{"id":3003,"date":"2016-02-10T04:29:27","date_gmt":"2016-02-10T04:29:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.calla.com\/wordpress2\/?page_id=3003"},"modified":"2016-02-10T04:29:27","modified_gmt":"2016-02-10T04:29:27","slug":"ten-tips-for-writing-that-first-novel","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.calla.com\/wordpress\/writing-tips\/ten-tips-for-writing-that-first-novel\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten tips for writing that first novel"},"content":{"rendered":"

originally hosted on Brenda Kearns\u2019 blog here.<\/a><\/p>\n

Tip #1: Read A LOT<\/b><\/h3>\n

Like a thousand novels or more. You\u2019d be amazed at the number of people who want to be a novelist but hate reading. Being a voracious reader is the single most important attribute of successful novelists.<\/p>\n

Tip #2: Write every day for at least ten minutes<\/b><\/h3>\n

\u201cWhen I retire, I\u2019m going to be a novelist.\u201d Just like you can\u2019t suddenly run a marathon, you can\u2019t suddenly write a novel. \u00a0Muscles need to be trained for both activities and that\u2019s where the ten minutes comes in. Give yourself ten minutes each day even if you have no idea what you\u2019re going to write. Give yourself ten minutes a day even if those ten minutes are the commercial breaks for So You Think You Can Dance.<\/p>\n

The first few days that you\u2019re confronted with your ten minutes, you\u2019ll probably stare at a blank screen (or page) and sweat. But after a while, you\u2019ll develop writerly habits. You\u2019ll eavesdrop on the next table at lunch, not for the gossip, but for the nuance of speech. When you read the paper, your mind will spin with story potential from the various little tidbits. Your mind will wander with story ideas on the way to work and you may even end up missing your stop. As this begins to happen, you\u2019ll barely be able to contain yourself until you get to your precious ten minutes. Once you\u2019ve been writing enthusiastically for about a month solid during your ten minutes a day, you\u2019re ready to start on your novel.<\/p>\n

Tip #3: Ask yourself, \u201cWhat would happen if\u2026\u201d<\/b><\/h3>\n

This is the beginning of a novel. As an example, my WWII trilogy<\/p>\n

Stolen Child\/Making Bombs for Hitler\/Underground Soldier<\/i><\/p>\n

all started with this question: \u201cWhat would happen if two sisters were kidnapped together by the Nazis in WWII yet both suffered completely different fates?\u201d<\/p>\n

Tip #4: Brainstorm your characters<\/b><\/h3>\n

Once you\u2019re brainstormed your core story question, you need to brainstorm your characters. For each key character, sketch out this:
\n*What\/whom does my character want? Love? Need? Be very specific.
\n*What quirks and habits does my character have?
\n*What could get in the way of them achieving their wants\/loves\/needs? Think of the interaction of characters and how if one person gets their goal, someone else won\u2019t get theirs.<\/p>\n

Tip #5: Go to McDonalds or Starbucks<\/b><\/h3>\n

Not to eat\u2014to grab a job application form. Make copies. Fill one out for each of your characters.<\/p>\n

Tip #6: Take your character through a 24 hour day<\/b><\/h3>\n

Begin at dawn. Be careful to note each action, and also the physical space, right down to what their sleeping area looks like and what they break their fast with. Depending on whether they\u2019re in a space ship or medieval England it will all be very specific to your story. You\u2019ll be amazed at how much you learn about your character by following them for 24 hours. And if you listen closely, you\u2019ll find out what your story is really about.<\/p>\n

Tip #7: Don\u2019t try to write your story in chronological order<\/b><\/h3>\n

Is there a scene vivid in your mind but you don\u2019t know the before or after? Awesome! Write it. Keep on writing these scenes that are vivid. Once you have a critical mass of them, you\u2019ll see that they practically self-organize, sort of like how raindrops form a puddle.<\/p>\n

Tip # 8: Take breaks<\/b><\/h3>\n

Once you\u2019re plunged into your story, you\u2019ll be writing far more than ten minutes a day, but stop writing before your brain is completely empty of story. Stop partway through a paragraph, even partway through a sentence, and go out and do something physical. Everyone has their own creativity limit. For me, it\u2019s three hours. Anything written beyond the three hours a day is trash.<\/p>\n

Tip #9: Do Kamikaze research<\/b><\/h3>\n

In other words, write what you can while in the heat of it, leaving blanks and XXXs for spots that you\u2019ll fill in later. Do research as you need to after you\u2019ve done your daily writing but don\u2019t use research as an excuse not to write.<\/p>\n

Tip #10: Let yourself write crap<\/b><\/h3>\n

One of the best revision methods is to delete the first 25% of your first draft. Now that you know this, don\u2019t angst over every word. You\u2019re going to revise, delete rejig down the line, but right now you\u2019ve got to get the story down in first draft.<\/p>\n

\"index\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

originally hosted on Brenda Kearns\u2019 blog here. Tip #1: Read A LOT Like a thousand novels or more. You\u2019d be amazed at the number of people who want to be a novelist but hate reading. Being a voracious reader is the single most important attribute of successful novelists. Tip #2: Write every day for at … Continue reading “Ten tips for writing that first novel”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":20,"menu_order":10,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3003","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.calla.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.calla.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.calla.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.calla.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.calla.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3003"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.calla.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3004,"href":"https:\/\/www.calla.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3003\/revisions\/3004"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.calla.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.calla.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}