I’m about to share with you the secret to writing a novel, quickly. It won’t be easy, and I’m not even saying I am a prolific writer either, but you could be. I should also say this is by no means the only way to write. Many authors have their own methods which are very successful, and you will develop a process that works best for you.
I’m a plotter, that means I like to plan. Writing a novel, as in life, does not always happen the way you plan things. You may have an idea of the story you wish to tell, but the final outcome may change dramatically with any number of possible conclusions.
Start your novel journey with the synopsis and name the chapters to plot the route. Most often I begin with an eight point arc, 1 Stasis, 2 Trigger, 3 The quest, 4 Surprise, 5 Critical choice, 6 Climax, 7 Reversal, 8 Resolution, though it doesn’t always work that way. I got the eight point arc from the author Stephen May in a taster creative writing workshop at a literary festival, which also appears in his book Write a Novel And Get it Published.
I write a novel like planning a walk. It is better if you start with a map, so you have an idea of the journey you are about to make, the start and finish points can be decided as you plan. You should know how long the journey is going to take and the type of terrain you are likely to encounter. Those maps with the interesting places to visit are the best, because you will need to know enough about what you might see along the way. By this I mean research, before and during your writing journey. Once your route is plotted, you may decide to start from an alternative point, or take an interesting detour on route, perhaps even ending up at a slightly different viewpoint than the one you intended, but the journey is still likely to have some resemblance to what you originally planned.
Planning is the secret. Developing your idea over time will make the process of actually writing the story much easier, because you will know exactly where your story is heading. That is not to say the route and viewpoint are fixed, these will likely change as you write and during the editing process. First write a synopsis. A synopsis always helps to make sure that the story follows the expected structure. It is not easy condensing your novel into a short number of words, but there is a lot of advice out there about how to write a synopsis. I use the eight point arc to do this. Next do your research and plan your route. I often do a chapter plot using the eight point arc to fit within the estimated number of words. Establish a writing routine, what ever works to make sure you write regularly. It is often best to have a set time and place where and when you write. Some people have a word count target but for me the number of words varies. Now expand on each chapter until they contain the right number of words to complete a first draft. That is the hard part, but hopefully in no time at all, you will have written a novel. Now rewrite, edit and rewrite, until it is the story you want it to be.
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