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Takeaways from Writing My First Novel – Writing
by Delicia A. Vaz
Can I start writing even if I’ve not settled on the ending of my story? Absolutely. Your ideas meld together as you write, and you get a better grasp of a befitting ending.
Some of my subplots aren’t completely thought out. Is that going to be a problem? Not necessarily. You can flesh them out as you write your first draft.
I’m not sure about certain characters. Should they be included? Depends on their role. You can include them and see how they fit with your whole story. Then, you can keep or boot them.
This is the fourth installment of my seven-part series—Takeaways from Writing My First Novel. Writing is the stage you have been hyped up about since you first thought about writing a book and your idea for it. You have done your homework, created a storyline, and set the stage. Bring those notes, scraps of paper you’ve jotted ideas on, memos, and documents containing your research. Organize them, and let your creativity run free.
The story won’t be typed in a day. As with any laborious task, it’s easy to lose focus or grow bored. Don’t lose interest in it. Whether writing is your sole job or one among many, devote a consistent amount of time and effort to it. Think of writing as a marathon. You need to pace yourself in order to reach the finish line.
Remember you are working on your first draft. The writing can be choppy, and some ideas may not mesh well. This is normal because in this stage your main goal is to develop some cohesion to your plotline. Refining it comes later.
Writing requires determination and dedication. Carve out time for it, and set your fingers and mind to work. Here are my top five takeaways from this stage of the writing process:
1. Choose and Stick With Your Narration Style
A style of narration is also known as the point of view (POV). Your selection depends on what position you put the narrator in. Basically, who is narrating the story? Different voices create a different atmosphere and effect for readers. Think of your story, what genre it falls into, and what POV works best for it.
Note: Your story can be written in first person (I said, I went, I did), second person (You said, You went, You did), or third person (He said, She went, They did). Third person narration can be limited (reveal thoughts and feelings of one character) or omniscient (reveal thoughts and feelings of multiple characters). Numerous online articles explain each of these POVs.
Select one and stick with it for the first draft. Don’t jump between different POVs. As you type, you might realize the selected POV is not working. You can change it. Go back and make revisions to what you’ve written. See how it fits and continue with the new POV if it works better.
2. Don’t Let Content Stray from the Plotline
A condensed version of your story is represented in your notes. Start expanding on them following your planned layout. Build on those must-have details you’ve created for some scenes.
Remember the plotline you worked on during Preparation. Consider writing it on a sticky note and keeping it on your screen. Overwriting is acceptable but don’t stray from the plotline. You can write large detailed scenes. Some areas in those scenes could be removed or fine-tuned during Revision and Editing, but it’s okay to have them for now.
Your main plotline has several plot threads. These plot threads are major events your characters (protagonists, secondary characters, and antagonists) face. Weave them together. It is important to ensure the threads are related. Too many plot threads can overwhelm readers. Follow through on side arcs. Don’t go on tangents without resolving them. If you find yourself doing this, then return to the storyboard.
3. Be Patient with Yourself and Your Story
As mentioned in the introduction, your story won’t be completed in a day. Set a goal to write a certain number of words or number of pages each day. Pages turn into chapters, and chapters turn into a book eventually. It takes anywhere from a month to three months (perhaps longer) to get the first draft churned out. This depends on how much preparation you have done and time you devote to your craft.
Example: You plan on writing a novel with 90,000 words. If you write a 1000 words per day, then it takes ninety days to reach your word count.
Reaching points where you think the scenes or characters aren’t fitting well can be frustrating. Remember that bumps in the road are opportunities for learning. Ask yourself what you don’t like about the scene and why. Based on the direction of your story, you may get a better idea of how to introduce a topic or character early on. Take a pause and refine that section before resuming where you were.
Example: You might reach Chapter Seven and realize the scene idea doesn’t fit with a plot thread you introduced in Chapter Three. Take a moment and consider whether you should change the scene in Chapter Seven or revise the plot thread.
4. Develop and Maintain a Routine
Treat writing like a job and not a hobby. For good quality work, you put in a proper amount of effort. Do the same for your writing. Create a space for writing. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a separate room in your home or a desk in your living room. Account for hours you’ve put in. I’ve benefited from maintaining a consistent amount of average writing hours per week. If you have a day/night job, then create your writing schedule around it.
Example: Putting in two hours each night during a regular workweek amounts to ten hours. Couple that with five hours spent over the weekend. Now, you have fifteen hours dedicated to writing during a week. That’s a pretty decent amount of time set aside for writing when you have to work forty hours per week and attend to other commitments.
5. Don’t Fixate on Errors
Have a good command of the language you are writing in. You don’t need to be a spelling champion or have grammar rules memorized. It’s your first draft. Mistakes are allowed. A small error here or there is acceptable. Minimizing grammar and spelling errors is good practice. These errors are addressed in Revision and Editing. Your main purpose is to form a story from your layout that connects with your plotline. It might seem strange, but you get better at writing as you write.
Concluding Thoughts:
I hope these takeaways help you as you write your story. Writing is time-consuming and a wonderful exercise in creativity. With proper planning and research, this stage requires staunch commitment and strong focus.
After writing the entire story, you can start to revise and edit your first draft. You reach a point where you bring other people into your writing project. These steps are iterative. In the next article of this series, I’ll be addressing the takeaways from revision and editing.
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This article originally appeared on my LinkedIn Dashboard on September 28, 2021 here.
