Ten Tips for Writing Your First Novel

Do Not Despair!

Are you writing your first novel? Awesome.

1. Buy a copy of The Modern Library Writers Workshop by Stephen Koch and a copy of Save the Cat Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody. The first for its wise-elder insight and guidance on the writing life and the creative process. The second because it’s the mother of all how-to guides when it comes to building a novel. And read them all the way through, pencil in hand ready to underline and take notes. (These are not the end-all-be-all sources—see #9 on this list—they’re just really, really good.)

2. You’ll notice I said ‘building’ a novel. I read a post recently which said something to the effect of “writing a first draft is building more than it is writing.” Shitty sentences can be fixed in revision. Weak story structure will plague you. There’s lots of advice out there that says to just plow through a first draft. Vomit it all out onto the page. And while there is certainly value in outrunning self-doubt and perfectionism, you won’t go wrong paying a little attention to structure from the beginning. Also note, structure is not the same thing as an outline. I’d caution against going too bananas with outlining at this stage.

3. You might get thirty or fifty or a hundred pages in and hit a wall. That’s okay. In fact, it’s likely. Do not despair! There could be many reasons for this, but consider what I think are the most likely ones.

   —You just don’t have enough story to last 300 pages

   — The stakes are too low

   —You’re being too nice to your character, and you need to make their lives worse

   —You need to go back and get to know your characters better

   —It just isn’t turning out to be the story you really want to write.

   Alas, there are no easy solutions. You may need to start over. Or shelve it and write something else. Don’t worry. That first idea will still be there when you are more practiced and better able to do it justice. I was just on The Shit About Writing podcast talking about this very thing in depth.

4. Beware the sunk-cost fallacy. That is, you’ve written all these words, and even though something’s not feeling right, you think you have to keep going or those words will be ‘wasted.’  Nothing is ever wasted. Keep a file for all the stuff you cut or shelve or otherwise don’t wind up using. Let’s say a novel is about 80K words. You may write 100K to get to the 80K that actually make up the novel. You may write 300K. It doesn’t matter. All those words are practice. A musician doesn’t consider notes played in practice “wasted,” and neither should you with words that don’t make it into a finished piece.

5. Respect the sense of no and yes that you feel as you’re writing. This is your guidance system. It will lead you to your own voice and your best work. And don’t be psyched out if you feel no a lot more than you feel yes about what you’re writing. This is normal.

6. The creative process goes something like this: 1. This is awesome. 2. This is tricky. 3. This is shit. 4. I am shit. 5. This might be okay. 6. This is awesome.¹ Sometimes you can go through multiple cycles in a single day. This is also normal

7. Be your own unique, ridiculous, freaky little self. Write what you want to write. It’s going to be hard, but let it also be fun. Let yourself go a little. Take some risks. (Copious swearing? Sentence fragments? Breaking the fourth wall? Try it!) I’m guessing you did not get into this writing thing to play it safe. That way that you’re hesitant to write because you’re not sure it’s “allowed?” Do it.

8. If you don’t already have one, be on the lookout for a writer-friend. You need someone who speaks your language, and you’re going to want a person you trust to read this baby when it’s done.

9. Diversify the sources you learn from. There is no one right way to write a novel, and everyone will tell you something different. This is a good thing. The more people you learn from, the more you can assemble a toolbox that works for you. A few more of my favorites are John Truby’s Anatomy of Story (mainly the first 5 chapters), Michael Hague’s online screenwriting resources, and K.M. Weiland’s online resources. Here’s a longer list:

   Twenty Links for Writers of Fiction

10. If it feels impossibly hard, that’s because it is hard. If it turns out not to be your thing, it is totally okay to let it go. But if it is your thing, have humility, have a beginner’s mind, have patience and endurance. And keep coming back to the chair. Because writing a book is exactly the personal and creative triumph you hope it will be.

You have all my best and brightest wishes flowing your way, you beautiful genius. Now go write.

1. I have been looking for the creator of this little list ever since I came across a photo of it on Twitter like ten years ago. If it’s you, please let me know!