a climax, and then it's resolved in some way. This doesn't mean novels always have happy endings, though! One traditional plot approach is to have rising action (building the details and tension in the story), a conflict (the main crisis of the novel), and a resolution (the final outcome of the crisis)—but this is not the only way to do it. Your novel doesn't have to neatly "resolve" the conflict. It's okay to leave some loose ends undone—if your readers like your novel, they'll be more than happy to tie up those loose ends themselves (speculation, fan fiction, discussion, and the like).

Figure out the narrative perspective(s) you’ll employ. Novels are typically written in the third person (from an outside perspective observing the characters) or the first person (the “I” voice from the perspective of a character). That said, they can also be written in the second person (which addresses the reader as “you”), or in a combination of multiple perspectives. You don't have to decide on the perspective of the novel before you write the first sentence. In fact, you may write the first chapter—or even the entire draft of the novel—before you have a better idea of whether it sounds better in the first person or the third. There's no hard and fast rule about which point of view works best for particular types of novels. But, if you're writing a panoramic novel with a gaggle of characters, the third person can help you manage all of those characters.

Drafting Your Novel

Set up a writing routine that works for you. To complete your first draft, you'll need to find a time and place that is conducive to your writing goals. You can write at the same time every morning or evening, write in short bursts throughout the day, or write in long bouts three days a week. Don’t wait to write only when you feel spurts of inspiration. Instead, treat writing like the real work it is and stick to a regular routine. Try scheduling a specific writing time into your daily calendar. Even if you don’t really feel like writing then, or just can’t get the words to come out, sit down during your scheduled time and work at it. Create a writing space to help you get into a routine. Find a cozy place where you can focus. Invest in a chair that won't cause back pain after a couple of hours of sitting and writing. You’ll be spending a lot of time in this place, so make it comfy and functional!

Start writing immediately if you’re not the planning type. Though it's great to start with a genre, plot, characters, and setting in mind, don’t let yourself get too bogged down with all the details. Some writers thrive when they just start writing, without much of a plan to guide them. Follow the path that suits your style and your creativity. For many writers, planning ahead makes the writing process go more quickly and smoothly. For others, though, planning can become a barrier that gets in the way of actually writing. Trust your own instincts on what works best for you. Even if you are a planner, don’t get obsessed over every last detail as you set up your novel. If you're too preoccupied with details before even writing your first draft, you may be stifling your own creativity.

Make an outline if you want to map out your novel. Creating an outline can be a good way to map out your ideas and give you small goals to accomplish as you work toward the larger goal of writing an entire book. But, if you write better “from the hip” and without all the details in place, just let yourself get inspired and write whatever feels right. Your outline does not have to be linear. You could do a quick sketch of each character's arc, or make a Venn diagram showing how different characters' stories will overlap. Your outline is a guide, not a contract. The point is simply to jump-start the writing process with a visual representation of where the story might go. It will certainly change as you begin the writing process. Keep updating or recreating your outline throughout the process. Sometimes an outline can actually be more helpful after you've completed a draft or two of your novel.

Use descriptive writing to draw readers into your world. Descriptive paragraphs or scenes help your audience envision the key characters and settings in your novel. The trick is to provide enough descriptive detail to spark the reader’s imagination, rather than force-feeding them loads of excessive details. As with most aspects of writing, practice makes perfect! Practice writing descriptive paragraphs that introduce each of your main characters and settings. Start with a brief, catchy sentence that provides a simple yet intriguing fact about the character/setting, then use vivid descriptive phrasing to build the rest of the paragraph.

Include scripted dialogue that is realistic and revealing. Most novels include dialogue between characters, and the quality of this dialogue can greatly impact how a reader perceives the overall quality of the work. Stilted, unrealistic, or cheesy dialogue pushes a reader’s imagination away from your world, while relatable, engaging dialogue draws them into it. Writing great dialogue is a challenging art, but listening to how people speak to each other is a great starting point. Listen to people talk to each other and observe how their conversations are—or aren’t—propelled forward and deepened by what they say. Flesh out your characters fully so that you can envision them speaking the dialogue that you write for them. Make sure the content and style of the dialogue suits the character. Don’t use dialogue to dump information on the reader. Instead, use it to humanize your characters, create conflict, and propel the narrative.

Don’t ignore action scenes, no matter your genre. Sure, thrillers need to have a lot of action, but so do gentle romances—just a different type of action! Develop scenes or episodes that bring characters into conflict or force key interactions. The more three-dimensional and relatable you make your characters, the easier it will be to make action scenes that draw readers in. Depending on your writing style, you might draft 8-10 key action scenes first, then build the rest of the novel around them. You don’t need to create action for action’s sake—not every novel needs a high-speed car chase! But, every novel benefits from key moments when critical actions are introduced and described.

Write your first draft without worrying how “rough” it is. When your planning and outlining and researching feel complete (for now, at least), sit down and begin writing the first draft of your novel. Don't worry about making the language perfect—no one will read this draft but you. The first draft of a novel does not have to be spectacular—it just has to be done! Make the commitment to write on your established schedule and produce this first draft. Who knows how many wonderful writers go unnoticed and unread because their drawers are filled with unfinished novels? Set small goals—finishing a chapter, a few pages, or a certain amount of words every few days—to keep yourself motivated. You can also set long-term goals—you might, for example, be determined to finish the first draft of a novel in one year, or even in six months. Reward yourself when you achieve one of your small or larger goals along the way. Celebrate your success, but then get back to writing!

Revising Your Drafts

Write as many drafts as necessary until the novel feels right to you. You may get lucky and only need to write three drafts to get it right. Or you may write twenty drafts before your novel rings true. The key is to keep writing drafts until you’re confident that the work feels ready to be shared with others. After you've written your first draft, take a break from it for a few weeks, then sit back and read it as if you were one of your readers. Which parts need more explaining? Which parts are too long and boring? If you find yourself skipping over long chunks of your novel, your readers will, too. How can you make the novel more appealing to them by cutting down or revising these cumbersome parts? You may feel like the drafting process will never end, but it will! Stay positive and confident. Judy Blume Judy Blume, Writer The revision process is an essential time to elevate your writing. "I'm a rewriter. That's the part I like best...once I have a pile of paper to work with, it's like having the pieces of a puzzle. I just have to put the pieces together to make a picture."

Give your “feels right” draft a thorough self-edit. Don’t start worrying about editing until you’ve written a solid draft of your novel. After that, focus on cutting paragraphs or sentences that aren't working, getting rid of any awkward or repetitive phrasing, and streamlining your prose. Basically, make sure your “feels right” draft is also a “looks right” draft! If you typed your novel on a laptop, print it out and read it aloud. Cut or revise anything that just doesn't sound right. Don't get too attached to your writing—for example, a well-crafted paragraph that just isn't moving the story forward. Challenge yourself to make the right decision, and remember that you might be able to use the paragraph in a future novel!

Get feedback on your draft from a range of sources. Begin by showing your draft to someone you completely trust, like a friend or loved one, so you can get used to the feeling of having others read your work. Since it isn't always easy to get honest feedback from people who love you and want to spare your feelings, move on to getting outside opinions from sources such as the following: Start a writing group. If you know a few other people who are writing novels, arrange to meet with them to share progress and ask for tips. Join a writing workshop at a local college or writing center. You'll review other people's writing and receive notes on yours as well. Apply to an M.A. or an M.F.A. program in creative writing. These programs offer a supportive and inviting environment for sharing your work with others. Additionally, they can help motivate you by setting deadlines for completing your work.

Evaluate your publishing options, if desired. Many writers look at their first novel as a learning experience that can help them write stronger fiction in the future. However, if you feel very confident about your novel and want to see it in print, there are a number of routes you can take. You can choose a traditional book publishing house, an online e-publisher, or self-publishing. If you're going the traditional route, it helps to find a literary agent to shop your book around to publishers. You'll be asked to submit a query letter and a synopsis of your manuscript. Self-publishing companies vary widely in quality. Before choosing a company, ask for a few samples so you can see the quality of their paper and printing. If you don't want to go the publishing route, that's not a problem. Congratulate yourself on a job well done and move on to your next creative project!