5 Novel Writing Tips

Writers often complain about the pitfalls of writing a novel, but if you follow the steps below, you will realize that it really isn’t as difficult as it’s been made out to be.

1.    Planning
You would be surprised how easy a little planning and forward thinking can make writing a novel. A plan will not only help organize your thoughts and story, but will also help you in finishing your novel quicker. The more quickly you write, the easier it will come to you and if you know where you’re going, it will also provide a failsafe to ensure you don’t get stuck.

2.    Developing the Right Skills
The more you write, the easier it will become. Practice makes perfect, right? By writing a little every day, you endeavor to improve your writing by making each new piece better than the last.

3.    Choosing a Writing “Workspace”
Designate a portion of your house your writing workspace; a place where you set your word processor/computer, dictionary, thesaurus including your writing utensils: pens and pencils, notebooks, etc. Like the Pavlov experiment, your mind will be conditioned to get going every day you return to the same place over and over again, for your writing. It will slip into “writing mode” the moment you slip into that chair.

4.    Dreaming Of Success
Successfully selling your work to a publisher will put you on top of the world. Get through the hard part of writing your novel by thinking about others appreciating your work and the monetary compensation. Pushing yourself because less difficult if you have a goal in mind.

5.    Positive Energy Makes A Novel
Surrounding yourself with people who are encouraging, optimistic and critical can do wonders to your work. Keep yourself away from those brow beaters and overly negative individuals, who will just end up bringing you down. A writer’s group or writer’s forum, either online or off, can do wonders for your work—the experience of interacting with other writers will help, rather than deter you.

Alternatively or in addition to the above, try motivating yourself with uplifting, reaffirming quotations and put them up so any time you feel negative, you can feel positive instead.

While the above are not hard and fast rules that apply to all writers, you can go through each one to see what works for you and what doesn’t. I can promise you that once you find what works for you,  writing your novel will take less time and will produce more enjoyment.

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