The Big Picture of a Novel — Part II

July 19, 2009| Idrees Patel| 3:34 PM

Categories:

Fiction Writing

In the first part of this post I started explaining about The Big Picture of a Novel. In the second part I will start the process of how to actually be aware about it.

Step One: When you’re about a quarter way in your novel…..

Organize your novel first, into nice chapters and scenes. I always find that being organized helps me to stay on track. I don’t know if that is true for you too, but you could always try out my advice.

Then read what you have written. Read it with a critical eye. Do not make any changes in this stage.

Step Two: The Thinking Phase

This is the time to think. To decide. Does it really hold up, your novel? Of course this is a first draft, so you don’t worry about what anyone would do if they read your book in this form. So do not worry about that aspect of the matter.

Just decide whether you’re going on the right way. Is this the way you planned to go when you first started writing? If yes, continue happily; there’s no problem for you. But if no….

Don’t be worried. You just have to decide at this stage.

Decide between two options:
1. Whether this new path is better than the one you thought before.
2. Or maybe it’s worse. Maybe you’d like to stay in that old, safe part.

Only you can decide this. If you decide that the new path is better, go ahead with it. If the book has a lot of contradictory information as a result, do not correct it at this stage. You have loads of time once you have completed your first draft. As many writers will tell you, do not get worked up in editing at this stage.

If the new path is worse, steer your novel to the old path and continue as if there were no contradictory information. You can always correct it later!

That’s all for Part II.

Read part III

How to create characters readers really care aboutHow to create characters readers really care about

This is a guest article by Alex Limberg. If you want to write a guest article of your own be sure to read the guest article guidelines.

Some writers claim they know their characters even better than their spouses. It’s great when your spouse doesn’t just exist on paper, and even greater when you can create real, three-dimensional characters. The more real your character seems, the more your audience will root for him. Your readers will be more involved in the story emotionally and live with him through his fears and joys. This makes for a much more rewarding reading experience.

This post will show you how to make your characters come alive. Also, because it’s easy to overlook when your figures lack depth, you can download a free goodie below the post to help you discover any problems with your characters and pretty much any other aspect of your story (it uses test questions).

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Nine fiction writing mistakes writers need to stop doingNine fiction writing mistakes writers need to stop doing

This is a guest article by Erin Scott. If you are interested in submitting a guest article of your own, be sure to read the guest article guidelines.

It may sound strange to say, but a writer has dark clouds hovering overhead while looking at a blank sheet of paper or the blinking cursor in a blank Word document.

Although it may appear easy, fiction is formed only after the writer has shed tears and blood (hopefully metaphorical)—poring over pages and pages of research, constructing ideas and wrecking them to pieces because they’re not good enough.

This is a routine most writers are all too familiar with.

But despite all the research and revisions, there are still fiction writing mistakes that make a story trite and unappealing. If you are struggling with creating a unique, captivating story, perhaps this list of the top three common writing mistakes can serve as guideline for your next work of fiction.

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