Tag: Finish Writing Your Novel Now

Finish Writing Your Novel Now!, Novel Writing Assignments

Writing Assignment #6: Write the first draft!

Mandy Webster

Today’s message is a short one after we’ve spent several weeks covering the planning stage of the novel writing process. Now that we’ve covered the basics of writing a first draft of your novel, there’s only one thing left to say: sit down and do it! Start writing, and don’t stop until the end of your story is on the page!

Image generated using AI.
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Novel drafting rule #5: No research allowed

Mandy Webster

During the planning stage of the novel writing process, you probably did a lot of research into your topic while you generated ideas and plotted your story structure. But now that you’re in the drafting stage of the novel writing process, all that needs to stop.

While research was welcome during the planning stage of the writing process, it’s not a good idea to try to conduct research during the drafting stage. Image generated using artificial intelligence.

Stopping to do research during the drafting process of writing a novel can be a distraction and slow down your progress. Here are some reasons why you may want to avoid stopping to do research while drafting:

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Novel drafting rule #4: No editing allowed

Mandy Webster

Writing and editing involve different cognitive processes that use different parts of the brain. When you write, you typically use your creative and imaginative processes, which are associated with the right side of the brain. This involves generating new ideas, making connections between concepts, and visualizing scenes and characters.

Writing a novel can be like putting a puzzle together without knowing what the final product is supposed to look like. Image generated using artificial intelligence.

On the other hand, editing involves a more analytical and critical thinking process, which is associated with the left side of the brain. This involves evaluating the structure, pacing, and clarity of your writing, checking for errors in grammar and punctuation, and refining your prose to make it more effective and engaging. Editing your work during the drafting stage of the novel writing process can be counterproductive for a few reasons:

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The importance of momentum in the novel drafting process

Mandy Webster

Momentum is crucial when writing a novel because it helps you to keep going and make progress. Writing a novel is a long and challenging process, and it can be easy to get discouraged or distracted along the way. Momentum helps you stay focused and motivated so you can keep making progress toward your goal of finishing the book. And that’s what this writing series is all about, isn’t it?

Momentum in the novel writing process is all about getting into that “flow state” where the words almost write themselves! Image generated using artificial intelligence.

When you have momentum, you are in the flow of writing, and the ideas and words tend to come more easily. You may find that you are able to write more quickly and efficiently when you have momentum, and that you are able to produce higher-quality writing as well. In addition, momentum can help you overcome the obstacles and challenges that inevitably arise during the writing process. For example, if you get stuck on a particular scene or chapter, having momentum can help you push through and keep writing, rather than giving up or getting discouraged.

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“First drafts are shit” and other writing advice from the experts

Mandy Webster

I can tell you from years of experience with drafting novels that first drafts always suck. Don’t believe me? Read what the following authors have to say about writing the first draft of a novel:

The point of the first draft is not to write a good story. The point is to get the story out of your head and onto the page. You can worry about making it “good” later. Image generated by artificial intelligence.
  • “Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts.” – Anne Lamott
  • “The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.” – Terry Pratchett
  • “The first draft is nothing more than a starting point, so be wrong, break the rules, and start over as many times as you need.” – Jonathan Franzen”
  • The first draft of everything is terrible. Don’t worry, it’s meant to be.” – Chloe Benjamin”
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The chapter summary or scene list

Mandy Webster

A chapter summary for a novel is a detailed plan that outlines the key events, themes, and character development for each chapter of the book. It may include subplots that will add to the richness and complexity of the original story idea. You might even begin to add bits of description and dialog if the mood strikes. Think of these as little gold nuggets that will later help you buy your way back into your story at the start of each writing session.

The chapter summary provides a road map for writing your story. Image generated using artificial intelligence.

The chapter summary can be thought of as a roadmap or guide for the author to follow as they write the novel. A chapter summary can be helpful in keeping the author focused and organized and can also help to ensure that the story flows smoothly and logically from chapter to chapter.

Each section of a chapter outline typically includes the following elements:

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Writing Assignment #3: Outline your novel! 

Mandy Webster

If you’ve been following my blog the past couple of weeks, you’ve probably learned a lot about novel structure and how to outline an idea as part of the planning stage of the novel writing process. You may be wondering, what now, brown cow? Well, I hope you have a lot of notes and ideas at the ready because it is finally time to outline your novel!

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By now, I hope you have settled on one or a couple of story structure outlines that will meet the needs of your novel or novels. I say, “or novels” because at this point, you may still have a couple of ideas that you are hashing out. While you may be tempted to narrow your focus to just one at this point, I say keep working on all those ideas for now, at least until a clear forerunner emerges. Just make sure you settle on one novel to draft at a time. Right now, you still have plenty of time to consider which novel you want to write first. For now, let’s jump into our next writing assignment.

Writing Assignment #3: Outline your novel

Outlining a novel is a personal process, and there is no one “right” way to do it. However, here are some general steps you can take to outline your novel:

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Larry Brooks’ Story Structure

Mandy Webster

The Larry Brooks story structure is one that I have used several times and find to be very useful when planning a novel. It is a structure that I will detail here in depth because – to me – it seems to be one of the more effective methods of outlining a novel.

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Brooks is a writing coach, author, and speaker known for his expertise in the craft of storytelling. He is the author of several books on writing, including Story Engineering: Mastering the 6 Core Competencies of Successful Writing; Story Physics: Harnessing the Underlying Forces of Storytelling; and Great Stories Don’t Write Themselves: Criteria-Driven Strategies for More Effective Fiction. Brooks is also the founder of Storyfix.com, a website dedicated to helping writers develop their storytelling skills. Brooks’ approach to writing emphasizes the importance of structure, character development, and genre expectations. He believes that successful stories must meet certain criteria, and that writers who understand these criteria can create stories that are more engaging, satisfying, and marketable.

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Kurt Vonnegut on story structure

Mandy Webster

ANNOUNCEMENT: ISO guest bloggers to write posts for each of the story structures listed below. Please scroll to the bottom of this post for details.

Kurt Vonnegut, the acclaimed American author known for his satirical and anti-war writings, was critical of the traditional, linear approach that dominates much of literature and popular culture. He preferred a more experimental, non-linear approach that allowed for more creativity and surprise. In a lecture on the shapes of stories, Vonnegut suggested that stories could be graphed on a simple chart, with the y-axis representing the level of happiness or unhappiness experienced by the protagonist, and the x-axis representing the progression of the story over time.

Infographic by Maya Eilam

Vonnegut also identified several basic story structures that he believed were common to most stories. These structures are based on the emotional journey of the protagonist and the overall shape of the plot. Following are some examples of a few of the simple shapes of story structures identified by Vonnegut:

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Story Structure: In Medias Res

Mandy Webster

The concept of “in medias res” (Latin for “in the midst of things”) in novel writing dates back to ancient Greek and Roman literature. The Roman poet and philosopher Horace wrote about the technique in his Ars Poetica (The Art of Poetry), which was published around 18 BCE. In this work, he advised poets to begin their stories in the middle of the action, rather than at the beginning, in order to grab the reader’s attention and create a sense of urgency. As a novel writing technique, in media res also involves beginning a story in the middle of the action, rather than at the beginning, in order to capture the reader’s attention and create a sense of immediacy and urgency.

The Iliad is an early example of a story that began in the middle of the action. Image generated using AI.

One of the earliest examples of in medias res can be found in Homer’s epic poem, The Iliad, which begins in the middle of the Trojan War, rather than at the beginning. This technique was also used by other ancient Greek and Roman writers, including Virgil in his epic poem, The Aeneid.

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