Laura SavageHow to Go From a Newbie to a Novelist
Before we dive in, I’d like you to repeat these four words: I am a writer.
If you’re embarking on this wild journey of writing a book, which is a ton of work, then you ARE a writer. It doesn’t matter if you don’t do it for a living. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t published a book. It doesn’t even matter if you haven’t finished the book.
You are a writer. Now, let’s get started.
Get in the right headspace
Deciding to get started is usually the easy part. A grand idea strikes your fancy like a lightning rod of inspiration and thusly you’re compelled to share that idea as a novel. Great job, you just got started!
End of blog post, right?
Wrong! Having an idea and deciding to write a book are both crucial to write a novel but those are not the only things you have to consider. There are actually several hundred things to consider, but I will be kind and walk you through the highlights.
Understand your ‘why’
When you sit down to write this burning novel idea, I hope you can answer this one question: Why do you want to write a book?
If you understand why you’re writing the book, you’ll likely cling to that motivation to push through those pesky little points where you get stuck.
Understanding why you’re writing a book can help you understand what you’re hoping to accomplish by writing the book. This could be as simple as the victory of having written a novel or it could be as ambitious as the New York Times bestseller list. Having a goal in mind will help keep you motivated.
No matter what your end goal is, there’s two directions that you’ll want to approach when beginning a novel:
The actual process of writing a book from concept to completion.
The importance of cultivating an author platform.
1. The Process of Writing a Novel
Start by Writing
This might feel like a no-brainer, but the secret to writing a novel is simply by writing it. It’s putting the words on paper, sentence by sentence, until you have a steaming mess of a story.