Top 10 Novel Writing Tips

Posted by Jen on Saturday, December 1st, 2007 @ 1:19 am

I wrote these tips several months ago and posted them on a different site, but I thought I’d share them here as well. Now, I’m an unpublished writer so I’m not sure how much my writing tips can be taken to heart. But here they are - my top ten tips. These are things that have really assisted me in the writing process.

1. Just start writing. The most important thing to start writing is to sit down and start writing. The may sound like a given, but there have been so many times when I would just think about doing it or talk about doing it, but when it came down to it, I never sat down to write.

2. Have a daily schedule. Whether it be early morning or late at night, set aside a daily time or number of hours a day that you will work on your writing.

3. Have a daily goal. This goes along with the schedule tip, but I have found that having a daily word goal really motivates me to keep writing until I achieve that goal.

4. Map out a storyboard for the entire novel. This does not need to be pages long at first, but having an idea of where the story is going and at what point important events should happen helps keep the novel going in the right direction. The last novel I tried to write, I did not have a storyboard, and I ended up writing myself into a corner. Needless to say, I haven’t finished that one yet.

5. When I feel stuck aka have writers block, I like to turn on some music. That tends to help writer’s block go away.

6. Short story writing contests are a great way to exercise your creativity. I especially enjoy the 24-Hour Short Story Contest at WritersWeekly.com.

7. It may sound silly, but I find putting on a hat helps me focus. My favorite is a baseball hat, but I have have several others just in case that one isn’t doing the trick.

8. There have been many books written on the art of writing. I recommend purchasing a few of these. I have found several focused on the mystery genre that have been helpful to me. My favorite so far has been Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel by Hallie Ephron. It is full of advice and exercises for developing your plot and characters.

9. Figure out a way to avoid the internet when writing. It can be very distracting. If you have a laptop that is not hooked up to the internet, do most of your writing on it. Then, you won’t have the temptation to check your email or the news.

10. Finally, remember that the first draft is what it is: a first draft. The first time through, don’t get too caught up on making everything perfect. You will have plenty of time to go back and revise once you have completed the novel.