In my book,Start Your Novel, I explain 29 plot structures and how to decide which fits your story the best. By taking the time to focus your story like this in the beginning, you avoid false starts and create a first draft that is more coherent. Once the basic plot structure is clarif...
By now, it should be clear –great openings make us want to know more. They don’t have to be showy or flashy, but they do (ideally)build your reader’s desire to find out. Intrigue with early actions George Orwell, another master of how to start a novel, gives us this example in...
Before you start writing a novel, doubts and anxieties may get in the way of getting going. Read ideas and process-boosters to banish writer’s block, imposter syndrome and other inhibitors. Find tips to sit down and start writing your best story yet. How to sit down and start writing: ...
whether you tend to start scenes with dialogue or with description, even what kind of pen most encourages you to write comfortably. When you write every day, it lowers the stakes of your writing on any given day. You can afford to mess up, and you feel less bad about it, because you...
I spent all of my time revising and perfecting chapters one, two, and three. By the time I was happy with my changes there, I no longer had the minutes left in the day to start working on chapter four. The result was a beautiful first few chapters followed by a sparse next few and...
How to Start Writing a Book 1. Establish a dedicated writing space. If at all possible, don’t use an area for writing and anything else. If, for instance, you have to clear off the kitchen table to write, that’ll soon get old. Nothing else should happen where you write. Leave you...
题目When people ask me how I started writing,I find myself describing an urgent need that I felt to work with language.Having said that,I did not know for a long time what I was looking for.It was not until I followed this feeling to its source that I discovered I ...
I wrote my first novel when I was 20. It was a 1 . I didn‘t know how to properly format dialogue or 2 a plot. Those were all 3 I planned to work out later. I gave the book to my father to read, and within a day he left me a voice mail saying that it was 4 and ...
The start of your story is possibly the most important part of your book. Sure, a satisfying ending and avoiding a muddy middle are also important, but the beginning is your first impression. You want it to be good. In addition to hooking the reader, the start of your novel is also a...
(1) . I didn’t know how to properly format dialogue or (2) a plot. Those were all (3) I planned to work out later. I gave the book to my father to read, and within a day he left me a voice mail saying that it was ...