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Wow guys. Maybe I should post about The Walking Dead more often. You all seemed to really enjoy my last post!

This week we're going a little more technical and hopefully helpful to those of you who want to start writing but don't really know where to begin.

How to start writing a novel, 101

1. Define your idea

Usually this begins by writing out a mass of ideas that might be able to go together, and then seeing if they might possibly work.

For example, can we throw together telepathy, the Holocaust, slavery/racial tensions, underground civilizations, superheros, and time travel to make a good story? Yes. That would be X-Men.

2. Outline your idea

Take all your best defined ideas and chuck them together in an order that makes some sense:

One young mutant is hurt during the Holocaust.
While in their twenties, another mutant, a telepath, befriends the first.
The rest of the world becomes more aware of mutants, creating a newly formed "race."
The mutants are forced to go underground and live in the shadows, doing their good deeds in secret.
Mutants are hunted to near extinction, and find a way to go back in time and change the way everything happens.
Eventually, the world comes to see many of those mutants as superheros.

Success!

3. Create your main characters

Really, this one goes in line with part 2. While you're outlining, you'll probably come up with a few good ideas for characters. Go with your instincts.

Two main characters: Magneto, the young mutant harmed in the Holocaust. Professor X, the second mutant who befriends him.

The hard part?

One of them has to be your villain.

Sometimes, that character won't show themselves right away. In the novel I most recently wrote, I didn't meet the antagonist until almost halfway through the book -- and there is a high probability that it will happen to some of you.

If you can't find the villain, don't worry. They'll show themselves in the story when the time is right.

4. Start writing

This is what I do. I'm not an outliner. If I outline, I won't write the story. So if you've had this problem, just start writing. Follow your gut, go wherever the story wants to go.

Above all, DO NOT FORCE THE STORY TO GO SOMEWHERE IT DOESN'T WANT TO GO.

Trust me, you'll know if that's happening. It's called writer's block.

4a. Make your outline

This one's for those of you who need an outline in order to know what you're doing:

Decide how you'd like your story to proceed, write out a simple list of events you'd like to have happen, and then refer back to #4.


For those of you who are aching to write your first novel, I hope this was helpful for you! If you have any questions or you'd like me to add more detail, please let me know. I want to write things that you want to read.

I really do.

[love]

{RD}