Novel Writing Tips

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From Women Writers, Women’s Books:

For me, novel writing is a process of decision-making. I begin with an idea, and from that idea, the characters and plot slowly emerge. 

What I’ve learned along the way – 

1. Love your idea. If you love your idea you’ll want to spend time with it, and through spending time with it, you’ll see a spectrum of possibilities for your plot. There’s a great deal of thinking and imagining involved in writing a novel. You need to ask yourself questions – for example, my seventh novel, A Lie For A Lie, is about a school nurse who is accused of hitting a child. I asked myself over one hundred questions along the lines of: Where does this story take place? Who is my nurse? Why is she accused? Who is her accuser? When does this happen? What are the repercussions? 

Each of these questions were expanded into a further set of questions as I drilled deeper and deeper into the heart of the story. 

2. Spend time in your main character’s head. And if you’re going to spend time there then you need to make her interesting. The most important question you will ask her is: What do you want? 

She might tell you she wants to get revenge or find a husband, have a baby or walk the length of the British Isles. Or she might tell you she wants to keep the status quo. 

Do you – and therefore readers’ – identify with whatever it is she wants? What motivates her? Is she different from you? In what ways is she different?

Do the work. Get under her skin. The more you get under her skin the easier it is to make decisions as the story progresses.

3. Who, or what, is in your main character’s way? You need a strong antagonist, someone or something that will push your protagonist to the very limits. If your antagonist falls at the first hurdle then that will make it very easy for your protagonist to get what she wants, and there’s no story in that. I have learnt that the harder I push the antagonist, the harder I have to push my protagonist. That makes for a story with shocks and revelations, twists and turns.
4. So, what does your main character want? 

Yes, really. I’m repeating this because it can become lost as the story progresses. I have post-it notes on my wall to remind me of this otherwise my focus slips.

5. Where is your story set? Setting adds atmosphere, context and imagery. Do you want your setting to help or hinder your character in some way? How will you use your setting to highlight and inform certain aspects of the plot? Make it work for you.

6. Find your first few plot points. 

There are writers who plan before beginning to write and there are writers who have an idea and dive in. I am somewhere in between. When I know toughly what my novel will be about, I plan Act One, and about halfway through the writing, ideas for Act Two begin to take shape.

I believe plot grows from character. The more work I’ve done with my protagonist, the less likely I am to be sitting thinking – what’s she going to do now? Is she the sort of person who would do X, Y or Z?

Link to the rest at Women Writers, Women’s Books