How do I start writing a novel?

the novel

Writing a novel does not require a university degree in a specific specialty. A good number of novelists did not study literature, languages, or similar disciplines, but rather relied on their general knowledge of various literature and novels, whether local or international. Writing a novel depends on a number of elements and rules that can increase the likelihood of a novel’s success - many novels What is published does not succeed or sell.

How to write a novel

Read what you like to write

Read a lot of novels of the type you want to write, such as detective novels, romances, or other different types of novels that you prefer, and focus your reading on the style, characters, details, and so on. Do not read for the purpose of entertainment and enjoyment, but read for the purpose of study and analysis, and pay attention to websites. The suspense and excitement in the story and how it was built.

Notice the different styles of writing novels, and read novels depending on the style you prefer. For example: You may want to write a novel in which you are the narrator, or for one of the heroes of your novel to be the narrator of the events, so the novel is thus from his point of view. Do not just read three or four novels, but Read dozens, study and analyze them.

Beware of imitations; When writing a novel, short story, etc., it must be original and inspired by your experience or ideas. You can use an idea from a newspaper, television, book, or another novel, but in the end you must modify the idea and formulate it again. To be innovative and new.

Write from experience

Your writing style varies according to the material you are writing from. If it is from your imagination, this will appear to the reader, and if it is from your own experience or the experience of someone close to you, this will appear differently. Some people are creative in writing from their imagination, but this is a rare case. Most writers are more creative - clearly - when they write from their personal experiences. This does not mean that the novel should be like a notebook, or like newspapers. There is nothing wrong with modifications and additions that increase suspense.

Writing from fiction often results in many errors; Imagination alone is not sufficient to reach the truth of things. You often imagine something, then you discover that it is completely different from what you imagined, and writing from imagination usually produces very intense events that do not occur in ordinary life, and it makes the reader wonder about the credibility of those events, even if he knows that it is a novel, because there is an amount of Realism must be achieved; So that the novel is acceptable to the reader, and in the end it can be said: writing from imagination is scarce in details compared to writing from experience. As you will be able to retrieve details from your experience and elaborate without making any mistakes.

Write a picture or scene

Do not rely on artistic images and construction style too much; It is useful and gives beauty to the novel, but it is not the essence of the novel. Rather, a clear picture must be drawn about every scene in the novel. So that the reader can imagine it as if it is happening in front of him, and you cannot draw a picture without mentioning the details about the character or characters in the scene. It is important to draw the character, but it is also important to draw the scene around him, whether through the weather, climate, time of day, or even the ground on which he walks. On it, or the room in which the character sits, you write everything you want the reader to see.

The beginning of a good novel

Don't write a clichéd, propagandistic beginning to your novel; The beginning must be interesting and attract the reader to complete the novel, and by “beginning” I do not only mean the first chapter of the novel, but I also mean the first line of it, as it is essential in attracting the reader from the first words of the novel. Therefore, avoid rhetorical speeches, written with splendor and precision. Because it does not push the reader to feel excited or curious.

Through the first scene in the novel or the first picture that you draw in the first two lines, you can make the reader decide for himself whether he will love this novel or hate it.

dialogue

Avoid writing dialogue that is full of questions, especially when the answers to those questions are “yes” or “no,” and also avoid long dialogue, especially if it is from one side, that is, from one character. It is better for the phrases to be short, from one syllable, and exchanged between the parties and the characters. different; This makes it more exciting.

Maintain a distinct way of speaking for each character. You do not want all the characters to speak in one style as if they have one mind and heart. Rather, show different characteristics of each character with their thoughts, the way they speak, and their choice of vocabulary. This makes the characters of your novel more realistic. It is preferable to study the linguistic structures used by By a specific group of people, or a specific group that lives in specific areas, if you want to use it in writing your dialogue correctly.

Write several drafts

Start by writing a brief draft of your novel. It should be between four hundred and five hundred words, in which you define the general idea of ​​your novel or the main characters. It is like telling a friend about a novel you liked. You do not tell him all the details of the novel and tell him the story word for word as you read it, but you You only tell him the general content, and this is what you should write in the first draft.

Then write a more detailed draft, divided into chapters, provided that you do not deviate from the first draft with events and basic content. You should not write in a scattered and random manner, but rather everything you write should serve the main goal or content of the novel.

In the end, you must write a third draft, after you have finished the novel, in which you rearrange some sentences, delete them, or add to them. You can also modify the order of some of the novel’s chapters, if the need arises to increase suspense and other matters, and some people prefer to write the third draft after Finishing the second draft of the novel completely, while others prefer to write the third draft while writing the second draft, by writing each chapter of the novel in the second draft, directly modifying it, and rewriting it to be part of the third draft.

You can write four or five drafts if necessary, so the length of the final novel will be between twenty thousand words and seventy thousand words, and that depends on the size of the novel that you want to write. There are long novels that exceed one hundred thousand words, but it is advised to adhere to the minimum limits and what is around them in case the The writer writes his first novel.

Print your novel

Print your complete novel in a neat and coordinated manner, and it is preferable to send it to someone who can help you revise it before sending it to a publishing house. However, you can send it to the publishing houses directly if you do not have someone to revise the final writing of the novel, and it may be necessary to send it to a number of publishing houses before they approve. One of them is to publish it. It is okay to refuse as long as you do not lose hope and try again.

Many successful and famous novels have been rejected by many publishing houses. Know that the reason for rejection may not be the poor quality of the novel, but in fact, a large number of novels reach publishing houses, and publishing houses always try to choose what they think is the best, and that it will succeed. You reap some profits, and many times you are wrong, so you may hesitate to make some decisions sometimes for fear of loss. The solution is for you to submit your novel to a large number of publishing houses. If the first publishing house approves your novel, that is excellent, and if it does not, then there is nothing wrong with it. You try again.

If you are given a critique by a publishing house and are asked to modify some parts of your novel before it is published, you should be careful and think carefully. You can, of course, accept, or you can refuse and try another publishing house. It depends on you and whether you think their critique is in place. .