Writing Your Novel: Tips + a Printable Guide
So… how DOES one write a book? The simple answer is “Just start.”
But where do you actually start? It can be intimidating, that first line. Even if you already have scene ideas and character descriptions. Heck, you might already know the ending. You could have a plot or outline that is pristinely beautiful, and yet you wonder where the heck to start.
For some writers, typing “Chapter One” can cause hives.
For others (me), it’s the best part.
I love beginnings. Chapter One is the ultimate fresh start. But I also know that the honeymoon phase on a novel usually ends a few chapters in. Sometimes three chapters, sometimes eight. It all depends!
A 3-Part Series
I decided to write this series to help new writers navigate the three parts of a novel. There’s no official “act one, act two, act three” structure here. I’m going to keep it very simple, and I’m going to site examples from my experiences. We’re going to talk about the beginning, the middle and the end.
By the time you’ve read all three blogs, you’ll have a better understanding of how to set yourself up for success. I’ll give you some mindset hacks, and some free printables and a lot of advice that has worked for me. And then guess what I’m going to ask you to do?
Write the book in your heart!
You either have a book in your heart, or are on the cusp of having one or else you wouldn’t be doing a deep dive on Pinterest or other author websites on how to write a book. You want to know, essentially, how not to FAIL. (Spoiler alert: there’s no fail-proof formula, even though we all keep trying to find that life hack). I am going to show you how to keep your mental game strong so that you’re looking at “failure” as opportunity instead.
Sound good?
Let’s begin.
Just Start
As a new writer, I started my first novel simply by…well, starting it. Whatever scene was the most interesting to me, wherever the action was, that’s where I began. So my first piece of advice to you is:
(1) Start with the most intriguing opening scene
In His Forbidden Kiss, I began the book with the heroine running away from a party to avoid a proposal from the guy she’s dating. The clincher? She ends up kissing her date’s older brother.
In Tempting the Billionaire, my debut, I began with Shane August at a nightclub with his cousin, Aiden. While they’re chatting away, Shane notices a woman at the bar crying and he feels the overwhelming desire to approach her.
In The Billionaire Bachelor, I began with the beauty and mystique of the Van Heusen hotel, describing the landmark and why it’s so precious to our heroine… and then I have her walk in on a maintenance guy removing the antique doorknob and replacing it with a keypad she SO did not request.
As a reader, which we all are, just ask yourself what would intrigue you the most about the story. What would snag your attention and make you want to turn the page and then another, and then another.
(2) Pick your point of view
This applies to you if have more than one POV in your book. If you’re writing from only one character’s POV, you can skip this one!
In my case, the options are: hero or heroine? Here’s how I made those decisions in the samples I sited above.
In His Forbidden Kiss, the sound of her clicking heels on the marble floor and the rush of her heartbeat in her ears is much more intense when told from Taylor’s POV rather than the hero witnessing her running by.
In Tempting the Billionaire, our sobbing heroine has no idea anyone is paying any attention to her, so I told it from Shane’s POV and focused on his confusion as to why he wanted to insert himself into this stranger’s problems instead of ignoring them.
In The Billionaire Bachelor, Merina believes she’s walking into her family’s hotel for just another workday with no changes at all. The action is happening in her beloved hotel and the reason behind it unfolds in real time when her mother confesses they had to sell out to billionaire Reese Crane. Definitely her point of view has the highest stakes.
Tips:
Ask: Who has the most at stake (or the most to lose)?
Try writing the first paragraph from one POV and then switch and write it from the other. Pick the strongest one.
Write a really great first line to snag your reader’s attention.
The first line of The Billionaire Bachelor is: “The Van Heusen hotel was the love of Merina Van Heusen’s life.” I talked about the celebrity visitors who have graced the halls, and how the hotel burned in the Chicago fires and was restored. Merina loves this hotel and it’s important for everyone to know what’s at stake, and why she does what she does next.
(3) It’s okay if the magic isn’t in the first draft
For the sake of seeing the full picture, I opened up the first draft of The Billionaire Bachelor before all its editing and polishing. The first line of the book used to be:
“That arrogant, stubborn, irritating jackass.”
Yep! That’s where I first started. With Merina VanHeusen marching up a Chicago street in hot pursuit of Reese Crane’s (who is sitting in his ivory tower) to give him a piece of her mind. While that beloved scene is still in the book, it wasn’t the right place to start. I went back and set up the scene with a bit of background first. I wanted the reader to understand why Merina was marching up a Chicago street in the pouring rain with a disembodied antique doorknob in her hand.
Take heart if It doesn’t (always) come out right the first time. Sometimes I nail the first line. The opening scene is exactly where I meant to start and that’s the part that winds up in the final. Other times I have to rewind a bit and give more context. And then there are the times I layer in way too much backstory and have to trim, cut and move. Which brings us to…
(4) Infodump
What is infodump? It’s when an author writes paragraph after paragraph about a character’s backstory instead of staying in the scene. This isn’t a mistake only for noobs. I recently had a massive infodump in a manuscript’s first draft.
So, how do you prevent it?
Simple. Take a lot of freaking notes.
If you find yourself on a tear in chapter one about where the hero grew up, what his family was like, who his high school girlfriend is and why she ruined him, and then maybe circling back to the current issue he’s going through and how that came to be while deciding what to do about it…
STOP.
Open up a separate document, title it “HERO BACKSTORY” and jot it down there instead. Use bullet points if necessary. Once you have that out of your system, then you can decide what stays and what goes. What does the reader really need to know? What elements of his past are relevant to the story that you’re trying to tell? Some will be, most will not be. Find those elements of his backstory that made him the man he is today and then pepper them throughout the book.
Tips:
Be selective about what to share and when to share it.
Share in conversation rather than inner voice to keep it interesting, but beware of “As You Know, Bob.”
Make as many decisions about your hero’s past as you can ahead of time. It’ll be easier to mention college or a detail about his mother if you’ve already decided that a) he dropped out of college due to having to work with his father and b) his mother died when he was five years old.
“It doesn’t (always) come out right the first time.”
(5) Trust the process
I know how I write a book. What I don’t know how to tell you is how you write a book.
I’m fascinated by author process and method, mainly because each of us is so different! I have a good friend who lays out her plot and scenes in columns on a spreadsheet. I have another friend who writes in small snatches here and there, grabbing ten minutes when she can. I have another friend who writes mostly using dictation software and touches a keyboard only for edits.
There is no ONE way to do it. And there is no RIGHT way to do it, either!
It’s normal to struggle to find what works for you. To determine what’s most succesful for you, put multiple methods to the test. I’ll also let you in on another (possibly discouraging) fact:
Every book is different.
As the author of over two dozen books and counting, I used to be alarmed at how different the process was for each and every book. I thought for sure I’d find my one true path, and that method would be The Way I wrote every book. So. Not. True.
What I found instead is that just like every character in each of my books is different, so is the way I write the book.