How To Write A Novel The Easy Way
How to write a novel the easy way? Can it be done?
Absolutely. Learning how to write a novel doesn’t have to be complicated. When you follow a step by step process, you can take the complexity of how to write a novel and “dumb it down” to such a simple system that it becomes almost like paint by numbers.
Easy novel writing is a series of connections. You know, like “the foot bone’s connected to the ankle bone.”
In the case of novel writing, your connections look like this (feel free to add the “Dry Bones” tune to this list as you read it if you know it):
IDEA is connected to
QUESTIONS, which are connected to
CONFLICT, which is connected to
STORY QUESTION, which is connected to
THEME, which is connected to
PLOT, which is connected to
CHARACTERS, which are connected to
MOTIVATION, which is connected to
CHARACTER SKETCHES, which are connected to
SETTINGS, which are connected to
SETTING SKETCHES, which are connected to
RESEARCH LISTS, which are connected to
RESEARCH, which are connected to
SCENE CARDS, which are connected to
SCENE CARD FILE, which is connected to
PACING, which is connected to
QUERY, which is connected to
SYNOPSIS, which is connected to
FIRST PAGES, which are connected to
DRAFT, which is connected to
REWRITE, which is connected to
SUBMISSION, which is connected to
SALE!
Whew! Seem like a lot. Well, it is a lot. But that doesn’t mean it’s complicated.
Let’s break it down:
1. IDEA. Your novel idea is the basic concept. For example, the idea for my novel, Alternate Beauty, was that an obese woman finds herself in an alternate universe where fat is beautiful. This is kind of intriguing, but it’s certainly not enough for a novel. So you have to start asking
2. QUESTIONS. To flesh out an idea, you need to start asking questions. Your seed question needs to be “What if”. For instance, what if the woman who was in the alternate universe began losing weight. You throw out a bunch of answers to the what if question, and then you pick one that tickles your fancy and ask another what if question. It goes like this: Once the woman begins losing weight, she ends up as unhappy in the new universe as she was in the old. So what if she got fed up with being unhappy. Etc. etc.
As you work through what if questions, you throw in “Why” questions. Why does the woman lose weight? Why is she unhappy?
Keep stringing these questions together and you’ll begin to find your
3. CONFLICT. Conflict comes from a character wanting to get something and being blocked in some way from getting what he or she wants. A good novel makes characters’ lives miserable before everything turns out in the end (either good or bad). You weave your questions together in a way that reveals your character’s desires and what obstacles preventing him or her from achieving those desires. It’s the conflict that keeps your reader guessing when you keep creating
4. STORY QUESTIONS. Story questions are the secrets you keep from the reader so the reader has questions in his or her mind. You layer the conflict, one upon the other, so the reader has to keep reading to satisfy his or her curiosity. All the story questions, when answered at the end of the novel reflect the
5. THEME. The theme is the central message of the novel-the statement you want to make about the human condition. The theme is the unifying element of everything you put in your
6. PLOT. Plot is the story-the culmination of conflict and story question. It’s not just what happens in the novel but why what happens is compelling. Plot is compelling when it’s driven by life-like
7. CHARACTERS. Characters are the people in your story. Think of them as the train that carries your plot along. Characters only carry along a plot in a compelling way when they have clear
8. MOTIVATION. Motivation is the psychological and experiential explanation for why your characters do what they do. Once you have a central motivation for each main character, you can easily create
9. CHARACTER SKETCHES. Character sketches are your character’s bios. These include everything from physical characteristics to history to personality to favorite color. Great characters are rich with detail and they live in equally rich
10. SETTINGS. Settings are the place of your novel. You can create settings that your reader can easily visualize when you create
11. SETTING SKETCHES. Setting sketches are the who, what, where, why, and how of your settings. They consist of diagrams, pictures, and other specific information to make settings unique and interesting. You get this information and every other fact you need to support the story of your novel from your
12. RESEARCH. Research will answer all the detail questions, and if you do it right you’ll have a good balance of enough information and not too much to bog down the story. Once you’ve done your research you can create
13. SCENE CARDS. Scene cards are index cards that contain outlines of every scene in your novel. Scene is a specific chunk of the story, one that is its own closed loop. Every good scene has a purpose and it leads to the next good scene. This is how you create a
14. SCENE CARD FILE. The scene card file is where you put all your scene cards. Since each scene has its own card, you can easily rearrange scenes as needed to create perfect
15. PACING. Pacing is the rhythm of the novel. You take the reader for a thrill-ride, and then you slow things down. Speed up, slow down. The story questions you created when you plotted is what helps create the speed flow. When you have your novel paced well in the scene cards you’re ready to write a
16. QUERY. The query is the one to two page letter needed to submit to an agent or editor. When you write it before you draft your book, it embeds your theme and central plot in your mind. It also helps you write the
17. SYNOPSIS. A synopsis is a narrative outline of the novel, told in a compelling way but placing all essential information in a concise package of only 10 to 30 pages or so. If you can put your story in this space, you’ll find it incredibly easy to then take the skeleton of the story, fill it in with the meat of your scene cards and write a magnificent first
18. DRAFT. The draft of your story is the natural result of all the connections that have come before. It’s simply sitting at the computer and using all the elements you’ve created to spill the story onto the page. Once it’s there, you can
19. REWRITE to polish the words to pristine perfection. Then you’re ready for
20. SUBMISSION. Submission is easy when you’ve done all the other work. You already have a query, synopsis, and polished manuscript. So you just need to hit Writer’s Market and find a list of agents or editors to whom to send your query. When the agent or editor asks for more, you’ll send the synopsis and eventually the draft, and one day you’ll get the call telling you that you’ve made a
21. SALE. This is when you scream and jump around and go out and buy your favorite meal and then be annoyingly perky for weeks on end.
And just like that, you’ve created a novel readers will love. All because you followed a paint-by-numbers system for how to write a novel.
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Need info. on how to self-edit a manuscript, and also how to write a professional synopsis?
When self-editing a novel, what kind of “problems” should I look for? Of course the usual such as grammar, but besides grammar and punctuation, what else should I look for when editing? Plot holes? Etc.
Also need info. on how to write a professional synopsis as I’m currently 2 chapters (approx. 40-50 pages) away from completion of my novel “Thaw”.
How do i format my manuscript for a publisher?
A UK publisher has asked to see the first two chapters of my manuscript and a synopsis of the entire book.
How do i present the two chapters… ie formating (double space? margin size?) and physical presentation (what sort of paper, and folder, and binding?)
It is non-fiction. So how do i write the synopsis. Is it a chapter by chapter breakdown or synopsys of the entire book. How long is this?
thanks!
Yes…usually.
how to write a synopsis for my short poem?
I wrote a short children’s poem. I have never tried to publish anythings before. Now while exploring the publishers I see that many if not most of them do not accept the unsolicited manuscripts. Those who do accept ask to write a synopsis. My poem is one page-long. I have no idea how to write a synopsis for it. Do I need to write in my 1st paragraph (introduction) anything about myself and how the idea was born? Or this should be covered in the covering letter? I would appreciate your suggestions or links to the websites. I need a plan but I cannot find it.
Many thanks!
Plot holes, consistent characterization, excess verbiage, passive voice, adverbs, places where you’re not clear about what’s happening…
Things that bug. If it’s niggling at you, chances are something is wrong with it. It helps to read it out loud. It also helps if you’ve got people you can trust to tell you where it sucks rather than stroke your ego. Extra eyes, I swear by them.
Good luck with the synopsis; I wish I could help you with that. They are EVIL.
Most publishers will have their own style sheet, which they will provide you upon request. Some also have guidelines for preparing a book proposal. Here’s one publisher’s page (for example, I checked the proposal format for “diet therapy” and found it roughly similar to proposal formats I have seen from other publishers of nonfiction material).
http://www.lww.com/resources/authors/books-proposals.html#
You might check your publisher’s webpage and/or those of similar publishers for further instructions.
Good luck!
Anything about yourself or how the idea was born should be covered in the cover letter, I think. As for the synopsis, I’m not sure it’s possible to write a synopsis of a short poem, unless the poem tells a story, in which case just summarize the story. I’m also not positive that you can publish a one-page poem by itself, unless you’re submitting it to a literary journal or something.
Most agents/publishers prefer loose paper, so no binding. String would be better as rubber bands would crease the paper and degrade the professional appearance.
Most likely agents/publishers will have a list of ways they like manuscripts like one might like it double spaced in an Arial font and another might like it in Times New Roman.
Following their list will give you the best chance.
Write your biography in 1st person and list everything that would make you appear to be a great writer e.g. I won first place in the Blah competition in 2006, I have previously had a short story published in the New York Times etc..
Good luck (:
Is it necessary to write a synopsis for your novel when querying literary agents?
I have completed my first novel and would like to query literary agents. I have read up on query letters and synopses and I have produced a query letter.
I bought a copy of the 2008 Novel and Short Story Writers market and looked at the submission guidelines for agents. For “How to Contact,” they nearly all specify, “Query with SASE” – only a very few specifically ask for a synopsis.
Since I have dreaded writing a synopsis and have had a hard time doing it, I am wondering if, in light of the submission guidelines I’ve seen, if it is necessary to have one at all?
Is it common for an agent to request a synopsis after the initial query or would they just request a partial manuscript. I’m confused about it.
If you are in the industry, any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for the initial answer.
If the agency says “Query with SASE” should I just throw along the synopsis in along with it or would they be requesting it later?
how do i get my manuscript ready to send to an agent?
It’s finished, being edited for the 3rd time now lol i have my synopsis done, and query letter so my question is .. when I send my full manuscript do i have to send it with no binding and just a stack a paper with rubber bands around it, or do i bind it? also when they say write a biography do i write it in the 3rd or 1st person, thank you!