Most people think writing a novel is just writing. I have lost count of the number of people who say I want to write a novel and think that they will just sit down, put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, and the whole issue will just unfold before them. Ive read a few novels, they think, why cant I write one?

If only it were that easy!

The process of writing any story is exactly that, a process. And whether you are tackling a novel, a short story, an essay or a non-fiction book, you need to begin by planning your story.

This is the most ignored point in the writing process, and yet it is by far the most important. JK Rowling spent five years planning the Harry Potter novels. And that for certain paid off, didnt it?

The key to writing any story well, is to find the story that only you can write. This story carries your own emotional truth, and as you progress through the story writing process, your character will take you on the journeying of emotional growth just as they will your readers once its published.

The Deeper Character Journey

The deeper character journey is the most important expression of any story. It is what your readers will remember and it is what makes the process of writing a story so worthwhile for the writer. Every time you take your character on a journey, you go on that journey yourself.

So how do we find that deeper character journey? Where do we begin?

We begin with this simple exercise:

Without thinking too much to the highest degree it, finish this sentence:

I am interested in writing a story where the main character discovers the importance of

Write for 5 minutes, preferably in long hand, allowing whatever comes up to just flow onto the page.

When you have finished you will find that you have written a lot of different values into your answer. Values are universal qualities of human experience, either positive or negative. Take a few moments to divide these values into their positive and negative groups. Youll find that a few similar ones in each group will stand out, so isolate these and then decide on the most important ones from each group.

Once you have done this you can now write your deeper character journey in one simple sentence.

 I am interested in writing a story about a character who goes from being.. to being..

What is your characters weakness?

Every character has a weakness  something they need to apprise to have a stop life. Your characters weakness should now be pretty clear to you, as it is strongly connected to what they need to learn the importance of from the above exercise. With your characters weakness in place, you can now begin to put them and their weakness under squeeze and suddenly your story is off and running.

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Stephen King says he starts a story with a character in a predicament and watches them to see how they get out of it. So at the start of your story your main character must be in some sort of predicament or stuck in some way. The predicament your main character is in should be a symptom of their weakness. They are aware of their predicament, but they are not aware of their weakness.

For example, a character who needs to learn the importance of patience, is stuck underground on a broken down train. He becomes more and more exasperated and angry as the minutes tick by as he needs to be at an important face-off. As hes underground his mobile phone has no signal, and he also cant just jump off the train, as the doors are electronically sealed, and besides hes underground so he cant just wander off up the tracks in the dark.

So we know our characters predicament will give way his weakness, which is impatience. The head? for you to answer is, what does he do? How does he respond? What choice does he make? And he will make that choice based on his personal values.

Values in Conflict

Conflict lies at the sum of all powerful stories. It is a well worn adage in story writing that nothing moves forward in a story leave out through conflict.

But a good story also isnt just a sequence of random conflicts, things that happen with no plain pattern or meaning. It is a series of events, putting your character(s) under more and more pressure, forcing them to respond. This then shows us their true character.

Values underlie our choices, our decisions, and in storytelling they drive the story through the characters being forced to make difficult decisions where their values are challenged. A value is a belief schema based on what is important to the individual. A value represents something in your characterÂ’s life that they are unforced to fight for. So if you have a married woman who is attracted to another man, her choice of whether to go with the other man or stay with her husband will be based on the values of motor hotel versus fidelity or loyalty.

Once you have nailed the values underlying your characters choices, you will have connected strongly with your characters deeper journey. This in turn connects you to your readers, who will recognise similar conflicts in their own lives.

And you also have the essence of the story that only you can write.

Are you interested in getting a book that you wrote published? You need to fine the elusive “perfect” publisher that will work on behalf of you and your new book. This may become the most difficult part of completing your project. Book publishers are picky about which books and authors they choose to work with. Publishing is like any relationship, not everyone is compatible and it takes some looking around before you will find the right organization to work with you to publish your book.

Your book needs to be in a final draft stage before you consider showing it to a publisher. Once this is complete, you can start researching publishers and considering which one’s to approach. Unfortunately, this is a step that many hopeful published authors do not take. Many simply just send copies of their books off to publishers that they already know of. This approach is okay, but it limits your chances of getting a book published. Instead, you will want to examine as many book publishers as possible. Compared to the creative process, this may seem like a difficult or wearisome process, but it is necessary to increase the chances of having your book published.

A good resource for finding publishers is to consult printed resource guides for authors. These manuals come in a selection of various types. Quite a few are grouped by genre, such as children’s books, Christian books, and so forth. What they typically do is outline publishers that accept manuscripts, as well as other detailed information and facts. These printed resource manuals are usually updated often; therefore, if you do make a purchase, be sure to buy an updated guide. Speaking of making your purchase, you can find these publishing guides for authors available for sale online and in most bookstores.

As previously explained, there are a variety of printed reference guides for authors that you can use to go about discovering publishers to submit your manuscript to. One guide that comes highly ranked and recommend is that of the Writer’s Market. The Writer’s Market books include a number of styles and they are updated on a yearly basis. Information that is included tends to include themes that book publishers are looking for, requirements on submitting a manuscript, the address to which the manuscript must be submitted to and much more. The Writer’s Market books are also well-known for their expert tips and tips, which is typically provided by experienced authors.

Although most Writer’s Market books and other similar printed resource guides for authors can often be purchased for under $20, many authors do not like having to pay for something that they can find for free online. If you are looking to use the internet to find book publishers, you will find that you do have a number of different options. For starters, you will want to perform a standard internet search with the phrase “book publishers.” If you are targeting a specific genre, such as children’s books, be sure to include that in your search phrase. Your standard internet search is likely to produce a number of different results.

Another good source for finding publishers, is to do an internet seach. This will give you a list of name and their websites which are full of great information about the companies. These websites may either list publishers with detailed information or you may be provided with a link to a publisher’s website. Speaking of publisher websites, these websites can also be found mixed in with your standard internet search.

If you would like to directly find the online websites of book publishers, a standard internet search with the publisher’s name should produce the results that you are looking for. The publisher You may also find authors guide books available at your local book store or library. These publications will be very useful. Finding other books in your genre and noting the publishers’ names, will also help you form a targeted list of potential publishers.

As a reminder, it is important to find the publisher that you think will be the perfect fit for you and your book. Therefore, look for publishers that are seeking just what your book has to offer.

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