If you like reading books and can think about something new that you can write, then try learning more and go for being a novelist. We all know that it’s not a one-day task to achieve the goal, but the process of learning is continuous, as it will improve with each day. It’s a dream that a lot of people have, but the problem is that they lack confidence and are not ready for taking the risk and the preparation that is needed to become a novelist. Have some patience because nothing happens in a day. Here are some tips that can get you started and help you with becoming a good novelist.
Reading
I would say the first step in becoming a novelist is to start reading. Great novelists say that for creating a single novel, you might need to turn over half a library. For absorbing the literature and for learning various styles of writing, one should read as many novels as one can. The more you read, the better you will be in literature and in recognizing writing patterns, and then eventually developing one for your own. But one thing should be kept in mind – that you choose the novels wisely, and if you can read a whole library, just go for it.
After reading your novels, create a list of those novels that you have read and make points on what you like most in that book, or you can use sticky notes on the pages for further guidance. Creating a list and categorizing novels by genre or by novelists or by writing styles is a better way of understanding what you like the most and what will you like to imitate in your writing style. The things you need to look for are useful plot devices and character development techniques and impressive stylistic elements such as metaphors, symbolism, etc., and also the tropes that appear often and how they’re handled by each author, and anything else that stands out to you irrespective of being a good or bad thing.
Experience
The experience that is being shared in novels does not only come from reading the books, but also from real-life experiences. One can not write some subtle emotions accurately, without seeing them or experiencing them in real life. And a great novelist once said that “nothing is real, everything is a copy”. And that, for sure, is the right way of putting things into words. Some copy other novelists, or some copy others’ experiences, or some copy others’ sentiments.
We are not saying to write the whole novel in your experience. If you wanted to write a novel, then I say you must first have the emotional aspect of your novel, try to explore that emotional aspect and start collecting more of those feelings, jot them down in points whenever it is required, try meeting people, and if they tell you something interesting, write it down and ask them if you can use it in your novel or not. Try collecting those emotions that are easy to write and can give your writing an impactful expression.
Finding The Drive
During all this reading and experiencing things, you will stumble upon many ideas that can be implemented in a story, and you may feel allured to pick one so you can start writing already. But to maintain your drive, you can not start with just a good idea. You need something extra about which you are deeply passionate, something that will keep you going through all those long nights of writing, something that will help you love your hard work.
As Susan Sontag described, you must figure out which story you have to tell: “The story must strike a nerve in me. My heart should start beating when I hear the first line in my head. I start trembling at the risk.” Toni Morrison put it in a slightly different way: “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” If you have an idea in your head, you need to cherish it and make it wider, so you can easily write it down and put some emotion in it. You need to experience life more, to create a bestseller. Things you should consider are, how closely connected is this story to my own experience and life? And do you feel strong emotion about seeing this story portrayed in novels? And what impact could this story create on readers and society as a whole?
I Want To Become Good Better Best In Life
Voice
One of the important things that you have to create on your own is your voice. The voice here is not referring to your audible voice, but the vocabulary you use, the variation in sentences, the length of sentences and paragraphs, the way of using figures of speech, and using rhetorical devices, etc. And if you are still not so sure about these things, or you might get stuck at some point, then go to your favorite novels or novelists and try to focus on your problem. The solution will reveal itself. To improve yourself, you can also try some creative writing prompts and writing exercises, and you can also exercise some plays.
Characters
Characters play a crucial role in gaining the interest of the reader. If your character has an intriguing backstory and life, then it will lure the readers and attach them with the characters. Once they feel connected to the characters, they will begin to feel the emotions as if they were feeling their own emotions. The outer life of the character is the main plot of your story, and it has its conflicts and twists and resolution and so on, but the inner life of the character should be fascinating as well, for the sake of the novel.
Just Write
As we speak of writing for the first time or draft, we say just write. You can try a bird-by-bird approach. Here it means that you should try to write about 500 words at a time, without focusing much on the entire story. Try to set a schedule, what time of the day you will write and how many days in a week or how many hours. Usually, novelists divide their novels into several parts and write that part at a time and you can do that as well. The best part about drafting is that you can write any part you feel like, and writing chronologically is not a thing here. We are focusing on developing a habit here and gaining an understanding of how things work. You can try writing short stories or short novels of around 50-100 pages and then increase your writing capacity slowly with time.
Conclusion
Becoming a novelist is a dream for many. People start writing after restoring their strength. But some people just quit writing in the middle or even towards the end, due to frustration. Calm yourself and take a break for two days or a week and go out and meet new people or just enjoy a gathering, and that will help you get rid of your writer’s block. After ending the writing process, look out for publishers, and you can also upload your writing on Amazon or Audible.
